Saint-Mémin Print Collection
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Abstract
Collection of engravings by the French engraver Charles Balthazar Julien Fevret de Saint-Saint-Mémin. Most are profile portrait engravings, but several early views of New York City are also included.
Biographical Note
Charles Balthazar Julien Fevret de Saint-Mémin was born in France in 1770. He served as an officer in the French Army, and was exiled after the French Revolution. When he arrived in the United States in 1793, he began to teach himself the arts of engraving and painting, producing some views of New York City as early as 1794. His first work was published in 1796, the year he began a portrait business with Thomas Bluget de Valdenuit, a fellow Frenchman. The two utilized the physiognotrace, a device whereby a sitter's profile was traced by a bar, and a pantograph, with a piece of chalk attached to its end, drew the same profile in a smaller dimension onto a piece of paper. Details were then added to the outline drawing. Another pantograph was used to trace the drawing and produce a continuous line engraving on a copper plate. Saint-Mémin then utilized a roulette, a tool of his own invention, to produce shading on the engravings. The sitter usually received the drawing, the copper plate and a dozen engravings for a set fee.
While in business with Valdenuit, Saint-Mémin produced the engravings from his partner's drawings. The partnership dissolved after about a year, and Saint-Mémin went on to create both the portrait drawings and engravings himself. He left New York in 1798, and traveled down the east coast of the United States, with stays in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, and Charleston. In 1810, Saint-Mémin returned to France, effectively ending his portrait business. He returned briefly to America, but moved to France in 1814, where he lived until his death in 1852. During his stay in America, Saint-Mémin drew a total of more than 900 portraits and engraved more than 800 of these.
Sources:Miles, Ellen G. Saint-Mémin and the Neoclassical Profile Portrait in the America. Washington: National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian Institue Press, 1994.Morgan, John Hill. "The Work of M. Fevret de Saint-Mémin," in the Brooklyn Museum Quarterly, January 1918, Vol. V, No. 1.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into two series:
Missing Title
- Series I. Portraits
- Series II. Views
Scope and Content Note
The Saint-Mémin Print Collection spans the period from 1794-1808 and contains engravings made by Charles Balthazar Julien Fevret de Saint-Mémin. The collection is divided into two series: Portraits; and Views.
Subjects
Access Restrictions
Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.
Use Restrictions
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.
Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.
Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions
Preferred Citation
This collection should be cited as Saint-Mémin Print Collection, PR 226, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, The New-York Historical Society.
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Provenance
The collection is comprised of gifts from various donors. The album of portrait engravings was a gift from the Estate of Hall Park McCullough in 1973.