[Rarebooks] FS: Rare 1886 Deluxe Morgan Collection Catalog - First American Blockbuster Auction
Joslin Hall Books & Ephemera
office at joslinhall.com
Fri May 14 10:30:24 EDT 2021
Rare 1886 Deluxe Morgan Collection Catalog -the First American
Blockbuster Auction
“Catalogue of the Art Collection formed by the late Mrs. Mary J. Morgan...”
The catalog to an auction held in New York by the American Art
Galleries on 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", from which we quoted above.
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 (see below for 2 pictures of the covers).
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. A lovely and elegant case.
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. [31290] $750
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