302 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1881). 



of all art — the expression of ideas by artistic nieaus — is uot consid- 

 ered directly in the scheme of the section of graphic arts. These 

 ideas and their development in the progress of time, are, nevertheless, 

 also illustrated, or eventually will be, for, in pursuing the study of 

 the technical means employed in the graphic arts, it is necessary to 

 inquire into their historical evolution, and this can not be done by a 

 mere bringing together of the tools and materials used at different 

 times. It unavoidably involves an examination of the results, and 

 these latter tend to show that the tools and materials themselves were 

 influenced by the ideas which sought expression. An historical col- 

 lection of specimens illustrating the progress of the graphic arts is, 

 therefore, quite as much a necessity as a collection of tools and mate- 

 rials, and it is obvious that such a collection will furnish the oppor- 

 tunity also for the study of the intellectual aspect of art. The appar- 

 ently purely material and unintellectual starting point of the scheme 

 laid out for the section of graphic arts, thus leads in the end to a much 

 broader, as well as profouuder, illustration of the subject in hand than 

 can possibly be provided in ordinary museums of art which ignore 

 means and deal with results only. Naturally, in endeavoring to bring 

 together a series of examples illustrating the technical activity of the 

 artist, it is found much easier to acquire prints of all kinds than draw- 

 ings and paintings. This difficulty it has been sought to overcome in 

 a measure by adding a collection of photographs from paintings, etc. 

 These, however, can give but a very inadequate idea of technical pecu- 

 liarities, while, on the other hand, they add largely to the illustration 

 of the progress of ideas as expressed in art. 



For the sake of completeness it may be well to state here that the 

 section of graphic arts confines itself strictly within the limits indi- 

 cated by its name, that is to say, to drawing and painting and the 

 various methods of producing pictures to be multiplied in the press, 

 or, in other words, to the various methods of delineation on surfaces. 



As comparatively but little material (308 numbers in all) had been 

 collected at the time when t took charge of the section, the first thing 

 to be done, in the almost total absence of means wherewith to make 

 purchases, was to solicit contributions from artists, publishers, and 

 private persons. The measure of success attained is shown by the 

 list of donors and depositors printed as Appendix A. Of the 2,891 

 entries in the catalogue up to June 30, 18S9, only 294 represent objects 

 purchased, at a cost of $2,308.23,* — mostly old prints and such tools, 

 etc., as could not be obtained as gifts. Among these purchases (occa- 

 sioned principally by the Ohio Valley Centennial Exposition, at which 

 the section of graphic arts was represented by a special exhibition) 

 there are some very tine and important examples of engraving and 

 etching, such as Rembrandt's " Christ Preaching," known as " Le petit 



*In this statement the collection of photographs acquired before I was appointed, 

 is not included, as it has not yet been registered, 



