Lot 96
  • 96

Hayden, Ferdinand V.

Estimate
250,000 - 350,000 USD
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Description

  • The Yellowstone National Park, and the Mountain Ranges of Portions of Idaho, Nevada, Colorado and Utah. Boston: L. Prang and Company, 1876
  • paper, ink
Broadsheets (21 3/4 x 18 in.; 554 x 458 mm). Title-page, leaf of contents, preface leaf, 7 leaves of introductory text, 15 VERY FINE CHROMOLITHOGRAPHED PLATES AFTER THOMAS MORAN BY LOUIS PRANG (each approximately 9 3/4 x 14 in.; 248 x 356 mm, or the reverse) printed on heavy stock and tipped to card, each plate accompanied by one or two leaves of descriptive text, 2 lithographed maps after Hayden by Prang. BINDING: Publisher's portfolio, red morocco over pebble-grain red cloth, front cover and spine gilt-lettered, marbled pastedowns. Off-white buckram clamshell case. PROVENANCE: Peter D. Peterson (also Pederson; 1859–1933). A Norwegian emigrant to Wisconsin in 1883, Peterson was a significant collector of Americana, particularly Norwegian-Americana; a portion of his collection is now part of the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa. His copy of The Yellowstone National Park has descended in his family to the present owners.

Title-leaf soiled at edges and with tear at lower margin repaired, some marginal soiling of text and map leaves, some wear at corners, p. 23 with teat at lower margin, p. 41 with creases and tears at lower margin, light browning at edges of stiff card mounts and some wear at corners. Portfolio rubbed and soiled, spine ends frayed, ribbon ties lost.

Literature

Bennett 80; Graff/Storm 1830; Howes H338; Marzio, Democratic Art, pp. 107–14, pl. 67–71; Reese 99; Streeter sale 4:2112. Facsimile: Thomas Gilcrease Museum Association, 1997

Condition

Condition as described in catalogue entry.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

FIRST EDITION OF MORAN AND HAYDEN'S YELLOWSTONE PARK, "THE GREATEST AMERICAN LANDSCAPE BOOK OF THE POST-CIVIL WAR ERA" AND "THE PINNACLE OF CHROMOLITHOGRAPHY AS BOTH A HIGH-QUALITY FORM OF ART REPRODUCTION AND A COMMERCIALLY VIABLE MEDIUM" (Reese; Marzio).F. V. Hayden headed the United States Geological Survey during the period it was investigating the mountain regions of the West. Thomas Moran accompanied the Hayden expedition to Yellowstone in 1871, making many drawings on location. The fifteen watercolors here reproduced by Prang were among the earliest pictorial records of the spectacular landscapes of the then-unexplored region, and they remain among the best representations of the country's first national park. Bennett described the chromolithographs as "marvelously reproduced … hard work could never give the effect of perspective and distance achieved in the towering scenes here reproduced." 

Moran and Prang's collaborative effort was celebrated from the time of its publication; approximately 1000 sets were sold at a price of sixty dollars, although complete sets are now very uncommon on the market. In his preface, Hayden lauded the work as "a just subject for national pride," as well as a revelation for easterners who knew the region only from prose descriptions or black and white illustrations: "deprived of color … the scenery of Yellowstone it may truly be said … is like Hamlet with the part of Hamlet omitted.… So strange, indeed, are the the freaks of color which nature indulges in habitually in this wonderful country, that it will no doubt require strong faith on the part of the reader in the truthfulness of both artist and writer to accept the statements made in the present volume by pen as well as by the brush."

A VIBRANT AND LUMINOUS SET OF THESE REMARKABLE CHROMOLITHOGRAPHS.