BibliOdyssey

Meet the Fuggers

2009-11-22T02:23:00.001+11:00

The Fugger family dynasty began in the mid-14th century with a modest textile business in the Swabian town of Augsburg. Over the next two hundred years the family amassed one of the greatest fortunes of all time. Through banking and mining interests they acquired the wealth and assets of the Florentine House of Medici and exerted great influence over the Holy Roman Empire and the royal courts of Europe. Like the Medici, the Fuggers were also significant patrons of the arts during the Renaissance.

[Medieval balloon boy & parents?]

The Fugger family history, going back to the 1300s, was documented pictorially in two manuscripts from different time periods, displaying the crests, family trees and portraits of family members.

The first manuscript - the 'Geheimes Ehrenbuch' (secret book of honour) - was produced by the Augsburg painter, Jörg Breu, in the late 1540s and is a unique genealogical document in German language history. (double page images up top)

The second book, also produced in Augsburg (1593-1618), contains elaborate hand-coloured engravings featuring a parade of Renaissance motifs (grotesques, fruit garlands, scientific allusions and the like) for a deluxe limited edition issued to family members. Title: 'Fuggerorum. et Fuggerarum. Quae in familia natae. Quaève in familiam transiervnt. Quot extant aere expressae imagines'.

The Fugger family manuscripts are available from Bayerische Landesbibliothek Online in both regular browsing format and 3-D Java (turn-the-page by any other name) displays. The landing page is in English. An exhibition of these works will be held at the Bavarian State Library in March to May 2010.

The Fugger family at Encylopedia Britannica.
http://www.fugger.de/ (multiple languages)
The Wealthy Fuggers (Regio-Augsburg Tourism).
Portrait of Jacob Fugger 'the Rich' (1459-1525) by Albrecht Dürer and by Hans Burgkmair.
B&W series of 'Fuggerorum et Fuggerarum' (and a few other portraits) at NYPL.
'In This Picturesque Village, the Rent Hasn't Been Raised Since 1520 - Tenants in German Enclave Pray Daily, For Good Fortune and the Souls of Bankers' by Mike Esterl (WSJ 2008).

Fischetti Travel Sketches

2009-11-17T01:08:00.004+11:00

Sketches from
the
John Fischetti Manuscript Collection
at
Columbia College Chicago

"Main Street St Laurent Brittanny"

France, 1945

New York, 1948

"American shoes proved to be much more interesting
to the Danes than the American wearing them"

"The Danes really live when they greet each other"

"5 O'Clock Rush"

Denmark, 1949

"Traffic"

France, 1949

"Journal de Paris - McCarthy: 'J'accuse!!' "

Paris, 1953

"Rialto Bridge Venice"

Italy, 1960

President Kennedy's Oval Office

Washington DC, 1961

"Other side of the tracks -- Canal Street"

Chicago, 1970

"It's windy"

Washington DC, 1970

All illustrations are © the Estate or Assignees of John Fischetti.
The images have been posted here with permission.

"John Fischetti was born in Brooklyn, New York on Sept. 27, 1916, the youngest in an Italian family of four children. His urge to draw developed early and, in fact, he graduated from the Pratt Technical Institute before earning his high school diploma. After graduation he went to California and worked for the Disney Studio.

Eye strain forced him to give up animation and he moved to Chicago where he began working for Coronet and Esquire magazines. When Marshall Field started the Chicago Sun and bought up the Coronet/Esquire syndicate, Fischetti began doing political cartoons for the Sun; however, World War II intervened and he spent the latter part of it cartooning for Stars and Stripes.

When his Sun job was no longer available after the war, he moved to New York and joined Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), and then the New York Herald Tribune. It folded in 1966 and he moved back to Chicago and the Chicago Daily News, where he was given complete autonomy to choose his styles and topics.

Fischetti was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1968. After the Daily News ceased publication in 1978, he finished his career at the Chicago Sun-Times. John Fischetti died on Nov. 18, 1980." [source]

Following Fischetti's death, an annual editorial cartoon award was established in his name, administered by the School of Journalism at the Columbia College in Chicago. [link]

The John Fischetti Manuscript Collection was recently digitised by Columbia College and includes a large number of the artist's sketch books encompassing original political cartoons, completed comics, preliminary and rejected drawings and a collection of his travel sketches.

The travel collection is a fascinating record of mid-20th century urban settings in its own right, but it also showcases Fischetti's undeniable talents as an animator, caricaturist, sketch artist, wit and observer. {I confess to not even having seen any of his political/satirical cartoon and comic work yet}

Via the Visual Resources Center blog at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia. Thanks again Mike!

The Theatre of Cruelty

2009-11-16T01:50:00.003+11:00

Richard Verstegan (aka Richard Rowlands) (?1548-?1636) was a Catholic Anglo-Dutch antiquarian, goldsmith and book publisher. The first half of his life was spent in England, but his religion prevented him from obtaining a degree from Oxford University, where he is thought to have studied English history and the Anglo-Saxon language.

Either following from the prejudice he suffered at Oxford or as a response to the incarceration and treatment of Mary Queen of Scots* (her 1587 beheading is seen above), Verstegan published the first edition of his martyrologium, 'Theatrum Crudelitatum', in 1583. The book may also have been conceived as a Catholic version of the famous Protestant 'Book of Martyrs' [published in 1563 as 'Actes and Monuments'] by John Foxe.

Verstegan's book attempted to record, in gruesome detail, the cruelty, torture and murder of Catholic martyrs in Europe - including English victims under the reigns of Mary I and Elizabeth I* - at the hands of Protestant heretics. Upon publication, the author was arrested and imprisoned for libel against the Crown and all books were confiscated and destroyed (a single page has been saved). Through the intervention of friends in the clerical hierarchy, Verstegan was able to secure his release and he fled the country, ultimately settling in Antwerp.

Verstegan became a very prolific and influential author and publisher in his adopted city. One of his early works was the expanded and definitive version of 'Theatrum Crudelitatum' which was published in Latin in 1587. At least some of the engravings were produced by the author (artistic training having been acquired through his goldsmith apprenticeship). It proved to be a popular book and translated editions were released soon after for the various European markets.

Although his publishing house concentrated on the production of Catholic devotional literature, Verstegan himself was known to have worked as an intelligence agent for Roman, English and Jesuit Catholics and he penned political and satirical articles for a newspaper (making him one of the earliest known journalists), all the while operating as a book and people smuggler during the Reformation*. A question mark apparently remains over a lot of works, in terms of attribution, both because Verstegan's publishing output often lacked identification marks and also because his son, with the same name, became increasingly involved in the firm's productions.

The chapter titles from the book (seen as title tags on mouseover of the unordered images above) that are included at the top of each illustrated page [the last three images above show the layout for all illustrated pages] are:

-- Persecutiones adversus Catholicos à Protestantibus Caluinistis excitae in Anglia
-- Horribilia scelera ab Hugenotis in Gallijs perpetrata
-- Horrenda inhumanitatis genera à Geusijs Belgicis peracta
-- Schismaticorum in Anglia crudelitas

'Theatrum Crudelitatum Haereticorum Nostri Temporis' {The theatre of cruelty of the heretics of our time} by Richard Verstegan, 1587, is hosted online by HAB Wolfenbüttel. [Most, if not all, the images were saved in this set; the majority are seen above] {Amazon}
Richard Verstegan: New Advent / Wikipedia. There are more citations around, but they tend to be fairly specialised academic articles and the like.

Les Champignons

2009-11-09T16:50:00.003+11:00

Edible & Poisonous Mushrooms

'Histoire Naturelle des Champignons Comestibles et Vénéneux' [The natural history of edible and poisonous mushrooms] by the French pharmacist, Guilliame Sicard, was published in 1883 and is online at Bibliothèque nationale de France. [note the thumbnails link in the sidebar] There are a few more in the set.

Other versions of this book are available (but I think the BNF copy has the best quality illustrations) from the Biodiversity Heritage Library [eg. one; two] and the Internet Archive. [Addit: Amazon has what appears to be a facsimile edition of the book]

The BNF librarian who originally logged Sicard's book was incredibly thorough: not only was there a library stamp on every single page, but they managed to ensure that the stamp was always at least partially covering an illustration. Bravo! I took the liberty of removing these as well as performing some occasional remedial cosmetic work to the background scuffs and splodges. There are doubtless errors in the Genus names in the title tags: either because I misread the handwriting or because the names have been superseded.

'Mushroom' and 'toadstool' are informal words without precise meanings, although in the modern parlance, 'toadstool' tends to be applied to poisonous or suspicious varieties of mushrooms.*

Picking and eating wild mushrooms has something of a romantic dimension and I totally understand the attraction of a half day romp in the forest with a special someone collecting a free evening meal. But there is an enormous body of literature out there devoted to the diagnosis, treatment and case studies of people who became gravely ill or died as a result of mistaking poisonous toadstools for yummy mushrooms.

I've done some really crazy and stupid things in my life [such as: redacted] but there are only two ways that I'd consent to eating the produce collected during a wild mushroom hunt: if I was accompanied by a mycologist - who took the first bite - or if I obtained a degree in mycology myself.

Via the BNF's Gallica blog post: 'La cueillette des champignons en forêt', which lists a number of other fungi-related works in the French National Library (that I haven't seen).

Previously: Forest Fungi and in general, flora.

Die Tode Stuhle -- Mushroom Observer -- Cornell Mushroom blog.

Dutch Covers

2009-11-03T23:45:00.007+11:00

Picture books from 1810 to 1950

'Het Gouden Prentenboek' [1898 - 1948] by Piet Worm, 1948

'Wat Hansje Zag' by Dick Poortvliet,
illustrated by van Douwe Nieuwenhuis, 1948

'Uit Huis en Hof' by Konrad Mullerfurer, 1921

'Aapjes-Land' by Ajo, 1923

'1898-De Koningin op Reis-1923', published in Amsterdam, 1923

'De Gouden Haan' by Marietje Witteveen, 1940

'De Olifanten en de Muisjes - Naar het Hoogduitsch' by Agatha, 1876

'De Drie Katjes - met Rijmpjes' by Alice Becht-Dentz, 1905

'De Reis Naar de Maan' by PJ Andriessen, 1876

'Avontuur van Keesje Holland' by Piet Broos, 1945

'De Koningin der Poppen', printed in Amsterdam, 1867

'De Circus' by Ant. L. de Rop, 1890

'De Luchtballon van Godard en Kermisvreugde'
published by A Tjaden, 1875

'De Wilgen by Adama van Scheltema', illustrated by Rie Cramer, 1918

'Dieren Prentenboek: Silhouetten' by Reyer Stolk, 1945

'Generaal Jan Klaasen' by Beata, 1896

'Juffrouw Ruffel en Hare Zeven Geleerde Poesjes',
published in Utrecht, 1823

'Het Theesalet van Pieteloet' by Agatha, 1860

'Het Prentenboek der Sporten' by Yvonne, 1912

'Landelijke Tafereelen' published by J Scholz, 1860s

'Iconomanie of Zoo Maken de Kinderen een Prentenboek',
published by J. van Egmond, 1869

'Levend Speelgoed. Een Grappige Droom'
by B.E. van Osselen-van Delden, 1903

'Het Feest van Koning Beer' by Louis Moe, 1930

'Een Vogel Zong een Tooverlied',
illustrated by Ursula Schumacher, story by Nora Heggen, 1942

'Eerste en Laatste' by El Pintor, 1943

'Feest in het Bosch', story by Jac. van der Klei, illustrated by D. Viel, 1927

'Snakerijen van Tijl Uilenspiegel' by D. Dekker, 1873

'Gouden Vlinders', text by S. Franke, illustrated by Lou Loeber, 1927

'Goede Vriendschap' by Oscar Pletsch, 1870

'Het ABC voor Holland's Kleintjes met 156 Plaatjes'
by Daan Hoeksema, 1923

'De Struwelpetertjes - Piet de Smeerpoets, De Wreede Karel',
illustrated by Daan Hoeksema, 1927

'Piet Durf, Hoe Wonderlijk het hem Verging bij het Oplaten van Zijn Vlieger'
by M.P. Rosmade, 1881

'Verkeers-Prentenboek' by Willy Planck, 1926

'Pierrot', text by J. Schenkman, illustrated by Louis Raemaekers, 1907
[Raemaekers previously]

[Click through to full sized images; the above array is no particular order]

"Within the framework of youth literature, picture books occupy a special place. In picture books, the images are just as important as the texts. They are by no means intended exclusively for young children. Old picture books reflect the views people held about good and evil, poor and rich; about education, with examples of dutiful and bad behaviour; about love for one’s own country and about people from foreign countries. They illustrate a changing world of new inventions and modes of transport, of living and fashion, of daily life in towns and villages. There is both humour and moralism to be found in children’s books; they play with the relationship between reality and fantasy.

A total of six hundred and fifty Dutch picture books, dating to the period 1810–1950, are brought together in this collection, which runs the gamut from Robinson Crusoe to Tielse Flipje (a cartoon mascot on ‘De Betuwe’ jam pot labels) and from old nursery rhymes to fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm: there is something for everyone in the collection."

The Memory of The Netherlands portal assembles a multi-institutional collection of Dutch children's literature (full books) in their 'Picture Books From 1810 to 1950' website. All the navigational aids [eg. themes] and some of the notes are in English. It's a bumper collection.

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Image Dump

2009-11-01T23:45:00.008+11:00

'Dronte' is (or was) a Dutch (and German and Danish) word for Dodo and this previously unknown sketch from the mid-1600s of the famous extinct bird was sold at Christie's a couple of months ago for ~£44K (about seven times the estimate!). More information: Telegraph / Bibliopole.

Short tailed magpie. 'Cissa thalassina' (Borneo and Java) -- watercolour and gouache sketch on paper by Thomas Lewin from about the early 1800s. Exquisite colouring. It was on sale in the recent Travel, Science & Natural History auction at Christie's but the Lot has now mysteriously disappeared.

A somewhat stylised spotted opossum (perhaps really a tiger quoll) from 'The Voyage of Captain Phillip to Botany Bay..' by Arthur Phillip*, published in 1789 - an account of the settlement-invasion of NSW by whitefellas. The image comes from a Sotheby's auction from a few days ago, featuring a new whizzbang interface.
[via one of Jeremy's informative auction reviews on PhiloBiblos]

The Great Atlas Moth by Marian Ellis Rowan [source]

Smooth Leaved Green Antigua Pineapple from 'Pomona Britannica' [1812]. Hand-finished aquatint illustration by George Brookshaw. Image from Christie's. (See Emma's recent post on Fed by Birds for some more Brookshaw botanical illustrations).

The Elderly Fool and his Cat

Engraving made by Alexander Voet II in about 1660 or thereabouts (after Jacob Jordaens). The image is from the British Museum. The title in the cartouche below the jester-fool says: 'FATVO RIDEMVR IN VNO' {We all laughed through this one fool}.

I can't quite read the verse at the bottom (in French and Dutch), although I think it's something of a play on wisdom [and] stupidity ~~and rabies(!?) ['la rage']~~*.

The notes (sans image unfortunately) for the Jordaens painting (the scenes are not the same) records the English translation of the Dutch verse. That same Dutch wording appears on the print (bottom right), but to my squinting eyes the French verse (bottom left) is totally different. Let me know if you can decipher it. Update:

Rions de touts fantastiques La rage
Bien loing de soucis réjouisson nous
Estre fou et se réjouir C'est estre sage
Estre sage sans se réjouir C'est estre fou

Let us laugh of all rage from anxious people
far from worries let us be merry
Being fool and be merry is being wise
Being wise without be merry is being fool
[*thanks to Archidemon]

An Essay on Woman

Another print published by Matthew Darly -(seen recently in Waiter There's a Hair in my Satire and probably collected at the same time)- in the late 1700s. [source: Walpole] The publisher's opening saccharine lines are respectful enough; the author quotes following, less so.

Knives, Combs or Inkhorns

Engraving of a street merchant by Pierce Tempest (after Marcellus Laroon) from Henry Overton's 1733 book, 'The Cryes of the City of London Drawne After Life'. [source: Sotheby's]

'Cryes' (cries) refers to the calls shouted out by sellers to attract customers as they traipsed around the city trying to eke out a living. The street seller theme was a popular subject for more than two hundred years in book and print illustrations, as well as songs. I can't find any decent overview* of the history : that may be a function of search laziness and also the variation of names applied to the traders; costermonger, for instance, is a related term (but it's not the same thing) that goes back to at least Shakespearian times.
See:

Trades
Cries, Itinerants and Services - [previously] - from the John Johnson Collection Exhibition site;
'Old London Street Cries' by AW Tuer (1885) at the University of Wisconsin [Amazon];
'Images of the Outcast: The Urban Poor in the Cries of London' 2002 by S Shesgreen [*this book review by Dianne Payne is about the best online article giving background to the cries that I found]
Paris Street Cries by Edmé Bouchardon (1740s)
The Street Cries of Damascus

Forçat à Perpétuité (Convict for Life)

The illustration by Jules Noel appears in Maurice Alhoy's 1845 book, 'Les Bagnes : Historie, Types, Moeurs, Mystères' (Prisons: history, types, customs and mysteries). The image comes from somewhere in Médiathèque Gabriel Tarde, a digital justice/prisons library in Enap, France [via Bibliopedia: Bibliothèques Numériques]. Alhoy's book is available from the Internet Archive and NYPL has a couple of other illustrations.

Frontispiece from 'The English Gentleman : containing sundry excellent rules, or exquisite observations, tending to direction of every gentleman, of selecter ranke and qualitie; how to demeane or accommodate himselfe in the manage of publike or private affaires', 1630 by Richard Brathwait. [source: Sotheby's]

See British Printed Images to 1700 which has the related titlepage variation of the above design from a 3rd Ed. 1641 dual-publication, 'The English Gentleman and the English Gentlewoman'.

"Peter Williamson (1730–1799), or Indian Peter as he became known, was one of the more colourful personalities of 18th century Scotland. He was kidnapped and sold into slavery in America. He was captured by Indians, but eventually escaped and joined the British army, serving for three years. He was imprisoned by the French. He eventually returned to Scotland and successfully sued Aberdeen officials for slave trading. In Edinburgh, he published the city's first street directory and set up a postal service, called the Penny Post."

The frontispieces above are from two different editions of Williamson's remarkable account of his experiences in America, almost certainly embellished to some extent, and first published in 1752 as 'French and Indian Cruelty: exemplified in the life, and various vicissitudes of fortune, of Peter Williamson'.

The top image -- showing the author dressed as a Delaware Indian, an outfit he wore as he travelled around Britain promoting his book -- is from the 1st Ed. [source/abstract] and the one underneath [Sotheby's] is from the 1787 release. [see also] Williamson's book is available from the Internet Archive.

Produced in 1939, this hand-drawn map of Oklahoma by Lester Raymer was commissioned by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Known simply as the Raymer Map, it was apparently rediscovered by the Oklahoma History Center while they were in the process of digitising and uploading (as in-browser pdfs) more than eight hundred Oklahoma-related maps from their collection. Regrettably, the Raymer Map is not among those available online in large format*. The History Center blog post does tell us how a copy can be purchased for $10 however. Not too shabby.
*I've been told that it is to be "entered into the online catalog" shortly, but I'm not sure if that means that a high-def version will become accessible or not. The map website itself is a little awkward, let's say, and the pdfs are browser-paralysing pains.

'De Schepping der Wereldt' (Creation of the World) - a fascinating series purporting to show how the world evolved in stages from Genesis onwards. This is an early attempt to use rational science to explain the origins of the earth. It was produced by the Amsterdam illustrator/booksellers, the Goeree brothers, in c. 1690. [source: Rare Maps] {slight tangent: Mr H on Thomas Burnet, a British 'geological historian' from the same era}

Swiped from the fantastic Ptak Science Books blog (bookstore), this 1638 print is a celestial snapshot commemorating the of birth of Louis XIV [the Sun King].

Zwillinge (Twins : Gemini)

A 1799 constellation map by Christian Goldbach from his book:

'Neuester Himmels - Atlas zum Gebrauche für Schul- und Akademischen Unterricht, nach Flamsteed ... [et.al.], in einer neuen Manier, mit doppelten schwarzen Stern-Charten bearbeitet; durchgehends verbessert, und mit den neuesten astronomischen Entdeckungen vermehrt'

[Latest heaven - Atlas for the use of school and academic education, according to Flamsteed ... [et al], dealt with in a new manner, with dual star-black holes, consistently improved, and increasingly with the latest astronomical discoveries]

[Latest sky atlas for use in school and academic education, according to Flamsteed ... [et al], dealt with in a new manner, edited with double black star maps; completely revised, and enriched with the latest astronomical discoveries]

The image above comes from the US Naval Oceanography Portal, but the Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering & Technology has the whole album available.

"The print style and technique was unusual. White stars are shown against a black background. The first pressing was made before the constellation figures and text details were added. These prints looked like a night sky. Then the finished plate was printed once more, providing a comparison with figures. The copper plates were printed in relief rather than the more common intaglio. While not the first to use this technique, his atlas was very influential on those that followed. His maps represent the stars with a Flamsteed projection."

A pictographic bird's-eye view map of Los Angeles (with coastal/inland section routes in the margins) by Mary Hall Attwood for use as a guide to the 1932 Olympic Games. [source: Rare Maps] See also: reverse side of the map and the cover. [games pics/info]

Our National Church - The aegis of liberty, equality, fraternity by FC Gould, 1883

Our National Law - the gloriously uncertain protector &
punisher of the vicious and the virtuous by FC Gould, 1884

Detailed satirical caricature prints accompanied by verses from scripture critiquing English religious and legal institutions with a context legend at the bottom (scanned from colour transparencies). [source: Rylands Digital Library, Manchester]

Les Veritez Du Siecle Da Present
(~The truths about the present century)

This print from about 1700 comes from somewhere in HAB (probably from a book). Approximately: priests bless you, soldiers guard you, farmers nourish you and, of course, lawyers eat you. Lawyer jokes have been around a long time: low hanging fish in a barrel.

"Vorwarts!" (Forward!)
{Natural History curiosity found in a Russian village in 1844}

This political satire is from the time of the 1848 revolutions in German states and comes from Humboldt University Print of the Month series. The translated accompanying text reads:

"This very rare cartoon plays on the relationship between King Frederick William and his Culture Minister Johann Albrecht Friedrich von Eichhorn. Eichhorn, Prussian Minister of the most controversial of the pre-March, which was retired in consequence of the revolution of 1848-49. The scene shows the Minister, here as a squirrel, sitting on the shoulders of the sleeping king, and directing the cancer (lobster) into a quagmire. The Location of the event "in a village in Russia" suggests that even conservative circles of far-reaching anti-liberal policies Eichhorn.

The king was asleep, his minister, "confided" stands for the indifference of the monarch to the emerging political opposition. The cry "Forward" stands in contrast to the symbolism of the cancer that might have been the most in March 1844 adopted by Eichhorn law on disciplinary proceedings against judicial officers as a pictorial representation of backwardness and reactionary policies took place in graphic snapshots of use. The occasion for the presentation, that would degrade as in Russia, particularly judges to instructions governing bodies. This satire is part of the collection of pamphlets and posters of the revolution of 1848-49 in the Office of Historical book collections of the University Library."

A Bad Shot! [Lloyd George dropping Budget Bombs from an airship]
(The Budget Protest League*)

"Ach! I did ~~not~~ mean to hit ze rich man's castle, but I have made von bad miss and hit ze factory."

Sourced from Oxford University's Bodleian Library Conservative Party Association Poster Collection.

See Brett's post - Keep that shadow from them - at Airminded for more background.

Coffre Sculpte des Habitans de la Nouvelle Zelande
(Carved coffin by New Zealanders) [source: Rare Maps]

A Maori carved casket, from the first French edition of Cook's official account of his travels to New Zealand, 1774.

Cropped detail from an 1830s work by MI Weber called: 'Anatomischer Atlas des Menschlichen Körpers in Natürlicher Größe, Lage und Verbindung der Theile' (~Anatomical atlas of the human body: natural size, location and connection) [source]

Ovidiu posted a nice selection of late 19th century European photographer details from the backs of photographs, for their typographic goodness.

[click through any image for an enlarged version; all images with black borders were spliced together from screencaps. This post was actually ready a couple of days ago and then I lost the whole thing and had to start again. Idiot.]

Other things...

JFK Library's online McCune Collection features rare and early printed works, fine printing from private presses and more (site map is a good place to start).
Bowsprite: A New York Harbor Sketchbook.
The wonderful ~7 minute video below relates to the Pictorial Websters project by John M Carrera.
The Wood Engravers Network kindly make available for download issues of their biannual illustrated newsletter-come-magazine: Block & Burin.
The mid-19th century 'Victorian Blood Book' from the library of Evelyn Waugh at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas now features an audio slide-show.
There was lots more but I just got a new computer (yay!) and am still totally disorganised with links and images all over the place (boo!).

Pictorial Webster's: Inspiration to Completion from John Carrera on Vimeo.

The Knightly Arts

2009-10-26T01:25:00.001+11:00

The Art of the Gladiator

[click on any image for an enlarged version]

'De Arte Athletica' (Volume II) [B Cod.icon. 393(2)] is online at the Bavarian State Library.

The massive mid-16th century treatise on combat techniques by Paul Hector Mair totals over twelve hundred pages, spread across two exquisitely illustrated manuscripts.

Volume I - featured earlier this year in the entry Pugnacious Puffy Pants - 'tends' to concentrate more on the armed and unarmed hand-to-hand techniques, while the present volume introduces the tournament combat styles of knights.

A number of the illustrations are thought, perhaps unsurprisingly, to have been derived from or copied after the style of Hans Bergkmair (both father & son); see: Burgkmair Tournament Book. Some of the scenes and combattants depicted in 'De Arte Athletica' are based on actual tournaments (and participants) from history.

Translated catalogue page.
More background information on Mair and this magnificent work can be found in Pugnacious Puffy Pants: definitely worth seeing.
Previously in general: combat & festival.

Handshakes in Thought

2009-10-20T01:11:00.007+11:00

The Van Gogh Letter Sketches

"The feeling for and love of nature always strike a chord sooner or later with people who take an interest in art. The duty of the painter is to study nature in depth and to use all his intelligence, to put his feelings into his work so that it becomes comprehensible to others.

But working with an eye to saleability isn’t exactly the right way in my view, but rather is cheating art lovers. The true artists didn't do that; the sympathy they received sooner or later came because of their sincerity. I know no more than that, and don't believe I need to know any more."
{Vincent Van Gogh b. 1853 d. 29 July 1890} [252]

[click on any of the linked numbers with each image to access the letter facsimile,

transcriptions/translations and views of completed artworks and useful notations]

Café Au Charbonnage

To Theo Van Gogh (Vincent's brother) from Laken (near Brussels)

November 1878 [148]

"That little drawing, ‘The Au charbonnage café’ is really nothing special, but the reason I couldn’t help making it is because one sees so many coalmen, and they really are a remarkable people. This little house is not far from Trekweg, it’s actually a simple inn right next to the big workplace where the workers come in their free time to eat their bread and drink a glass of beer.

Back during my time in England I applied for a position as an evangelist among the coal-miners, but they brushed my request aside and said I had to be at least 25 years old. You surely know that one of the root or fundamental truths, not only of the gospel but of the entire Bible, is ‘the light that dawns in the darkness’. From darkness to Light. Well then, who will most certainly need it, who will have an ear to hear it?"

Road with a man and pollard willows

To Theo from Etten (Gelderland, Holland)

October 1881 [175]

"Nature always begins by resisting the draughtsman, but he who truly takes it seriously doesn’t let himself be deterred by that resistance, on the contrary, it’s one more stimulus to go on fighting, and at bottom nature and an honest draughtsman see eye to eye. Nature is most certainly ‘intangible’, though, yet one must seize it, and with a firm hand.

And now, after spending some time wrestling and struggling with nature, it’s starting to become a bit more yielding and submissive, not that I’m there yet, no one is less inclined to think so than I, but things are beginning to go more smoothly. The struggle with nature sometimes resembles what Shakespeare calls ‘Taming the shrew’ (i.e. to conquer the opposition through perseverance). In many things, but more particularly in drawing, I think that delving deeply into something is better than letting it go.

I feel more and more as time goes on that figure drawing in particular is good, that it also works indirectly to the good of landscape drawing. If one draws a pollard willow as though it were a living being, which it actually is, then the surroundings follow more or less naturally, if only one has focused all one’s attention on that one tree and hasn’t rested until there was some life in it."

Bleaching ground

To Theo from The Hague

July 1882 [251]

"I’ve also done a bleaching ground at Scheveningen* on the spot in one go, entirely in wash almost without preparation, on a very coarse piece of torchon."

Fishing boats on the beach & Rooftops

To Theo from The Hague

July 1882 [251]

"I now have 3 of Scheveningen — again the Fish-drying barn you know — drawn in as much detail — only now there’s colour as well. As you well know, Theo, it isn't harder to work in colour than in black and white, the opposite perhaps, but as far as I can see 3/4 comes down to the original sketch, and almost the whole watercolour depends on its quality.

It isn’t enough to give an approximation, and my aim has been and still is to make it more intense. I believe that's already evident in the black-and-white fish-drying barns, because there you can follow everything and see how it all fits together, and look, I think this is why I now work much more fluently in watercolour, because for such a long time I did my best to draw more correctly."

Pollard willow

To Theo from The Hague

July 1882 [252]

I’ve attacked that old giant of a pollard willow, and I believe it has turned out the best of the watercolours. A sombre landscape — that dead tree beside a stagnant pond covered in duckweed, in the distance a Rijnspoor depot where railway lines cross, smoke-blackened buildings — also green meadows, a cinder road and a sky in which the clouds are racing, grey with an occasional gleaming white edge, and a depth of blue where the clouds tear apart for a moment.

In short, I wanted to make it like how I imagine the signalman with his smock and red flag must see and feel it when he thinks: how gloomy it is today.

Four people on a bench

To Theo from The Hague

September 1882 [262]

"Well, I hope that the small bench, even if not yet saleable, will show you that I have nothing against tackling subjects with something agreeable or pleasant about them, which are thus more likely to find buyers than things with a more sombre sentiment. [..]

There’s so much paint around that it has even got onto this letter — I’m working on the big watercolour of the bench. I hope it comes off, but the great problem is to retain detail with deep tone, and clarity is extremely difficult.

Adieu again, a handshake in thought, and believe me, Ever yours, Vincent"

Orchard in blossom with two figures: spring

To Theo from The Hague

October 1882 [271]

"How beautiful it is outdoors — I’m doing my best to capture autumnal effects.
I’m writing to you in great haste, I assure you that there’s a lot involved in compositions with figures, and I’m very busy. It’s like weaving: you have to give it all your attention to keep the threads apart; you must control and keep an eye on several things at once."

Miners in the snow: winter

To Theo from The Hague

October 1882 [271]

"Imagine, this week to my great surprise I received a package from home — with a winter coat, warm trousers, and a warm lady’s coat. I was very touched. The churchyard with the wooden crosses is often on my mind, so I may do some studies for it in advance – I would like to do something like that in the snow – a peasant funeral or the like. In short, an effect like the enclosed scratch of miners."

Five men and a child in the snow

To Theo from The Hague

March 1883 [322]

"Do you remember bringing me pieces of natural chalk last summer? I tried to work with it then but couldn’t. So I was left with a few pieces that I took up again these past few days; enclosed a scratch done with it. As you see, it’s a warm, unusual black. I’d very much like you to bring some more, this summer say. It has one great advantage — the firm pieces are much easier to hold while sketching than a thin stick of conté*, which has nothing to grip and breaks all the time. So it’s marvellous for sketching out of doors."

Snowy yard

To Anthon Van Rappard* from The Hague

March 1883 [329]

"Enclosed is a scratch out of the window. I always find it wonderfully cosy to sit by a fire in the dusk and to look through the window at a snow-covered landscape.

I’ve also found that natural chalk here in town. It’s an article that was practically unknown to me until now. Now, though, I find it isn’t that rare — and you probably know it and already have it. If not, I think it a singular medium in which to draw.

Adieu, old chap, a handshake in thought."

Man in a village inn

To Theo from The Hague

March 1883 [330]

"Here’s a scratch, for example, that I did in that kind of daydream. It shows a gentleman who has had to spend the night at a village inn due to the late arrival of diligence or some such reason. Now he has risen early, and while he orders a glass of brandy for the cold he pays the innkeeper’s wife (a woman with a peasant’s cap). But it’s still very early in the morning, ‘the crack of dawn’, — he must catch the mail-coach — the moon is still shining and the glistening snow can be seen through the window of the taproom — and the objects cast oddly whimsical shadows.

This story is really nothing at all, and the scratch is nothing too, but from one thing and another you’ll perhaps understand what I mean, namely that of late everything had a je ne sais quoi that made one feel like scribbling it down on paper.

In short, the whole of nature is an inexpressibly beautiful Black and White exhibition when there are those snow effects."

Peat diggers in the dunes

To Theo from The Hague

May 1883 [347]

"Do you remember that in the very beginning I once sent you sketches of a sort, ‘Winter Tale’, Shadows passing, etc.? You said at the time that you thought the action of the figures was insufficiently expressed — do you remember? Now that was entirely true, but for a few years now I’ve been toiling solely on the figure in order to get some action and also some structure into it. And precisely because of that toil, I had rather lost my enthusiasm for composing and for making my imagination work once more.

It was reawakened when Rappard talked about those early days with a certain warmth. Now, however superficial this little sketch may be, I believe you’ll find something of the earliest time in it, but just with more action.

This is Peat diggers in the dunes — the drawing itself is now about 1 metre by 1/2 metre.

It’s a wonderfully beautiful sight in nature, from which an infinite number of subjects can be taken. I went there often these last few weeks and have all kinds of studies of it. Rappard saw studies of it, but when he was here we didn’t know how to bring it together. This composition came about later. And once I’d finally got it all just about together, it went quite smoothly, and at 4 o’clock in the morning I was already working on it in the attic."

Gardener with a wheelbarrow & Interior with a woman sewing & Weaver

To Antoine Philippe Furnée* from Nuenen (Noord-Brabant)

January 1884 [421]

"Things are going quite well for me here in Brabant, anyway I find the countryside here very stimulating.

Now, in these last few weeks I have made 4 watercolours of Weavers. And a few others of a timber sale, an interior with a seamstress, and a gardener, all watercolours. Herewith a few scratches of them."

Parsonage garden with trees in blossom

To Theo from Nuenen

April 1884 [444]

"I send you herewith a croquis of a painting I’m working on with some others — this is an effect of trees in blossom in the late afternoon. [..]

You mustn’t, whatever you do, think that I have great expectations regarding the appreciation of my work — I believe one must be satisfied if one gets to the point where one can persuade a few people of the soundness of what one is striving for and is understood by them, without exaggerated praise.

And the rest is a matter of, if something comes of it so much the better, but something that one should even think about as little as possible. But still I believe the work has to be seen, precisely because the few friends can settle out from the stream of passers-by. One doesn’t have to be guided by what the majority say or do, though."

Orchard bordered by cypresses

To Émile Bernard* from Arles (in Provence = Bouches-du-Rhône today)

April 1888 [596]

"I follow no system of brushwork at all; I hit the canvas with irregular strokes which I leave as they are, impastos, uncovered spots of canvas — corners here and there left inevitably unfinished — reworkings, roughnesses; well, I’m inclined to think that the result is sufficiently worrying and annoying not to please people with preconceived ideas about technique.

Here’s a croquis, by the way, the entrance to a Provençal orchard with its yellow reed fences, with its shelter (against the mistral), black cypresses, with its typical vegetables of various greens, yellow lettuces, onions and garlic and emerald leeks. While always working directly on the spot, I try to capture the essence in the drawing — then I fill the spaces demarcated by the outlines (expressed or not) but felt in every case, likewise with simplified tints, in the sense that everything that will be earth will share the same purplish tint, that the whole sky will have a blue tonality, that the greenery will either be blue greens or yellow greens, deliberately exaggerating the yellow or blue values in that case. Anyway, my dear pal, no trompe l’oeil in any case."

Still life with coffee pot

To Theo from Arles

May 1888 [611]

"This week I’ve done two still lifes. A blue enamelled tin coffee-pot, a royal blue and gold cup (on the left), a pale blue and white chequered milk jug, a cup — on the right — white, with blue and orange designs, on a yellow grey earthenware plate, a blue barbotine or majolica jug with red, green, brown designs, and lastly 2 oranges and 3 lemons; the table is covered with a blue cloth, the background is yellow green, making 6 different blues and 4 or 5 yellows and oranges. The other still life is the majolica jug with wild flowers." [..]

"And we sometimes lack the desire to throw ourselves head first into art again and to build ourselves up for that. We know we’re cab-horses and that it’ll be the same cab we’re going to be harnessed to again. And so we don’t feel like doing it and we’d prefer to live in a meadow with a sun, a river, the company of other horses who are also free, and the act of generation. And perhaps in the final account your heart condition comes partly from there; it wouldn’t greatly surprise me. We no longer rebel against things, we’re not resigned either — we’re ill and it’s not going to get any better — and we can’t do anything specific about it. I don’t know who called this condition being struck by death and immortality.

The cab we drag along must be of use to people we don’t know. But you see, if we believe in the new art, in the artists of the future, our presentiment doesn’t deceive us. When good père Corot said a few days before he died: 'last night I saw in my dreams landscapes with entirely pink skies', well, didn’t they come, those pink skies, and yellow and green into the bargain, in Impressionist landscapes? All this is to say there are things one senses in the future and that really come about."

The public garden (‘The poet's garden’)

To Theo from Arles

September 1888 [689]

"I’m well aware that I wrote to you only yesterday, but the day has been so beautiful again. My great sorrow is that you can’t see what I see here. From 7 o’clock in the morning I sat in front of what was, after all, nothing special — a round cedar or cypress bush — planted in grass. You know this round bush already, since you already have a study of the garden. By the way, included herewith a croquis of my canvas — a square no. 30 again.

The bush is a variegated green, slightly tinged with bronze, the grass is very, very green, Veronese tinged with lemon, the sky is very, very blue. The line of bushes in the background are all raving mad oleanders. These bloody plants flower in such a way that they could surely catch locomotor ataxia!" [..]

"But isn’t it true that this garden has a funny sort of style that means that you can very well imagine the Renaissance poets, Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, strolling among these bushes on the flowery grass?"

The Yellow House (‘The street’)

To Theo from Arles

September 1888 [691]

"..croquis of a square no. 30 canvas showing the house and its surroundings under a sulphur sun, under a pure cobalt sky. That’s a really difficult subject! But I want to conquer it for that very reason. Because it’s tremendous, these yellow houses in the sunlight and then the incomparable freshness of the blue.

All the ground’s yellow, too. I’ll send you another, better drawing of it than this croquis from memory; the house to the left is pink, with green shutters; the one that’s shaded by a tree, that’s the restaurant where I go to eat supper every day. My friend the postman lives at the bottom of the street on the left, between the two railway bridges."

Starry night over the Rhône

To Theo from Arles

September 1888 [691]

"Included herewith little croquis of a square no. 30 canvas — the starry sky at last, actually painted at night, under a gas-lamp. The sky is green-blue, the water is royal blue, the fields are mauve. The town is blue and violet. The gaslight is yellow, and its reflections are red gold and go right down to green bronze. Against the green-blue field of the sky the Great Bear has a green and pink sparkle whose discreet paleness contrasts with the harsh gold of the gaslight. Two small coloured figures of lovers in the foreground."

Starry night over the Rhône

To Eugène Boch* from Arles

October 1888 [693]

"[A] study of the Rhône, of the town under gaslight and reflected in the blue river.
With the starry sky above — with the Great Bear — with a pink and green sparkle on the cobalt blue field of the night sky, while the light of the town and its harsh reflections are of a red gold and a green tinged with bronze. Painted at night."

The bedroom

To Theo from Arles

October 1888 [705]

"At last I’m sending you a little croquis to give you at least an idea of the direction the work is taking. Because today I’ve gone back to it. My eyes are still tired, but anyway I had a new idea in mind, and here’s the croquis of it. No. 30 canvas once again. This time it’s simply my bedroom, but the colour has to do the job here, and through its being simplified by giving a grander style to things, to be suggestive here of rest or of sleep in general.

In short, looking at the painting should rest the mind, or rather, the imagination.
The walls are of a pale violet. The floor — is of red tiles.
The bedstead and the chairs are fresh butter yellow.
The sheet and the pillows very bright lemon green.
The bedspread scarlet red.
The window green.
The dressing table orange, the basin blue.
The doors lilac.

And that’s all — nothing in this bedroom, with its shutters closed.
The solidity of the furniture should also now express unshakeable repose.
Portraits on the wall, and a mirror and a hand-towel and some clothes.
The frame — as there’s no white in the painting — will be white.
This to take my revenge for the enforced rest that I was obliged to take.
I’ll work on it again all day tomorrow, but you can see how simple the idea is. The shadows and cast shadows are removed; it’s coloured in flat, plain tints like Japanese prints."

The bedroom

To Paul Gaugin from Arles

October 1888 [706]

"Look here, I wrote to you the other day that my vision was strangely tired. Well, I rested for two and a half days, and then I got back to work. But not yet daring to go outside, I did, for my decoration once again, a no. 30 canvas of my bedroom with the whitewood furniture that you know. Ah, well, it amused me enormously doing this bare interior. With a simplicity à la Seurat.

In flat tints, but coarsely brushed in full impasto, the walls pale lilac, the floor in a broken and faded red, the chairs and the bed chrome yellow, the pillows and the sheet very pale lemon green, the bedspread blood-red, the dressing-table orange, the washbasin blue, the window green. I had wished to express utter repose with all these very different tones, you see, among which the only white is the little note given by the mirror with a black frame (to cram in the fourth pair of complementaries as well).

Anyway, you’ll see it with the others, and we’ll talk about it. Because I often don’t know what I’m doing, working almost like a sleepwalker."

Daubigny’s garden

To Theo from Auvers-sur-Oise (NW suburb of Paris)

July 1890 [902]

"Foreground of green and pink grass, on the left a green and lilac bush and a stem of plants with whitish foliage. In the middle a bed of roses. To the right a hurdle, a wall, and above the wall a hazel tree with violet foliage. Then a hedge of lilac, a row of rounded yellow lime trees. The house itself in the background, pink with a roof of bluish tiles. A bench and 3 chairs, a dark figure with a yellow hat, and in the foreground a black cat. Sky pale green."

Thatched cottages and figures

To Theo from Auvers-sur-Oise

July 1890 [902]

"Perhaps you’ll see this croquis of Daubigny’s garden [image above] – it’s one of my most deliberate canvases – to it I’m adding a croquis of old thatched roofs and the croquis of 2 no. 30 canvases depicting immense stretches of wheat after the rain." [..]

"As for myself, I’m applying myself to my canvases with all my attention, I’m trying to do as well as certain painters whom I’ve liked and admired a great deal. What seems to me on my return – is that the painters themselves are increasingly at bay.

Very well. But has the moment to make them understand the utility of a union not rather passed already? On the other hand a union, if it were formed, would go under if the rest went under. Then you’d perhaps tell me that dealers would unite for the Impressionists; that would be very fleeting. Anyway it seems to me that personal initiative remains ineffective, and having done the experiment, would one begin it again?"

[click on any image above to access an enlarged version]

"This magnificent new edition of the complete Van Gogh letters is a celebration not only of a great artist but of art itself. Through six large volumes of more than 900 letters, meticulously annotated and accompanied by a wealth of illustrations, we are allowed to follow the painter's progress through a long and at times painful apprenticeship to ultimate artistic triumph.

In these volumes, the arc of Van Gogh's life as traced in the letters is supported on a complex sub-structure of pictorial examples – every single work mentioned in the correspondence, from the merest sketch to finished masterpieces, is identified and reproduced – and the result is a deeply affecting insight into the mind of one of the strangest and yet best-loved painters of the early Modernist period."

Vincent Van Gogh - The Letters. [with sketches]
Recommended: Charley Parker at Lines and Colors on Van Gogh's Letters.
Thanks Mike !

The Tudor Pattern Book

2009-10-18T00:09:00.001+11:00

Pimpernel. Blue flower. Stylised design.

Stylised floral design. Iris, violet.

Stylised floral design. Stylised red poppies.

Stylised floral design. Purple flowers. Parrot.

Stylised floral design. Buttercup, periwinkle.

Design based on botanical shapes, flowers, pineapple.

Three stylized trefoils. Flower-box.

Oak and Pine. Ape with pipe, drum. Smaller ape on donkey.

Naked bearded man on donkey holding club. Blue-caped fox plays bagpipes.

Peach and Prune. Two birds perched on a pimpernel.

Cumfrey and Daisy, Cauldrons, powter plate, yellow dish.

Ash and Almond, large wooden 2-masted ship with anchor on sea by rocks.

Henbane and Hart's Tongue. Table, laid, Animal on pewter dish. Benches.

Blackberry and Birch. Two sprays of birdseyes.

Lynx and Lizard. 2 ornaments with stylized fish heads.

Cockatrice and Crocodile. Dragon with human head in mouth. Crayfish.

Reindeer and Panther. Striped animal with curly hair.

Peacock and Ostrich with its egg above it. Duck.

Unicorns. Fox. Bird.

Griffon and Greyhound. Two fierce-looking birds.

Bear and Bloodhound, Goat, green insect, apes.

A scroll alphabet

Alphabet based on human forms.

[click through to larger versions; all captions are quoted]

"In Medieval times, book illustrators aimed to produce very rich illustrations to decorate their books. For inspiration they kept pattern or model books. These books contained jottings of anything that caught the illustrator's eye: figures, animals, monsters, decorative capital letters, borders, motifs. But these weren't drawn firsthand - they were all borrowed from earlier books, paintings or glass windows. [..]

Pattern books were practical tools and also helped to circulate artistic traditions and ideas around the manuscript making community. Because they were working documents, passing between many different people, few medieval pattern books have survived."

The present work, Bodleian MS. Ashmole 1504 ('The Tudor Pattern Book'), is unique in the sense that it is part-bestiary, part-herbal and an important visual record of early cultivated plants. It was produced in East Anglia in about 1520 and its twin (known as the 'Helmingham Herbal and Bestiary' and perhaps a little older than the Ashmole variant) is now part of the Yale Center for British Art collection in ~~Virginia~~ Newhaven, Connecticut.

Bodleian MS. Ashmole 1504 is hosted on the Oxford University Luna servlet - just over one hundred thumbnail pages.
A medieval pattern book at the British Library.
From the model-book to the sketch-book.
Hemp and Hops, together again at last (from Got Medieval) on this image from the Ashmole 1504 manuscript.
Previously related and well worth seeing: Gothic Illuminated Sketchbook & Lace Modelbuchs [also: Lace Typography & The Bodleian Library Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts]
The Medieval Bestiary.
Just because I found it in passing: The Art Tribune - the latest news in western art from the Middle Ages to the 1930s. [great link list to image sources too]
'Two East Anglian Picture Books : A Facsimile of the Helmingham Herbal and Bestiary and Bodleian Ms. Ashmole 1504', ed. by Nicholas Barker (London: The Roxburghe Club, 1988) [see here; it's listed at a few bookseller and catalogue sites]
'Flowers and Trees of Tudor England' by Clare Putnam London: Hugh Evelyn, 1972) "..original English edition. small folio, unpaginated (ca. 70 pp.), reproducing 32 full page color plates form leaves from Ms. Ashmole 1504" [Listed by Gardenbooks site & Amazon].
Also reproducing colour images from our Tudor Pattern Book: 'Shakespeare's Flowers', 1994. London: Pavilion Books Ltd by Jenny de Gex.

Konstanz to Jerusalem

2009-10-10T00:40:00.001+11:00

'Beschreibung der Reise von Konstanz nach Jerusalem' [1487] (Description of a journey from Konstanz* to Jerusalem] records in diary form the pilgrimage undertaken by the German knight (as well as town mayor and architect), Konrad von Grünenberg*.

'Beschreibung der Reise von Konstanz nach Jerusalem' is hosted by the Badische Landesbibliothek (thumbnail links a third of the way down the page) Bibliographic references are in the box at the end.

I'm 100% sure the last full city illustration above is Jerusalem and I would bet someone's good money that the first city above is Rhodes (the stylised windmills give it away: compare to Hartmann Schedel's illustration of Rhodes from a few years later from the famous 'Liber Chronicarum' {a book that will one day be the subject of its own post on BibliOdyssey}).

In other words, the pilgrimage diary of von Grünenberg ("green mountain") is a very significant manuscript both in terms of historical urban geography and also because it is an early form of travel literature, a genre that would rise to prominence some two centuries later. [via]

Weird Islands

2009-10-07T03:48:00.006+11:00

[stilts!]

{click through for modest enlargements; the images were extracted from a pdf and most were background cleaned to one extent or another; mouseover for image titles}

Mad Art Nouveau fantasy illustrations by the Belgian artist, Jean de Bosschère, from his 1921 book, 'Weird Islands', available from the Internet Archive in various formats. (Thanks Jake!!)

Jean de Bosschère at Amazon

As a note (mostly) to myself: If you have an illustrated pdf and you want to take off jpeg images, you should test out the resolution quality by cranking up the display % above 100%. (I have seen some retain integrity/quality up to 300%) But if you do that, you are best off taking a screencap rather than using the page image capture system from the pdf program camera icon in the toolbar. You may think you are capturing an image at 150%, but the cam-icon extracted jpegs turn out to be 100%. Got it? [As a subsequent thought: this might only apply to the Foxit pdf program]

****You can now follow me on twitter @peacayfeeds : I recently started a new account -- in addition to the rss-esque twitter feed for @BibliOdyssey -- which ports over the shared feeds from googlereader plus anything else of interest in the (visual) realm of art, science, history, literature, digital archives, library and museum exhibitions &c.

Outer Space

2009-10-04T17:15:00.011+11:00

'The Leonardo of Wermsdorf' -

technical illustrations by Karl Hans (Joachim) Janke

"My atom could also be called a space-electron atom. It’s an energy collecting and condensation mechanism, in which case energy is absorbed respectively from the earth’s magnetic field and likewise the entire solar system. Let me remind you of the central, magnetic strait in the solar ring-system.

The energy as such already exists in space, as well as in our atmosphere. Our earth teems with such energy and the sun provides a great supply of it. Billions of space-electrons, pressed into the system over thousands of years by the sun, generate the energy that I then retrieve using the suitable acceptors, antennas, sensibility gages etc., and, with the help of precisely constructed compressors, press into the stationary (or mobile) system. [..]

One day, the operation of all land, air, sea and space-vehicles will rely on this atom. [..]

Galactic island-clouds – 420-million-kilometers-long and 150-million-kilometers in diameter. Billions in the darkness of space! I call them mother-nutrient clouds because they contain all the nutrition needed by the solar system – all of the known chemical compounds, existing in a dust-like state. Shining suns and systems grow wild on it like meadow flowers! Three, five, nine, eleven solar systems on every soil-nutrient cloud!

In the early stages, humans will travel from one solar system to another. These space-island clouds – according to my own scientific hypothesis, and discovered by no other scientist on earth – will draw closer and move away again over a period of thousands and thousands of years. They roam through eternal space without borders, drift up and down, and to the right and left – like the clouds above our earth. When such space-island clouds meet and align, we’ll make transfers with our vehicles from one cloud to the next, and continuously drive through eternal space." [KH Janke]¹

Small 'trajekt' (ferry?) 1954

(Trajekt is possibly a made-up word derived from the German word for trajectory, but I'll leave it as 'ferry' in other titles below)

The image captions in this blog post are all from an online translator so they are iffy. [Edit: now cleaned up a bit - thanks Stephan!] You can see the original German titles by mousing over the image.

By way of example, the metadata provided with each image (which I won't bother reproducing for all of them) looks like this (translated):

Series: ferries, airplanes, helicopters, engines, space
1954
Admin: Wermsdorf, Rosengarten e.V., inv TRA047
Material and Technique: colored
Iconography keyword: ferry

Turbine ferry, 1954

Steam-Gas Ferry, 1955

Nuclear electric rocket engine, 1957

Airship Sedina with (honeycomb?) ~~Ball~~ spherical chamber, 1954

Vacuum ferry / jet ferry, 1956

~~Dt. Aviation and space traffic Fahrze. / Ferry-Liniend, undated~~

German Aviation and space traffic vehicles / Regular Ferry Service, undated

Vacuum ferry, 1957

Helga's drum honeycomb ship, 1954

*Helga might mean: 'Helium gas'*

Space airship series I, 1954

Space airship with light charger (faceted), 1953

Recreational trips, 'Hiddensee' ferry, undated

Terra Venussa, 1968

Terra Venussa before landing on the moon, 1968

Elektratom - the German space-height(?) vehicle, 1954

probably better as 'the German space-going or space-compatible vehicle'

The gateway to the universe (earth, air - moon), undated

Universe - traffic between the planetary poles, 1968

Landing on another world, 1968

Space sphere ferry, 1972

Mercury steam cooker, 1962

Wheel motor, atomic-disc rotor, 1954

~~Rear end of the "Raumtrajekts" (?ferry rooms), 1955~~

Rear end of the space ferry, 1955

Ice sledge with jet propulsion, 1971

Cyclop: First Large-borne aircraft, 1955

(maybe 'Large-indentation' aircraft?)

Gyro helicopter (gyrocopter), 1954

Sphere carrying gas boiler, 1953

~~German nuclear power unit, 1957~~

German nuclear engine, 1957

German atomic bus, 1966

Lunamobil - the vehicle for the lunar landscape, 1966

Atom jet express, 1972

[All images are presumed © the Estate or assignees of KH Janke]

{click on any image above for a larger version}

Have you heard of Janke before? No? Well then stop reading here and go and have a look through his portfolio of nearly 3,500 drawings/documents that Deutsche Fotothek uploaded in the last couple of months. The sampling of images above hardly does the fellow's amazing legacy justice, and it's arguably better to get a feel for his output without being prejudiced by the background detail. Or so I think. Click on 'alle in Galerie anzeigen' or one of the category links below it. They bring up thumbnail pages and there's a zoom link below each image. Have a decent browse around and then come back; we'll wait.

Karl Hans Janke (1909-1988) graduated from high school and attended a technical college for a couple of years and studied dentistry although he didn't complete the course. He was drafted into the German army in 1940 where he was hospitalised on a number of occasions because of behavioural problems and was eventually discharged from the service on medical grounds in 1943.

By the late 1940s Janke was found to be malnourished and exhibiting increasingly eccentric behaviour and, after a short prison sentence and hospital assessment, he was committed to a psychiatric institution in Wermsdorf, Saxony in 1950 with a diagnosis of chronic paranoid schizophrenia. He remained at this facility for the rest of his life.

The institutional staff either encouraged or tolerated the passion Janke showed for sketching technical designs: he had his own "office" in the hospital in which he produced four thousand drawings and constructed hundreds of models of his "inventions". Apparently the boxes containing his works were stowed away at the hospital and forgotten after his death and weren't rediscovered until 2000 when the imaginative artistry and sheer enormity of his output was finally recognised.

Janke was, in his own mind at least, a serious engineer, intent on helping mankind by devising all manner of rocket ship (especially), space vehicle, ferry, bike, propulsion mechanism and associated transport system. His drawings range from simple prototype sketches to incredibly detailed schematics reminiscent of technical manual designs. He was an energetic correspondent with the patent office and various technological and aerospace type agencies and departments, endeavouring - without much luck - to share his inventions with his scientific "peers". Fearing theft of his intellectual property however, Janke was also assiduous in dating and signing his works with an accompanying statement declaring himself as the author and originator of each idea depicted.

It's an astonishing collection and, on casual perusal, might simply be regarded as an interesting and artistic obsession (like blogging?), albeit at the extreme end of the continuum. But the delusional nature of Janke's illness becomes readily apparent from closer inspection (and reading around). His elaborate and grandiose ideas about harnessing stellar atomic energy meld with naive conceptual visions for its applications and connections to nature and other lifeforms. He skips from a vague - to put it mildly - comprehension of the atom to designing end-point technical gizmos and transporters that will rely on his illusory power source. There is also a whole series of watercolour sketches outlining the origin of the world (including as a hatching egg), for instance, that hints at the breadth of eccentricity within Janke's deranged belief system.

I'm sure some people will consider Janke's thoughts and designs about futuristic transport to alien planets and odd energy sources to be visionary genius or prescient, with parallels in the modern world say, but they really are the product of deluded fantasies, no doubt helped along by photographs and schematics he saw in newspapers over decades that documented the evolution of rockets and satellites. This was a fellow who built a totally psychotic world in his own head - and he had no insight that it was from an illness - with only tenuous connections to reality; whose extraordinary artistic output wasn't so much a symptom as it was a documentary record of the nature and extent of his distorted thought patterns. That's not to say that his portfolio isn't brilliant in an 'outsider art' way. It is, of course. But any deeper meanings relate to aesthetic qualities or psychiatric disturbance and not to technological virtuosity.

Janke's works have been exhibited in both space art and psychiatric art exhibitions. The accompanying catalogues (linked below) have articles translated into English in which the authors speculate - perhaps wildly at times - about the probable background and origins of Janke's inspiration. One idea of particular note observes that Janke often backdated his designs and research to 1928 (he signs them with 1928-1956, for example) and the inference goes that 1928 was the year Fritz Lang released his sci-fi film, 'Woman in the Moon'*, (or at least, the year when the book it was based on was released; the film: 1929) which just might have been the trigger for Janke's life-long obsession with outer space creativity. Maybe.

"Janke went to great pains to emphasize that all his technological inventions and ideas were for the benefit of humanity and aimed towards propagating peace. In his final testament, he wrote: 'I ask you to keep the images and albums with the numerous drawings and models that I created for you humans.' " ²

'Der "Künstler-Erfinder" von Hubertusburg' - the Deutsche Fototek collection.
Karl Hans Janke (Rosengarten e.V.).
'The Silence of Flying' exhibition catalogue [2.5Mb PDF] from Die Stille des Fliegens.
¹'Karl Hans Janke vs. Wernher von Braun: Die Ideen eines Weltraumphantasten' catalogue [5.4Mb PDF] from the Peenemünde Historical Technical Information Center.
Variously via: Briefe an Konrad, Metafilter & Things Magazine.
²Quoted from 'The Imaginary Engineer' by Kris Lee, IN: Cabinet Magazine (dead tree version only): Spring 2008, Issue 29 (Thanks Matt!!)

Turkish Costumes

2009-09-30T01:35:00.004+10:00

{click through to the full size images: touched up slightly}

This 17th century album, simply entitled 'Turkish Costumes', is hosted by the Digital Library of Poland [thumbnail page]

There are more than one hundred figures depicted -- probably a cross-section of Constantinople ~~middle to upper class~~ occupations -- in Ottoman/Turkish garb with original illustration titles in Arabic script. Later Turkish and French handwriting provide translations (presumably) of the occupation names.

I haven't really had a good look through these but SCA have compiled a selection of links related to Ottoman costumes.

Previously, in general: costumes.

Hortulus Monheimensis

2009-09-27T21:32:00.001+10:00

'Hortulus Monheimensis' - [BSB Cod.icon. 31] is hosted by the Bavarian State Library. [click 'Miniaturansicht'] The watercolour sketches appear in the first ~300 pages of this manuscript (the rest are blank) with an illustration every two pages. It's one case where I consider the downloadable pdf to be the superior quality alternative to the website jpeg images (the link is top right of the landing page - 66Mb).

This handsome florilegium was commissioned in 1615 by Wolfgang P Brandt, a local governor or magistrate from Monheim in the east Bavarian region of Donau-Ries*. It is a rather unique record of a Renaissance garden - in this case the Monheim Palace Gardens - but unfortunately the fold-out plan of the estate wasn't digitised because of conservation issues.

For the early 17th century, this manuscript presents mostly naturalistic specimens - albeit, sans root structures - and it's fairly easy to identify many of the species. It was probably inspired or at least influenced by the great 'Hortus Eyestettensis' from 1613.

BSB catalogue entry [trans.]
Previously in general: flora.
A few other images were saved in the set.

Waiter, There's a Hair in my Satire

2009-09-22T23:33:00.004+10:00

"Fashionable" hairstyles for women began their vertical climb in the late 1760s, and with them rose the ire of social critics. Editorials appearing in London periodicals immediately decried the large headdresses that English ladies were all too eager to copy from their French counterparts.

Chronicling the rise and fall of the fashion takes us from the courts of France to the printshops of London and finally to the streets of Philadelphia in 1778, where all that the high roll represented in a new nation at war with an old empire was brought quite literally to a head."¹

Beauty's Lot

Adorn'd with Tates, I well could Boast,
Of Tons and Macaronys Toast;
I once was Fair, Young Frisky, Gay
Could please with songs and Dance the Hay
Bells reflect Ye Mortals see,
As I now am so you will be

Published in London in 1778

The Green Stall

1777 etching published by Matthew Darly. The head of a young woman in profile is the foundation of a monstrous inverted pyramid of hair decorated with vegetables; carrots predominating. On the top are heaped a large bundle of asparagus, a set of scales in one bowl of which are potatoes, a bunch of herbs (taking the place of the ostrich feathers of fashion), a cabbage, turnips, &c. Large carrots take the place of the large curls then worn flanking the coiffure; three bunches of carrots are the main decoration of the surface of the hair, on which are also a cabbage and clusters of leaves (or lettuces). Trails of pea-pods hang from the top of the head-dress after the manner of the lace lappets and ribbons then worn.

The Flower Garden

[B&W version]

Hand-coloured etched engraving published by M Darly in 1777.

Fruit Stall

Etching published by Matthew Darly in London in 1777. The head of a woman in profile is the foundation of a monstrous inverted pyramid of hair, decorated with the wares of a fruiterer. On the top are a basket of peaches and a large pineapple with its leaves. Down the side of the pyramid, where curls were worn, are large gourds of different shapes. The hair is further ornamented by two tall pottles of strawberries, bunches of grapes, pears growing on branches, a basket of plums, a basket of raspberries, and other fruit.

This is Something New

[B&W version]

Published by J Lockington in 1777, this etching shows a lady with her hair in a gigantic pyramid, protected by an enormous umbrella on a very long stick. Her draped over-skirt projects at the back in mountainous folds (support known as the 'corks's rump'). On these is seated a foppishly dressed man taking shelter under the projection of her hair. A simple countryman, whose hat has fallen to the ground, gapes at the pair in amazement. A fashionably dressed man on the right leers and points at them.

Cupid's Tower

Fair tresses Man's imperial race ensnare,
And beauty draws us with a single hair

A lady in profile with an enormous pyramid of hair in the fashion of the day. On the broad summit of the pyramid lies a miniature cupid fitting an arrow to his bow and about to aim in the direction in which the lady is looking. She wears the fashionable 'full-dress' of the period.

Mlle des Faveurs a la Promenade a Londres

Ma coiffure en effet ressemble au colombier,
Puisque tous ces pigeons viennent s'y reposer,
Mais en tirant dessus Anglois qu'allez vous faire,
Faut-il pour nos folies, vous rendre téméraires

Anonymous etching from about 1775. Satire on coiffures: A Frenchwoman with a ridiculously tall hair arrangement turns in amazement as an Englishman shoots at a flock of birds nesting in it.

La coiffure à la Belle Poule

{image source. Also see a variation on this theme in colour: includes more images [Pt. 1]}

"The Belle Poule was a French frigate of the Dédaigneuse class, designed and built by Léon-Michel Guignace, famous for her duel with the English frigate HMS Arethusa on 17 June 1778, which began the French involvement in the American War of Independence."

"One of the most fashionable hairstyles of the eighteenth century, À la Belle Poule, commemorated the victory of a French ship over an English ship in 1778. À la Belle Poule featured an enormous pile of curled and powdered hair stretched over a frame affixed to the top of a woman's head. The hair was then decorated with an elegant model of the Belle Poule ship, including sails and flags."

Le Stratageme Amoureux, ou la Toilette à la Mode

(The Lovers' Strategy or Fashionable Grooming)

Anonymous 1770s etching (one of a series, all apparently by the same hand). Satire on coiffures: A Frenchwoman is kissed by her elderly husband, while a procession of cupids climb a ladder along her ridiculously tall hair arrangement to deliver letters to her young lover above.

Ridiculous Taste or the Ladies Absurdity

[alternative version]

1776* mezzotint, published by Sayer & Bennett (after Darly), of a hairdresser mounting a ladder to get at the hair of a lady with an enormous coiffure, while another man holds a sextant to measure the distance. [*this might actually be the original print from 1771 and the alternative version was published later]

La Françoise à Londres. The French Lady in London,

or the Head Dress for the Year 1771

[Anonymous print after Samuel H Grimm]

"After Hogarth and before the French Revolution the humour directed at the French in caricatures is gentler. The satire is usually focussed on fashion and hairstyles, the latter being the subject of this print. The fashion for wealthy French women of the 1760s and 1770s was to wear their powdered hair tall, although this lady's coiffure is monstrously exaggerated."

The Female Pyramid

Anonymous 1771 etching from The Oxford Magazine, showing a hairdresser on a ladder with shears trimming the woman's absurdly high coiffure while a man views the action through a telescope.

The Preposterous Head Dress, or, The Featherd Lady (sic)

Etched engraving published by M Darly in 1776

"Both the lady and her maid sport the inverted heart-shaped pyramid all the rage in 1776 and 1777. The Duchess of Devonshire was said to have begun the fashion for ostrich feathers, seen here decorating the headdress along with fruit and carrots. Late in her life Lady Louisa Stuart wrote about the opposition to ostrich feathers as part of a headdress: 'This fashion was not attacked as fantastic or unbecoming or inconvenient or expensive, but as seriously wrong or immoral. The unfortunate feathers were insulted mobbed burned almost pelted.' "

La Brillante Toillete de la Déesse du Gout

{The Brilliant Grooming or the Goddess of Taste}

Qu'elle felicité pour ce jeune amoureux,
Il est dans ce moment au comble de ses voeux,
Puis qu'il peut sans rougir observer tour à tour,
Ces trésors enchanteurs, destinez à l'amour

1770s satirical print on coiffures: a Frenchwoman at her toilette wears one huge hair arrangement, while another is being prepared on her dressing table; two maids and a lover attend.

Miss Juniper Fox

Hand-coloured etched engraving published by M Darly in 1777

Bunkers Hill or America's Head Dress {1776}

"Prints such as Bunker's Hill, or America's Head Dress, show British troops trudging up the side of a high roll toward their stronghold opposite the American army's 'hill'. The image likened the colonial cause and military effort to the elaborate hairstyle: hollow, artificial, and short-lived."

Noddle-Island or How are we Decieved

Hand-coloured etching published by Matthew Darly in 1776 depicting a lady on whose grotesquely extended coiffure military operations are proceeding. At the top of her pyramid of hair soldiers fire a cannon from a rectangular American fort at other soldiers firing a cannon from an adjacent mound composed of ringlets of hair. Two immense flags flying from the fort bear, one a crocodile, the other a cross-bow and arrows; the flags of their opponents, the English, are decorated one with an ass, the other with a fool's cap and bells. Below this combat are tents and two men with a cannon. On the lower right rolls of hair red-coats march in single file, followed by a baggage waggon. Lower down again, red-coats in boats are rowing towards two ships in full sail.

This evidently satirizes the evacuation of Boston by Howe on 17 Mar. 1776. There were many protests against the misleading account given in the 'Gazette'. Walpole wrote "nobody was deceived". The 'How' in the title is a pun on the name of the commander-in-chief.

The Extravaganza, or, The Mountain Head Dress of 1776

Published by M Darly.

"..an almost hallucinatory invention ... at once barbarous and sophisticated ... The headdress takes on a potency of its own, a literal autonomy of fashion beneath which the wearer is reduced to impersonality." Diana Donald as quoted in this book [Amazon]

Rural Masquerade Dedicated to the Regatta'ites 1776

Published in London by J Lockington

"In the upper reaches of this headdress are figures dressed for a masquerade, promenading through a garden. Below is shown what may represent the first regatta in England, held 23 June 1775, partly on the Thames and partly at Ranelagh, where a temple of Neptune had been built. The bearer of this enormous coiffure, despite the female body, may be meant to be Neptune or Father Thames."

Lady All-Top

Published in London by J Lockington in 1776.

"Shown here is another magnificent heart-shaped pyramid of hair adorned with ostrich feathers, beads, and flowers, of the sort made fashionable by the Duchess of Devonshire in 1776. These hairstyles were labor-intensive and required cushions and wool, pomatum and powder, and an array of decorations. They were uncomfortable, they attracted insects and mice, and they could be fire hazards."

Chloe's Cushion, or, The Cork Rump

[B&W version]

Print made by M Darly in 1777

A lady out walking by a lake, dressed in a grotesque caricature of the prevailing fashion. Her petticoats project behind her in an ascending curve, on which lies a King Charles spaniel. Her hair is dressed in a mountainous inverted pyramid, the apex represented by her head; it is flanked by side-curls and surmounted by interlaced ribbons from which hang streamers of ribbon and lace.

Oh Heigh Oh, or, A View of the Back Settlements

Published by M Darly in 1776. The print alludes to the region that is now Ohio which was then part of New France. Unlike the thirteen colonies on the eastern seaboard, New France was never effectively colonized and the population remained small. Since the main interest of the French was commercial exploitation (the basis of the economy was the fur trade), communities remained only frontier outposts.

Phaetona or Modern Female Taste

[jigsaw!]

Etched engraving published by M Darly in 1776.

"The lady and her hair dwarf the horses pulling her carriage, a phaeton. The Duchess of Devonshire may be the intended object of the satire here, given the ostrich feathers in the hair and the ducal coronet on the carriage."

The Ladies Contrivance or the Capital Conceit

Published by M Darly in 1777; artist: Miss Bath.

Juxtaposition of sedan chairs, one modified to accommodate the ridiculously exaggerated coiffure of its female occupant.

Quadrille - Evening Fashions - Dedicated to the Heads of the Nation. La Poule

[posted previously]

Nature I thought perform'd too mean a parte
Forming her movements to the rules of art;
And vex'd I found the dandy barber's hand
Had o'er the Dancers Heads too great Command

1827 print by William Heath and published by Thomas McLean. Dancing couples (including a man in Hassar uniform) with absurd hairstyles.

Boarding School Education, or the Frenchified Young Lady

Etching published by M Darly in 1771 with a young woman dancing to the violin played by her dancing master, while her proud mother sporting an enormous hairdo looks on. (note the poodle and monkey. The monkey, particularly, is a recurring satirical motif in many of these prints: preening? 'aping'? no smarter than apes?)

The Lady's Maid, or Toilet Head-Dress

Anonymous 1776 etching of a young woman with her hair in a much exaggerated inverted pyramid which fills the greater part of the design and is the support for a dressing-table, draped with muslin festoons. On it are an oval mirror, a pair of tapers in candlesticks, two vases of flowers, a pin-cushion, toilet articles, a pair of buckles, rings, a necklace, &c, two books, a pen.

Top and Tail (1777)

The Donry or Top and Tail Turn'd About

"Embellished with the French Favourite Circle called a la Zodiaque just imported. see Lady's Magazine N. XC. Humbly dedicated to the fine Ladies of the petty gentry by Monsieur Periwig from Paris." {Engravings by Miss Heel in 1777}

Long Corks or the Bottle Companions

Published by M Darly in 1777

Two extravagantly dressed women face each other, each seated on, or rather supported by, an enormous cork which projects from the neck of a bottle. Both are elderly, one (left) enormously fat, the other very thin. Both wear the grotesque pyramids of hair, flanked by ringlets like large sausages and surmounted by ostrich-feathers, so much caricatured since 1776. Their skirts are skimpy in front, showing the contour of their legs, but project in great panniers at the back. Both are gloved and hold fans. The cork and bottle of the fat woman is correspondingly broader than that of her thin vis-à-vis.

Proportion

Published in 1777 by J Lockington, this half-man half-woman print contrasts the gender styles of the time, exaggerating the female fashion and hairdo, while the male's appearance is more natural by comparison.

Miss Prattle, Consulting Doctor Double Fee about her Pantheon Head Dress

Hand-coloured mezzotint published by Carington Bowles in 1771. The counsellor and his client sit facing one another across a table, beneath which their knees touch. The lady wears a grotesquely high pyramid of hair, decorated with pearls or beads and a high lace cap with ribbons and lace lappets. She looks intently at the Counsellor who is wearing a legal tie-wig, gown, and bands. On the wall is a framed picture of two monkeys sitting on each side of a round table, each with a tea-cup.

Leaving off Powder, or A Frugal Family Saving the Guinea

Hand-coloured print by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey in 1795: a satirical response to the tax on hair powder; including a portrait of Charles II with a huge powdered wig.

Docking the Macaroni

1773 hand-coloured mezzotint published by Carington Bowles of a butcher in front of his shop slicing off the ponytail of a passing Macaroni.

The Macaroni. A Real Character at the Late Masquerade

Mezzotint by Philip Dawe; printed for John Bowles in 1773

"This gentleman shows off the fashion of the day, from the rosettes on his shoes to the tiny three-cornered hat at the top of his headdress, a structure made of enormous side curls, a gigantic club, and a pyramid of hair. While the Oxford English Dictionary cites Walpole’s comment in 1764 as the first recorded use of the term, the Macaronies came to greatest prominence in the early 1770s."

Large Grotesque Head Being Strangled by its Own Hair

by Gaetano Piccini, 1727, in pen and brown ink.

(possibly a design intended for R Venuti's 'Antiqua Numismata')

Many of the above images have been spot/background-cleaned. The commentary is quoted or paraphrased from source sites (and elsewhere), as linked below.

The images were obtained from the following sites (in order of contribution numbers):

The British Museum Collections Database.
The Walpole Library Digital Collection at Yale University (via the exhibition site listed below).
Vive la différence! The English and French stereotype in satirical prints, 1720-1815 at the Fitzwilliam Museum.
The Library of Congress - Pictorial Americana.
The Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection at Brown University.
Thanks very much, yet again, to Will from AJRMS for sending a couple of scans my way which inspired this post {also see his bookplate contest and the 'best of'/overview post}

Related material of interest:

Preposterous Headdresses and Feathered Ladies: Hair, Wigs, Barbers, and Hairdressers -- a Lewis Walpole Library exhibition.
¹A Short History of the High Roll by Kate Haulman (2001) at Common-Place.
Big Hair: A Wig History of Consumption in Eighteenth-Century France by Michael Kwass (2006) IN: The American Historical Review.
Mary and Matthew Darly.
1750-1795 in fashion.
UPDATE: I forgot about this catalogue [pdf] from Cora Ginsburg that has a page overview and a couple of images - among some other interesting things - from a contemporary book devoted to the art of the coiffure: 'L'Art de la Coeffure des Dames Françoises, avec des Estampes, ou sont Représentées les Têtes Coeffées' by Legros de Rumigny, 1768-1770.
UPDATE 2: There are a few more "hair" pictures in the old post, Easy Pickings.

The Romance of Alexander the Great

2009-09-20T14:35:00.000+10:00

Attributed to an unknown author called Pseudo-Callisthenes, 'The Romance of Alexander' was originally produced in Greek in about 200-300 AD from a variety of written accounts and stories from the oral tradition. It purports to record the history of Alexander the Great (d. 323 BC) but is really a fantastical amalgam of legend and fact that catapulted the already remarkable accomplishments of Alexander's thirty two years on the planet to mythological status.

The original Greek manuscript (of which there were actually three variants) is now lost, but it was translated early on into the Syriac, Armenian and Pahlavi languages, -- which introduced its own variations -- contributing stories to the Koran, inspiring Persian poets and giving rise to its retranslation and dissemination throughout the Middle East. An early Latin version was the basis for translation into the vernacular languages of Europe where it became established as a popular Medieval tradition.

There have probably been more books written about Alexander the Great than any other figure from history, in a continuous line from Antiquity through to the modern day. 'The Romance of Alexander' is itself not really a single work but a great evolving and heterogeneous collection of texts and manuscripts, often shaped by regional scribes and translators to fit the pervading culture. Impossible deeds were often attributed to Alexander - his encounter with a tribe of headless men, for instance - and the embellishments served to intensify the popularity of the genre that saw Alexander tropes appear in Byzantine artworks, sculptures and tapestries and in the written record he surfaces in such diverse locations as a prophet converted to Christianity in Hebrew literature, as the hero Sikandar sent to punish impure people in Persian stories and in the West he is cast as a Frank, a Goth, a Saxon and a Russian.

"The adventures which the Alexander of the 'Romance' adds to the achievements of his historical original, the world conqueror, include an ascent into the air in a basket borne by eagles, a descent into the ocean in a diving bell, a meeting with the Amazons, an interview with the Brahmans or naked philosophers, and the search for the Water of Life, which ended in the transformation of Alexander's daughter into a mermaid. The 'Romance' reflects Alexander's metamorphosis in legend from a consummate general to a sage and beloved of God."

The gorgeous full and half page illuminated manuscript miniatures seen above - definitely click through to large and very large versions for the full impact - were produced by the workshop of the Flemish illuminator, Jehan de Grise, between 1338 and 1344.

This enormous French manuscript - (MS Bodley 264 - Bodleian Library, Oxford University: very LARGE thumbnail page) - shows, of course, the many alleged episodes during Alexander's journeys, but the whimsical marginal figures and stylised details of Medieval life mark the work out as a particularly superb example from the 'Romance' literature. For unknown reasons, the manuscript also includes a copy of the 'Travels of Marco Polo'.

I'm not sure that the best background reading material is available online, however:

Wikipedia: Alexander Romance and Alexander the Great.
'How Great was Alexander?' by Prof. Ian Worthington.
'Alexander the Great: A Life in Legend' by Richard Stoneman, 2007. [review]
The Medieval Alexander Project: Alexander the Great in Medieval Literature and Culture by EM Huber. {The Medieval British Tradition}
'Iconography of the Armenian Alexander'.
The Romance of Alexander Flickr pool.
Found noodling around in the Catalogue of Digitized Medieval Manuscripts at UCLA. [Thanks Tony!].

The September Testament

2009-09-14T04:00:00.003+10:00

"Luther’s first translation of the entire New Testament ['Das Newe Testament Deutzsch'] from the Greek original was published by Melchior Lotter the Younger in September 1522, with woodcut illustrations by Lucas Cranach. The so-called September Testament was received so enthusiastically that a second edition with corrections by Luther was printed as early as December of the same year.

Not only is the September Testament regarded as a milestone in the history of German Bible translation, but also it had an unequalled hand in the promotion of the Reformation, as well as in the dissemination of the High German language. Numerous reprints bear witness to its success: 12 editions were published in Basel, Augsburg, Grimma and Leipzig during the year 1523 alone."

The quote above comes from the Dr. Jörn Günther • Antiquariat site. That summary is relevant here but I'm fairly confident that their edition is a much more valuable, gold-highlighted work by a superior artist. However, the woodcut designs are indentical in both versions and were produced by the artist, Georg Lemberger {his initials are seen in that final image above}.

"For the Apocalypse, Lemberger took Cranach’s compositions as models, complementing them with new illustrations. With a total of 44 full-page images [printed from 34 blocks] plus 27 larger initials and the border decoration of the title page, this edition is lavishly illustrated. The Gospels are introduced with portraits of their authors, the Epistles with images of the apostles, and thus each book of the New Testament begins with a woodcut.

The artist renders the evangelists as hermits placing them in a wilderness setting, while he shows the apostles in the act of handing over their letters to messengers who depart into wooded, mountainous landscapes. The halos of the apostles are rendered as spectacular, luminous apparitions.The figures are depicted in close-up before landscapes featuring low horizons and woody or rocky mountains. A typical element is the large conifers stretching out their long branches."

The book is owned and hosted by Mälardalen University in Sweden [trans.]. BE WARNED: the only way to view this book is to load the whole thing, all 66Mb in Shockwave format, which will probably require a plugin/upgrade and maybe a restart as well. {Link: "Das newe testament deutzsch - Luther, Martin"}
All of the images above were spliced together from screencaps. Obviously the selection is skewed in favour of the more twisted/sensational/monstrous, as is my want. The balance of the illustrations has been saved in this set. Of particular note: the title page; full double-page appearance: with illustration & without illustration; a duet of St Paul depictions (I erroneously thought this was evidence suggesting that the illustrations were painted miniatures rather than hand-painted woodcuts; I was to lose a bet to Laura over this, who happily supplied the Antiquariat site link to reveal my foolishness.)
Thanks to Klaus from Archivalia for posting a multi-headed monster image: I 'pretend' I can read German (and Spanish and Dutch and ...) but the truth is, without the occasional visual alert, I'm much more likely to miss the quality material, such as the striking illustrations found in the September Testament.
Wikipedia: Luther Bible; Martin Luther.
New Advent: Martin Luther.
UPDATE - just a few days after posting this entry Taschen books announced a new publication of a Luther bible ['The Bible in Pictures'] based on an edition from the Lucas Cranach workshop (1534) - the illustrations are different than those seen above. [click 'Leaf through!' to see zoomable pages and commentary] {Amazon}

Les Fleurs Animées

2009-09-10T05:00:00.005+10:00

"Your Majesty, the flowers here present beg you to accept their homage, and to lend a favorable ear to their humble complaint.

For thousands of years we have supplied mankind with their themes of comparison; we alone have given them all their metaphors; indeed, without us poetry could not exist. Men lend to us their virtues and their vices; their good and their bad qualities; and it is time that we should have some experience of what these are.

We are tired of this flower-life. We wish for permission to assume the human form, and to judge, for ourselves, whether that which they say above, of our character, is agreeable to truth."¹

"We pride ourselves on being the first to advance the following aphorism : Flowers are the expression of society."¹

Title pages from JJ Grandville's 'Les Fleurs Animées', 1847 {Volumes 1 & 2}

'Bal' (The Ball)

'Reine Marguerite, Campanule, Fuchsia, Pied d'Alouette, Muguet, Pyramidale, Liseron'

{China Aster, Canterbury Bell (Campanula), Lady's Ear Drop, Larkspur (Delphinum), Lily of the Valley, Pyramidale Bell Flower, Morning Glory}

'Soleil' (Sunflower)

'Aubépine' (Hawthorn)

'Bleuet et Coquelicot' (Cornflower and Poppy)

'Bleuet et Coquelicot' [detail]

Chardon (Thistle)

Capucine (Nasturtium)

Ciguë (Hemlock)

Ciguë [detail]

Rose

'Flèche d'Eau' (Arrowhead)

'Narcisse' (Daffodil)

'Narcisse' [detail]

'Nenuphar' (Water Lily)

'Nenuphar' [detail]

'Retour des Fleurs' (The Flowers Return)

'Retour des Fleurs' [detail]

'Sensitive' (Mimosa)

'Sensitive' [detail]

'Thé et Café' (Tea and Coffee)

'Vigne' (Grape Vine)

'Vigne' [detail]

(All these images have been background-cleaned² and about half have had the colour saturation increased. The illustrations are all cropped from the full pages. Click through to large images; very large versions are also available³)

The delightful caprice of JJ Grandville's imaginative - and posthumously published - series of flower illustrations ensured that 'Les Fleurs Animées' was popularly received in 1847 and reissued and translated many times.

The thing is though, these anthropomorphic figures of apparent whimsical innocence are in fact serving as the visual arm of a satirical work that mocks the sentimentality and effusiveness with which flowers had been portrayed during the romantic era. The text by Taxile Delord is a parody of the style it targets and was intended to sound the death knell for Romanticism*. It also appears to kick out at an over-scientific attitude towards plants during the Enlightenment; at least in the introduction.

I was moved to snag these examples (from both volumes³) from Missouri Botanical Gardens' Botanicus website - where they were recently posted - because years ago, when I first discovered this wonderful series, I wasn't aware the complete books were available online.
See: Beverly Seaton's 1995 book, 'The Language of Flowers: A History' [excerpts]
JJ Grandville works at the Internet Archive.
The full translated text of 'Les Fleurs Animées'¹. Or here.

¹'Les Fleurs Animées' was translated into English by Nehemiah Cleaveland [as 'The Flowers Personified'] immediately after its original publication. The quotes at the top are most likely OCR machine transcriptions and were slightly edited by me.
²The length of time spent assiduously cleaning these images is a private matter that may or may not be discussed in the future with an OCD therapist, should I ever choose to get one.
³In actual fact, the very large jpeg images - of the title pages and, as I recall, each illustration from volume 2 - for this post were obtained partly from Missouri Botanical Gardens old website ('Volumes'/'Structure' links at the top and then: 'View in Detail'): these very large images are missing for some illustrations at the Botanicus site.

The Geometric Landscape

2009-09-05T15:07:00.001+10:00

The artist responsible for the remarkable collection of geometric designs seen above and below is Lorenz Stöer (c.1537-c.1621), about whom little is known with certainty. He was born in Nuremberg and moved to Augsburg in 1557. He is variously described as a painter and a draughtsman and he may have been the son of a woodcut artist.

Until relatively recently, Stöer's principal legacy was thought to have been the eleven woodcut illustrations seen above that show combinations of regular and semi-regular solids in landscapes with fanciful ornamental shapes. This suite of eccentric designs was published under the title, 'Geometria et Perspectiva', in 1567.

The book - which included no text - was subtitled:

'Herein are a few ruined buildings, useful to cabinetmakers working

in inlaid wood, and for the special pleasure of many other amateurs,

arranged and presented by Lorenz Stoer, painter and citizen of Augsburg'.

'Geometria et Perspectiva' was sufficiently popular to warrant publication of a second edition, but it's difficult to gauge the extent of influence the book had over marquetry* workers. Perhaps its main effect was as conceptual inspiration, although the Met. Museum has a collector's cabinet with fairly evident connection to Stöer's designs and another cabinet of comparative style is known to exist in Munster [also].

Apparently there had been little in the way of academic study of Stöer apart from a couple of mid-20th century papers that linked him to two Nuremberg goldsmiths - Hans Lencker and Wenzel Jamnitzer - forming a trio of mannerist artists interested in geometric design and perspective. But a large portfolio of coloured drawings was discovered (when?) at the Munich University Library that has, in the last fifteen years, been attributed to Stöer (samples seen below).

"The woodcut sequence 'Geometria et Perspectiva', that was published in Augsburg in 1567, has long been considered the principal work of Lorentz Stoer. Several hundred hitherto virtually unnoticed drawings, owned by the University Library in Munich, triggered the current study. For the first time, a proper academic evaluation was dedicated to Stoer’s works. The description of the prints and drawings that were already known to scholarly literature was completed by the presentation of the large number of unknown works that had been discovered in the course of the analysis.

By means of critical discussion of questions of attribution and influence, and by confirming decisive points in Stoer’s biography, a re-evaluation of his enlarged œuvre was accomplished: it was the representation of stereometric solids that was Stoer’s major interest. The overview of the polyhedron literature and the analysis of the contemporary treatises on geometry and perspective enabled a differentiated look at Stoer’s drawing method, contrasting it with that of the Nuremberg goldsmiths Hans Lencker and Wenzel Jamnitzer. The final discussion of the purpose of the drawings facilitated a new appreciation of his work. The study makes an important contribution to the positioning of Lorentz Stoer as a German Mannerism artist in the context of craftsmanship, ornamental arts and geometry."
[This is the english abstract for the 1996 paper by Dorothea Pfaff, 'Lorenz Stöer: Geometrica et Perspectiva' - full article pdf]

Kim H Veltman: "Stoer's manuscript was actually a compilation of over three decades' work ranging from 1562 through 1599. The novelty of his remarkable effects lay mainly in his combination of earlier techniques. We have noted, for example, that Dürer's workshop explored the use of shading to enhance the spatial effects of these solids. Jamnitzer and Lencker developed this technique using narrow banks of colour to accentuate the borders of these shapes. Stoer added a feature of his own. He used the surfaces of his solids as spaces in which to inscribe further polygonal shapes. Frequently he combined both techniques. In the case of a dodecahedron, for instance [5th image from the bottom below], he outlined the boundaries of its twelve surfaces with bands of colour. In each of these he then inscribed a pentagon."

Veltman goes on to intimate how the colour manuscript - although never published - offered a logical means by which designs could be readily adapted for marquetry, with different wood types matched to the colours; so perhaps Stöer's influence was in fact more significant than suggested above.

Thanks very much to Will from A Journey Round My Skull for providing the high resolution scans of 'Geometria et Perspectiva' seen above (again!).
See Mr H's post on this material from 2003: Geometry & Perspective: all but one of the links in there are active and worth seeing {also}
The coloured images below come from the large Munich University Library manuscript called: 'Geometria et Perspectiva: Corpora Regulata et Irregulata'. Harald Fischer Verlag sell a cdrom (€88) which includes all the Stöer illustrations together with commentary. Their website is the source for all of these following images (I have posted the majority, but not all of them).

Prancing Knights

2009-09-02T22:05:00.002+10:00

More medieval catwalk posing than stereotypical jousting scenes perhaps, this group of illustrations precedes an historically significant text, Ludwig von Eyb's 'Turnierbuch'.

This 1525 version of von Eyb's Tournament Book is hosted by the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek [click 'Minaturansicht' for thumbnail views] (All of the illustrations are seen above).

"In 1519, Ludwig von Eyb (the Younger), a member of a highly literary Franconian noble family, produced a manuscript that included a synopsis of the protocols and progress of important tournaments in Germany from the previous two centuries, using a number of late medieval texts and chronicles.

The first part of the text provides an historical overview, freely combining into one pseudo-historical panorama material from seven centuries of German/East European history. This short sketch tells how a horde of East European invaders, under the overlordship of the tyrant Volcker [?], but also including Goths, Slavs, Russians and Tartars, was destroyed by a Teutsche confederation drawn from all parts of Germany by the tenth century Saxon king, Heinrich Fowler.

In celebration of this victory, Heinrich decided to hold a tournament, so that he, along with his guests and good friends, might ride and joust. Although the practice was exotic and unknown in the Empire at the time, it had been a praiseworthy custom and sign of peace in Brittany, France, and England. Heinrich's victory therefore gave rise to the beginning of the knightly game of the jousting tournament in German lands."¹

¹Please note that this "quoted" text was fairly heavily edited and paraphrased from what appears to be a machine-translated article: 'Eastern Europe and the cultural poetics of the chivalric tournament in medieval Germany', 2003, by Alexander Sager. I think the main points are correct but the names and some of the details are probably a bit suspect.

There are occasional other references around, mainly attesting to von Eyb's work having relied upon a range of unknown and older sources belonging to the fechtbücher tradition. A modern edition of von Eyb's Turnierbuch with analytical commentary was published in 1986. Previously: combat.

Streamlining

2009-09-01T03:25:00.001+10:00

Rafflesia arnoldii produces the largest individual flower of any species in the world. But you might not want to get too close to it because it has "a penetrating smell more repulsive than any buffalo carcass in an advanced stage of decomposition". [link / W]

The illustration comes from 'Choix de Plantes Rares ou Nouvelles Cultivées et Dessinées dans le Jardín Botanique de Buitenzorg' by Friederich AW Miquel [1863] at BHL, a small book presenting twenty six plates of botanical species from the Buitenzorg Botanical Gardens. Buitenzorg was the one-time capital of Indonesia during Dutch colonial rule and is now locally known as Kota Bogor (Western Java).

The Katyozu Birds and Flowers album (well, that's what I'm calling it) from 1805 is available in three volumes from the digital collections at Kyushu University Museum. The work is actually owned by the Ethnology Museum in Leiden in Holland. The pseudo-translation of the Kyushu page notes a connection with Siebold and the (foreigner's) island of Dejima at Nagasaki. [somewhat reminiscent of this post]

The Archive of Early American Images at Brown University has an enormous array of material pertaining to the Americas and has been featured on BibliOdyssey in the past. The three images above - which I've had for years - are from Henry Koster's 1816 volume, 'Travels in Brazil'.

The Journal of George Davidson (1785) from the Rare Book Room. This remarkable document appears to be the record of a mariner from Boston and includes prayers, Freemason material, moral poems as well as paintings and some beautiful handwriting. (That description is from a quickish skim and probably doesn't do it sufficient justice: this is a very interesting booklet worthy of a closer look). [via]

These cropped details are from a 1468 'Melusine' manuscript, hosted by the German National Museum.

Melusine (or Melusina) is something of a pan-European folklore character with variable traits. The female siren figure can be a water sprite or fairy, a mermaid or a snake and the story outlines the consequences for her human husband after he watches the changeling Melusine bathe against her wishes (or similar). It was probably first written down in the 13th or 14th centuries -- its origins in the oral tradition may stretch back to Homer -- and the above images come from a very early manuscript form of the first German translation (from the French) by Thüring von Ringoltingen in 1456. {see: one, two} [via]

These early cavalry/military and combat training images come from a book by Johann Jacob von Wallhausen from 1616 called 'Darinnen das heütige Kriegswesen in einer perfecten und absoluten idea begriffen und vorgestelt wirdt..', hosted by the SLUB at Dresden [click the book icon; illustrations are in the last few thumbnail pages].

Bal au Moulin Rouge and Le Courrier Français poster images by the fantastic Jules Chéret from the late 19th century. Just gorgeous. These images come from the Versailles database and there are more works by Jules Chéret at Wikimedia.

These 18th century opera costume designs -- 'Habillemens et Décoration d'Opéra' -- by Jean Berain are also from the Versailles database.

These grotesque ornamental panels are from a suite of twelve prints issued in 1644 in Amsterdam by the publisher Claes Jansz Visscher. The collection - 'Seer Aerdige Grotissen Dienstich' - is a copy of the set of engravings by Johan Bara after an earlier series (1623) by Nicasius Roussel called 'De Grotesco Per utilis ... Liber'. The images above are from the British Museum Prints Database.

'Gebetbuch der Haremsdame Düsdidil' (Prayer book of the Harem Lady Düsdidil) is an exquisite illuminated manuscript from Turkey made by Hasan RaSid in 1845. If you like manuscript decoration, particularly unusual and beautiful examples outside of the 'mainstream', you should definitely check out this work hosted by the Bavarian State Library [click miniaturansicht for thumbs].

Is this a repeat? I hope not, but I'm sure it happens occasionally {not that there's anything wrong with that!}. I look, I collect, and after the passage of time I forget if I saw it on BibliOdyssey or just in passing at one repository or another. Well, I do know that this 1673 engraving by Francis Barlow of St George slaying a dragon was sourced from the British Museum Prints Database.

This map of Iceland ('Islandia') from 1609 by Abraham Ortelius may just be my all-time favourite map because of that array of sea beasties. The source site, Rare Maps, has another version in addition to this one, in case you want a different - and slightly cheaper - colour pallet. {nb. I think the original was engraved in c. 1585} [previously related]

This is a full page illustration from an 1852 magazine called 'Yankee Notions'. I am grateful to Steven Lomazow from Magazine History for allowing this image from his collection to be reposted. Lomazow is a serious collector of vintage magazines and ephemera of Americana.

Sejem na Zelenem Oblaku (Fair on the Green Cloud)

The National Library of Slovenia [click on 'Art Library' in that top blurb] recently uploaded a batch of prints, watercolours and sculptures from (mostly) 20th century Slovenian artists. It's worth a flick through.

This popped up in some auto-search keyword subscription I have delivered. It's a (duh) digitally rendered reproduction of an illuminated manuscript miniature © Jesse Lang. Between the two of us - using the source model image - we couldn't work out which manuscript it derives from.

'Thesaurus Palatinus' is a very intriguing manuscript uploaded recently by the University of Heidelberg [click anything below 'inhalt' and then 'vorschau' for a large page of thumbs]. It was produced in about 1750 by Johann Franz Freiherr von Wickenburg and seems to be a compilation and historical record of sepulchre, crypt and tomb inscriptions and architectural designs together with sketches of churches and related structures. It ranges from unsophisticated to beautiful and contains a lot of quasi-calligraphic flourishes and assiduous handwriting; all the hallmarks of an outsider über-nerd.

Book cover of 'Mysterium Fidei', 2007, by Daniel Martin Diaz

"In this collection of oil paintings, drawings, and prints, Diaz contemplates human suffering and one's undying faith in the afterlife. His mystical imagery reflects the influences of Byzantine iconography, Retabalos, Ex Votos, the Illuminati, ephemera, alchemy, and 16th-century anatomical engravings."

You can't argue with those aspirations. Reviews: one, two. [images / amazon]

Other things...

Chemistry in Art [via]
The History of Priddy's Hard has an excellent selection of old regional high-res maps in chronological order {Hampshire area, near Gosport/Portsmouth [sat-map].
The Getty-UCLA-Picart Project makes available the massive 9-volume 'Cérémonies et Coutumes Religieuses de Tous les Peuples du Monde' (Religious Ceremonies and Costumes of All the People in the World). Its publication began in Amsterdam in 1723 and it contains over 600 engravings. (project background) [I've posted an earlier version of the whirling dervish image that appears in this work previously] Thanks Will C !
A Monument More Durable than Brass - the new Dr Samuel Johnson exhibition site (to coincide with a real world version) from/at Harvard University's Houghton Library.
African artist books [via]
And a few notable recent links from my shared feeds: clickable cubist art map [via]; a bunch of JJ Grandville images; Typewriter Ribbon Tins.

Kids Covers

2009-08-29T03:15:00.000+10:00

These scans of children's book covers were produced between 1860 and the 1920s and come from a wonderful compilation book:

'From Mother Goose to Dr Seuss: Children's Book Covers 1860-1960' by H Darling, 1999. There are a few more covers in the set.

Redouté's Flora

2009-08-27T13:15:00.007+10:00

"The Choix des Plus Belles Fleurs (Selection of the most beautiful flowers) is the masterpiece of [Pierre-Joseph] Redouté’s later years. This most celebrated of botanical artists (1759-1840) came from a Belgian family of painters, and served [..] as drawing master to the queens and princesses of France for half a century. Among his pupils were Louise and Marie d’Orléans, to whom the Choix was dedicated: the latter became the first Queen of the Belgians. Over his eighty years, Redouté weathered the many changes in French society with remarkable ease, prospering under old and new regimes by adjusting to the times.

The great multivolume folio scientific monographs of his middle period – the roses, the lilies, the succulent plants – were complemented in his later years by elegant quarto albums that featured selections of the more beautiful or striking plants. They were, essentially, art books of the highest quality. The finest of these, the Choix des Plus Belles Fleurs was issued in 36 parts between 1827 and 1833, with 144 superb hand-colored stipple engravings, of fruit as well as flowers. It is notable, too, for its retrospective preface, in which Redouté reflects on his life and achievements." [source]

'Choix des Plus Belles Fleurs et des Plus Beaux Fruits' by Pierre-Joseph Redouté is available in a couple of formats from the Biodiversity Heritage Library. [Redouté titles at BHL].
See previous Redouté posts on BibliOdyssey with further background links: Lily and Les Roses - Redouté. {And in general: flora}
Portrait and biography at Artnet.
The images above were extracted from the pdf. All were spot cleaned to various extents and the colour saturation was slightly boosted for about half the selection.
Excerpts from 'The floral art of Pierre-Joseph Redouté' by MR Michel et al, 2002 are accessible at Googlebooks.
By coincidence I discovered that 'Pierre-Joseph Redout: Choix Des Plus Belles Fleurs' by HW Lack and W Dressendorffer will be published by Taschen in the next few weeks. (note the cover title appears to be: 'The Most Beautiful Flowers') [There is no listing at the Taschen site as yet]