THE RATCATCHER'S DAUGHTER [wrapper title]

[Homer, Winslow]

Verlag: Published by Oliver Ditson, Boston, 1856

5pp. Folio. Lithographed front wrapper. Small holes along spine indicating removal from a larger bound volume. Four small edge tears archivally repaired. Trimmed close at the bottom, affecting the publication statement. Very good. Archivally matted, protected with mylar sheet. One of the earliest published works of Winslow Homer, produced when he was about twenty years old and a young apprentice at the Boston lithographic firm of J.H. Bufford. The illustration is an original design of Homer and shows the ratcatcher himself, clad as a rough and tumble Boston Irishman of the time, with a black eye and tattered clothing. He is surrounded by scenes of cats chasing rats down holes and into cages, donkeys pulling a carriage, a view of St. Paul's Cathedral, and a vignette of his unfortunate lovelorn daughter jumping to her death in a river. Homer inscribed his initials below one of the donkeys in surreptitious self- attribution. He produced several illustrations for sheet music at the time, as well as political illustrations and work for books, but "the sheet music covers provide a particularly fascinating documentation of Homer's progress as an artist during his apprenticeship" (Tatham). "The Ratcatcher's Daughter" was a British song of great popularity at the time, composed by the comic singer, Sam Cowell. A fine early illustration by one of the most noted of all 19th-century American artists. David Tatham, "Winslow Homer and The Ratcatcher's Apprentice" in THE COURIER (Syracuse University) 1967. GOODRICH 1. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers WRCAM31772

Bibliografische Details

Titel: THE RATCATCHER'S DAUGHTER [wrapper title]
Verlag: Published by Oliver Ditson, Boston
Erscheinungsdatum: 1856