An intelligent interest in architecture a bibliography of publications about Thomas Jefferson as an architect, together with an iconography of the nineteenth-century prints of the University of Virginia |
| VI. |
 | The Iconography |
| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
| XII. |
| XIII. |
| XIV. |
| XV. |
 | An intelligent interest in architecture |  |
The Iconography
I. The Maverick Group
Ia Ground plan of the University of Virginia, 1822
17 5/16″ × 19 3/8″. Engraving
Signed, lower right: Peter Maverick scl. N.Y.
Labeled: University of Virginia
Coll.: Edwin M. Betts
Note the steps at the ends of the Rotunda terraces, the unnumbered dormitory
rooms, and the lack of a single dormitory unit at the south end of West
Range.
This engraving was reproduced in facsimile and labeled on its back as
follows: "Maverick's Plate of the University of Virginia for insertion in
Thomas Jefferson—Architect (By Fiske Kimball) With the Compliments of
Edwin M. Betts, in his "Groundplans and Prints of the University of
Virginia, 1822-1826," Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society,
XC, No. 2 (1946), 87, gives full documentation of Plates Ia-c in his
article, but a timetable of the production of the two American editions of the
Maverick plan follows:
Nov. 30, 1821: The Board of Visitors resolves to have an engraving of
"ground plat" of the University made and to have "a good painter"
draw a perspective view to be engraved.
Dec. 31, 1821: William J. Coffee, the New York ornamentist, visits Monticello.
After March 25, 1822: Coffee leaves Monticello with Jefferson's [?] drawing
of the ground plan of the University.
June 14, 1822: Jefferson writes Coffee for news about an engraver for the
ground plan.
July 5, 1822: Coffee answers enclosing a letter from Peter Maverick, "a
gentleman of the first ability in that art in this City."
July 10, 1822: Jefferson accepts Maverick's proposals and asks for an
edition of 250 copies.
Nov. 12, 1822: Maverick sends proof to Jefferson and asks for the desired
size of the edition.
Nov. 20, 1822: Jefferson asks for an edition of 250.
Dec. 7, 1822: Maverick completes order, ships it, and sends the bill:
| To Engraving a Plan of the University of Virginia | 112. |
| Printing 250 — do at $10 | 25. |
| Paper for do | 12. |
| Box & cartage | 1. |
| 150. |
July 4, 1823: Jefferson buys a copy of the plan.
Aug. 22, 1823: Jefferson buys a copy of the plan.
Aug. 19, 1824: Jefferson buys a copy of the plan.
Sept., 1824: First edition is depleted.
Sept. 4, 1824: Jefferson writes Coffee that he is asking Maverick to print
more copies.
Sept. 19, 1824: Jefferson has not yet had a copy to correct for Maverick.
Sept. 22, 1824: Jefferson orders 200 copies for the second edition, after the
following corrections are made:
1st. engrave the Nos. 1. 2. 3. etc. within the dormitories as
done in this copy.2nd. add another Dormitory No. 55, as you see sketched here
at the left hand bottom corner, exactly like No. 56, at the
right hand bottom corner.3rd. make the alteration which you see drawn here between the
Portico of the Rotunda and the corner of the Pavilions I. and
II. on each flank.
Dec. 9, 1824: Jefferson asks Coffee to check Maverick's production of the
new edition.
Jan. 16, 1825: Coffee answers that Maverick has been ill but plans will soon
be done.
March 3, 1825: Plans arrive and the Proctor notes bill in his Day Book:
| Engraving acct. Debtor to Peter Maverick | |
| For alteration in plate | 13 |
| Printing 250 Copys of Plan of the U. Va. | 25 |
| Paper $12.00 Box & carting to 1 | 13 |
| 51 |
March 29, 1825: Jefferson buys a copy of the 2nd edition.
Peter Maverick, N.A., 1780-1831, was the son of Peter Rushton Maverick,
an etcher and engraver in New York who had originally been a silversmith.
He trained his son and several other painters of the day, including William
Dunlap, the portraitist and early art historian. Peter Maverick far excelled
his father. His first work was published at the age of nine. He also did
banknote engraving. In 1802 he established himself in New York City,
where he worked until 1809. He then worked in Newark, N.J., but retained a
New York office to which he returned in 1820. One of Peter Maverick's
apprentices was Asher B. Durand, who was also his partner from 1817 to
1820. Maverick was quite prosperous from early in his career but "some
misfortunes connected with a partnership business, left him late in life to
commence anew."[1]
John Neilson, d. 1827, was born in Ireland. A carpenter by trade, he
worked both as a master carpenter and as a contractor on the buildings of
the University of Virginia, where he prospered. He bought property in
Charlottesville which was left to his family in Ireland at his death.[2]
There
are, in the Virginia State Library, two drawings of the ground plan of the
University of Virginia. One of these was, presumably, sent to New York for
Maverick to engrave, or they were studies for the drawing which was sent.
They have, in the past, been provisionally attributed to Jefferson,[3]
but it is
Jefferson drawings for the University, that they were drawn by Neilson, who
was acknowledged as the draftsman on the Maverick revised plate of 1825.
Ib Ground plan of the University of Virginia, 1825
17 5/16″ × 19 3/8″. Engraving
Signed, lower left: John Neilson delt.
Signed, lower right: Peter Maverick scl. N.Y.
Labeled: University of Virginia
Coll.: Edwin M. Betts
Note the absence of the steps at the ends of the Rotunda terraces, the
numbering of the dormitories, and the addition of a single dormitory room
at the southern end of West Range.
This edition of the Maverick Plan has been reproduced in facsimile by the
University Press of Virginia, 1965.
Ic Ground plan of the University of Virginia, 1828
9 3/8″ × 10 3/8″. Engraving
Unsigned
Labeled: Universitaet von Virginia
Coll.: University of Virginia
At the top of the plate on either side of the Rotunda, and at the bottom
above the title a description of the University is given as follows:
Top left:
I-X Wohnungen der Professoren, je mit einem Hörsale, Hof und Garten
1-55 Schlafgemächer jedes für zwey Studirende, Ausgänge in einem Colonnade,
das Dach platt, zur Promenade und Communication zwichen den
Wohnungen der Professoren.
Top right:
A-F Hotels für Gastgeber zur Beköstigung der Studirenden.
1-56 Schlafgemächer wie in den mittleren Reihen. Die Rotunda hat 77 Fuss
im Durchmesser, unten grosse zimmer zum Gottesdienst und zu öffentlichen
Prüfungen, oben ein Zimmer als Büchersaal, über demselben die Kuppel.
Bottom:
Der freye Platz in der Mitte ist 200 Fuss breit u. bis jetzt 900 Fuss lang. Er
ist offen an einem Ends, damit der Bau fortgesetzt werden könne.
The plate, a reduced version of the Maverick plan, appeared in a book
whose title page read:
Reise Sr. Hoheit des Herzogs Bernhard zu Sachsen-Weimar-Eisinach durch
Nord-Amerika in den Jahren 1825 und 1826. Herausgegeben von Heinrich
Luden. Erster Theil. Mit 16 Vignetten, 4 Kupfern, 3 planen. (opp. p. 296)
Betts also says in his article, in speaking of the Duke of Saxe-Weimar's
visit to Charlottesville and Monticello, that the Maverick "plan was probably
given him by Jefferson."
William Dunlap, History of the Rise and Progress of the Arts of Design in the
United States (2 vols.; New York: George P. Scott, 1834), II, 217.
The Rev. Edgar Woods, Albemarle County in Virginia (Charlottesville, Va.: Michie,
1901), pp. 144, 288.
Frederick D. Nichols, Thomas Jefferson's Architectural Drawings (Boston and
Charlottesville, Va.: Massachusetts Historical Society, Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Foundation, and University of Virginia Press, 1961), pp. 40, 41.
II. The Tanner Print
II University of Virginia from the south, 1826
13 1/16″ × 26 3/8″. Vignette. Engraving
Signed, lower right: B. Tanner, Sc.
Labeled: University of Virginia
Coll.: University of Virginia
Jefferson, in a letter to William J. Coffee dated September 19, 1824, now in
the Massachusetts Historical Society, said that a view of the University "has
been made by a mr Williams 12. by 3. I. which will be engraved, as a
vignette, on the map of Virga. now preparing for impression." Betts says
this is the drawing from which No. II was made.[4]
Nothing further is known
of "mr Williams."
The map, usually known as the Böÿe map, is labeled
Map of the State of Virginia. Constructed in Conformity to Law, from the late
Surveys authorized by the Legislature and other original and authentic Documents
by Herman Böÿe. Engraved by H. S. Tanner.
Its copyright reads
Entered according to Act of Congress, the 14th day of April 1826, by John
Tyler, Governor of the State of Virginia.
Several engravers were employed on this large and splendid map—James
W. Steel, Joseph Perkins, and the two Tanners are acknowledged.
Benjamin Tanner, 1775-1848, the engraver for the view of the University,
was born in New York City, apprenticed to Peter C. Verger, and worked in
New York until 1799. He then moved to Philadelphia where he established
two engraving firms, into which he took his brother, whom he had taught, as
one of his partners. Tanner, Kearney, and Thiebout were banknote engravers
from 1817 to 1824. Tanner, Vallance, Kearney, and Co. were general
engravers and the firm seems to have been in existence at about the same
time. In 1835 Benjamin Tanner used stereographing for producing checks
and banknotes. Retiring in 1845, he went to Baltimore where he died in
1848.
His brother, Henry Schenck Tanner, 1786-1858, was best known as a
cartographer. He worked in Philadelphia from 1811 to 1850. Since his name
appears as the engraver of the map on its principal label he is often
mistakenly given as the engraver of this view.
This earliest of the views of the University is not only one of the most
beautiful but also the best, John H. B. Latrobe, who saw the University in
1832, said the engraving was "a very accurate one."[5]
The presence of an
arcade across the north end of the Lawn cannot have been quite accurate.
Betts, "Groundplans and Prints of the University of Virginia, 1822-1826," Proceedings
of the American Philosophical Society, XC, No. 2 (1946), 90.
John E. Semmes, John H. B. Latrobe and His Times, 1803-1819 (Baltimore:
Norman, Remington, 1917), p. 247.
III. The Hinton Group
IIIa University of Virginia from the south, 1831
3 3/4″ × 5 5/8″. Steel engraving
Signed, lower left: Drawn by W. Goodacre N.Y.
Signed, lower right: Engraved and Printed by Fenner Sears & Co.
Labeled: University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Coll.: Edwin M. Betts
This print is further identified by the publisher's acknowledgment: "London
Published Dec. 1, 1831 by H. L. Hinton & Simpkin & Marshall." It also has
the engraved number "81" at the top right corner. Note that the Lawn is
shown without terracing, a device which considerably simplified the draftsman's
task, and that the colonnade is incorrectly continued across the north
end of the Lawn.
In Jefferson's letter of September 19, 1824, to William J. Coffee, he says
that another view has been made of the University "of 18. by 12. I. by mr.
Goodacre, son of the gentleman of that name who lectures on astron[omy]
and is now probably in N.Y. This I understood he would engrave on his
derived.
No. IIIa was published in Hinton's History, which was first issued in a
series of monthly parts completed in 1832, although the title page of the
book gives 1830 as its date. The full title of the work was
The History and Topography of the United States: Edited by John Howard
Hinton, A.M. Assisted by several literary Gentlemen in America and England.
Illustrated with a Series of Views, Drawn on the Spot, and Engraved on Steel,
Expressly for this Work, London, Published by Jennings and Chaplin and I. T.
Hinton, Thomas Wardle, Philadelphia, G. C. and H. Carvill, New York and Gray
and Owen, Boston. August 2, 1830. Engraved and Printed by Fenner Sears and
Co.
Its first volume was concerned with the first fifty years of the United
States while the second covered the country's geography and topography.
The plates bound in seem to have differed from copy to copy and edition to
edition. That for the University of Virginia does not seem to have been in
this first edition, but appears in the later ones for 1842, 1846, and 1854. The
description of the University given in all editions is as follows:
This edifice, in which all the orders of architecture are introduced, has been
reared up under the parental care of Mr. Jefferson. Combining the effect of the
scenery presented by the surrounding country with the plan and execution of the
buildings, the University of Virginia is pronounced by competent judges to be
equal, if not superior, to anything of the kind in Europe.
The print seems to have been issued separately, also, and with some
variations as in Nos. IIIb and IIIc. It has, in addition, been popular as the
source for prints issued by others as in the remaining examples in this
section. It has also been issued in many reproductions, having been used not
only as a picture but also on various decorative objects such as trays.
John Howard Hinton, A.M., was a Baptist minister who died at Bristol,
aged 83, in 1873.
William Goodacre accompanied his astronomer father on a lecture tour
which brought him to Charlottesville during May, 1824. He was a painter of
landscapes and still lifes and taught drawing in New York from 1829 to
1835. He executed many of the views from Boston to Augusta, Ga., for
Hinton.
IIIb University of Virginia from the south, 1831
3 3/4″ × 5 5/8″. Colored steel engraving
Signed as in No. IIIa
Coll.: Edwin M. Betts
No. IIIb is the same as No. IIIa except for the applied washes of color,
evidence of which may be seen along the roof line of Pavilion VII.
IIIc University of Virginia from the south, 1831
3 3/4″ × 5 5/8″. Steel engraving
Signed, lower left: Drawn by W. Goodacre, N.Y.
Labeled: University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Publisher: J. and F. Tallis, London & New York
Coll.: Edwin M. Betts
Although the plate for No. IIIc is the same as that for No. IIIa, it now has a
different publisher and has been given an engraved, decorative frame. The
circular medallions to the left and right at the bottom are entitled, respectively,
"Storming the Redoubts at Yorktown," and "Surrender of Cornwallis."
The vignette at the top shows Columbia holding a staff supporting a
Phrygian (Liberty) cap and bearing a shield inscribed "George Washington."
IIId University of Virginia from the south, 1835-37
4 1/8″ × 6 1/4″. Steel engraving
Signed, lower right: G. Poppel, Kp.
Labeled: Die Virginia-Universitaet
(Verien, Staaten v. Nord-Amerika)
Publisher's Inscription: Aus d' Kunstanst. d. Bibliogr.
Instit. in Hildbh.
Eigenthum d. Verleger
Coll.: Edwin M. Betts
There is a colored state of No. IIId as well as an uncolored one. It is clearly
derived from No. IIIa, as a comparison of the figures on the flat Lawn
shows. The derivation is reinforced by the colonnade across the north end of
the Lawn. The differences include the introduction of the tree on its knoll,
the statues atop the balustrades of the Rotunda terraces, the lantern and
statue surmounting the dome of the Rotunda, the extension of Pavilion IX
far beyond its actual length with three chimneys instead of one, and the
addition of two chimneys to Pavilion VII.
The print appeared in a work entitled
Meyer's Universum oder Abbildung und Beschreibung des Schenswerthesten
und Merkwürdigsten der Natur und Kunst auf der ganzen Erde. Hildburghausen,
Amsterdam und New-York. Druck und Verlag vom Bibliographischen
Institut. 1837.
The book was in four volumes, the dates varying in the volumes, the title
pages being marked 1835, 1836, and 1837. There are both an engraved and
a printed title page in each volume. The work was issued again in 1850 and
1859. There were also American editions in which the parts were issued
without a date (1837?), and later in bound volumes in 1852 and 1859. In
the American edition of parts it is called
Our Globe, a universal picturesque album, edited by J. Meyer. In weekly
numbers, each number illustrated by two superb steel-engravings from the
burins of celebrated artists. Published by the North American Bibliographic
Institution in Philadelphia (E. Littell and Co., 212 Chesnut St.)
The print of the University appeared in Volume IV, p. 52, of the 1837
German edition accompanied by an article numbered CLIX and with the
title "Die Virginia-Universität in den vereinigten Staaten von Nordamerika."
In the American edition issued in parts, the title of the work changes
to Our Globe Illustrated with Part IV, and the publisher changes to C. F.
Hausman and Co., 279 Chesnut St. above Ninth, Philadelphia. The article,
which appears in Volume I, Part V, No. 18, says
The University of Virginia, situated at Charlottesville in that State, is one of
those monuments which draw down upon the memory of a truly great man the
blessings of all future generations. Thomas Jefferson, . . . sacrificed to the
establishment of this University the greater part of his fortune [sic]. . . .
The exterior of this University, which has been thought by European connoisseurs
to be a model for such buildings, bears the stamp of the highly cultivated
and noble mind by which it was created.
The 1852 edition in this country had both an engraved and a printed title
page. The engraved title was
Meyer's Universum in Halfmonthly Parts Illustrated with Engravings from
Drawings by the First Artists. Vol. I. Containing 48 Plates. The Literary
Department J. Meyer. English-American Edition. New York: Hermann J.
Meyer, 164 William Street. 1852.
The printed title was
Meyer's Universum or Views of the Most Remarkable Places and Objects of All
Countries in Steel Engravings by Distinguished Artists, with Descriptive and
Historical Text by Eminent Writers in Europe and America. Edited by Charles
A. Dana. Vol. I. New York: Hermann J. Meyer, 164 William Street. 1852.
Accounts of Joseph Meyer differ. One source says he was born in 1796
and died in 1856, while another gives the date 1859 for his death. A Joseph
Meyer is listed as having been employed in New York as an engraver, but
whether he was this Joseph Meyer or not is uncertain.
Johann Gabriel Friedrich Poppell was born near Nurenberg in 1807 and
died at Ammerland in 1882. He was a draftsman, a painter of landscapes,
and an engraver of genre subjects and landscapes, being known particularly
for his views of Munich.
IIIe University of Virginia from the south, 1835-37
3 3/8″ × 5″. Engraving
Signed, lower left: Arnout, del.
Signed, lower right: Travesier (?), Sc.
Labeled: Université de Virginie
Labeled, at top center: Etats-Unis
Labeled, upper right: 87
Coll.: Edwin M. Betts
Although the figures introduced in No. IIIe differ from those in No. IIIa,
the similarities, especially the flat Lawn and the colonnade across the north,
are overwhelming evidence of a clear derivation.
This plate was published in Roux de Rochelle, Jean Baptiste Gaspard,
Etats-Unis d'Amérique (Paris: Firmin Didot, frères, 1837 [85 pls., 4 ports.,
3 maps, 4 plans]; 2nd ed., 1838 [86 pls., 4 ports., 3 maps, 4 plans]). It was
part of an immense work called L'univers: Histoire et description de tous les
peuples (Paris, 1835-63). L'univers was planned in seventy octavo volumes,
divided into five portions: Europe in forty volumes and three additional
ones of plates of France; Africa in seven volumes; Asia in twelve volumes;
America in five volumes; and Oceania in three volumes.
The volume (volumes?) on the United States was published in Italian,
Spanish, and German.
Jean Baptiste Gaspard Roux de Rochelle lived between 1762 and 1849.
There are two Arnouts who might have been the delineator of this plate.
Jean Baptiste Arnout was born in Dijon in 1788 and flourished as a painter
and lithographer between 1819 and 1865. His son, Louis-Jules Arnout, born
in Paris in 1814, was also a painter and lithographer who worked in Paris
until 1867. The signature for the engraver is not clear. It might, however, be
Hyacinthe Travesier, who worked in Paris until 1860.
IIIf University of Virginia from the south, 1839 (?)
3 3/8″ × 5″. Engraving
Unsigned
Labeled: Universita de Virginia
Labeled at top: Stati Uniti
Coll.: Edwin M. Betts
Either a reworked version of No. IIIe or a new plate, this view differs from
No. IIIe in the treatment of the sky and in the clarity of the incorrect
colonnade across the north end of the Lawn. It, too, is derived from No. IIIa.
The plate was published in the Italian translation of Roux de Rochelle's
book, the new title being Stati Uniti d'America, 1839.[6]
IIIg University of Virginia from the south, 1835
3 3/8″ × 5 7/16″. Wood engraving
Unsigned
Labeled: College in Charlottesville
Coll.: Edwin M. Betts
The figures, the flat Lawn, the colonnade across the north, and even the
arrangement of clouds attest to this plate's derivation from No. IIIa.
It was published in the April, 1835, issue of The American Magazine of
Useful and Entertaining Knowledge, which was described as "embellished
with numerous engravings," and was issued at Boston by the Boston Bewick
Co., 47 Court Street.
On page 367 it said of the University that
in 1834 it has nine instructors, one hundred and thirty pupils, a library of eight
thousand volumes; and an adequate philosophical apparatus. . . .
The University of Virginia is situated near the seat of the late President
Jefferson, and was a favorite object of his care.
The American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge was
issued monthly from September, 1834, to September, 1837. It was illustrated
with many plates, numbers of which were vulgarizations of the engravings
in Hinton.
IIIh University of Virginia from the south, 1835
2 1/16″ × 3 3/16″. Wood engraving
Unsigned
Labeled: University of Virginia
Coll.: Edwin M. Betts
Also derived from No. IIIa—compare the figures, the flat Lawn, and the
general composition—this print was first published in 1835 in a book by
Grenville Mellen. It was
A Book of the United States, Exhibiting Its Geography, Divisions, Constitution,
and Government . . . and Presenting a View of the Republic Generally and of
the Individual States; together with a Condensed History of the Land . . . a
Description of the principal Cities and Towns; with Statistical Tables, Relating
to the Religion, Commerce, Manufactures, and Various Other Topics. Hartford,
Conn. 1835.
The print of the University is on page 479. The book was reissued many
times, changed publishers twice, and grew thicker in the process. The 1836,
1837, and 1838 imprints were all issued at Hartford and contained 804
pages. The 1839 and 1841 issues contained 824 pages and were published in
New York by Smith. The 1842 issue containing 847 pages was published at
Hartford, while the 1852 issue was also published at Hartford under the
imprint of Goodman and contained 852 pages.
The University is described as owing
its origin and peculiar organization chiefly to Mr. Jefferson. It has a fine
collection of buildings, consisting of four parallel ranges about six hundred feet
professors, and upwards of two hundred students.
Grenville Mellen, 1799-1841, was born at Biddeford, Maine, the son of
Prentiss and Sarah Hudson Mellen. He was educated at Portsmouth Academy
and at Harvard and began to practice law with his father. Married in
1824, his health broke after the death of his daughter in 1828 and that of his
wife in 1829. He then devoted himself to writing, publishing a book of
poetry, The Martyr's Triumph, in 1833. After 1836 he lived in New York
working chiefly on history and statistical compilations. During 1839 his
health became so bad that a voyage to Cuba during the winter of 1839-40
did no good and he died the next year.
IIIi University of Virginia from the south, 1842
1 3/4″ × 4″. Vignette engraving
Unsigned
Labeled: Universität von Virginia, Charlottesville.
Labeled, top right: 30
Coll.: Edwin M. Betts
Yet another print derived from No. IIIa, No. IIIi has both similarities and
differences. The figures, while not identical with those in No. IIIa, are
placed in approximately the same positions, the Lawn is flat, there is a
colonnade on the north, and the disposal of the buildings is very similar.
The lighting in this little print is quite different, however, being very
dramatic with its brilliant spot on the Lawn itself, while the central columns
of the Rotunda portico have been given a wider spacing than those flanking
spacing of the columns is incorrect.
The print appears on the upper third of a page which also includes an
engraving of the Natural Bridge. It is found in the second volume of a book
whose title page reads as follows:
Gemälde von Nord-Amerika in allen Beziehungen vonder Entdeckung an bis auf
die neueste zeit. Eine Pittoreske Geographie für alle, Welche unterhaltende
Belehrung suchen und ein Umfassendes Reise-Handbuch für jine, welche in
diesem Lande wandern wollen. Von Traugott Bromme. In zwei Bänden, Zweiten
Band. Stuttgart, J. Scheible's Buchhandlung, 1842.[7]
The description of the University on page 544 of the second volume is
translated as
The erection of the buildings, which consist of four parallel rows that have a
front of about 600 feet and are in a distance of 200 feet from each other, cost
$333,966.
IIIj University of Virginia from the south, n.d.
3 5/8″ × 5 5/8″. Wood engraving
Unsigned
Labeled: University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Coll.: University of Virginia
This last, undated print must also be an adaptation of No. IIIa. The
incorrect colonnade at the north, the flat Lawn, the reversing of such figures
as are used, and the arrangement of the clouds as well as the general
composition point to No. IIIa as the source of the artist's information.
No further data is available about this final view of the Hinton group.
Neither the Spanish nor the German translations were available for examination or
reproduction during this study. The German publication is titled Vereinigte Staaten von
Nord-Amerika, trans. by C. A. Mebold (Stuttgart: E. Schweizerhart, 1838). The Spanish
translation is Historia de los Estados Unidos de América, 1841.
The title page translates as "Descriptions of North-America in All Regards from
Its Discovery to Most Recent Times. A Picturesque Geography for All Who Seek
Entertaining Instruction and a Comprehensive Travel-Handbook for Those Who Intend
to Travel in That Country. By Traugott Bromme. In two volumes. Second Volume.
Stuttgart, J. Scheible's Bookstore. 1842."
IV. The Outline Drawing
IV University of Virginia from the south, n.d.
Original not available for examination. Woodcut?
Labeled: Outline View of the University of Virginia
Coll. (in reproduction): Edwin M. Betts
This rather mysterious photograph can be identified only from a letter from
the L. C. Handy Studios, Washington, D.C., to Edwin M. Betts, U. Va.,
October 24, 1934. It states "we have found in our old files . . . a simple line
drawing made in 1819 showing a view somewhat similar to the one sent you
today [the Hinton]."
Since the title on the photograph is in type, it seems unlikely that the
object photographed was a drawing. The date of 1819 is surely too early,
since Jefferson may not have made the drawings for the Rotunda until 1821,
soon before estimates of its costs were made and shortly before they were
approved by the Board of Visitors on April 2, 1821.
Could this be the third view of the University mentioned by Jefferson in
his letter to William J. Coffee of September 19, 1824? In it he says "a 3d
[view] of about the same size [18 × 12] has been done by a mr. Cook, a
drawer by profession, with a view also to engraving it for sale?"[8]
Or could
this view be taken from the 12 × 3 drawing of Mr. Williams[9]
mentioned in
the same letter?
V. The Duval Group
Va University of Virginia from the south, 1844-45
3 1/4″ × 6 7/8″. Vignette. Engraving
Unsigned
Not labeled
Coll.: University of Virginia
Vb University of Virginia from the south, 1846-47
3 1/4″ × 6 7/8″. Vignette. Engraving
Unsigned
Not labeled
Coll.: University of Virginia
Vc University of Virginia from the south, 1848-49 (also 1835)
3 1/4″ × 6 7/8″. Vignette. Engraving
Signed at bottom: Engraved by James W. Steel, Philada.
Not labeled
Coll.: University of Virginia
Note that the terraces have been restored to the Lawn in No. Va, the drapery
is pulled up at the bottom center, and that there is no cloud effect outside the
drapery.
Note that in No. Vb the drapery has now been pulled down in the center,
placed outside the drapery.
The principal difference between No. Vb and No. Vc is, of course, the
signature, and it is possible that Steel may have worked on the other two
versions of this print.
Nos. Va, Vb, and Vc were used principally as the frontispiece of the
catalogues for the University from that for the session for 1844-45 to that
for the session for 1854-55. There was no print used in the catalogues
before the session of 1844-45, and none after 1855-56, while that for the
1855-56 session was No. Xa. Since these prints were produced by a firm of
lithographers (see below), it is possible that they are lithographic reproductions
of engravings, but the classification of engraving has been given them
here since one of them is so signed by James Steel.
The catalogue titles, the printers, and the exact print used for each are
given below:
1844-45: Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the University of
Virginia. Session of 1844-45. Philadelphia: C. Sherman, Printer. 1845.
No. Va.
1845-46: The same.
1846-47: Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the University of
Virginia. Session 1846-47. J. Alexander, Printer, Charlottesville, Va.
No. Vb
1847-48: Catalogue of the University of Virginia. Session of 1847-48.
Richmond: H. K. Ellyson, Printer, Main St. 1848.
No. Vb
1848-49: The same.
No. Vc
1849-50: The same.
No. Vb
1850-51: The same.
1851-52: The same.
1852-53: The same.
1853-54: The same.
1854-55: The same.
There are two notes in the Proctor's Report concerning these prints:
P. S. Duval for 2,000 views of University for catalogue. [May 11, 1841]
P. S. Duval, 1800 vignette views of the University for catalogues. [April 21,
1846]
No. Vc was used on the University's diploma, an example of which
album issued by Duval, an album which is otherwise the same as No. Vd. It
is not dated, but the signatures bear the date of 1851.[10]
James W. Steel, 1799-1879, was a native of Philadelphia. He was a pupil
of Benjamin Tanner and George Murray. He worked for a time with
Tanner, Vallance, Kearney and Co., engraved the vignette of Richmond on
the Böÿe-Tanner map of Virginia, and did many engravings of portraits,
landscapes, and historical scenes. He later became a banknote engraver.
Dunlap said he "is an Irishman, and engraves well in the line manner,"[11]
but whether he meant Steel was born in Ireland as opposed to his having
been born in Philadelphia is uncertain.
Peter S. Duval, a Frenchman, was hired as a young man to come to
Philadelphia to work for Childs and Inman as a lithographer. A few years
later Duval with George Lehman established Lehman and Duval (1835-37)
as successors to Childs and Inman. The firm became, with William W.
Huddy, Huddy and Duval (1839-43), and in 1843 Duval established his
own shop in Philadelphia. His son, Stephen Orr Duval, b. 1832, was taken
into the business in 1858 when the firm became P. S. Duval and Son,
Lithographers. Duval's firm was one of the leading lithographic companies
in the country until 1879 when he retired.
Vd The Rotunda from the south, 1846-51
3 3/8″ × 5 1/8″. Vignette. Lithograph
Unsigned
Labeled: Rotunda
Publisher's inscription, bottom right: Lith. of P. S. Duval. Philada.
Coll.: University of Virginia
Note the proper delineation of the lunettes in the wall of the Rotunda
terraces, the hip roof over those "terraces," the lantern capping the dome of
the Rotunda, and weather vane capping the lantern. The dome has also lost
its steps at its base. They were usually shown in some form in the earlier
prints.
This print appeared in the autograph album which is commonly called the
Duval album, although it has no publisher acknowledged. There are two
versions of it, one containing Nos. Vb and Vd and the other containing Nos.
Vd and Ve. One should point out that there is considerable discrepancy in
the Rotunda between Nos. Vb and Vd, No. Vd clearly being drawn by
someone who had seen the building recently and had marked its changes.
The album itself is not dated, but the autographs within it are dated 1851.
The lantern had been added by General John H. Cocke in 1840, while the
in which either feature appeared.
The form of the weather vane is not certain. It appears to be an arrow in
No. Vd, but an alumnus remembered it as a quill pen. Captain John M.
Payne's letter of January 27, 1933, to Edwin M. Betts at the University
follows:
According to my promise I will write my recollection of the Vane on top of the
Rotunda which was there when I came to the University in 1858.
The Vane was in the form of a Qwill [sic] Pen some 8 or 10 feet long—
gilded. The point of the pen would point to the letter N. E. S. W. as the wind
blew.
This was evidently the invention of Mr. Jefferson. And, in my opinion, and as
far as one hears, added a finish to the appearance of the building.
Mr. Pratt took this down in 1859 or 1860.
Some years ago, I wrote to Mr. Alderman about this Vane. He replied at once
thanking me for this information and said that he would have the original
searched for, but I have heard nothing more about it.
There may be someone in Charlottesville who may remember this Vane, for it
was quite apparent to one seeing the Rotunda.
Captain Payne was wrong about the weather vane being an intention of or
an invention by Jefferson. He had given the Rotunda a flat skylight at the
oculus rather than a lantern on which a weather vane could be fixed.
Captain Payne (1840-1934), whose home was at Lynchburg during his
student days, had registered at the University during 1858-59 and in 1860.
Ve University of Virginia from the east, 1851(?)
5 3/16″ × 8 3/4″. Vignette. Lithograph
Unsigned
Labeled: University of Virginia from the East
Publisher's inscription, bottom right: P. S. Duval's Steam lith. Press.
Philada.
Coll.: University of Virginia
This view from the east shows hipped roofs on East Range, instead of the
original flat ones, the lantern and weather vane on the Rotunda, and the
very large parapet still on Pavilion X. The field in the foreground is the
location of the present hospital.
The second version of Duval's autograph album used No. Ve as a
frontispiece. It is sometimes thought to be as early as 1849, but the copy at
the University has signatures dated 1851.[12]
Willoughby Tebb was the owner of the album in the manuscript room of the
Library of the University of Virginia.
Col. Moody was the owner of the example in the manuscript room of the Library
of the University of Virginia.
VI. The Howe Group
VIa University of Virginia from the south, 1843-45
3 1/4″ × 6 1/8″. Wood engraving
Unsigned: [Possibly by Henry Howe]
Labeled: University of Virginia, at Charlottesville
Coll.: Edwin M. Betts
One of the terrace levels has been restored to the Lawn in No. VIa, an
arcade has been thrown across its north side, Pavilion IX has been shown in
its entirety, and the mountains have been moved considerably closer than in
nature. The Rotunda is still in its original state, without a lantern and with
the steps at the base of its dome.
This charming wood engraving faces page 164 of
Historical Collections of Virginia; Containing a Collection of the Most Interesting
Facts, Traditions, Biographical Sketches, Anecdotes, etc. Relating to Its
History and Antiquities, Together with Geographical and Statistical Descriptions.
To Which Is Appended, an Historical and Descriptive Sketch of the
District of Columbia. Illustrated by over 100 Engravings, Giving Views of the
Principal Towns,—Seats of Eminent Men—Public Buildings,—Relics of Antiquity,—Historic
Localities, Natural Scenery, etc., etc. By Henry Howe. Charleston,
S.C. Published by Babcock and Co., 1845.
In it Howe describes the University as having
a fine collection of buildings, consisting of four parallel ranges about 600 feet in
upwards of 200 students; which, together with the real estate, cost over
$300,000. It possesses valuable libraries amounting to 16,000 vols., and is amply
provided with philosophical and chemical apparatus, together with a fine cabinet
of minerals and fossils, and an anatomical and miscellaneous museum. The
observatory, a short distance from the university, is furnished with the requisite
astronomical instruments. . . . "This university is, in every respect, organized
and justly regarded as an university of the first class."
This note appears on page 165 of all three editions of the Historical
Collections of Virginia, 1845, 1849, and 1852.
Henry Howe, 1816-93, was born in New Haven, Conn., the son of a
bookseller and publisher. Just as he was about to enter Yale University, his
father's business had severe reverses. He eventually worked in Wall Street
and, inspired in 1838 by a copy of John Warner Barber's Historical Collections
of Connecticut, formed a partnership with Barber, introduced
door-to-door selling, and published a series of books.[13]
The material for the book on Virginia was gathered by Howe himself in
1843. He began his tour on horseback but he once said his horse "took 50
miles of riding to get here, 25 miles by road and 25 miles up and down in
the air." His budget "usually limited the illustrations to whatever he could
produce himself, though he was sometimes able to buy engraved views."[14]
The manuscript room of the Library of the University of Virginia has
recently begun to use this print for its letterhead.
VIb University of Virginia from the south, n.d.
2 1/2″ × 4 5/8″. Wood engraving
Signed, lower right: W. Roberts
Not labeled
Coll.: New York Public Library
Though without figures and mountains, No. VIb is a presumed derivative of
No. VIa. It has the same treatment of the dome of the Rotunda, the same
arcade at the north end of the Lawn, which is given the same single change
in elevation, and it shows the same number of chimneys on the buildings
bordering West Lawn.
There was a William Roberts who flourished at Philadelphia between
1839 and 1860 who may have been the author of this print. The census of
1850 said he was born in England, ca. 1809, while that of 1860 said he was
born in Germany, ca. 1811.
Another William Roberts who also may have been the artist for No. VIb
was a wood engraver in New York. He worked between 1846 and 1876 with
Butler and Roberts. He exhibited at the American Institution from 1846 to
1851 and appears to have been rather more able than the Philadelphia
William Roberts. The elaborate light effects of No. VIb might indicate that
the New York William Roberts was its engraver. This latter Roberts also
executed the frontispiece of Robert Sears's A New and Popular Pictorial
Description of the United States, 1848.
Historical Collections of the State of New York, 1841; Historical Collections of
the State of New Jersey, 1844; Historical Collections of Virginia, 1845; and Historical
Collections of Ohio, 1847.
VII. The Jefferson Monument Magazine Print
VII University of Virginia from the south, 1849
2 3/16″ × 3 7/8″. Wood engraving
Unsigned
Not labeled
Coll.: University of Virginia
In No. VII the Lawn has been given two terraces, the Rotunda is still
without the lantern, and the north side of the Lawn is arcaded. Note, too,
that rather more chimneys appear than in previous prints and that Pavilion
VIII is no longer hidden by the angle of the perspective.
The Jefferson Monument Magazine. Conducted by the Students of the
University of Virginia used this little wood engraving for the central
medallion of its cover during its brief existence from 1849 to 1851.
VIII. The "Geography" Print
VIII University of Virginia from the south, n.d.
2″ × 2 15/16″. Wood engraving
Unsigned
Labeled: University of Virginia
Coll.: University of Virginia
Although No. VIII shows Pavilion VIII and two changes of level on the
Lawn, it does not seem to be a derivative of No. VII. Note its incorrectly
ribbed dome on the Rotunda. It does, however, give a good idea of the
original roof scheme of the University, both those which were flat and those
which were parapeted.
Not much is known about No. VIII. It exists as a page (111) torn from a
small geography. The surviving text about Virginia does not mention the
University. Nevertheless a great deal of information is packed into a small
space in the wood engraving, in which the neoclassic character of the
University is seen to great advantage for the last time.
IX. The Porte Crayon Group
IXa University of Virginia from the east, 1853-56
2 3/16″ × 6 1/4″. Vignette. Wood engraving
Unsigned: [By Porte Crayon]
Labeled: The University of Virginia
Coll.: Edwin M. Betts
The first of the prints of the University to depict the addition to the
Rotunda, familiarly called the Annex, No. IXa is also of interest as being the
first to include the "carrs," as a train was usually called then. This particular
train is the Central Railroad, the forerunner of the Chesapeake and Ohio
Railroad. The Rotunda dome does not have its steps at the base, but does
have the lantern and weather vane as seen also in Nos. Vd and Ve. Pavilion
X still has its parapet. The serpentine walls also appear quite clearly.
Porte Crayon's view of the University first appeared in an article called
"Virginia Illustrated: Adventures of Porte Crayon and His Cousins," in
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, XIII (Aug., 1856), 303-23, the print
being on page 304. It had been sketched during a journey around Virginia
beginning October 8 and ending November 20, 1853. Porte Crayon included
in this article three other illustrations of student life,[15]
none, however, of
particular architectural interest.
This print was subsequently reprinted in book form in Porte Crayon's
collected essays about Virginia; on a map; in Sarah N. Randolph's memoirs
of Thomas Jefferson;[16]
and as a letterhead illustrated here as No. IXb.
Porte Crayon was a pseudonym of David Hunter Strother, 1816-88. Born
in Martinsburg, Virginia, he was educated at the Pennsylvania Academy of
Fine Arts, Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, with S. F. B.
Morse in New York, and in Paris, and Florence. He later had great success
with his illustrated travel articles, having published approximately a
hundred before his popularity began to wane.[17]
As for the University of
Virginia, he thought "the architecture wants finish."[18]
IXb University of Virginia from the east, ca. 1858
2 3/8″ × 7″. Vignette. Wood engraving
Unsigned: [By Porte Crayon]
Labeled: University of Virginia
Publisher's inscription, lower left: Sold by M. McKennie
Publisher's inscription, lower right: [From Harper's Magazine]
Coll.: University of Virginia
In spite of the slight change in size between Nos. IXa and IXb, it is very
difficult to discern any difference between the two.
The example shown here serves as the letterhead for a letter from H. M.
Heath to Dr. George C. Tyler, October 14, 1858, now in the manuscript
room of the Library of the University of Virginia. There is another letter in
the Betts Collection using the same letterhead dated March 11, 1861.
Marcellus McKennie was the son of Clement P. and Henrietta Rodes
McKennie. The elder McKennie had established Charlottesville's first newspaper
in 1820 and later purchased land adjoining the University and set up
a bookstore there in 1834. He took his son Marcellus into the business, and
Marcellus in turn ran the store with his son.[19]
Porte Crayon, Virginia Illustrated: Containing a Visit to the Virginian Canaan, and
the Adventures of Porte Crayon and His Cousins (New York: Harper and Bros., 1857),
p. 242; "Map of Virginia, Delaware, Maryland and West Virginia" (n.p.: Johnson and
Ward, 1864); and Sarah N. Randolph, Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson (New
York: Harper and Bros., 1871), p. 386.
Cecil D. Ely, Jr., "Porte Crayon": The Life of David Hunter Strother (Chapel Hill,
N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1960).
X. The Bohn Group
Xa University of Virginia from the east, 1856
3 7/8″ × 6 1/2″. Steel engraving
Unsigned
Labeled: View of the University of Virginia, Taken from the South
Side [sic]
Publisher's inscription, lower left: H. Weber, Printer
Publisher's inscription, center: Entered according to Act of Congress
A.D. 1856 by C. Bohn in the Clerk's Office of the District Court
of the United States, Dist. of Columbia.
Publisher's inscription, lower right: Publ. by C. Bohn, Washn.
Coll.: Edwin M. Betts
This print, labeled "Taken from the South Side," is actually taken from the
east. Note that Pavilions III, IX, and X still have their parapets; the lantern
and weather vane, an arrow in this print, surmount the Rotunda dome; and
the low shed (flat) roofs of the Lawn dormitories are very clearly shown, as
well as the road across the south end of the Lawn.
In 1856 the last issue of the University's Catalogue bearing a print of No.
the custom of using a print with the catalogue was discontinued. In 1859
Casimir Bohn issued an autograph album which also contained No. Xa. It
had an elaborately designed title page of which a transcription follows:
Bohn's Album and Autographs of the University of Virginia, with a Short
History, and Beautifully Illustrated with Twenty Steel Engravings and Portraits
of the Professors and Officers. Washington: Published by Casimir Bohn, 568
Pennsylvania Avenue, Richmond: J. W. Randolph, Main Street. Sold by Dr. M.
McKennie and G. T. Jones, University of Virginia. 1859.
John Murphy and Co. Printers, Publishers, Booksellers and Stationers, Marble
Building, 182 Baltimore Street, Baltimore.
No. Xa was also used as a letterhead at least as early as 1858.
Casimir Bohn seems to have been primarily an entrepreneur working out
of Washington and Richmond. In addition to his prints of the University, he
is also associated with the iconography of Richmond. One source states that
he was an artist, but this does not seem to be established.
John Murphy, 1812-80, born in Omagh, Co. Tyrone, was brought to New
Castle, Delaware, at the age of ten. Educated at the New Castle Academy, he
went to Philadelphia at sixteen to learn the printing trade. By 1835 he had
established a printing and stationery business in Baltimore and added the
publication of books to his activities in 1837.
Of H. Weber nothing is known.
See page 111 for M. McKennie.
Xb University of Virginia from the south, 1856
4 1/8″ × 7″. Steel engraving
Signed, lower right: Eng. by J. Serz
Labeled: University of Virginia
Publisher's inscription, lower left: Publ. by C. Bohn
Publisher's inscription, center: Entered according to Act of Congress,
A.D. 1856 by C. Bohn in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of
the United States, Dist. of Columbia.
Publisher's inscription, lower right: H. Weber, Printer
Coll.: University of Virginia
No. Xb is the first view of the University from the south to include both the
Ranges and the Lawn. It also places the Anatomical Theater, with a cupola,
in the proper place and the Rotunda has both the lantern and weather vane.
Trees are shown on the Lawn which is enclosed at the south end by a wall.
No. Xb was the second view of the University to appear in Bohn's autograph
album, all the other engravings being portraits. It is familiarly known as the
"double row of trees" print.
There was a J. Serz, d. ca. 1878, who was born in Saxony. He established
himself in Philadelphia ca. 1850 and engraved historical and genre scenes.
A Johann Georg Serz, who was born in Nuremberg in 1808, worked in this
country from ca. 1840. He, too, was an engraver, and either of these two
might have been this J. Serz.
Xc University of Virginia from the south, 1856-59
3 3/4″ × 7 1/8″. Vignette. Leather stamp
Unsigned
Not labeled
Coll.: University of Virginia
The plate for stamping the binding of the Bohn autograph album is derived
from No. Xb. The albums were bound in either black or scarlet leather and
stamped in gold.
Xd University of Virginia from the west, 1856
17 3/4″ × 26 5/8″. Lithograph
Signed, lower left: Drawn from Nature & Printed in Colors by E.
Sachse & Co.
Signed, lower right: Sun Iron Building, Baltimore, Md.
Labeled: View of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville & Monticello
Taken from Lewis Mountain
Publisher's inscription, upper center: Entered according to the Act
of Congress in the year 1856, by Casimir Bohn in the Clerk's
Office of the District Court of the District of Columbia.
Publisher's inscription, lower center: Published by C. Bohn, Washington,
D.C. and Richmond, Va.
This large, colored, and slightly romanticized view shows us the crowded
gardens on West Lawn with their outbuildings, the Anatomical Theater, the
road ringing the University, the exercise field to the south, and a splendid
view of the Annex and Rotunda. The relationship of the University to the
village of Charlottesville is plainly set forth, while the print is animated by
the train in the distance and the carriages and Saratoga wagon on the road
to the west of West Range.
This print seems to have been very popular for it not only has its
and Perry of Charlottesville and mounted on a card slightly larger than a
postcard, ca. 1867.[21] It was also reproduced in the 1880's on the University's
checks.
Edward Sachse, 1804-73, was a painter and lithographer born at Gorlitz
near Breslau. He came to this country during the late 1840's, exhibiting at
the Maryland Historical Society. He formed the firm of E. Sachse and Co.
with his two brothers, Theodore, a lithographer, born in Germany ca. 1815,
who settled in Baltimore after 1847, and William, who seems to have come
to Baltimore about 1860.
Xd1 University of Virginia from the west, n.d.
2 1/2″ × 6″
Unsigned
No label
Coll.: Edwin M. Betts
Although No. Xd1 is not a print but a photographically reproduced view of
the University, it is included here because of its relationship to No. Xd.
Xe University of Virginia from the west, 1884
2 5/16″ × 3 3/4″. Unknown medium
Unsigned
Labeled: University of Virginia at Charlottesville
Publisher's inscription, lower center: Published and Copyrighted,
1884, by Wettemann Bros., 192 Fulton Street, New York.
Coll.: University of Virginia
This small, vulgarized derivative of No. Xd may not be a print at all and
therefore may not properly belong in this study. Nevertheless it obviously
began its existence as either a drawing or a lithograph and its reproduction
on a highly glazed, flexible sheet of paper does not have the quality of a
photograph. Its presence here, together with No. Xd1, is pertinent as a
footnote to the group of Bohn prints.
Xf University of Virginia from the east, 1875
2 1/2″ × 5 5/8″. Vignette. Lithograph
Unsigned
Not labeled
Publisher's inscription: Lith. by A. Hoen & Co. Baltimore
Coll.: Edwin M. Betts
No. Xf is a lithographic copy of No. Xa, an engraving, the chief difference
being rather more spirited draftsmanship in No. Xf. We may suppose that its
depiction of the University is about twenty years out of date when it was
issued in 1875.
No. Xf appeared on a mortgage bond issued by the University in 1875,
the printed date on the document. The example in the Betts Collection was
for $500 and was made out to William Lamb on July 2, 1883, Mr. Lamb
assigning it back to the University at once.
August Hoen, born ca. 1825 in Germany, was brought to Baltimore to
work as a lithographer with his uncle Edward Weber. About midcentury
August Hoen took over the business and introduced his brothers, Ernest and
Henry, into the firm. The business was still in existence as late as 1943 in
both Baltimore and Richmond.
One would like to find a connection between Edward Weber and H.
Weber, the printer of No. Xa, the prototype for No. Xf, but no certain link
can be traced at present.
Catalogue of the University of Virginia. Session of 1855-56 (Richmond: H. K.
Ellyson's Steam Presses, 147 Main Street, 1856).
XI. The Weekly Chronicle Print
XI University of Virginia from the west, 1869-70
1 3/4″ × 3 15/16″. Wood engraving
Unsigned
Not labeled
Coll.: Edwin M. Betts
The University is reduced to its simplest terms in this little wood engraving.
It does, however, indicate that Charlottesville has grown, but that visual fact
might have been wishful thinking since No. XI was used on the masthead of
the city's Weekly Chronicle during 1869 and 1870.
XII. The Group for "Mr. Jefferson's Pet"
XIIa University of Virginia from the west, 1872
3 5/16″ × 4 7/16″. Wood engraving
Unsigned
Labeled: Western Aspect of the University of Virginia
Coll.: University of Virginia
It is difficult to determine whether this print was drawn from life or derived
from another print. Charlottesville does not seem quite as large as in No. XI,
and the foreground and the road across the south end of the Lawn differ
from previous prints.
Nos. XIIa, XIIb, XIIc, and XIId all appeared as illustrations for Schele
de Vere's article "Mr. Jefferson's Pet" in Harper's New Monthly Magazine,
XLIV (May, 1872), 815-26. No. XIIa was printed on page 817.
XIIb The Lawn from the south, 1872
2 1/8″ × 4 1/2″. Wood engraving
Unsigned
Labeled: Southern View of the Lawn
Coll.: University of Virginia
In No. XIIb the treatment of the crown of the dome of the Rotunda differs
considerably from that of No. XIIa. There the lantern and weather vane
(another weather vane and lantern, since the earlier ones had been taken
down in 1860) are well represented, while here in No. XIIb a vestigial
lantern ending in an amorphous point sits atop the dome. The enclosing wall
at the north end of the Lawn is properly represented as being pierced by
semicircular openings instead of either an arcade or a colonnade.
No. XIIb is from the same source as No. XIIa, and is printed on page
820.
XIIc The Rotunda, 1872
4 7/16″ × 4 1/2″. Wood engraving
Signed, lower right: S. Fox (?)
Labeled: The Rotunda
Coll.: University of Virginia
Once more the dome of the Rotunda differs from Nos. XIIa and XIIb, so
that we have three variations in one article. Here the steps at its base are
gone, and both the lantern and the weather vane have disappeared. The class
bell does show, just to the right of the apex of the pediment, and to the right
of the Rotunda wall itself one has a glimpse of the Annex.
No. XIIc was printed on page 821 of the same article as Nos. XIIa and
XIIb.
XIId The Library Room, the Rotunda, 1872
4 1/2″ × 3 3/8″. Wood engraving
Unsigned
Labeled: Statue of Mr. Jefferson, by Galt
Coll.: University of Virginia
No. XIId is of considerable interest since it is the only print of an interior at
the University of which there is a record. It is remarkable, too, in that it was
made just about the same time as the oldest surviving photographs of the
same room.
The Library was then on the second, and now nonexistent, floor of the
Rotunda. The Legislature had commissioned Alexander Galt to execute the
statue of Jefferson as a gift for the University of Virginia. It was completed
in 1860, but because of the Civil War it was not dedicated until 1868.
No. XIId is on page 816 of the same article as Nos. XIIa, XIIb, and XIIc.
XIII. The McKennie Letterhead
XIII The University of Virginia from the west, 1875
3 1/4″ × 5 3/8″ (?). Wood engraving
Signed, lower left: J. Minton
Labeled: University of Virginia
Publisher's Inscription: M. McKennie & Son, Booksellers
Coll.: Edwin M. Betts
Again the engraver seems not to have visited Charlottesville in order to
make his block, but the source of the view is unknown. Charlottesville has
almost entirely disappeared, while the dome of the Rotunda has had the
steps at the base, the lantern, and the weather vane restored to it. It is
doubtful if the Lawn, the gardens, and the Ranges were ever as heavily
forested as in XIII.
The print appears as a letterhead, the photostat in the Betts Collection
being on a letter from Paul B. Barringer to his father dated January 15,
1875.
John Minton was an engraver who flourished in New York after the
middle of the nineteenth century.
See page 111 for Marcellus McKennie and Son.
XIV. The Leslie's Weekly Print
XIV The Rotunda, 1876
4 7/8″ × 6 3/4″. Vignette. Wood engraving
Unsigned
Labeled: The University of Virginia at Charlottesville—Photographed
by W. G. R. Frayser
Coll.: Edwin M. Betts
The photograph, from which this print was presumably made, could not
have been followed very exactly, for surely a horse-drawn cab never drove to
the steps of the Rotunda. As close as No. XIV may be to No. XIIc, it is not
derived from it, as a comparison of the perspective viewpoints in the two
prints will show at once. Notice the balustrade on the Rotunda terraces, the
gas-lamp post (more accurately observed than in No. XIIc), and the change
in fashion since the earlier print.
No. XIV was published in Leslie's Weekly for June 2, 1876.
XV. The Century Magazine View
XV The Lawn from the south, 1887
2 3/8″ × 5 1/8″. Partial vignette. Wood engraving
Signed and dated, lower left:
Labeled: The University of Virginia at Charlottesville. (Designed
by Jefferson.)
Coll.: Edwin M. Betts
In this view of the Lawn the dome of the Rotunda is without steps, lantern,
or weather vane. The wall at the north end of the Lawn is properly
represented as being pierced by semicircular openings. The diagonal walk in
the foreground reappears in the map in the epilogue and was, apparently, in
place by 1887.
This was one of the illustrations for Frank R. Stockton's essay on "The
Later Years of Monticello," which appeared in Century Magazine, XXXIV
(Sept., 1887), 654-58. The print was on page 654.
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