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1.
  • Vue d'un tombeau antique, dit le tombeau d'Archimède, a Syracuse

Creator:
Achille Etienne Gigault de La Salle (1772-1855)
Description:
Aquatint From Voyage Pittoresque en Sicile (Volume 2) Paris: Didot, 1822-1826
Curatorial Notes:
Achille Etienne Gigault de La Salle, a government ocial, lived in Sicily during 1820 and studied Sicilian history and archaeology. The famous Parisian publisher, Didot, gathers here La Salle’s work with illustrations by more than a dozen artists, many British. This scene was engraved by the British engraver William Havell (here spelled ‘Hawell’) and was printed on English paper made by Charles Wise. In the distance is the Città Vecchia (Old City) of Syracuse, on the island of Ortigia. In the foreground is the tomb of Archimedes.
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

2.
  • Waterfall of Tijuca

Creator:
Lieutenant Chamberlain (1796-1843), drawing; Henry Thomas Alken (1784-1851), engraver.
Description:
Hand-colored aquatints From Views and Costumes of the City and Neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from Drawings taken by Lieutenant Chamberlain, Royal Artillery, during the Years 1819 and 1820, with descriptive explanations. London: Thomas McLean, 1822.
Curatorial Notes:
During 1819-1820, while visiting his father, the British envoy to Brazil, Lieutenant Henry Chamberlain drew the shorelines, landscapes, and city scenes of Rio de Janeiro and environs. The book’s publication in 1822 coincided with Brazilian independence from Portugal. The new sovereignty sparked fresh interest in the region from the British public. Chamberlain said, “This Fall and the surrounding picturesque Scenery are worthy the attention of all strangers … [and] will amply repay the fatigue of a day's excursion across the Mountain.”
Photography:
David Kelly Crow

3.
  • The Hamilton Vase: Colour plate of youth in a temple, stele and eight youths

Creator:
Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803)
Description:
Etching with hand coloring and highlights in white lead From Collection Of Etruscan, Greek, And Roman Antiquities From The Cabinet Of The Honble. Wm. Hamilton His Britannick Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary At The Court Of Naples / Antiquités Etrusques, Grecques et Romaines, tirées du Cabinet du M. Hamilton. Naples: 1766-7 [1767-1776]
Curatorial Notes:
Sir William Hamilton, British Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, lived in Naples for 36 years. Excavations at nearby Pompeii provided opportunities for collecting prized red and black Greek vases. Before selling to the British Museum in 1772, Hamilton published a fourvolume, hand-colored illustrated catalog. Here on one page are scenes on the Hamilton Vase (ca. 320 BCE), depicting youths in a temple at left and votives gathered around a funerary stele at right.
Photography:
Princeton University Library Digital Imaging Studio

4.
  • Horse Racing

Creator:
Samuel Howitt (1765?-1822) drawings; Edward Orme, engraver
Description:
From Orme's Collection of British Field Sports Illustrated in Twenty beautifully coloured Engravings, from Designs by S. Howitt London: Edward Orme, 1807
Curatorial Notes:
Alongside the taste for the picturesque, the British held a distinct interest in depictions of the domesticated natural world, such as scenes of anglers and horsemen. Both an active sportsman and an artist, Samuel Howitt met that taste. He closely observed nature and stated directly that he wished to convey visual distinctions as to the “the expression, the character and the passions” of each animal. He produced nearly a dozen books on wildlife and sporting.
Photography:
Princeton University Library Digital Imaging Studio

5.
  • Macrocercus aracanga. Red and yellow maccaw

Creator:
Edward Lear (1812-1888)
Description:
Lithographs with hand-coloring. From Illustrations of the Family of Psittacidae, or Parrots London: for the author, 1830.
Curatorial Notes:
During his late teenage years, Edward Lear drew and then published close studies of the parrots kept in the Gardens of the London Zoological Society as well as those in private menageries. The work established his name as a naturalist. He later worked with natural history artists Elizabeth and John Gould on their studies of toucans, some plates of which are in the Milberg copy.
Photography:
Princeton University Library Digital Imaging Studio