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Exhibition: "Nineteenth Century Color Plate Books" (Grolier Club: New York, NY, 5 May - 31 July 1999) 

Forwarded to STHC-L from EXLIBRIS.

Okay, this is about archives (although I would hope one of the 
gallery talks would delve into publishers' archives)--but there _is_ a 
large sci/tech/med component, so I thought list members living in/near 
or visiting New York will be interested in dropping by the Grolier Club 
for what promises to be a stunning exhibition.

Russell Johnson


-----Begin forwarded message-----
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 07:17:59 -0700 (PDT)
From: Nancy Houghton <nsh@panix.com>

April 22, 1999

For immediate release:	April 1999	                            	    
Contact:     Nancy Houghton	                     		        
e-mail:      nsh@grolierclub.org


Stamped With a National Character:
NINETEENTH CENTURY AMERICAN COLOR PLATE BOOKS

An Exhibition at the Grolier Club of New York
May 5 - July 31, 1999


	To mark the bicentennial of the first color plate book produced in the
United States, The Grolier Club will exhibit over one hundred books with
color plates printed in the Americas during the 19th century. On view May 5
- July 31, 1999, the show traces the development of the use of color
illustration in books from tentative beginnings to the invention of
chromatic halftones, exploring both the evolution of printing processes and
the uses of color plate books in cultural and scientific contexts. 

	The first American color plate book on display, William Birch's The City of
Philadelphia in the Year 1800, was printed from engraved copper plates,
which were then colored by hand. 

        But the boldest entrepreneurs in color plate book publishing were
the Audubons. Together, John James Audubon and his sons produced the
grandest works of the century. Featured in the exhibition are their The
Viviparous Quadrupeds of America (1845-1848), an imperial folio of 150
handcolored lithographs that was the largest and one of the most important
book projects undertaken in America in the 19th century, and the "Bien"
edition of  The Birds of America, with 150 chromolithographs, which followed
the extraordinary success of the Audubon octavo. 

        Other highlights include The Hudson River Portfolio (1822),
considered the greatest American color plate book, unrivaled in both size
and quality of production; Hayden's The Yellowstone National Park portfolio
(1876), an outstanding rarity of Western Americana; and Earhart's tour de
force, The Color Printer; A Treatise On The Use Of Colors In Typographic
Printing (1892) in which he demonstrated, by illustrating up to ten colors
per page, the capability of chromolithography and provided elaborate
instructions on how to do it.

	Color plate books covered many genres and were targeted to a range of
audiences. The display comprises illustrated works addressing natural
history, the landscape, fiction, drawing instruction, Native Americans,
children's literature, fashion, travel narratives, medicine, science,
architecture, landscaping, botany, typography, religion, art history,
sports, trade catalogues, and color theory.

	Although the beginnings of American color plate publishing were crude, many
extraordinary and beautiful books were created, thanks in part to the
immigration of artists and craftsmen from Germany, France and England, who
brought with them both expertise and printing materials. And as technologies
evolved, plates were produced by woodcut, aquatint, lithography,
chromolithograph, photolithograph, photogravure, nature printing and
chromatic halftone. This final process, which first appeared in an American
book in 1896, opened the door to the technology which dominated color
printing for most of the 20th century, and doomed the earlier forms to
obsolescence.  

	Stamped With a National Character: Nineteenth Century American Color Plate
Books presents a vivid and fascinating picture of the evolution of culture
and technology in the United States. The Grolier Club plans a series of
events, including lectures and gallery walks, in conjunction with the
exhibition, which is curated by William S. Reese. A hardcover fully
illustrated catalogue of the exhibition will be available through The
Veatchs Arts of the Book, P.O. Box 328, Northampton, MA 01060; phone (413)
584-1867; e-mail: Veatchs@veatchs.com; fax: (413) 584-2751.

        Stamped With a National Character: Nineteenth Century American Color
Plate Books will be on view at the Grolier Club, 47 East 60th Street, May 5
- July 31, 1999, except May 31 and July 5 when the Club is closed. The
exhibition is open to the public, Monday-Saturday, 10-5, free of charge. For
further information visit the Grolier Club web site at
http://www.grolierclub.org 

                                

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS AT THE GROLIER CLUB

September 15 - November 13, 1999. Century for the Century: Fine Printed
Books         1900-1999. Curated by Jerry Kelly and Martin Hutner. 
December 7 1999 - January 29, 2000. A Ha! Christmas! Curated by 
        John Elliott, Jr.
16 February - 29 April 2000. John Ruskin. Curated by R. Dyke Benjamin.
--- End Forwarded Message ---
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