care he shows how the animals of Uncle Remus must wear their garments and just how those garments express their half-human, half-animal characteristics. His was the dry, delicious, and unforced humor which filled the writings of Frank R. Stockton, and he was Stockton's most successful illustrator. Brer Rabbit, when his pen portrayed him, became something more than an amusing character in a tale for children, he became as his creator knew him, a being who represents some part of the American spirit, the ingenious Yankee always with something up his sleeve. E. L. P. THE SAGE BEQUEST AT a of the Foundations, held on April 9, 1919, the following Ta meeting of the Trustees of The New York Public Library, Astor, resolutions were unanimously adopted: RESOLVED by the Trustees that the following minute be entered in the records of The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. ARGARET OLIVIA SAGE, by the death of her husband, Russell Sage, very great fortune in the 78th year of her age. She had passed beyond the time when men and women usually are willing to assume responsibility and exert themselves; yet, Mrs. Sage undertook not merely to enjoy but to dispose of her fortune in such a way that after satisfying the just expectations of her family the great bulk of the property should be applied with discrimination and intelligent purpose to the benefit of her fellowmen. She carried the burden of this responsibility — this hard task — for twelve years until her death on the 4th of November last. Only those who have had opportunity to observe how extremely difficult it is to make a wise and really beneficial use of very large sums of money can appreciate fully the wisdom and nobility and sound judgment with which Mrs. Sage discharged the public duty which she voluntarily undertook. Her breadth of view and liberal spirit emancipated her from narrow lines, and gave to her benefactions catholicity and due proportion. She had the wisdom to call about her wise, experienced, and disinterested advisers. She had the strength of character to repel selfseekers and flatterers. Both in the large gifts which she made during her life and in the dispositions of her last will she exhibited a wide range of human sympathy and of appreciation for the things which really contribute to human welfare and human happiness. Charity, education, art, science, patriotism, religion, shared in the benefit of her generous impulses and well-directed action. The inclusion of this institution in the list of residuary legatees under Mrs. Sage's will makes it appropriate that the Trustees should record not merely their gratitude for the gift which will enlarge public opportunity for the use of books, but their high appreciation and admiration for the very exceptional and noble character and service of Mrs. Sage. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that when the share of The New York Public Library in the residuary estate left by Mrs. Sage shall have been received, the wish expressed by her in her will that such legacies be used for some purpose which will commemorate the name of her husband be followed, and that the entire amount so received be invested and kept invested as a separate fund under the name and title of the Russell Sage Fund, and that the interest only thereof be expended for the purchase of books or other corporate purposes of the institution. LEWIS CASS LEDYARD President CHARLES HOWLAND RUSSELL Secretary [ 623 ] THE NEWS OF THE MONTH GIFTS HE Library received as gifts during the month of September, 1919, a total of 3,689 volumes, 7,789 pamphlets, 58 maps and 49 prints. Some of the more important and interesting of these gifts were the following: From Mr. Desmond FitzGerald of Dublin came a collection of 30 volumes relating to Ireland, mainly publications regarding Irish independence. The Institut d'Estudis Catalans, Barcelona, Spain, sent a copy of the "Catáleg de la Collecció Cervàntica formada per D. Isidro Bonsoms i Sicart i cedida per ell a la Biblioteca de Catalunya," Barcelona, 1919. From Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt of New York came a copy of "The Wartburg, a monument of German history and art," described in monographs by the Grand Duke Charles Alexander of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Richard Voss, Karl Wenck, with 706 original illustrations in the text and 54 plates (No. 6 of 350 copies printed of the English translation by G. A. Greene). From Mr. Irving Blake of New York came a collection of 44 volumes, 97 pamphlets and 23 periodicals, including Spencer's "Faerie Queene," with illustrations by Walter Crane, in 15 parts, London, 1894; from Mrs. W. B. Dunning of New York, the 1st - 74th annual reports of the Women's Prison Association of New York and the Isaac T. Hopper Home, 1844-1918; from Miss Estelle L. Liebmann of Brooklyn, a collection of art catalogues, 54 in number, and from Mr. Sigmund Lewy of New York, 53 bound volumes of the "Real Estate Record, 1873-1903, and January - June of 1904." From Mrs. Frances J. Pickens of Old Westbury, L. I., was received a miscellaneous collection of instrumental and vocal music, including opera scores by Mascagni, Leoncavallo, Puccini, Verdi, Charpentier, etc.; from Mr. Sam Franko of New York came a collection of vocal and instrumental music, including Mozart sonatas for piano and violin, "Symphonie No. 1, G moll, pour grand orchestre, composée par Basile Kalinnikow," Moscow, and "Arriettes Italiennes del Signore Cimarosa," Paris; and from Mr. James Reistrup of Sioux City, Iowa, came 33 compositions by Cecil Burleigh. ADDITIONS AND USE OF THE LIBRARY IN SEPTEMBER, 1919 DURING the month of September, 1919, there were received at the Library 17,776 volumes and 8,808 pamphlets. (These include the additions to both Reference and Circulation Departments.) The total number of readers recorded in the Central Building was 68,010. They consulted 173,461 volumes. Visitors to the building numbered 186,627. [ 624 ] ILLUSTRATED BOOKS OF THE PAST FOUR CENTURIES A RECORD OF THE EXHIBITION HELD IN THE PRINT BY FRANK WEITENKAMPF Chief, Arts and Prints Division Certain well-known artists, such as Forain, Steinlen, or our own C. D. Gibson, do not appear in the present exhibition because they belong to the class which, for want of a better term, is designated by the inclusive name "cartoonists," and are only incidentally illustrators. THE HE present list of exhibits and labels practically reproduces the exhibition in text, with the addition of a few notes.* There are a certain number of noteworthy examples of book-illustration whose inclusion in such an exhibition could not be questioned. On the other hand, in not a few cases, another book might just as well have been shown as the one selected. That applies particularly to those not of the very first importance. Personal preferences on the one hand, and possible lacunæ in the collection of material at one's disposal on the other, may at times determine choice. Similarly, selection of a given illustration in a book does not necessarily mean that another one would not have been every bit as effective. Some of the books exhibited clearly illustrate not so much fine book-making as what was considered fine book-making in their day. In the end, then, the present annotated catalogue is a record of one attempt to trace graphically the development of a branch of art that has been peculiarly near to the people for over four hundred years. If there is any help in this to anyone planning a similar display, so much the better. In the notes appended to the titles, two things have been especially kept in view: the tracing of the development of the art, and the emphasizing of the important place that pure line drawing has held in the successful achievement of the book harmonious in all its parts. Apart from all that, the illustrations exhibited here cover so wide a field of racial, national, and individual expression, and so long and varying a stretch of time, that there is something of interest for every taste. Notes in italics indicate the place at which the book is opened for display. The names in parentheses, following titles in this list, refer to works in which the books exhibited are noted. These works, and those referred to (not by full title) in quoted notes, are indicated as follows: Bartsch: Bartsch, Adam. Le peintre graveur. Vienne, 1803-21. 21 v. Beraldi: Beraldi, Henri. Les graveurs du XIX siècle. Paris, 1885-92. 12 v. Bohatta: Bohatta, Hanns. Bibliographie der livres d'heures (Horae B. M. V.)...des xv. und xvI. Jahrhunderts. Wien, 1909. Brivois: Brivois, Jules. Guide de l'amateur. Bibliographie des ouvrages illustrées du XIX siècle, principalement des livres à gravures sur bois. Paris, 1883. Cohen: Cohen, Henri. Guide de l'amateur de livres à gravures du xvII° siècle. Sixième édition, revue, corrigée et considérablement augmentée par Seymour de Ricci. Paris, 1912. Crane: Crane, Walter. Of the decorative illustration of books old and new. London, 1896. * An article describing the exhibition appeared in the Library's Bulletin for May, 1919. [ 625 ] Hayden Hayden, A. Chats on old prints. New York, 1906. Lippmann: Lippmann, F. Art of wood-engraving in Italy in the 15th century. London, 1888. Pennell: Pennell, J. Modern illustration. London, 1895. Pennell Pen Pennell, J. Pen drawing and pen draughtsmen... London, 1889. Perrins: Italian book-illustrations and early printing; a catalogue of early Italian books in the library of C. W. Dyson Perrins. [Introduction by Alfred W. Pollard.] Oxford, 1914. Pollard: Pollard, A. W. Early illustrated books. London, 1893. Pollard Fine: Pollard, A. W. Fine books. London [1912]. Salaman: Modern book illustrators and their work. Text by M. C. Salaman. London: "The Studio," 1914. Weitenkampf: Weitenkampf, F. How to appreciate prints. New York, 1916. ORDER OF ARRANGEMENT The first section is introductory. The second and third, just as obviously, are of a general nature and do not fit easily into any of the following groups. With the fourth ("Italian books, 15th - 16th cen turies") begins the record, in chronological order, of the historical development of illustration. SOME BOOKS ON THE HISTORY OF BOOK-ILLUSTRATION, GROUP OF BOOKS SHOWING THE TASTE OF THE PERIOD MAPS AS ELEMENTS OF BOOK DECORATION, No. 28-31. LINE ENGRAVING AND MEZZOTINT, 19TH CENTURY, NO. ETCHED ILLUSTRATION, 19TH CENTURY, No. 114-121. FRENCH, 19TH CENTURY: WOOD ENGRAVINGS, No. 134-150. GERMAN, 19TH CENTURY: WOOD ENGRAVINGS, No. 151-166. ENGLISH, 19TH CENTURY: WOOD ENGRAVINGS, No. 167-198. UNITED STATES, 19TH CENTURY: WOOD ENGRAVINGS, PROCESS WORK: PAINTED ILLUSTRATION, No. 214-219. SOME 19TH CENTURY EFFORTS IN THE UNITED STATES SOME PRINCIPLES OF HARMONIOUS BOOK-MAKING, No. 241-243. ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR, No. 244-266. PART I SOME BOOKS ON THE HISTORY OF BOOK-ILLUSTRATION 1. Kristeller, Paul. Early Florentine woodcuts; with an annotated list of Florentine illustrated books. London, 1897. 4°. Title-page. 2. Perrins, C. W. Dyson. Italian bookillustrations and early printing; a catalogue of early Italian books in the library of C. W. Dyson Perrins. Oxford: University Press, 1914. illus. 4°. Page 101. Franchini Gafori Laudensis. Musice actionis. Liber primus. 3. Massena, Victor, 4. prince d'Essling, duc de Rivoli. Études sur l'art de la gravure sur bois à Venise. Les livres à figures venitiens de la fin du xve siècle et du commencement du xvi. Florence, 1907-10. 4 illus. fo. V. 2e partie, 2, title-page. 1re partie, 2, Plutarch, Vitae, 8 June, 1496. Thesei Vita. 4. Renouvier, Jules. Des gravures en bois dans les livres d'Anthoine Verard. Paris, 1859. 8°. Title-page. 5. Kutschmann, Th. Geschichte der deutschen Illustration vom ersten Auftreten des Holzschnitts bis auf die Gegenwart. Goslar [1899). 2 v. fo. Title-page of v.1. 6. Muther, Richard. Die deutsche Bücher- Title-page of v. 1. 7. Worringer, Wilhelm. Die altdeutsche Buchillustration... München, 1912. illus. 4°. (Klassische Illustratoren.) Title-page. |