Black Heart Press

French Art Nouveau Poster for Deesse Bicycles by Pal (c. 1898, lithography)

Carel van Mallery (aka Charles de Mallery) (1571–1635?)

“The Killing of Giant Indian Watersnakes Using Fire”, c1596, after Jan van der Straet (aka Johannes Stradanus; Giovanni della Strada; Jan van der Straeten; Giovanni Statenensis; Giovanni Stradano; Joannes Stradanus) (1523–1605), plate 44 from the second edition (in the first edition this plate was numbered “16”) from the series of 104 plates dedicated to the jurist, Henricus van Osthoorn en Sonnevelt, “Venationes Ferarum, Avium, Piscium” (with wild beasts, birds, fish), published by Philips Galle (1537–1612) in Antwerp.

Size: (sheet) 20.2 x 26.2 cm

Inscribed on plate within the image borderline: (on lower flame left of centre) “'I. Stradanus inv. / C. de Mallery sculp. / Phls Galle exc.”

Numbered on plate below the image borderline: (left corner) “44.”

Lettered on plate in two lines of Latin text in two below the image borderline: “Ingentem vegeto Serpentem corpore gignit / India, qui solitus latitare in aquis, fame pressus // Prodit, et vmbrosa dependens arbore, saltu / Apprendit pecus: ast clauis flammaq[ue] necatur.”

State ii? (of iv) (Note: my attribution of this impression to the second state is based on the first state impression held by the Rijksmuseum [RP-P-OB-31.574] has the plate number, “16”, and this impression with number, “44”, matches the second state reproduced in Alessandra Baroni & Manfred Sellink 2012, “Stradanus 1523–1605: Court Artist of the Medici”, Brepols, Turnhout, p. 251. Nevertheless, the impression may be from a later state as the numbers, “XVI”, that should be on the lower right corner in the margin are either erased or have been trimmed off. I do not have information about the attributes of states iii and iv.)

New Hollstein Dutch 481; Baroni Vannucci 1997 693.44 (Alessandra Baroni Vannucci 1997, “Jan van der Straet, detto Giovanni Stradano, flandrus pictor et inventor”, Milan, Jandi Sapi Editori)

The Rijksmuseum offers the following description of this print:

(transl.) “Several Indian water snakes are chased out of the bush by fire. Then they are beaten to death with a club. The print has a Latin caption and is part of a series about hunting scenes.”

(http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.collect.97362)

See also the description of the print in its first state at the British Museum:

“The Killing of Giant Indian Watersnakes Using Fire; in the foreground, to left, giant Indian snakes burn in a pile of vegetation; behind a group of men feed the flames with torches and attack the snakes with clubs; in the distance, at the upper right, a snake catches sight of two goats from the branch of a tree; beyond, another snake swallows a goat”

(https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1620352&partId=1&searchText=Ingentem&page=1)

James Ensor (1860–1949) - Skeletons warming themselves, 1895

Decker Library’s Digital Initiatives Unit is pleased to announce the online availability of the S.C. Malone Penmanship Collection (not dated and 1890-1932) on Digital Decker, Decker Library’s digital collections site. This collection supports graphic design, typography, hand lettering and history of business research.

The online collection is a sampling of the S.C. Malone Penmanship Collection, including detail images of some of the hand-lettered designs. The complete collection, which is part of Decker Library’s special collections, consists of 98 examples of penmanship created by Samuel Curtis Malone (d. 1938).

S.C. Malone, a nationally known master penman, maintained a studio in Baltimore, MD as early as 1888, fulfilling commissions for bookplates, coats of arms, crests, and diplomas. Certificates were created for clients such as the City of Baltimore, University of Maryland, and the B&O Railroad. As a handwriting expert, Malone was often called for court testimony.

Penmanship classes were also offered at his office which was located in four different locations throughout the years on Charles Street: 5 North Charles Street, 9 North Charles Street, 331 North Charles Street, and 323 North Charles Street.

Michel Fingesten

Moment Musical, 1938

Etching

Enjoy this Probedruck of an etching, uploaded with proper title and dimensions <3