152 REPORT OP NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1890, 



ing an increase during the year of 577 numbers. There still remains 

 to be catalogued, however, by far the larger part of the Osborne Collec- 

 tion, the classification of which will also place at the disposal of the 

 Museum quite a number of duplicates which may be used for ex- 

 changes. 



A list of papers published by me during the year will be found in the 

 Bibliography (section iv). 



RECOMMENDATION IN REGARD TO THE SEWALL COLLECTION. 



I beg permission to urge again the recommendations made last year: 

 notably, the desirability of definitely turning over to the Section of 

 Graphic Arts the remains of the Marsh Collection, and of an appeal to 

 Congress for a special appropriation for the purchase of the Sewall Col- 

 lection of engravings, etc., in regard to which I have already addressed 

 a letter to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, which is here 



reprinted : 



United States National Museum, 

 Under Direction of the Smithsonian Institution, 



Washington, April 17, 1890. 

 Prof. S. P. Langley, 



Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution : 



Dear Sir : In accordance with your request, I beg to submit herewith some details 

 concerning the Sewall Collection of Prints now offered for sale in New York, and to 

 state the reasons which induced me to recommend in my annual report that an appeal 

 be made to Congress for a spicial appropriation for its purchase. 



It appears from tho figures given on the accompanying sheets that the collection 

 consists of 16,300 prints (exclusive of 4,100 portraits and landscapes which the owner 

 does not hold to be of sufficient importance to enumerate with the rest, although 

 they are to be included in the sale) by over 1,400 artists of all schools and periods, 

 from the beginning of the reproductive arts iu the fifteenth century down to our own 

 time. In addition to these prints there are 400 drawings. 



In considering the question of the acquisition of such a collection, three things must 

 betaken into account: (1) Its quality; (2) its character as a whole in relation to 

 the history of the art of engraving, that is to say, its relative completeness or incom- 

 pleteness ; and (3) its price. 



As to the quality of tho Sewall collection, I can say from personal observation 

 that it contains many very fine prints, together with others that are not so tine. 

 The partial lists herewith submitted show that it is extraordinarily rich in the works 

 of some of the most celebrated artists who have worked as etchers or engravers iu 

 past centuries. Thus, there are 291 pieces by Marcantonio and his school ; 359 by 

 Albert Diirer ; 127 by Lucas van Leyden ; 490 by the Little Masters; 359 by Rem- 

 brandt; 391 by Hollar ; 227 by Goltzius and his school ; 53 by Claude Lorrain ; 433 

 by Jacques Callot ; 82 by Nanteuil ; 222 by J. G. Wille, etc. Nevertheless, I wish to 

 have it distinctly understood that I have been able thus far to examine only a rela- 

 tively small portion of the collection, and that, if a purchase should be contemplated, 

 a more careful examination will be in order. Concerning the second point, it is evi- 

 dent, from the statements herewith, that the historical completeness of the collec- 

 tion, considering its size, is one of its most valuable qualities, since it presents to the 

 student not only examples of all the processes of engraving practised by artists up 

 to about the middle of the present century, but also specimens of all artists of suffi- 

 cient note to make a knowledge of their work indispensable, with others by many 

 men of less importance. This admirable, well-proportioned development of the col- 

 lection is due to the fact that the present owner has been a systematic collector, 

 having a well-deriued aim in view, for the last forty years, and that especially within 



