[Rarebooks] FS: The First [1886] American Blockbuster Art Auction

[Joslin Hall Rare Books, ABAA]

>From our newly published catalog #305,
AUCTION CATALOGS of the 19th-20th CENTURIES
<http://www.joslinhall.com/Catalog_305.htm>

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"CATALOGUE OF THE ART COLLECTION FORMED BY THE LATE MRS. MARY J. MORGAN"

New York; American Art Galleries: March 3rd-15th, 1886. Subscriber’s
Edition, limited to 500 numbered copies.

The very scarce Deluxe, illustrated edition of the catalog to one of
America’s earliest blockbuster auctions and what was, for a time, the most
famous art auction in America.

Mary Morgan was the widow of a shipping tycoon, and collected a vast array
of paintings and other art in her New York mansion. Upon her death Thomas
Kirby of the American Art Association, the forerunner of Parke-Bernet,
decided to make the Morgan sale a “can’t-miss” event.

The collection was controversial -Mrs. Morgan had simply walked in and
bought her pictures from leading dealers instead of ingratiating herself
personally with the artists as was the tradition of the day. Further, Lot
341 was an 8-inch Peachblow vase which Mrs. Morgan had bought from the
American Art Association’s own retail galleries for $12,000 a few years
previously. A print war broke out between the New York Times, which
claimed Mrs. Morgan had paid a zero or two too much for the vase (and that
in any case, there was no such thing as “Peachblow”) and Charles Henry
Dana and the New York Sun, who stoughtly defended the AAA and the vase.

During the 3 week exhibition at the galleries prior to the auction 100,000
people viewed the paintings and Oriental art. The sale itself was
standing-room only, and when they got to the vase, Baltimore connoisseur
William T. Walters won it for $18,000 (which in no way stopped the
controversy over its actual worth). The sale finally totaled $1,205,000
-with the exception of the 1882 Hamilton Palace sale in England, this was
the highest total for any art collection at auction anywhere in the world.

The catalog itself was a groundbreaking achievement- “[Kirby’s] most
striking innovation was the Mary Jane Morgan catalogue, a 305-page quarto
volume that so far surpassed any cynosure of art collecting previously
published in the United States that it not only launched the business at
hand but synthesized Kirby’s whole new concept of the elite auction.
Printed on heavy rag paper, with twenty-nine etchings, bound in pristine
white boards with rich gold lettering, this weighty tome cost $40,000 to
produce. It was a book to rest in splendor on the tables of the proudest
salons. There was, of course, an ordinary catalog, without illustrations,
for ordinary customers, the deluxe edition being limited to 500 numbered
copies. The price was $10, but if mere money could have bought such a
book, its propaganda value would have been lost. Except for a few copies
sent to other cities, the entire edition was delivered by hand, with the
compliments of the American Art Association, to the front doors of the
most exclusive mansions in New York”.

For those wanting a more in-depth account, Wesley Towner devotes an entire
chapter to Mrs. Morgan, her collection, this auction, the catalog, and the
Peachblow vase in his book, “The Elegant Auctioneers”.

Limp covers. 9”x12”, 305 pages, plus 29 etchings and 24 photogravure
plates. 2,628 lots. Original limp boards with a parchment-covered cover
with gilt lettering. Front cover somewhat soiled, spine and rear cover
perished and replaced with sympathetic limp boards and parchment. Some
soil and offsetting on the endpapers, but else clean internally. Housed in
a new custom, quarter-leather clamshell case, with raised bands and fancy
giltwork on the spine and a black leather title label. The front of the
case features an inset collage made with black, crimson and peach leathers
showing the famous peachblow vase on its stand. [31290] $1,500.00

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To see all of Catalog #305, go to-
<http://www.joslinhall.com/Catalog_305.htm>

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JOSLIN HALL RARE BOOKS, ABAA
Fine books of the 16th-20th centuries
on the decorative and fine arts & design

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