Treasures From the Archives

Honoré Daumier French Printer Walter Frères French Publisher Arnaud de Vresse French August 12, 1869

Honoré Daumier French Printer Destouches French Publisher Aaron Martinet French August 12, 1857

Honoré Daumier French Printer Destouches French Publisher Aaron Martinet French August 12, 1865

Thomas Rowlandson British Publisher T. Smith British August 12, 1785

"One of the 19th century's great technological achievements was to lay a telegraphic cable beneath the Atlantic, allowing messages to speed back and forth between North America and Europe in minutes, rather than ten or twelve days by steamer. An initially successful attempt in 1858, led by Cyrus W. Field and financed by the Atlantic Telegraph Company, failed after three weeks. Two working cables were finally laid in July and September 1866, the result of repeated efforts by the indefatigable Field, a cadre of engineers, technicians, and sailors, two groups of financial backers, and significant help from the British and United States navies. Dudley documented the process in a series of watercolors and oils, this example showing preparations to retrieve the cable lost overboard on August 2, 1865. Repeated grappling failed at this time but, the next summer, the Great Eastern managed to find and raise the cable, then lay it on to Newfoundland. In 1892 Field donated art works by Dudley, commemorative medals, memorabilia, and specimens of cable to the Museum."

Honoré Daumier French August 11, 1858

The Ladies' Home Journal 1910-08

The Ladies' Home Journal 1898-08

Author Jacob Abbott American Publisher Harper & Brothers American 1855

Alexandre-Louis-Marie Charpentier French before 1903

Ryūryūkyo Shinsai Japanese 19th century

"The identity of this arrogant young man is unknown, but he must have belonged to Bronzino’s close circle of literary friends in Florence and probably holds a book of poetry. The artist was himself a poet, delighting as much in the beauty of language as he did in the witty and fanciful details of his paintings. Here, Bronzino employs the ancient Roman tradition of fantastical decorations known as grotesques in his rendering of heads on the table and chair, and in the almost hidden, mask-like face suggested in the folds of the youth’s breeches. While these monstrous faces contrast with the youth’s handsome looks, they may also imply that his carefully crafted appearance is similarly a kind of mask."