Kolbe & Fanning
Auction 162 22 Jan 2022
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1830 Broadside for Coin & Curiosity Shop An Exceptionally Early Numismatically Related Work
Dorival, John. DEPOT OF THE FINE ARTS AND NATURAL CURIOSITIES, PAINTINGS, ENGRAVINGS, MEDALS, COINS, SHELLS, MINERALS, INSECTS, BIRDS, &C. &C. &C. CURIOSITIES OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS. New-York, 331? Broadway, July 2, 1830. Printed advertising broadside [28.5 by 19.5] promoting Dorival's Depot of the Fine Arts with a three section poem, "From a Cockney to His Correspondent," printed above and below it, the whole within a woodcut frame. Printed by Ming & Cisco, Printers, 5 William-Street. Dated by hand 26 Nov 1830 on the otherwise blank verso in ink. Four folds; a small amount of spotting. Paper crisp. Near fine. The first example we have seen, and quite possibly the only extant copy. No copy appears to be included in the major collections of printed Americana, including institutions such as the American Antiquarian Society and the New-York Historical Society. The only online record of the title points to an earlier sale of this very copy, which turned up last year in a general book auction. John Dorival (also spelled Dorivel) is listed in the 1830/31 and 1831/32 editions of Longworth's American Almanac, New-York Register, and City Directory as working in "fine arts" at 331? Broadway. Before then, he is listed at 130 Reade Street and afterwards at 52 Ann Street, where he was employed as a lithographer, which appears to have been his primary trade. The New-York Historical Society's Dictionary of Artists in America lists him as a lithographer active between 1826 and 1838. For two years, however, Dorival turned his efforts to the curiosity trade, and included coins and medals in his offerings. As such, he was one of the very first to include numismatic objects as part of his trade. The tone of the poem suggests more of a focus on commerce than education. The second, central part of the poem is in the voice of Dorival, and boasts of the marvels to be found for sale at the Depot of Fine Arts; before and after it are a framing narrative told in the voice of a cockney, who is amazed (and perhaps appalled) by the ability of the Yankee to commercialize just about anything: "These Yankees are curious fellows, / Their notions are done with an air, / And will, I'm afraid compel us, / In spite of our system, to stare. / They stir up the Arts with a poker, / And make even Poetry work: / 'Tis their glory with Gain to yoke her, / And send them off steady by jerk. / The eagle's wing's tied to a capon, / The bay's made a brush for flies, / And Fame herself struts with an apron, / And with bank notes shades her eyes..." A most unusual production, and one of the few artifacts remaining from the days in which the coin collecting hobby was only on the periphery of public consciousness.
Dorival, John. DEPOT OF THE FINE ARTS AND NATURAL CURIOSITIES, PAINTINGS, ENGRAVINGS, MEDALS, COINS, SHELLS, MINERALS, INSECTS, BIRDS, &C. &C. &C. CURIOSITIES OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS. New-York, 331? Broadway, July 2, 1830. Printed advertising broadside [28.5 by 19.5] promoting Dorival's Depot of the Fine Arts with a three section poem, "From a Cockney to His Correspondent," printed above and below it, the whole within a woodcut frame. Printed by Ming & Cisco, Printers, 5 William-Street. Dated by hand 26 Nov 1830 on the otherwise blank verso in ink. Four folds; a small amount of spotting. Paper crisp. Near fine. The first example we have seen, and quite possibly the only extant copy. No copy appears to be included in the major collections of printed Americana, including institutions such as the American Antiquarian Society and the New-York Historical Society. The only online record of the title points to an earlier sale of this very copy, which turned up last year in a general book auction. John Dorival (also spelled Dorivel) is listed in the 1830/31 and 1831/32 editions of Longworth's American Almanac, New-York Register, and City Directory as working in "fine arts" at 331? Broadway. Before then, he is listed at 130 Reade Street and afterwards at 52 Ann Street, where he was employed as a lithographer, which appears to have been his primary trade. The New-York Historical Society's Dictionary of Artists in America lists him as a lithographer active between 1826 and 1838. For two years, however, Dorival turned his efforts to the curiosity trade, and included coins and medals in his offerings. As such, he was one of the very first to include numismatic objects as part of his trade. The tone of the poem suggests more of a focus on commerce than education. The second, central part of the poem is in the voice of Dorival, and boasts of the marvels to be found for sale at the Depot of Fine Arts; before and after it are a framing narrative told in the voice of a cockney, who is amazed (and perhaps appalled) by the ability of the Yankee to commercialize just about anything: "These Yankees are curious fellows, / Their notions are done with an air, / And will, I'm afraid compel us, / In spite of our system, to stare. / They stir up the Arts with a poker, / And make even Poetry work: / 'Tis their glory with Gain to yoke her, / And send them off steady by jerk. / The eagle's wing's tied to a capon, / The bay's made a brush for flies, / And Fame herself struts with an apron, / And with bank notes shades her eyes..." A most unusual production, and one of the few artifacts remaining from the days in which the coin collecting hobby was only on the periphery of public consciousness.