EDWARD LAW

ARMS, CRESTS & MONOGRAMS

A STATIONER'S & ENGRAVER'S SAMPLE ALBUM

MASSACHUSETTS c1870

This is a museum quality album of samples of stationery and engraving for die-stamping the same, believed to have originated in the state of Massachusetts c.1870.

Images of the engraving, related to the tabular description below, may be accessed here.

Provenance. The album was offered for sale on eBay auction site on the internet in June 2002, described as:
ca 1900 Engraved Stationery samples monograms: While somewhat tattered and worn, this is still an exceptional collection of engraved stationery, mounted on pages in what was probably a salesman's sample book. There are 65 large (9 x 13") pages, each with at least one envelope or piece of note paper - most have a matching envelope and note sheet, some have up to four pieces of note paper. Each piece carries either an engraved monogram, address or topical vignette (bee, artist's palette). Most of the engravings are a single colour, some are multicoloured. There is a wide variety of different colours and textures of paper. This was part of a printer's collection including dated items from the late 1800s to about 1910, so while this book is undated it's likely these are from that era. There is some creasing and moderate wear to some of the stationery. There are a few blank spots where pieces have been lost, and the album pages are disbound and chipped along the edges. Great fun to look at, and a source of inspiration for present day designers aiming for a vintage look!

This was seen as an opportunity to acquire American crested stationery which from my ten year's experience of collecting crests and crest albums is quite scarce. From the description I assumed the album would contain about 130 items and pitched my bid accordingly. I secured the lot which actually contained 146 pieces of stationery, all engraved. A subsequent enquiry to the vendor elicited the following response:
I'm afraid I can't give you very much more information. Most of the stuff in this lot appears to originate from Worcester, Mass (about 30 miles West of Boston), and is from the very late 19th/early 20th Century.

Some of the stationery carried watermark dates of 1866, 1869 and 1870, and many of the envelopes had impressed maker's details of Berry & Bouvé, 12 West St. Boston. The foregoing imprint on one envelope over-stamped another which, as a result, was not fully legible, --w-l- & Brett 22- Washington St Boston. It seems clear from what is known that it was a sample book of a stationer in Massachusetts c.1870. Because the paper was being offered as samples it would have had to have been readily available. Notepaper dated 1869 was laid down on page 62, near the end of the album, suggesting that the whole album was put together at one point rather than being added to year by year.

It is not possible to say how long the album may have been in use. Even when the stationery became unavailable it might have been used as a sampler only of the engraving. It may have originated in Boston itself, a very fashionable city where there would have been a ready market for high-class stationery; and this was high-class. There are several examples of notepaper which carry a visible pattern created by watermarks which are not often encountered. The quality of some of the engraving is of the very highest order showing a fineness of touch which contrasts most favourably with much of the engraved stationery of the period in England.

It was clear when I first looked at this album that I would have to dismantle it. The plain paper, unwatermarked pages (34.0 x 23.5 cm) were so brittle that they were chipping with the lightest handling, and were much disfigured with dust. With no covers and a minimal part of the spine the album had neither aesthetics nor physical evidence to retain. The album comprised 66 pages and held 146 pieces of stationery; several pieces had clearly been removed.

All the contents were laid onto the pages of the album with four or five dabs of paste per item. The first page carried one envelope which was very dirty. Removed from the page it came off with part of the page attached at the four points where it had been glued. This was encouraging, much better than part of the envelope remaining on the page and creating thins in the envelope. The page remnants and the glue were then removed with water; it left some discolouration on the front of the envelope, but as it is the back which carries the crest it still allowed an effective display. The result gave me confidence to proceed with removal of all the material, copying it after removal, and noting details of the stationery here. One or two of the papers did not come off cleanly and thins resulted, but as all the notepaper was folded to give two sheets the appearance was not greatly affected. Much of the note paper had the same die-stamping on the reverse as was on the front. By this time I felt that the collection was of such importance as to warrant remounting in some way in a replacement album.

Some months were spent looking for a suitable album, and considering how best to remount the material. The album was eventually located on the web site of Aspinal of London. They were also offering a removable adhesive which, if it performed as advertised, would be ideal. Although both album and adhesive were expensive the quality of the collection warranted the expense. The adhesive appears to be all that it was held out to be and the whole of the collection has been mounted with it. Pieces can be removed from the page and the dots of adhesive rubbed off the stationery or page, allowing for rearrangement or temporary removal.

The following listing of the contents was built up from a detailed examination over several months. The weight of paper (grammes per square metre) is an estimate from a comparison with modern samples.

APPENDIX
Various enquiries established that Messrs Berry & Bouvé were in business in Boston as engravers and stationers from 1868 to 1875. The partners were Andrew C Berry and Allston G Bouvé. The latter had previously worked as a clerk for Ephraim W Bouvé, card engraver, at 6 Bromfield Street, Boston. Allston is noted as a dentist in 1876, whilst Andrew C Berry continued to be listed as an engraver and stationer at 12 West Street.
It seems likely that Allston was related to Ephraim W Bouvé (1817-1897) who is known as an engraver and lithographer. He produced lithographs for sheet music and books, and engraved maps in the 1840s.
The dates for Berry & Bouvé, 1868 to 1875, accord well with the known facts of the contents of the album. Allston's previous employment as a clerk, and subsequent occupation as a dentist, suggest that he was not the engraver in the partnership. I have no knowledge of the background or abilities of Andrew C Berry. Whoever undertook the engraving was an artist of no little ability: perhaps Berry, or could it have been Ephraim W Bouvé?
The single envelope carrying an additional imprint relates to the firm of Lowell & Brett, 228 Washington Street, Boston, engravers and stationers, who were in business from 1866 to 1871; after that date the firm continued as John Adams Lowell & Co., at the same address.

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CREATED OCT 2007