PRI3595
55 black-and-white images (mostly engravings)
Open for research
Purchase; Mrs. H.V. Browning, July 1976
Vicki Weiss, Senior Librarian, Manuscripts and Special Collections, March 2010
Related Materials: Browning Autograph Collection (NY Public Figures) | Browning Autograph Collection (NY Mayors and Governors)
Scope and Content Note:
Unless otherwise indicated, all the portraits and views are engravings of people, places or items dating from the seventeenth century through the early twentieth century. However, the images themselves appear to have been created in the late nineteenth or early twentieth centuries. The collection includes images of 15 mayors of New York City, dating from 1711 through 1904, five governors of New York State, dating from 1777 through 1876, and sundry nationally famous men and women. The views, like most of the portraits, are clippings from books or magazines and are just a miscellaneous collection.
Provenance Note:
Irving Browning appears to have been a collector of autograph signed documents and memorabilia related to prominent New Yorkers. In particular, he seemed most interested in the signatures of the mayors of New York City and the governors of New York State. These statements are based on the fact that this repository also purchased from Mrs. H.V. Browning, in 1975 and 1976, two collections of manuscripts that bear the signatures of prominent New Yorkers, dating from circa 1678 to 1960. The collections' call numbers are SC16596 and SC16653. Unpublished inventories for both collections are available.
This collection of portraits and photographs is consistent with Browning's collecting interests. The photograph of the cannon in front of the Senate House is stamped "From the collection of Irving Browning, New York City" and "Irving Browning, 1845 B'wy, N.Y.C." The photograph of the George Clinton Memorial has partial stamps similar to those on the Senate House photograph.
Portraits
Item | Name |
|---|---|
1 | DeWitt Clinton (12.5 x 10 cm.; mount 26.5 x 18 cm.); facsimile signature; eng. by Williams, New York |
2 | DeWitt Clinton (19.5 x 13.5 cm.; mount 24.5 x 18 cm.); facsimile signature; "From the original painting by Chappel in the possession of the publishers"; full-length portrait of Clinton sitting at the edge of a table with his right arm resting on two books |
3 | DeWitt Clinton (8 x 5.5 cm.); facsimile signature |
4 | George Clinton (12.5 x 10 cm.; mount 19 x 11.5 cm.); facsimile signature; engraved by Williams, New York; as an elderly man |
5 | George Clinton (9.5 x 5 cm.); facsimile signature; profile; as a younger man |
6 | George Clinton (9.5 x 5.5 cm.); facsimile signature; three-quarters profile; as an elderly man; different image from the other image of him as an elderly man |
7 | Mrs. George Clinton (8.5 x 5 cm.) |
8 | Lord Cornbury (7 x 5.5 cm. oval on 21.5 x 13.5 sheet); "Cornbury in female attire"; with some historical explanation |
9 | John Cruger (15.5 x 12 cm.; mount 23 x 15.5 cm.); portrait made ca. 1730 |
10 | John Cruger (7 x 5 cm.); photo of previous item |
11 | John Cruger, Jr. (10.5 x 8 cm.; mount 12.5 x 10 cm.) |
12 | James Duane (10 x 8 cm.; mount 13.5 x 8 cm.); facsimile signature; eng'd by J. Rogers |
13 | James Duane (10 x 8 cm.; mount 18 x 11 cm.); facsimile signature; eng'd by J. Rogers; same as previous item except for size of mount |
14 | James Duane (8 x 5 cm.); facsimile signature |
15 | Hamilton Fish (20.5 x 17 cm.); facsimile signature; engraved by H.B. Hall's Sons, New York |
16 | Hugh L. Grant (13.5 x 10 cm.; mount 16.5 x 10.5 cm.); facsimile signature; photoprint |
17 | Abraham Oakley Hall (16.5 x 10.5 cm.); photoprint |
18 | Abraham Oakley Hall (16.5 x 10.5 cm.); photoprint; slightly different pose than previous item |
19 | Alexander Hamilton (12.5 x 10 cm.; mount 26.5 x 18 cm.); facsimile signature; eng. by Williams, New York |
20 | Caleb Heathcote (9 x 6 cm.); facsimile signature |
21 | Whitehead Hicks (9 x 6 cm.); facsimile signature |
22 | Philip Hone (9 x 7 cm.); facsimile signature |
23 | John Jay (8 x 5.5 cm.); facsimile signature |
24 | Sarah Jay (10 x 8 cm. oval; mount 26 x 18 cm.); facsimile signature |
25 | Morgan Lewis (7.5 x 6 cm.); facsimile signature |
26 | Edward Livingston (12 x 9 cm.; mount 15.5 x 10 cm.); facsimile signature; engraved by E. Wellmore from a drawing by J.B. Longacre |
27 | Edward Livingston (12 x 9 cm.; mount 22.5 x 14 cm.); facsimile signature; engraved by E. Wellmore from a drawing by J.B. Longacre (same as previous item except for size of mount and statement at bottom of mount: Engraved … in … 1833 …) |
28 | Edward Livingston (9 x 7 cm.); facsimile signature |
29 | Robert R. Livingston (12.5 x 10 cm.; mount 26 x 17 cm.); facsimile signature; eng. by Williams, New York; three-quarters portrait of Livingston facing left |
30 | Robert R. Livingston (11.5 x 9 cm.; frame 17 x 11.5 cm.; mount 25.5 x 17.5 cm.); facsimile signature; painted by J. Vanderlyn; eng'd. by E. McKenzie; Livingston is sitting in an armchair |
31 | Robert R. Livingston (11.5 x 9 cm.; mount 27 x 21.5 cm.); facsimile signature; painted by J. Vanderlyn; eng'd. by E. McKenzie; same image as previous item |
32 | George B. McClellan (12 x 8 cm.) |
33 | Israel Putnam (8 x 6 cm.); facsimile signature |
34 | Jacob Radcliff (8 x 5.5 cm.); facsimile signature |
35 | Philip Sheridan (7 x 7.5 cm.); Sheridan astride a galloping horse |
36 | Samuel J. Tilden (7.5 x 5.5 cm.); facsimile signature |
37 | Pierre Van Cortlandt (8.5 x 7 cm.); facsimile signature |
38 | Richard Varick. MISSING 4/08 |
39 | Martha Washington (8 x 6 cm.); facsimile signature |
40 | Noah Webster (8.5 x 7 cm.); facsimile signature |
41 | Marinus Willett (7.5 x 6 cm.); facsimile signature |
42 | Fernando Wood (14.5 x 12.5 cm.; mount 20 x 12.5 cm.); facsimile signature; dag'pe by M.B. Brady; eng. by J.C. Buttre; "Engraved for the United States Review" |
43 | Fernando Wood (10 x 9 cm. oval; mount 23.5 x 15 cm.); facsimile signature; eng'd by W.G. Jackman, N.Y.; "Engraved expressly for the Old Guard"; includes quotation: The issue now before the country is peace & constitutional government looking to reunion, or war & military despotism with certain disunion." |
Scenes and Views
Item | Caption/[Description] |
|---|---|
44 | Gov. Clinton's Residence (7.5 x 7 cm.)/[Three-story stone building with five dormers] |
45 | The New-York Crystal Palace (7.5 x 12.5 cm.)/[Pedestrians in foreground; three horse-drawn vehicles between people and building] |
46 | The City Hall in the Park, 1812 (8 x 12 cm.) |
47 | Broadway at Canal Street, 1812 (7.5 x 9 cm.)/[Stream of water flowing under bridge in foreground; buildings in background] |
48 | Seal of New York, 1686 (6 x 5.25 cm.) |
49 | Seal of Stephanus Van Cortlandt, 1664 (5.5 x 4.25 cm.) |
50 | Liberty Hall, Birthplace of Mrs. John Jay (5 x 7 cm.) |
51 | St. John's Church, Varick Street (12.5 x 7.5 cm.)/[View shows a couple walking on a path in front of the church]. Verso: The Bayard Country House in Harlem |
52 | The South Prospect of the City of New York in North America (7 x 20 cm.)/[Waterfront view]. Note with view reads: "The view ... called a 'South Prospect,' ... is reduced from a copper-plate engraving published in the 'London Magazine' of August 1761. Although some differences appear, it is evident that it is based on the view found on page 270, which was printed in Governor Clinton's time." |
53 | The Birthplace of Col. Nicholas Bayard, Alphen, near Leyden, Holland (15. 5 x 21 cm.)/[Couple in foreground is dressed in seventeenth-century clothes; house and other buildings in background] |
54 | Senate House (12 x 9 cm.)/[Kingston, New York: Photograph of building exterior and cannon in front] |
55 | Memorial to George Clinton (11 x 7.5 cm.)/[Photograph of the memorial in the Old Dutch Church cemetery, Kingston, N.Y.] |