Diaries and letter books, 1808-1841.

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Diaries and letter books, 1808-1841.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/84666373

Consists of six volumes that document Cogdell's travels and artistic endeavors in 1808, 1816, 1825, and from 1829 to 1841. The first volume opens with Cogdell's expenses for a trip from Philadelphia to New York. The narrative portion of the notebook offers vignettes of life in the early 19th century. He relays his impressions of the Peale Museum, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He visited the Bettering House Hospital, later called the Pennsylvania Hospital, and toured a prison. He dined and otherwise socialized with many prominent Philadelphians during his stay. On Sept. 8, he traveled through New Jersey to New York City. He visited the panorama of Edward Savage. He was most impressed by St. John's Church in New York City. This manuscript also features wash drawings of people in ancient costumes and various poses, pencil sketches of buildings and landscapes, and formulae for various artists' preparations. The second volume is a letterbook containing a series of letters addressed to "Dear Friend" that describe a trip to Philadelphia and New York in 1816. Cogdell begins each letter with notes about the place from which he is writing. He offers comments on the Quaker community and area museums. He wrote a great deal about the work and methods of Thomas Sully. Cogdell provides depictions of the use of stoves and sketches of local scenery and some of Sully's works. The third volume is also from 1816 and was also kept in the form of letters to a friend. In it, Cogdell describes a trip up the Hudson, on to Lake George, to Boston, New Haven, Trenton, Baltimore, and ending in Raleigh, N.C. He discusses Trumbell's work at great length. The manuscript also features pencil and pen and ink sketches that correspond to places and scenes represented in the text. Scenes from Fishkill and West Point are identified. The next volume begins in 1825 with another trip north from Charleston. In Boston, Cogdell met with artists Gilbert Stuart, Washington Allston, Jonathan Mason, and Francis Alexander. He commented on the work and private collections of each of these men. In Philadelphia, he again visited the Pennsylvania Academy and remarked on the work of Benjamin West, Charles B. Lawrence, Rembrandt Peale, and John Neagle. The final two volumes (1829-1841) are labeled "Modelling and Sculpture" and contain long descriptions of Cogdell's methods of modeling, sculpting, and painting. The first opens with correspondence relating to the creation of a bust to memorialize the recently deceased bishop, Right Reverend Theodore Dehon, and its success with the public. Other correspondence pertains to sculptures and paintings commissioned and advice from Washington Allston. Drawings of sculpting instruments are also featured.

6 v. : ill. ; 22 cm.

Winterthur Library

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SNAC Resource ID: 8325644

Winterthur Library

Related Entities

There are 8 Entities related to this resource.

Stuart, Gilbert, 1755-1828

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6hq4202 (person)

Trumbull, John, 1756-1843

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jh3pk0 (person)

American painter of historical subjects. From the description of ALS : New York, to James Madison, 1823 Oct. 20. (Rosenbach Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122580911 Painter; New York City. From the description of John Trumbull papers, 1787-1843. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122557315 John Trumbull (1756-1843) was an American painter and diplomat. From the guide to the John Trumbull papers, 1780-1840, (The New York Public Library...

West, Benjamin, 1772-1848

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64187p9 (person)

Son of the American painter Benjamin West (1738-1820). From the description of Letter : London, to Nathaniel Ogle, London, 1836 May 27. (Bryn Mawr College). WorldCat record id: 24851343 ...

Birch, William Russell, 1755-1834

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65729t1 (person)

English funeral director. From the description of Autograph letter signed : 41 Albert Gate, Knightsbridge, S.W., London, to Mary Frances Ronalds, 1900 Nov. 27. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270125577 William Russell Birch was a miniaturist, enamel painter, engraver, and etcher. Born in Warwickshire, England, in 1755, he emigrated to Philadelphia in 1794, and there he died in 1834. His sons Thomas and George were also artists. William and Thomas worked together for a short w...

Cogdell, John S. (John Stevens), 1778-1847

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6bg3662 (person)

Charleston, South Carolina sculptor, painter, and attorney. John Stevens (Stephano) Cogdell served in the South Carolina House of Representatives and in various civil posts. Cogdell was president of the Bank of South Carolina from 1832 until his death in 1847. The son of George Cogdell and Mary Ann Elizabeth Stevens, Cogdell married Maria Gilchrist in 1806. In 1800, for the sake of his health, Cogdell embarked on a voyage to the Mediterranean with his brother Richard. During this trip, while in ...

Allston, Washington, 1779-1843

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xw4j09 (person)

Allston was an American artist and author. From the description of Papers, 1815-1842. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 122297604 From the guide to the Papers, 1815-1842., (Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University) American artist and poet. From the description of An indenture tripartite..., 1827 May 9. (Boston Athenaeum). WorldCat record id: 550545503 American writer and artist. From the description of L...

Peale, Charles Willson, 1741-1827

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66w9cjs (person)

Philadelphia painter and naturalist. From the description of ALS : Philadelphia, to David Porter, 1823 Nov. 30. (Rosenbach Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 86165786 Charles Willson Peale was an artist and naturalist. From the description of Sketchbook, 1801. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 173465905 From the description of Portrait list, [ca. 1772]. (American Philosophical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 122439811 From the descrip...

Sully, Thomas, 1783-1872

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pv6mgn (person)

Artist Thomas Sully was born in London, although his actor parents soon emigrated to the United States. A trip back to England to study painting expanded his horizons, and upon his return to the United States he developed a reputation as a first rate painter. He specialized in portraits, especially portraits of women, and painted full-length portraits of many public and private figures. He is perhaps most closely associated with his portrait of Queen Victoria and for his painting, Washington cro...