Featured Publisher's History (Q to S)

Raphael Tuck & Sons: The lithographic publisher, Raphael Tuck and Sons, dominated the die-cut market in Britain during the 1880's decade. Although, their art was printed in Germany, the images were directed for a thoroughly British audience. The subjects for die-cut lithography covered a wide range. Animals, soldiers, children, flowers, country scenes and tradesmen were frequently depicted. Because of their beauty and appeal, die-cuts were most often mounted in keepsake albums. As well, greeting cards of the nineteenth century were usually handmade, and die-cuts were the most favored decorations.

Chromolithography -- printing images by using a series of carefully registered tint stones -- became the most popular method for the original printmaking the nineteenth century. The far less costly advances of photomechanical methods, however, made this original and complex form of art all but obsolete by the turn of the century. Yet, no other technique has come close to capturing the deep and rich oil based colours of the original chromolithograph.

Rudolph Ackermann: (Germany, 1764 - London, 1834): London's most famous early nineteenth century publisher of original prints and illustrated books, Rudolph Ackermann founded his publishing empire in 1796. By 1815 he was internationally praised for his detailed miniature engravings which appeared in his Forget Me Not annuals, his superb architectural studies and his landscapes and topographical views. His larger prints were most often issued in sets or portfolios and for these he commissioned some of the finest artists of the day, such as Samuel Prout and Thomas Rowlandson. Ackermann's larger views were usually created in the mediums of lithography, aquatint or soft ground etching. Some of his best known sets of subjects and views are The Microcosm of London (1808), History of the Abbey Church of St. Peter's, Westminster (1812), The History of the University of Oxford (1814), The English Dance of Death (1815) and The History of the Royal Residences (1829).

This original soft ground etching is from an 1810 Ackermann portfolio entitled, Select Views in Cumberland, Westmoreland and Lancashire. It contained over twenty large views, each designed by the Reverend Joseph Wilkinson and etched by William Frederick Wells. In 1824 a second edition of these prints was published by Ackermann. As this original example bears the watermarked date of 1824, it is thus from the second and final edition.

Sarony, Major & Knapp: Born of English parents in Quebec City, Napoleon Sarony learned lithography from his father and emigrated to New York in 1836. There, he worked as an apprentice for several lithographers, including Nathaniel Currier. In 1846 Sarony opened a lithographic business in partnership with Henry Major. The company went through a number of alterations in names and partnerships. Until 1853, it was called 'Sarony and Major'. From 1853 to 1857 it was'Sarony & Company'. From 1857 to 1864, the company name was expanded to, 'Sarony, Major & Knapp'.

Chromolithography: The revolutionary art of colour printmaking from lithographic stones began in Europe during the mid 1830's. The Germans, in particular, excelled in the new art form and many accomplished printers and publishers of that nationality moved to the United States at this time. The first American chromolithograph was created in 1840. During the following fifty years many of these original colour prints were made to adorn the walls of American parlours. Large and profitable businesses sprang up in almost every major city and by 1880 it had become the dominant form of artistic printmaking. The cheaper and more practical advances of photomechanical methods, however, sounded the death knell for the chromolithograph by the turn of the century. Yet, not even our most sophisticated means of reproducing images can equal the vibrant, oil-based colours of the chromolithograph.

Societe des Aqua-Fortistes: The famous Paris etchings of Charles Meryon stand as the single greatest influence on the revival of etching as an original art form in Europe and America during the latter nineteenth century. Within a surprisingly short period of time etching became viewed as a means of artistic expression equal to (and in more than several quarters, superior to) painting and sculpture. Alfred Cadart (1828-1875), also listed as Alphonse Cadart, was the foremost French publisher of of original etchings who founded the Societe des Aqua-Fortistes in 1862. Until its demise in 1867, it was responsible for printing and publishing the greatest French graphic work of this important era.

Recognized as perhaps the greatest printer-etcher of any time, Auguste Delatre's influence on etching technique was enormous. The artists who requested his services for their s reads like a 'who's who' of nineteenth century art. Corot, Ulm, Tancrede, Chauvel, Whistler, Meryon, Haden, Jacquemart, Laurens, Appian, Daubigny, Rops and Bracquemond all pressed for his skills and advice. Both Cadart and Delatre were thus both responsible for creating some of the most memorable and finest etchings of the nineteenth century.