Creator |
Jones, Alfred, 1819-1900, engraver. |
Contributor |
Woodville, Richard Caton, 1825-1855, artist. |
|
Woodville, Richard Caton, 1825-1855, artist. |
|
American Art-Union, publisher. |
Title |
Etching of the large engraving of Mexican news [graphic] : one of the six plates for the members of 1851 / R.C. Woodville;
Alfred Jones.
|
Publisher |
[New York] : [American Art-Union] |
Publisher |
N.Y. New York. 1851 |
Date |
[1851] |
Physical Description |
1 print : etching and engraving ; sheet 29 x 21 cm (11.25 x 8 in.) |
Description |
Genre print emphasizing the influence of the press on national sentiment and consumer culture during the Mexican War. The
"penny presses" drummed up public interest and support for the war by espousing the doctrine of Manifest Destiny as the justification
for Westward expansion. Depicts a crowd of white men on the porch of the "American Hotel" eagerly listening to an astonished-looking
man reading the news of the progress to annex Texas. An African American man and child, attired in tattered clothing, listen
from the steps of the porch. In the right, a white woman leans out of the window of the hotel and strains to hear the news.
|
Notes |
Title from item. |
|
After an 1848 painting "War News from Mexico" by Robert Caton Woodville exhibited at the free gallery of the American Art-Union
in 1849. In the collections of the National Gallery of Art on long-term loan.
|
|
One of six etchings printed in 1851 for the members of the American Art-Union in New York. |
|
Published in Vincent Virga et al.'s Eyes of the nation: A visual history of the United States. (NY: Knopf, 1997), p.115. |
|
Gift of Clarence Wolf, 1984. |
|
Description revised 2021. |
|
Access points revised 2021. |
|
Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the
Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
|
Biographical / historical note |
Alfred Jones was born in Liverpool in 1819 and traveled to America with his family. He attended the National Academy of Design
in New York, and in 1839 took an apprenticeship with a banknote engraver. He returned to Europe in 1840, where he studied
under London’s master engravers. After returning to America, he became one of the premier engravers in the country, eventually
establishing a career in postage stamp engraving. He also engraved a number of images for the American Art-Union, including
this one, which was originally engraved and sold by subscription to the union’s members in 1851.
|
Subject |
African American children -- United States. |
|
African American men -- United States. |
|
African Americans -- United States. |
|
Hotels -- United States. |
|
Mexican War, 1846-1848. |
|
Newspapers. |
|
Popular culture -- United States -- History -- 19th century. |
|
Reading -- 1840-1850. |
Genre |
Engravings -- 1850-1860. |
Illustrator |
Woodville, Richard Caton, 1825-1855, artist. |
Printer |
American Art-Union, publisher. |
Location |
Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| GC - Mexican War [P.9046.18] |
Accession number |
P.9046.18 |