[Rarebooks] FS: 1881 ‘Arkansas Stone Baby’ Folk Art Fraud Carte de Visite

[Joslin Hall Rare Books, Ephemera & Photographs]

1881 ‘Arkansas Stone Baby’ Folk Art Fraud Carte de Visite.

The second half of the 19th century saw an explosion in interest in 
excavations of remains and artifacts of ancient life and peoples; this 
interest in turn fueled a secondary upsurge in amateur carvers and 
promoters anxious to make a quick profit without doing any actual 
excavating. “This stone image was discovered at the famous Eureka 
Springs, Arkansas, on the first day of October, 1880, by T.H. Campbell, 
four feet below the surface of the earth, while digging a well. When 
discovered it was inclosed in a composition of blue clay, charcoal, and 
lime, a portion of which has not been removed from the image… The image 
is twenty-six inches in length, and weighs eighty-five pounds”.

The extraordinary carving was offered to the Peabody Museum in Salem, 
Massachusetts for purchase and was examined by Dr. M.E. Wadsworth whose 
examination not only found that the figure could not have been buried in 
the earth for very long, if at all, but that that soil/chalk composition 
surrounding it which had not been removed contained scraps of modern 
printed paper. “Of course”, Dr. Wadsworth concluded his report, “in the 
light of these facts, further discussion is unnecessary”. The Peabody 
returned the figure to Mr. Campbell with the report and the suggestion 
that the carving be destroyed, a suggestion which was certainly not 
followed, as an 1881 newspaper reports that the figure was purchased by 
the Smithsonian Institution, but there the trail ends.

Carte de Visite. 2.25”x4.25”. Some soil and wear, corner crease. [48964] 
  $175

Pictures =>
<https://www.joslinhall.com/images460/th-48964-cover.jpg>
<https://www.joslinhall.com/images460/th-48964-cover2.jpg>

-- 
Joslin Hall Rare Books, Ephemera, & Photographs
Post Office Box 49
Hatfield, Massachusetts 01038 USA

-

www.joslinhall.com
(413) 247-5080

Member:
Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America
International League of Antiquarian Booksellers
Southern New England Antiquarian Booksellers
Ephemera Society

Our email list
http://www.joslinhall.com/newslist.htm

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/joslinhallbooks

Twitter
https://twitter.com/joslinhall

  ~ ~ ~

TERMS:
All payments must be in U.S. funds and negotiable through a U.S. bank; 
We accept checks, money orders, American Express, Visa and Mastercard. 
Books may be reserved pending payment; Institutions may be billed; 
Standard courtesies to institutions and the trade; Postage charges are 
$5.00 for the first book, and $2.00 for each additional book. Shipments 
outside the U.S. will be billed at cost. We accept returns if we are 
notified within ten days of your receipt of the books-please ask for 
full instructions and terms. Massachusetts residents must add 6.25% 
state sales tax.

As members of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America we are 
committed to upholding high professional standards and making sure your 
bookbuying experience is enjoyable.