SECTION OF GRAPHIC ARTS. 303 



La Tombe," B G7, certainly one of the most beautiful impressions of 

 this admirable plate in existence ; very good impressions of Diirer's 

 " St. Jerome in his Chamber," B GO, and " The Great Horse," B 97 ; a 

 iine proof of Nanteuil's " Pompone de Bellievre," B-D 37 ; a splendid 

 proof, before the coatof-arms, of Wille's " Satin Gown," Le Bl 55; a 

 subscriber's impression, before any of the later retouches, of Midler's 

 " Madonna di S. Sisto," after Raphael, etc. It will be quite impossible 

 to speak here at length of the many valuable gifts received during the 

 period under review. Some idea of their importance may be gathered 

 from the details given in the list of donors and depositors, which in- 

 cludes also the material received previous to my official connection 

 with the Museum, such as the collection illustrating the etching process, 

 given by Mr. Peter Moran ; the collection illustrating the technical 

 processes of lithography and chromo-lithography, given by Messrs. L. 

 Prang & Co.; the exhibit of the Photo-Engraving Company, and that 

 illustrating the process of electrotyping made by Messrs. W. H. Whit- 

 comb & Co. Two items must, however, be emphasised here as being 

 of special importance and fitness in the U. S. National Museum. I 

 allude to the plate, with a set of trial proofs, of Asher Brown Dnrand's 

 " Ariadne," after Yanderlyn, given by his sou, Mr. John Durand, and 

 to the collection of proofs from plates engraved by Johu Cheney, given 

 by his sister-in-law, Mrs. Ednah D. Cheney. Generally speaking, 

 special stress has been laid, in the historical division, upon a good 

 representation of Americau art, and the list of donors again will show 

 that these efforts have been liberally seconded by artists, publishers, 

 and other friends of the Museum. 



The time from January, 1887, to February, 1888, was given up wholly 

 to the collecting of specimens and the preparation of cases. During 

 the months of February and March, 1888, these specimens were placed 

 on exhibition on the western side of the northwest range. The extent of 

 the collection at that time, and the arrangement adopted, are shown by 

 the placard which was prepared for display in the hall, a copy of which 

 is annexed to this report as Appendix B. 



Part of the month of May, the month of June, and part of July of the 

 same year were devoted to the preparation and installation of the ex- 

 hibition of the section of graphic arts at the Ohio Valley Centennial 

 Exposition at Cincinnati. To avoid the almost total depletion of the 

 exhibition cases at the Museum, the greater part of the specimens 

 shown at this exhibition was borrowed lor the purpose, and the lack of 

 specimens, representative of the work of the past, necessitated the pur- 

 chases above alluded to, which were paid for out of the special appro- 

 priation made by Congress to defray the expenses of the Smithsonian 

 Institution arising out of its participation in the Exposition. A more 

 detailed account of this exhibition will be found in the catalogue, printed 

 in the "Proceedings United States National Museum, Vol. x., Appen- 

 dix," The rapid growth of the collection, from 036 entries in the cata- 



