LOOK INSIDE THE CHAPBOOK OF THE HUDSON HIGHLANDS SUITE

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A chapbook is a companion volume (booklet) for content published in different form. The word comes from “cheap”, something bartered for produced at an affordable cost. The original chapbooks were the first “paperbacks”, mass-produced printed matter for popular consumption during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, making their appearance alongside the first broadsides, tabloids and periodicals. Chapbooks were often produced (as here) to accompany a suite of loose prints, or perhaps a finely bound volume. Popular music and political rants were published in this form, as were serial fictions known as Penny Dreadfuls, the forerunners to 20th-century comic-books.

The concept driving the limited-edition Hudson Highlands suite arose from my awareness of 19th-century expeditionary art, and from a conversation with Dick solomon of Pace Prints. Returning from his exploration of Latin America to Europe by way of Philadelphia, Alexander von Humboldt advised Thomas Jefferson that artists were essential to the success of future military explorations. While in South America and Mexico, Humboldt had been forced to produce his own drawings, which were later elaborated and refined for publication by professional artists in Paris.

Artists like Jacques le Moyne, Frans Post, Albert Eckhout, William Hodges, William Bartram and others had already paved the way. Taking Humboldt’s advice to heart, Stephen H. Long enlisted artists Samuel Seymour and Titian Ramsay Peale II as members of his 1821 expedition to the Rocky Mountains. West Point superintendent Sylvanus Thayer modified the curriculum of the US Military Academy at West Point to require two hours of draw a day for second and third-year cadets.

Later artist-entrepreneurs like John-James Audubon, William Guy Wall, George Catlin and Alfred Jacob Miller explored the boundaries between art, science and ethnography, seeking private funding for their expeditions and popular audiences for the artworks they produced. While original works were exhibited and sold, the greater audience for these artists was reached via publications in the form of books and prints.

A couple of years ago I had the pleasure of interviewing Dick Solomon, to collect an oral history from him for the Smithsonian Archives of American Art. A few months later I saw him again, at a print show at the Seventh Regiment Armory on Park Avenue. I asked if he would give me a few minutes of his time to show him something. After some time had passed I called and made an appointment to meet at Pace Gallery, on East 57th Street. I showed him the Hudson Valley painting-journal, for which Wyvern Binderyarchives of american art
, on Clerkenwell Road in London, had produced a Solander (clamshell) box. Solomon leafed through the book. He looked at me, and with a wink said,
“if I were to see this at a show, I would wonder what kind of lunatic thought this had commercial potential. You’ve got to find a way to get the genie out of the bottle. Consider producing a suite of archival prints.”
I took his advice to heart. After showing the book to a number of other dealers and collectors, it became clear that producing a limited edition of prints would be the best option. I found myself reviewing the careers of Audubon, Catlin and others, which brought me to the realization that if I had revived a centuries-old artistic practice (painting in books), I might be forced to resort to centuries-old marketing strategies.

This iteration of the Hudson Highlands chapbook is undergoing final, minor adjustments. The limited edition of Hudson Highlands will be published on November 1, 2017 with a retail price of $1,500.00 The pre-publication price is $1,000.00
Subscribers who order a copy of the limited edition prior to October 15, 2017 will be thanked, and listed as sponsors on the Acknowledgements page of the chapbook.

To place your order, send a check for $1,000.00 to:

Needlewatcher Editions, PO Box 142, West Haverstraw, New York, 10993

New York residents add 8% sales tax ($80.00)

To use PayPal:





Look inside the chapbook:

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