Selected papers from the Carey and Pennington family papers, and the Henry Carey Baird papers, relating to art, artists, engraving and publishing.
Included are: nine letters from Benjamin Tanner to Mathew Carey, Mar.12, 1794-Dec. 3, 1794, about engraving maps of China and Russia from copper plates for Carey; letters to Henry C. Carey from Thomas Buchanan Read, 1856, inviting Carey to spend an evening with him to meet Frank Goodrich, Paris correspondent of the New York Times; from Rembrandt Peale, 1859, announcing an exhibition of his paintings at his home with a view of disposing of them; from D.H. Mason, 1872, regarding an exchange of portraits and other subjects; from Charles Robert Leslie, 1834-1859 (7 items), about Leslie's position as Drawing Master at West Point, a proposed visit to England, Leslie's opinion of Paris, and other subjects;
from Daniel Huntington, 1850-1870 (5 items), concerning borrowing a printing copies of Carey's paintings; from Thomas Sully, 1862, thanking Carey for his approval of Sully's son's conduct as a soldier; and three receipts to Carey for subscriptions to the Sully Fund for the years 1868, 1869, and 1871, signed by James Claghorn, Treasurer. Edward L. Carey papers include a letter from F.O.C. Darley, April 21, 1845, about designs for "Simon Luggs"; from William Page, Mar. 17, 1843, wishing to exhibit "Young Traders" at the National Academy; and from John Cheney, Nov. 18, 1843, about his brother and the artist Daniel Huntington; an account of Powers' bust of Proserpine once owned by Carey; and a resoultion of the National Academy of Design regarding the death of Carey, June 23, 1845.
Items selected from the Henry Carey Baird papers include: copyright papers and letters to Baird, 1845-1855, relating to the publication of Thomas Bangs Thorpe's book The Mysteries of the Backwoods; two letters from Thomas Sully, July 6, 1856, reminding Baird of the portrait, and Dec. 2, 1857, regarding Baird's paper on the "money panic"; a letter from John Sartain, May 24, 1850, ordering 75 cuts of flowers for some books being prepared; from John Rogers, Nov. 28, 1872, about Carey's "Unity of Law"; from William Mason, June 5, 1851, concerning some drawings of Mason's spinning machine; from Daniel Huntington, May 22 and July 27, 1850 about two paintings loaned by Carey and the delay in returning them; and a letter from P.S. Duval, Jan. 5, 1852, about drawings of 8 plates of flowers, done to test lithography for that type of work.
Two items from the Pennington family section include a clipping of "Penn's Treaty with the Indians" by Benjamin West, owned by Henry Pennington; and a letter to John Pennington from G. McMurtrie, 1853, regarding Thomas Sully.
Biographical / Historical:
Carey, Baird and Pennington families were prominent in publishing, politics, and cultural and economic affairs of Pennsylvania.
Provenance:
Microfilmed by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania for the Archives of American Art, 1955.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
