examples of his art are mentioned. He is (probably inaccurately) claimed
to be the first person who undertook to engrave on copper in the United
States. He was a man of natural talent and real genius, was
self-instructed in his art, and was regarded as the foremost seal-cutter
and die-engraver of his time, in this country.
The following advertisement from the Boston “Gazette” of April 28, 1760,
is of some interest:--
“Nathaniel Hurd Informs his Customers he has remov’d his shop from
Maccarty’s Corner on the Exchange to the Back Part of the opposite
Brick Building, where Mr. Ezekiel Price kept his Office, where he
continues to do all Sorts of Goldsmiths Work. Likewise engraves in
Gold, Silver, Copper, Brass, and Steel, in the neatest Manner, and
at reasonable Rate.”
Hurd worked principally in the Chippendale style; he made some plates in
the Jacobean and a few in the Ribbon and Wreath styles, but he died
before the latter was much in use, and the former was really going out
when he took up the making of plates. Judging from the appearance of his
work, his first attempts were in the Chippendale style, and the few
Jacobeans he made were done after he had attained considerable
efficiency.
One of his earliest specimens was undoubtedly the plate of _Edward
Augustus Holyoke_, the famous doctor of Boston, who lived to be one
hundred years old, and who was but a year or two the senior of Hurd. In
this plate he used a design which he evidently believed he could improve
upon, and in which he felt there were good features, for we find a
number of future plates of very similar design but much better
execution. In the Holyoke plate the work is very crude, the lines are
stiff, the drawing is poor, and the lettering of the motto and name are
not good. An ugly scroll is placed under the name, and the festoon of
cloth which is draped at the bottom of the frame and around the motto
ribbon is especially poor; the shell at the base of the escutcheon which
figures so often in future plates is here used, and the queer little
flow of water from it would not be recognized as such were this the only
specimen in which it occurs; the arrangement of the rose sprays, the
form of the shield, and the employment of the shelly edge show a
thorough study of the elements of this style. Very likely this design
was copied in great part from some foreign example which had come into
his possession.
In the _Thomas Dering_ plate, which is the earliest plate dated and
signed by an American engraver, this same design is improved upon; it is
more compact in appearance, a little freer in execution, and the drawing
is improved. The name is still not very well engraved, and top-heavy
flourishes weigh down the capitals.
In the _Theodore Atkinson_ plate the same design is still further
improved upon; the flow of water from the scallop shell is here caught
in a little bowl, a little additional flowery ornamentation is added,
and the heraldic drawing is better. The name is again embellished with
graceless flourishes.
The design seems to reach perfection in the _Wentworth_ plate; every
feature is markedly better, the water still flows out of the scallop
shell, the same shaped shield is used and the motto is placed upon a
graceful ribbon with ends which run off into fancy foliations. The name
is neat in appearance, but still there are too many scrolls.
[Illustration: Robert Hale Esq^{r}. OF BEVERLY]
In the plate of _Robert Hale of Beverly_, the old festoon of cloth
noticed in the Holyoke plate is seen again, and no motto is given. The
name is fairly well engraved.
Later developments of this style are seen in the plates of _Henry
Marchant_, _Danforth_, _Nathaniel Tracy_, and _John Marston_; in these
some of the features of the former are wanting, but they are evidently a
legitimate progeny in the matter of style.
[Illustration: John Chandler Jun^{r}. Esq^{r}.]
Another, and without doubt the highest type of the Chippendale plate
which Hurd made, is seen in the _John Chandler, Jr._, the _Dana_, the
_Philip Dumeresque_, the _Vassall_, and the _Wilson_ plates. In these
the shield becomes larger, the whole scheme of decoration shows more
fine detail work, and the effect is lighter, more graceful, and seems at
once the work of a master. The names are engraved in large bold type,
with a characteristic dash after the last period.
[Illustration: Lew.^{s.} De Blois]
In the Jacobean style, the earliest of Hurd’s work is undoubtedly the
_Lewis De Blois_. This is crude in workmanship, not very good in
drawing, but excellent in design, and faithful to the characteristics
of the style; the shield is placed against a frame which is lined with
the regulation fish-scale pattern; the sides are richly foliated, the
mantling is profuse and very well drawn, and the name is placed upon a
fringed curtain which is tied up at the ends with ribbon.
[Illustration: Joshua Spooner.]
The handsomest Jacobean plates by Hurd are the _Robert Jenkins_, the
_Spooner_, and the _Andrew_ Tyler. In the former the lining is
diapered, the scroll work at the side of the arms is very fine, and at
the bottom, under the shield, a small vignette of a ship under full sail
is very pretty. At the top of the scrolls on either side two turbanded
female heads peer at each other across the crest.
In the _Tyler_ plate the frame is very similar to the Jenkins, the
lining is diapered, and the scroll at the side are the same. The little
vignette at the bottom, however, is displaced by a sour face with gray
hair. The two faces are replaced by urns filled with flowers, and the
old cloth festoon is draped below the whole design. The _Spooner_ plate
bears no resemblance to the others, and is a more graceful design. The
lining is latticed, the Sphinx head under the shield is enclosed within
a frame of its own, and at either side are term figures from whose hands
depend bouquets of flowers; the crest is overarched with a bit of the
old scallop shell, and the motto is on a ribbon, which, wholly
unsupported, maintains a curved position under the frame.
The Jacobean plates of _Benjamin Greene_ and _Peter R. Livingston_ are
almost identical in design; the small frame which encloses the shield is
lined with the fish-scale pattern, the mantling is handsome and profuse,
and the motto ribbon is stretched in rather stiff manner below the
frame.
Only two examples of the Ribbon and Wreath style are known as Hurd’s
work, the _John C. Williams_ and the _Jonathan Jackson_. These are both
signed, and are very similar in design. Garlands of roses depending
from rings above follow closely the outline of the heart-shaped shield,
and the ribbon for the motto is placed beneath, and is ornamented with
fancy ends.
In the “detur” plate for _Harvard College_ Hurd conformed to the English
manner and adopted the seal-shaped design. The arms are displayed upon a
heart-shaped shield which is enclosed within a circle which bears the
name and motto, and this again is enclosed by a wreath of holly
branches.
[Illustration: Harvard College]
Hurd’s work is the most interesting found in our early days, and a study
of it shows him to have been progressive as well as painstaking. The
Ribbon and Wreath style did not come into general use in England until
about 1770, yet Hurd, who died in 1777, had used it. The colonies could
not be expected to adopt the new styles of the old country immediately,
and the condition of things from 1770 on to the time of Hurd’s death was
not such as to encourage the introduction of “fads” or to allow much
time for the development of the fine arts.
A word must be said about the heraldry on Hurd’s book-plates. This
science, heraldry, was not held in such general esteem among the New
Englanders as it was further south, and while many of the governors and
men of high standing in the Northern colonies brought armorial seals
with them, a great many who used them did so without strict heraldic
authority, and when it became the fashion to use coats-of-arms in
various ways, the herald painters of those days, who had but slight
knowledge of heraldry and who were possessed of a copy of Guillim or
some other writer on the subject, would find therein the arms of some
family bearing the name of their prospective customer, and without
further research would proceed to produce the coat as described. Not
always were these arms so ordered correctly borne; indeed, there is much
uncertainty about the arms used after about 1730 when our native
engravers and painters took up the work of producing arms upon orders.
Such seals as were brought by the colonists from England, and such as
were used by their descendants are undoubtedly correct, but the
questionable arms are those which, as mentioned above, were looked up in
this country only, by means of such heraldic works as were at hand. The
presence of the arms then on some book-plates cannot be relied upon as
sufficient and indisputable proof of their owners’ right to them.
[Illustration: John Vassall Esq^{r}.]
A list of the book-plates signed by Hurd is appended.
[Illustration: John Lowell]
A LIST OF BOOK-PLATES SIGNED BY NATHANIEL HURD.
Theodore Atkinson Chippendale.
Thomas Brown
John Chandler, Jr. Chippendale.
Rufus Chandler
Francis Dana Chippendale.
Danforth Chippendale.
Lewis De Blois Jacobean.
Thomas Dering Chippendale.
Philip Dumeresque Chippendale.
Isaac Foster Jacobean.
Benjamin Greene Jacobean.
Thomas Greene, Jr. Jacobean.
William Greenleaf
Robert Hale, Esq., of Beverly Chippendale.
Harvard College Seal.
Harvard College Pictorial.
William Hooper Chippendale.
Jonathan Jackson Ribbon and Wreath.
Robert Jenkins Jacobean.
Peter R. Livingston Jacobean.
John Lowell Chippendale.
Henry Marchant Chippendale.
John Marston Chippendale.
Samuel Osborne Chippendale.
Henry Pace
Joshua Spooner Jacobean.
Nathaniel Tracy Chippendale.
Andrew Tyler Jacobean.
Wentworth Chippendale.
John C. Williams Ribbon and Wreath.
A LIST OF PLATES ATTRIBUTED TO HURD, ALTHOUGH NOT SIGNED.
Thomas Child Chippendale.
Henry Courtenay Chippendale.
Edwd. Augs. Holyoke Chippendale.
By the name of Hurd Plain Armorial.
Loring Chippendale.
Lucretia E. Newton Ribbon and Wreath.
(Same copper as the John C. Williams.)
Andrew Oliver Chippendale.
Samuel Page Label: Chippendale frame.
Phillips Academy Chippendale.
Ezekiel Price Chippendale.
John Simpson Chippendale.
John Vassall Chippendale.
David Wilson Chippendale.} One copper.
James Wilson Chippendale.}
Of JAMES AKIN, who signs the _Coffin_ and _Browne_ plates, nothing is
learned. The _Hector Coffin_ book-plate is also signed by Francis
Kearney, which would seem to indicate that Akin was associated with him.
The _Browne_ is a Philadelphia plate, and Akin may have been employed by
the firm of Tanner, Vallance, Kearney and Company, which was in
successful operation in Philadelphia for some years.
* * * * *
S. ALLARDICE was apprenticed to Robert Scott, who had been a pupil of
Robert Strange, and who, coming to America, was made die-sinker to the
Mint. He had previously made the architectural plates for Dobson’s
Encyclopædia.
Only one example of the book-plate work of Allardice is now at hand, and
that is simply an engraved label for the _Library Company of Baltimore_.
Ornamented with flourishes, and some fancy work, it is yet of no merit
as a book-plate or an example of art.
* * * * *
ALEXANDER ANDERSON, who was the first American wood-engraver, was born
in the city of New York, April 21, 1775, and lived to the advanced age
of ninety-five years, dying, in 1870, in Jersey City, N.J., on the 17th
of February.
At the age of twelve, with the spring of a pocket-knife, sharpened for
the purpose, he tried
[Illustration: Peter A. Browne]
to engrave on copper pennies rolled thin. In this way he made his first
plate, which was a head of Paul Jones; and his first impression from it
was made in red oil paint by a rude kind of a press of his own
contrivance. With tools made by a blacksmith, he went on to cut little
ships and houses on type metal for the newspapers. Being in some way led
to take an interest in certain medical works, he copied many of the
plates, and his father, feeling that this was a true sign of his fitness
for the profession of medicine, and not discerning the talent for
engraving, placed him with Dr. Joseph Young, as a student of medicine.
This step was taken with great reluctance by the youth; but he found
time for both the cares of his new study, and for the pleasures of his
old pastime. Various successes encouraged him, and in 1793 he cut a
tobacco-stamp on wood, which appears to have been his first use of that
material. Soon after this, he obtained a copy of Bewick’s “Quadrupeds,”
and with the cuts found therein he was delighted. They had a strong
influence upon his later work, and he has been well called the “American
Bewick,” for his small wood-cuts closely resemble those of the English
master in design, and his prominence in this country was equal to
Bewick’s in England.
A life of Dr. Anderson has lately (1893) been issued in New York; but,
to the disappointment of book-plate collectors, not a word is said of
his making book-plates.
Of the seven plates by Anderson known at present, four are on wood, and
three are on copper.
[Illustration: JOHN PINTARD, LL. D.]
Only one of those on wood is signed. The _Lot Tripp_ and _Josh. Russell_
plates are simple labels, and the _Typographical Society of New York_
and the _John Pintard, LL.D._, which is signed, are pictorial. In the
former, the emblems and implements of the printing trade are prominent,
and in the _Pintard_, which is a fine example
[Illustration: Alex^{r} Anderson.]
of Anderson’s best work on wood, the shield of arms is shown with a
landscape for background.
[Illustration: APPRENTICES’ LIBRARY.]
The plates on copper are the _Anderson_, which is a Chippendale, the
_Apprentices’ Library_, and the _Columbia College_, which are
allegorical.
All the above will be found described in the List.
There is a plate of the _Apprentices’ Library Company of Philadelphia_
which strongly resembles the wood-cut work of Anderson, but as it is not
signed it is not safely attributed to him. In the plate of _A. Griggs_
of Philadelphia, an even more marked resemblance to his little designs
on wood is seen, but this, too, is not signed.
* * * * *
ANNIN AND SMITH. This firm consisted of _W. B. Annin_ and _George C.
Smith_, and they were established in Boston from 1820 to 1837. Annin
died in 1839, in Boston, and Smith, who lived to quite an advanced age,
died in 1878. They engraved a number of plates for the “Token,” and for
other annuals so popular sixty years ago.
The plates of _Richard Taylor Auchmuty_, _A. L. Peirson_, _William H.
Prescott_, _John Lowell, Jr._, and an armorial plate for the _Boylston
Medical Library_ are signed by them, and will be found described in the
List.
* * * * *
ABEL BOWEN, whose name appears on one of the plates of _Harvard
College_, was the first wood-engraver in Boston. He was born in New York
state in 1790, and he took up engraving before he was of age. In 1812 he
was a printer in Boston, probably attracted thither by his uncle, who
was the proprietor of the Columbian
[Illustration: WILLIAM ASHMEAD COURTENAY]
Museum. Nathaniel Dearborn claims to be the first engraver on wood in
Boston, but the honor is usually accorded to Bowen. He issued, in 1816,
the “Naval Monument,” and in 1817 was associated with Dearborn in
engraving for Shaw’s “History of Boston.” In 1834 Bowen, with others,
founded “The Boston Bewick Company,” which was an association of
engravers. In the following year they issued a map of Boston, and
undertook the publishing of the “American Magazine.” They were burned
out in this same year. Bowen died in 1850.
* * * * *
JOHN BOYD, who engraved the plate of _Samuel Chase_, which is taken to
be the plate of the signer of the Declaration, was a Philadelphia
engraver. This is the only specimen of his work on book-plates which we
have, and it is a very pretty Chippendale design, delicately engraved.
In Dunlap, a J. Boyd is simply mentioned, who was engraving in
Philadelphia in 1812. This, if the engraver of the Chase plate, would
make him rather young at the time of doing it, and it is very good work,
and not the experiment of a novice. Whether this is the same engraver, I
do not know.
* * * * *
JOSEPH CALLENDER was born in Boston, May 6, 1751. Very little is known
about him, but he is reported to have acquired the plates of Peter
Pelham, who was presumably the first to engrave on copper in America,
and to have destroyed them. Callender made most of the dies for the
second Massachusetts Mint, at a cost of £1 4_s._ each. This was
considered an exorbitant price by the superintendent, who made a
contract with a Newburyport artisan, Jacob Perkins. Callender received
£48 12_s._ for making thirty-nine dies, and repairing three others,
while Perkins received but £3 18_s._ 10_d._ for his work. Callender died
in Boston, Nov. 10, 1821, and was buried in the Granary Burying Ground.
The only Chippendale plate by Callender is a copy of the _Atkinson_
plate by Hurd, and is for a member of the same family. As compared with
its model, this plate shows very little difference, it is so close a
copy, but the motto ribbon which is added is more graceful than those of
Hurd usually were, the heraldic drawing is quite as good, and the
lettering of the name is better. Callender, of course, would not have
begun to engrave much before Hurd’s death; indeed, the preponderance of
the Ribbon and Wreath style in his designs goes to show that his work
dated towards the close of the century.
His plates in this style are very light and graceful, with no
overloading; and a faithful use of the usual features of the style is
apparent.
In the _Russell_ plate he was again a copyist, using for his model the
_Joseph Barrell_ plate. The plates for the _American Academy of Arts and
Sciences_, and for the _Massachusetts Medical Society_ are practically
alike; the curtain, and the
[Illustration: Thomas Russell]
ribbon and festooning are very similar, while the view within the oval
frame is, of course, adapted to the use of the books of the respective
societies. Callender would seem by these signs to have been a lazy
engraver, or to have considered his designs so perfect as to call for no
further effort.
A LIST OF BOOK-PLATES SIGNED BY CALLENDER.
---- Andrews Pictorial.
William King Atkinson Chippendale.
Jonathan Baldwin
Luke Baldwin
Boylston Medical Library Plain armorial.
John Callender Pictorial.
Thomas Cary Ribbon and Wreath.
William Erving Ribbon and Wreath.
John Francis Plain armorial.
Hasty Pudding Library Pictorial.
Massachusetts Medical Society Allegorical.
Thomas Russell Allegorical.
Daniel Sargent, Jr. Ribbon and Wreath.
John Sullivan Ribbon and Wreath.
James Swan Plain armorial.
Dudley Atkins Tyng Ribbon and Wreath.
Solomon Vose Ribbon and Wreath.
A LIST OF PLATES ATTRIBUTED TO CALLENDER, ALTHOUGH NOT SIGNED.
American Academy of Arts and Sciences Allegorical.
William Emerson Ribbon and Wreath.
Gray Ribbon and Wreath.
Dr. John Jeffries Plain armorial.
Porcellain Library Allegorical.
[Illustration: AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS & SCIENCES]
CEPHAS G. CHILDS, who engraved the plate of _Henry D. Gilpin_, was born
in Pennsylvania, in 1793. In the years 1827 to 1830, he published a set
of views of the city of Philadelphia and its vicinity (Baker).
[Illustration: Henry D. Gilpin.]
HENRY DAWKINS was an engraver of but few original ideas, if we may judge
him rightly by his book-plate work. In this he was very largely a
copyist. Working altogether in the Chippendale style, his designs for
the most part are variations of one general plan, which seems to have
been borrowed from an English-made plate. In his plates we see
“Chippendalism run wild.” Here are introduced the love-sick swains who
play upon the flute; the dandy shepherds in stiff clothes of the most
fashionable cut, flowing curls, and large felt hats; the flirting young
damsels in very low-cut bodices, who play at being shepherdesses for the
sake of following the above-mentioned gentle keeper of sheep. Here are
the music-loving Cupids, the scantily clad females who are attended by
the Cupids, and who are far from home among the trees of the wood. In
the _James Duane_ plate we find a fountain is fixed to the side of the
frame, and is spouting water from the mouth of a man’s head.
But the plates of _Samuel Jones_, _Samuel Stringer_, and _Peter W.
Yates_ are proof that Dawkins could confine himself to the legitimate
features of good Chippendale plates. In these no outside objects are
introduced, and the design is good.
We do not know much about Dawkins. Dunlap says he was probably from
England, and that he was first noticed in New York. Originally he was an
ornamenter of buttons and other small bits of metal, but in America he
worked at anything that offered, “suiting himself to the poverty of the
arts at the time.” Dunlap dates him about 1774, evidently on the
strength of the word of Dr. Anderson, who remembered to have seen
“shop-bills and coats-of-arms for books,” done by him previous to 1775.
However, in 1761, he engraved music for a book of Psalm Tunes published
in that year in Philadelphia. His earliest dated book-plate is that of
_John Burnet_ (1754). He was skilful enough to make counterfeit
Continental currency, but not to avoid arrest; and in 1776 we find him
suffering for this misdeed. Some time later, he forwarded the following
unique petition to the Committee of Safety:--
“MAY IT PLEASE YOUR HONOURS,--The subscriber humbly relying on the
known goodness and humanity of this honourable house, begs leave to
lay his complaint before them, which is briefly as follows. That
your petitioner was about six months past taken upon Long Island
for a trespass which this house is thoroughly acquainted as by
Israel Youngs he was led away to perform an action of which he has
sincerely repented and your petitioner was torn away from an only
son who was left among strangers without any support, or protection
during the inclemency of the approaching winter, as his unhappy
father hath since the first day he was taken had but one shirt and
one pair of stockings to shift himself, and hath been affected
during his imprisonment at White Plains with that worst of enemies
hunger, and a nauseous stench of a small room where some twenty
persons were confined together which hath introduced a sickness on
your distressed subscriber which with the fatigue of travelling
hath reduced your unhappy petitioner to a state of despondency--he
therefore being weary of such a miserable life as his misconduct
has thrown him into begs for a termination by death to be inflicted
upon him in what manner the honourable House may see fit. The kind
compliance of this honourable House will ever lay an obligation on
your distressed humble servent
HENRY DAWKINS.”
We do not know in what manner the honorable house received this
extraordinary petition; but, as book-plates are in existence in his
later style, probably it was not granted. Dawkins used three distinct
varieties of the Chippendale style. The plates of _Benjamin Kissam_, the
_Ludlow_ and _Roome_ plates, the _Whitehead Hicks_ and the _James Duane_
are examples of the debased
[Illustration: Whitehead Hicks Esq.]
Chippendale. He had also a style which is illustrated by the
_Hopkinson_, _Samuels_, and _Tomlinson_ plates, which is closely allied
to the style of the _Bushrod Washington_. The same hissing dragon, the
same tilt to the whole design, and the similarity in detail and
execution have led to the question of his being the engraver of the
latter plate. It is not a question easy to decide, and collectors are
divided over the question. This style of plate came originally from
England, we can be sure; and as Dawkins is seen to be a copyist, it is
quite as likely that he copied from the _Bushrod Washington_ plate, as
that he designed it. He always used a squarer copper than the Washington
plate is engraved upon; but this has evidences of having been cut down
after engraving. The present writer does not think the plate can be
safely attributed to Dawkins. The _Child_ and _Jones_ plates exemplify
the third style.