Pennsylvania Magazine or American Monthly Museum
Robert Aitken
An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art
Second edition, contains January-December 1775 issues, pp. 1-625, with index. Bound in red marbled paper boards with brown leather spine and corners, title inset on spine stamped and gilded. Eight plates engraved by Aitken, two plates after Du Simitiere, vignettes on January title page engraved by Smither. 1775 title page, decorated with a vignette of Liberty seated holding a shield and cap of liberty, an oak tree at right with a satchel labeled "Liberty" over casks and weapons. A pine tree at left near a canon labeled "The Congress," a sailing ship behind; "P.E.D. inv & delin.; R. Aitken Sculp."; after Du Simitiere, engraved by Robert Aitken (Stauffer II.10, p. 4). Title page for January, 1775, decorated with a coat of arms vignette, a shield with three balls; a lyre and blooming plant at right, an anchor at left. At lower right, within frame: "I.S."; engraved by James Smither (Stauffer.II.2984, p. 492). Monthly title pages, February-December, each adorned with a band of ornament. p. 31: A New Electrical Machine, "P.E.D. delin-t / J. Smither Sculp.", after Du Simitiere, engraved by James Smither (Fielding. 1485, p. 255). p. 42: Portrait of Goldsmith (profile facing right), engraved by James Poupard (Stauffer.II.2551, p. 422). p. 70: "A New Threshing Instrument, / I.S. scult." engraved by James Smither (Stauffer.II.2984, p. 492). p. 134: "General Wolf. A new Song Engrav'd for the Pensylvania Magazine," engraved by Jamer Smither (Stauffer.II.2984, p. 492; Fielding 1482, p. 254) p. 158: "A New Invented Machine for Spinning Wool and Cotton, Engraved for the Pennsylvania Magazine by Christopher Tully, who first Made and introduced this Machine into this Country" (Stauffer II.3328, p. 548). p.172: "Front view of a frame house resembling brick" [no engraver or designer identified]. p. 206: "New invented machine for deepening and cleansing docks" [no designer or engraver identified]. opp. p. 241: Frontispiece, June 1775: "A New Plan of Boston Harbor, from the Actual Survey," by Caleb Lownes (Stauffer II.2159, p. 356). opp. p. 291: Frontispiece July 1775: "A New and Correct Plan of the Town of Boston and Provincial Camp, R.A.," engraved Robert Aitken (Stauffer.II.4, p. 3). p. 358: "Exact Plan of General Gage's Lines, Boston Neck in America," engraved by Robert Aiken (Stauffer.II.5, p. 4) Frontispiece, September 1775: "A Correct View of the Late Battle of Charlestown, June 17th, 1775 [The Battle of Bunker Hill], engraved by Robert Aitken (Stauffer.II.3, p. 3). p. 463: "A Map of the Present Seat of War on the borders of Canada" (vignette surrounding title includes a Native American soldier and American Colonial soldier, a naked figure of Liberty holding cap of liberty), engraved by Robert Aitken (Stauffer.II.6, p. 4). p. 517: "A Plan of the Town & Fortifications of Montreal, or Ville Marie in Canada," engraved by Robert Aitken (Stauffer.II.7, p. 4) p. 558: "A New Machine for enabling Persons to escape from the Windows of Houses on Fire," engraved by Robert Aitken. p. 563: "A Plan of Quebec, Metropolis of Canada," engraved by Robert Aitken (Stauffer.II.9, p. 4).
Drawings and Prints
An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.