California History: The Sacramento Flood

With April showers hitting us hard this Spring season, we thought it would be fitting to share an amazing piece of local History depicting one of the most devastating natural disasters of the mid-Nineteenth Century. 

This view of Sacramento depicts the city during a flood in 1850. Rain and melting snow from the Sierra Nevada mountains caused the Sacramento river to flow over the levee. Looking down J st from the levee, this view documents notable buildings and landmarks submerged in flood waters. At the head of J street on the left hand side is a knoll of ground made by the Indians, called Sa’cum, which stayed dry throughout the flood. Sutter’s Fort is 25 miles from the Levee and is at the head of J st. To the left of J street can be found the City Hotel, which faces onto the levee and was built in 1849 at a cost of $78,000. The Sutter Hotel, which can found to the far right of J st and also facing the levee was built in 1848 at a cost $50,000.

                                         

Geo W. Casilear & Henry Bainbridge

View of Sacramento City During the Great Inundation in January 1850

New York: Napoleon Sarony, c.1850

hand-colored lithograph

41” x 29 1/4”

$16,500

A thrilling account -From Daily Alta California, Volume 1, Number 17, 16 January 1850

"SACRAMENTO CITY, Jan,10, 1850. This will be a day never to be forgotten by the residents of Sacramento City as a day that awoke their fears for the safety of their city against the dangers of a flood long since prophesied.

I was awakened early on the following morning (the 11th) by the shouting and noise from without, I rose and dressed and went out upon the veranda of the Sutter House, (where I had taken a room) and here I had a clear view of the dangers to be apprehended. Before me, along the entire length of the levee, I saw with certainty the beginning of a flood. Long before noon hundreds of boats were crossing every street, far and near, and bearing to the several vessels that lay at the river’s bank, women and children, the sick and the feeble; and as they arrived, the owners of the vessels were ready to offer them prompt aid and every comfort in their power; and when they were safely landed upon the decks, the shout of joy went up to heaven in loud cheers from those who landed them, for their safety, and these shouts were echoed back by the hundreds of voices that were in the surrounding boats, and within hearing of the response. During the entire day and until night, this work of humanity and mercy went on. The loss of property must be very great — it must be over a million of dollars. As night approached and the waters continued to increase, great fears were entertained for the buildings that were considered safe until now for the vast body of water that continued to rush in on the levee in front of the city was evidence that but a very few could expect to be above the reach of water in the morning. Measures were now taken to prepare several places where food and lodging could be had, by raising new floors some two and three feet above the former ones; but this could only be done in a few houses, so many being underwater and all cooking apparatus belonging to the many eating houses being completely submerged. Besides this the several “Bakeries,” were so deluged that no bread could be had other than hard bread. These places for refreshment were quickly arranged so that the many hundreds that were driven from their homes and could not be accommodated on board the shipping should find food and shelter until they could leave the city or find houses in some place until the waters should subside."

John A. Noble, American painter and mariner

"Anywhere men work or build on the water is of interest to me...My life's work is to make a rounded picture of American maritime endeavor of modern times."

John A. Noble (1913-1983)

Dying in the English Kills, Man & Mast #2 (Brooklyn)

1967

Lithograph, edition of 300

Signed and titled in pencil

23" x 26 3/4" framed

  

Born in Paris in 1913, John A. Noble was the son of the noted American painter, John “Wichita Bill” Noble. He spent his early years in the studios of his father and his father’s contemporaries, innovative artists and writers of the early 20^th century. A graduate of the Friends Seminary in New York City, Noble continued his studies in France at the University of Grenoble. There he met his wife and lifetime companion, Susan Ames. When he returned to New York, he attended the National Academy of Design.

Beginning at the age of 15 and continuing for almost two decades, Noble worked aboard schooners and in marine salvage. It was during this time that the artistic bug caught hold and Noble began drawing and painting. In 1928, while on a schooner that was towing out down the Kill van Kull- the tidal strait that separates Staten Island from New Jersey- he saw the old Port Johnston coal docks, “the largest graveyard of wooden sailing vessels in the world”, for the first time. He would later comment that this sight changed his life forever. In 1941, Noble began to build his floating studio out of parts from the vessels he salvaged. Noble would use a rowboat to explore the harbor, taking detailed records of the boats, workmen, and industries that came and went.

Despite his artistic provenance and critical praise of his work, Noble always remained intimate with the people of the coal docks. “I’m with factory people, industrial people, the immigrants, the sons of immigrants. It gives life to it,” he stated. Late in his life, Noble recalled his first compelling views of New York Harbor. “I was crossing the 134th Street Bridge on the Harlem River on a spring day in 1928, and I was so shocked--it changed my life. I was frozen on that bridge, because both east and west of the bridge were sailing vessels. And I thought sailing vessels, you know, were gone... There it was, and I couldn’t eat, or anything; I was so excited.” By the time of his death in the Spring of 1983 - shortly after the passing of his beloved Susan - the sailing vessels he loved were all gone, and the maritime industry in the area had diminished significantly.

Arader Galleries is proud to present John A. Noble’s Dying in the English Kills, Man & Mast #2 (Brooklyn). This exquisite lithograph portrays a mariner atop the mast on a sailing vessel navigating the English Kills, a tributary along the Newport Creek separating Brooklyn and Queens.

Season's Greetings from Arader Galleries

As the holiday season draws near, the quest to find the perfect gift begins!

Please stop by Arader Galleries throughout the holiday season to view our
impressive collection of original maps, engravings,
lithographs, and watercolors.

Hours:

Monday - Friday 10am - 6pm

Saturday 11am - 5pm

Holiday Hours:

December 24th (Christmas Eve) - 11am - 3pm

December 25th - Merry Christmas!

December 26th - Closed

December 31 - Closed

January 1st - Happy New Year!

January 2 - Closed

John Gould’s The Birds of Australia: A Copy Once Owned by the Governor of Tasmania, Captain John Franklin

John Gould (1804-1881)
The Birds of Australia (and Supplement)
Eight bound volumes including supplement
Folio size: 21 3/8” x 14 3/8”
Printed by Richard and John E. Taylor
Published by the Author, 1840-1848; 1851-1869
681 hand-colored lithograph plates

John Gould’s monumental Birds of Australia magnificently displays the author’s scientific skill and attention to detail and provides a more complete study than his Synopsis of the Birds of Australia and The Birds of Australia, and the Adjacent Islands. At its time of publication the birds of this region were essentially unknown to a European audience and as Gould himself admitted in the preface to the book, “the field was comparatively a new one”.

In September 1838, the author and his wife, Elizabeth, arrived in Australia and spent the following 18 months exploring Tasmania and the adjacent islands, South Australia, and new South Wales. Upon the discovery that she was pregnant, Elizabeth Gould resolved to remain in Tasmania while her husband set about discovering the birds of Australia’s interior. She was to stay with the Governor of Van Diemen’s land (Tasmania), John Franklin, during this time and became fast friends with the Governor’s wife. Thus, it was that Captain Franklin became a subscriber to the Birds of Australia. An autographed letter, dated April 1877 and written by Henry Elliot, sheds additional light on the provenance of the present edition. He writes: “This copy of Gould’s Birds of Australia belonged to Sir John Franklin to whom I was aide de camp, and in whose house, while Governor of Tasmania, Gould lived many months while making his Collection. I had myself made a collection of the Birds of Tasmania, and gave many of the specimens to Gould. After the death of Sir J. Franklin’s widow in 1876 this copy of the work was given to me by his niece . . .” The letter is inserted into the first volume of the book and indeed, Gould acknowledges the assistance of both Elliot and Franklin in his preface.

The Birds of Australia is John Gould’s largest and most important work. Because he himself spent so much time in the field making his own observations, the text that accompanies the illustrations is by far the most accurate and detailed of all his works. Moreover, it is such a complete study that very few additions have ever been made to the study of Australian ornithology.

We are pleased to announce that this landmark work in ornithology is currently at the San Francisco location and available for viewing upon request. Please call Arader Galleries at 415.788.5115 for price inquiries and to request the catalog.

John Gould Artist Proofs

John Gould (1804-1881)
Artist proofs for The Birds of Europe
"Spoonbill" (top image)
"Marsh Sandpiper" (center image)
“Wood Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper” (bottom image)
London: 1832-37
Lithographs with hand-written notations

John Gould was without question the most prolific natural history artist of the 19th century, and the only one to rival John James Audubon in ambition and quality. The 19th century was a time of intense fascination with discoveries in natural history, especially regarding knowledge of the wildlife of exotic lands. Gould shared the romantic enthusiasm of his time for such subjects, as well as the popular impulse to catalogue exotic wildlife. He combined his passion for natural history with outstanding scientific, artistic, and entrepreneurial talents. Drawing on these abilities, he embarked on a series of projects that would eventually make him the leading publisher of ornithological illustrations in Victorian Britain. Gould’s unparalleled career spanned five decades, and he produced a monumental series of books of birds throughout the world.

From the time he took up taxidermy in his early teens, Gould was devoted to recording bird life, either as he observed it personally or as it was reported to him by other ornithologists. He procured the scientific information through extensive correspondence, travel, and field research. The preparatory drawings that he produced were passed on for completion to skilled illustrators, most notably his wife, Elizabeth, and Edward Lear. The plates which resulted from such partnerships were a splendid fusion of art and science, with a scope than remains unsurpassed. Stunning and at the same time highly accurate, Gould’s illustrations linked beauty to science, and science to beauty, in and an unprecedented manner.

One of the most accomplished and engaging natural history works of the 19th century, The Birds of Europe was also the first of Gould’s works to feature plates by Edward Lear. A total of sixty-eight images bear Lear’s name, and they are among the most remarkable bird drawings ever made. Lear endowed his illustrations with some measure of his own whimsy and intelligence, and his style is at once fluidly spontaneous and realistically precise. In this way, the images of The Birds of Europe are amazingly distinctive, while also highly realistic.

Gould undertook this work partly in an effort to redress the imbalance between the study of local and foreign ornithology. In his preface he stated his mission: “the Birds of Europe, in which we are, or ought to be, most
interested, have not received that degree of attention which they naturally demand. The present work has been undertaken to supply that deficiency.” Gould portrayed birds native to Europe in a manner that had only been thought appropriate for the colorful species of distant places. In this way he managed to draw much popular interest back to native birds, which were suddenly considered equally beautiful to exotic species. These proofs, which have notations by the Goulds, were part of the the final preparation stages for this publication.

These artist proofs (show above and at www.aradersf.com) are currently available for purchase at Arader Galleries. For more information, please call 415.788.5115.

A Syndication of Gould's Birds of Asia

We are pleased to announce a syndication of John Gould’s spectacular Birds of Asia. This set of hand-colored lithographs contains some of the most exquisite depictions of birds ever executed by an ornithologist. John Gould strove to record as many known species of the birds of Asia as possible, which resulted in 530 images of beautiful, exotic birds. The Birds of Asia is considered Gould’s greatest accomplishment, an undertaking that resulted in over 30 years being produced.

John Gould (1804-1881) was without question the most prolific and successful ornithological artist of the 19th century, and the only one to rival John James Audubon in ambition and quality. The 19th century was a time of intense fascination with discoveries in natural history, especially regarding knowledge of the wildlife of exotic lands. Gould shared the romantic enthusiasm of his time for such subjects, as well as the popular impulse to catalogue exotic wildlife. He combined his passion for natural history with outstanding scientific, artistic, and entrepreneurial talents. Drawing on these abilities, he embarked on a series of projects that would eventually make him the leading publisher of ornithological illustrations in Victorian Britain. Gould’s unparalleled career spanned five decades, during which he produced a monumental series of books of birds found throughout the world.

Considered one of Gould’s greatest achievements, the Birds of Asia was in production longer than any of his other works, taking 34 years for the appearance of its 35 parts. The ornithologist was fascinated by the diversity of the exotic, colorful species of Asia, and he conveyed his enchantment to viewers, creating one of his most monumental and magnificent sets. The subjects of the plates are among the most varied of Gould’s folios: trogons, kingfishers, sunbirds, woodpeckers, partridges, parrots, parakeets, pheasants, and many other genera are beautifully drawn, printed and colored. Gould placed many of the vibrant, showy and elegant birds in their appropriate settings.

530 hand-colored lithographs, each measuring 21 ½" x 14 ½", will be distributed by way of syndication on Saturday, November 10, 2007, at 1:00 pm in New York City at our 1016 Madison Avenue gallery. For more information, please contact Arader Galleries at 415.788.5115.