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Colored Jazz Band and Leader back with Colored 15th New York

Record Group 165: Records of the War Department General and Special StaffsSeries: American Unofficial Collection of World War I PhotographsFile Unit: Colored Troops

This black and white photograph that is pasted on a card shows African American soldiers sitting on the deck of a ship.  They hold musical instruments like tubas, clarinets, and saxophones.  Several appear to be playing the instruments.  On the left side a few soldiers stand with drums.  A large bass drum gives the name of the regiment. 

Original caption:

NUMBER CN. 3789 SYMBOL 165-WW-127-22 AU DR.21 UNDERWOOD & UNDERWOOD. N.Y. 165-WW 127 22 PHOTOGRAPHER REC'D TAKEN 2-12-19 DESCRIPTION: COLORED JAZZ BAND AND LEADER BACK WITH COLORED 15TH N.Y. Lieut. James Reese Europe who for four years N.Y. Society's favorite orchestra (dance) leader formerly with Vernon Castle returned with his regiment the 369th Infantry. C ISSUED: NOTES: 165 WW 127 3-5605

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llustration from Grimm' s Fairytales by Paul Hey, (1862 - 1952)

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Kodiak Bear. Alaska [pictorial map]. 1949.

Rumsey

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Mermaid. [Map ornament]. 1941.

Rumsey

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William B. Maddux's Design for Labeling Barrels [Simon Crow's Pure White Wheat Whiskey Label]

Record Group 241: Records of the Patent and Trademark OfficeSeries: Design Patent Drawings.

This colorful design patent was used to distinguish barrels of Simon Crow's whiskey from its competitors.

This round label shows a color drawing of a bucolic agricultural scene of peasants having a picnic under a tree.  Several of the men drink from tin cups while women in 18th or 19th century dress lay out food.  In the background, farm workers are harvesting a wheat crop.  A large farm house and out buildings can be seen in the distance.  THe scene is surrounded by a black border decorated with fruit and wheat stalks.  Along the top it says, “Simon Crow’s Pure White Wheat Whiskey.”

Complete transcription:

Simon Crow's Pure White Wheat Whiskey Design Patented "Caution" Having exclusive control of this make of Whiskey, I have in order to protect the Consumer from imposition, gone to a great expense to have this label lithographed and patented. Thus rendering it impossible for the Buyer to be imposed upon by the many worthless imitations now being forced on the market. Lithographed by Gibson & Co Cincinnati. [Handwritten notations top] H 33 No. 1897 [Unreadable] W. B. Maddux Design for Labeling Barrels Patented July 16, 1864 [Handwritten notations bottom] [Unreadable] B Maddux Witness James F Williams Jared H Leoring

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A woman in West Virginia snapped a one-in-a-million shot of a tree being struck by lightning.

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“Swing,” 1925, by Wharton H. Esherick

via @philamuseum

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Marvels of the universe : a popular work on the marvels of the heavens, the earth, plant life, animal life, the mighty deep - 1913 - via Internet Archive

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Electric sign. The Illuminating engineer. 1910.

Internet Archive

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Yoshida Hodaka, Miroku-bosatsu, 1954 woodcut on paper H: 20 in. x W: 16 in. (50.80 x 40.64 cm) Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh: Bequest of Dr. James B. Austin, 89.28.1488 © Yoshida Hodaka

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THE LOG OF THE “FLYING FISH” A Story of Aerial and Submarine Peril and Adventure by Harry Collingwood. (London: Blackie, 1887) Illustrated by Gordon Browne.

source

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Roger Shepard – Scientist of the Day

Roger Shepard, a cognitive scientist, was born Jan. 30, 1929, in Palo Alto.

read more...

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'Crane and Surf' (circa 1833) by Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797–1858).

Woodblock print.

Image and text information courtesy The Met.

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Wood Engraving Wednesday

ANDY ENGLISH

This print by English wood engraver Andy English (b. 1956), entitled Garden Plants for Bees, is reproduced in the catalog for the Fourth Triennial Exhibition 2020-2022 of the American American wood engravers society, the Wood Engravers’ Network (WEN), juried by my Wisconsin colleagues Tracy Honn and Jim Moran.

The original print, measuring 165 x 85mm (6.5" x 3.5") in an edition of 75 copies, is printed from three separate hand-engraved woodblocks: two seasonal collections of plants crowned by a small engraving of a bee. Besides its selection for the WEN Triennial, the print also won the illustration prize in the 2018-19 Society of Wood Engravers touring exhibition. The venerable Society of Wood Engravers is the British counterpart to the American Wood Engravers' Network, and Andy English is a member of both societies.

Trained as a geologist, English is a self-taught wood engraver, beginning the practice in 1991. The Wikipedia article on English cites an observation by British journalist Paul Wheatley that English came to wood engraving "for the first time and found it to be so natural and comfortable that he could only describe it as remembering a process rather than learning it." The print shown here is available for purchase on English's website for £75.00.

Also on English's website is a lovely series of images showing the development of a wood engraving, which we reproduce below, along with a photographic portrait of the artist:

As the juror for WEN's Fifth Triennial, I look forward to reviewing many fine wood engravings, and hopefully there will be a few by Andy English in the mix as well.

View another engraving by Andy English.

View another engraving from the WEN Fourth Triennial Exhibition.

View more engravings by members of the Wood Engraver’s Network.

View more posts with wood engravings!

– MAX, Head, Special Collections