Outlines & Sketches, by Washington Allston. Engraved by J. & S.W. Cheney.

RA Collection: Book

Record number

06/1543

Imprint

Boston.: [S.n.], 1850. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849, by Stephen H. Perkins, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Masachusetts.

Physical Description

[1] f., t.pl., [20] pl. on eighteen sheets; 400×540 mm.

General Note

Of the twenty plates nos. 2-6 are numbered. Each of the pairs 3/4 and 5/6 is carried by a single sheet.

Contents

[T.pl.] - [Introductory note] - [Plates].

Responsibility Note

The captions of plates [1], [9-13] and [15] include a statement that they were made by Allston. None is otherwise signed by draughtsman or engraver.

References

D. Bjelajac, Washington Allston, secret societies and the alchemy of Anglo-American painting (1997); D.B. Dearinger, 'British travelers' views of American art before the Civil War, with an appendix listing travel books', in Amer. A. J., 23:1 (1991), p.38-69; W. Gerdts and T. Stebbins, A man of genius: the art of Washington Allston [exhibition catalogue] (1979).

Summary Note

The plates are captioned and show: [1-]6. Michael setting the watch (Paradise Lost, IV); [7] Sybil; [8] Dido and Aeneas; [9-12] Jacob's dream; [13] Uriel; [14] Heliodorus (II Maccabees); [15] Fairies; [16] Titania's court (Midsummer Night's Dream); [17] Girl in male costume; [18] Ship in a squall; [19] The Prodigal Son; [20] Prometheus.

After studying in the United States of America Allston enrolled in the Royal Academy schools in 1801, and was elected an Associate of the Academy in 1818.

Binding Note

19th-century green cloth-covered boards, upper cover lettered 'Outlines And Sketches. By Washington Allston.'; 20th-century quarter calf, spine unlettered.

Name as Subject

Subject

Bible
Christian art and symbolism
Mythology, Greek - Mythology, Roman
Drawings - United States of America - History - 19th century
Pictorial works - United States of America - 19th century

Contributors

Washington Allston ARA, source artist
John Cheney, engraver
Seth Wells Cheney, engraver