Bold silhouette decorations of a photo album commemorating a corporate conference getaway. Oblong 4to, 27 by 35 cm. Unpaginated, 10 leaves of card, including cover. (Bound in is smaller eight leaf In Memoriam brochure.) Visually it is the silhouette illustrations that excite and set this apart from other company celebratory publications. The silhouettes are meant to capture the fun spirit the getaway ideally fostered. Thus we are treated to silhouette images of anglers, a leaping trout, sailboats, calm ocean waters at sundown, a hand pouring a bottle of liquor, etc. View More...
Rascist tinged five panel visual tale of circus. N.d. Circa 1900. Closed, 12 by 8 cm. Opens to three panels per side, and 24.5 cm wide. The middle panel is shaped along the curved lines of the Rococo decoration of the neighboring panels. The narrative is entirely visual. A clown beats a stereotypical black performer to death. Perhaps saddened by this, he arranges for a portrait to be done of his black colleague. In the final panel the black performer tears through the canvas to frighten the artist. Rear cover with a picture of Au Bon Marche's flagship, which still stands, in Paris. ... View More...
Scarce, with only known copy at the BNF, according to OCLC First Search. 4to. 26 by 18 cm. Unpaginated, [16] pp. A narrative about a black family from the African village of Radi making a trip to Paris for the Colonial Exposition. The family is that of the village chief Sari, his wife, and his two children, Négro et Négrette. The tale recounts their numerous surprises, or benign culture shocks, with the experience being overwhelmingly positive for the children, who are treated kindly by all. The tone overall is condescendingly saccharine. Black and white illustrations atop every page u... View More...
Scarce, with only one copy found on OCLC First Search (at Duke, and not identical, coming from a different department store). Stereotypical imagery of black people playing instruments, baseball, coon hunting, etc. N.d., circa 1905. 12mo. 19 by 13.5 cm. Unpaginated, 16 pp., including wraps. The imagery is not rabidly or insultingly racist; at the time, it might have been viewed as gentle and affectionate in its portrayal of blacks. Still, in unquestionably drew on stereotypes, and one can also not look at the drawings and fail to see a strong element of condescension towards blacks as si... View More...
Rascist yet colorful image of barber lathering a black man, both in eighteenth century attire. N.d., circa 1860. 41 by 28 cm. The caption to the image is "A vouloir blanchir ce negre, Barbier tu perds ton savon." In English: "Wishing to whiten this black man, Barber you are losing your soap." Regardless of the content, the image does provide a good window into a barbershop of the era, which to us may look lovely but is without such conveniences as the barber chair, not yet invented, and with a kind of bowl and collar around the black man's neck to catch anything falling. ... View More...
Oblong 12mo, 11.5 by 18 cm. The album is dedicated to Hallie, who was Berryman's sister-in-law, and the first drawing in the album is in fact a drawing of Hallie, who would from this drawing appears to have been a beauty in the Pre-Raphaelite vein. That said, the strongest impression from the album is from its five drawings caricaturing black "folk" in rural Virginia. These illustrations show their subject befuddled, simple, and/or uncouth, and bring to mind Uncle Remus. One can infer from the captioning that being depicted were the servants of Hallie. At least three other illustrations a... View More...
A black graduate among the 39 members of the Class of 1860! Wilbur Fisk Burns was the first black graduate of Wesleyan. 8vo. 23.5 by 18.5 cm. Frontis steel engraving of the same campus image as on cover. Second steel engraving of bird's eye view of Middletown follows the title page. Following come ten lithographic plates, some based on photos, of Wesleyan administrators and faculty. First three of these are of the first three Presidents of the University, which includes the then sitting President. Then come the photographic plates of the 39 class members. Facing the plates are blank... View More...
![Image for [Print] Les Grandes Verites. No. 19.](/assets/images/product/004161_957fdc10cdd77badbd26f343f3619c4f.jpg)
