19th C. Engraving: True First Edition?

[jpgharv29]

Hi everyone,

You all have helped me in the past and was hoping someone can please help again?

I posted an inquire on the Collectibles Board regarding an 1850s engraving, here is the link:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Collectibles-Art/19th-C-Engraving-True-First-Edition/m-p/27652761#M820...

Can you all please help?

Thank you!

[jpgharv29]

Basically what I'm asking is, does it pre-date the 1852 publishing by William Pate.......making it a "true first edition" printing?

I was only able to find one hand-colored example this morning. It was sold by Heritage Auction at their 2010 Political & Americana sale...

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The piece I have isn't titled 'Union' and published by Van Dien.

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Here's the piece I have...

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There's also a number of noticeable difference between their piece and mine.

The first being theirs is titled with full margins, mine isn't titled and nearly no margins. 

Coloring....... the rugs, two of the men in my piece are wearing blue jackets, the wreath on the head bust of Washington, etc. etc... etc...   all noticeable different.

My piece:

Their piece:

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I *think* it's safe to say that my piece is indeed a true first edition.

Especially given the fact that my piece doesn't have the Copyright text printed on it as found on every other example I've been able to locate  (Entered According to Act of Congress, in the year 1852). 

My guess.... Henry S. Sadd went to Van Dien first for printing/publishing and only after printing a few runs, thought the process (Van Dien's) was too expensive and choose to go with a different printer/publisher (William Pate) who's prices were more economical at that time?

Just a guess..........

[taylor_memorial]

The Heritage piece was broken out from something and framed, hung on an wall and subject to all kinds of abuse from that process. Colors fade.

The image below the colorizing is the same, as one would expect from the etching. The copyright would be Sadd's, not the printer who would be responsible for the colorizing.

Your guess could be confirmed by some careful research, and may well be worth the trouble.

Did Van Dien precede the Burlingslip Printer in time? Hazarding a guess, it makes sense that the New York City printer got the first shot at the etching, because such things are rather expensive in the day and meant for the uppah crust, don't you know, and Burling Slip was astray of the center of sophistication.

Given the habits of the time, in so far as publication is concerned, there is no guarantee that Sadd was consulted by either printer, although he'd have had to gone to someone to mass produce the print, if only himself in his stable. Manual presses were pretty common at the time, although one with such large a platen might have been hard to find at the time.

I think you probably have more to lose as a seller in claiming it to be a first printing and being proven wrong, than by stating what you know and being honest about your guesses. Certainly you should command a decent price just from the image itself, though lacking sufficient border to mount without hiding some of the image.

As you no doubt know, before photographic printing plates were made, etchings tended to lose clarity over time and use. Experts will demand an in person examination of an early Rembrandt as pictures will not suffice to determine the very fine differences between print runs.

Point out the clarity, the vibrant colors and so forth. If you have access to NYC business records you can determine the dates the two printers were in operation and see if that clarifies anything for you.
I doubt it's worth the kind of money an examination of the chemical composition of inks and colors would cost to confirm the period of colorization.

[jpgharv29]

Thanks so much for your time and thoughts.

After a number of hours researching online, I was able to find a piece housed within the James E. and Joan Singer Schiele print collection at Washington University in St. Louis, giving reference to Van Dien as one of the "creators"....  Link: http://archon.wulib.wustl.edu/?p=collections/findingaid&id=691&q=&rootcontentid=410130

The above is the only piece I've found so far referencing Van Dien. It also states the piece is a 'First State' a.k.a. First Edition?

I've searched for a number of hours today and still nothing other than what's above. 

The piece we have does have boarders (very thin compared to all others found) and is framed within period framing. The colors are still quite vibrant, as if it was just pulled from the plate yesterday. Unfortunately, it does have a couple of condition issues, but nothing that can't be reversed at a minimal cost to the future buyer. 

I'll keep digging and see what turns-up. I doubt much more than what's already been found.

Thanks again!

[taylor_memorial]

"First state" in this case would be the first print run from those plates.
At that point in time it is a reasonable conclusion that it also means the first printing. Reproductive technology was very primitive at that time. Photography was around in it's most primitive forms, but I've not read that it had spread to the reproduction of printer's plates.

Your research time might be better spent in discovering whether there was a way, in 1850's, to reproduce an etched image.
There is far too much going on for Sadd to want to do it again and again, I think.

Hand copying was prevelant before movable type, but humanity is a lazy animal and 300 years of printing will have worked against artists spending years redrawing the same thing.

At this point I think you are safe saying that it is a print from the originating press. They may have made more than one print run for coloration--which is what "state" would refer to, I think.

In rare books, first state would be prior to any corrections found after the book is set to type and printed for trade sale. With dust jackets it refers to the original jacket which might have been altered after beginning the run--by adding a particularly effective plug from a famous person, for example.
So with prints, which I'm not familiar with, I would guess that it means that there were some slight alterations to the plate after a examination by the artist: kind of like an "artist's proof" today, the next stage down the line.