[Manuscript Catalogue] In the Mowing by Winsow Homer, N. A. 1836 - 1910

Hessemer, Paul

Published by Newhouse Galleries, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1940

About this Item

An unique, luxuriant promotional tool commissioned, we assume, by an art gallery to bring gravitas and prestige to the work in the effort to sell it, although it is possible that the calligraphic manuscript was created more to flatter the buyer in his purchase -- the two objectives are not really mutually exclusive, of course. N.d., 1930s ir early 1940s. 4to. 31 by 24 cm. Seven leaves with content. Frontis is a black and white photogravure of the painting itself, followed by a title page, a page with in brief facts about the painting, then tthree pages of a short biography and exegesis on Homer, and finally a colophon page with one line crediting Hessemer and the designer and calligrapher of the manuscript. We would emphasize that everything is hand-done except for the print that serves as the frontis, which is also on a different paper stock. The manuscript leaves are on a thick paper stock that may be a velin (vellum). The calf was furnished by Froelich Leather Craft of New York. The 1874 painting, a quintessential work by Homer, currently hangs in the Wichita Art Museum in Kansas as part of the Roland P. Murdock Collection. The Newhouse Galleries opened in 1878 in St. Louis but moved to New York, where it was located for most of its long existence. It remained in business, or actively in business, until 1999, specializing in Old Master paintings. It commissioned similar brochures for other paintings with Hessemer, but we believe these manuscripts are still quite rare, and especially rare survivors, for all intents and purposes. OCLC First Search lists nine Hessemer manuscripts that appear to be in the same vein, but for of course other paintings, and some of these are also credited to the Newhouse Galleries. The Metropolitan Museum has three such manuscripts for artwork that was bought by the Linskys and is now a part of the Linsky Galleries at the Met. The binding has bands of gilt decoration, both ruling and rinceaux rolls and the like. Endpapers are a lovely silk moire with the shimmery tree ring effect. Condition: the center gathering is detached, and other leaves are loose but still holding. Some gilt decoration rubbed and faded on front cover, but not significantly. Spine tips, both top and bottom, some erosion, and spots of rubbing and wear along the edges. The leaves within are clean.

Seller Inventory # 007829

Bibliographic Details

• Title: [Manuscript Catalogue] In the Mowing by Winsow Homer, N. A. 1836 - 1910
• Publisher: Newhouse Galleries, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
• Publication Date: 1940
• Binding: Full Calf
• Seller catalogs:
  • Bindings -- Fine and Curios
  • Artwork