The Marsh Collection

In the spring of 1849, the newly founded Smithsonian Institution purchased its first collection, a group of European prints and art books assembled by Vermont Congressman George Perkins Marsh. The prints were praised as “translations . . . of the best creations of genius in painting and sculpture,” and although unrelated to the Smithsonian’s then primarily scientific orientation, they were viewed as a comprehensive way to satisfy the Congressional mandate for an art gallery that was part of the original legislation which established the Smithsonian Institution in 1846.

Acquisition of the Marsh Collection was decidedly premature. The Smithsonian Institution Building, now familiarly known as The Castle, was still under construction, and the collection did not have a proper home until the completion of the West Wing in 1850 when the prints and books were placed in the library. Librarian Charles Coffin Jewett regarded them as the best examples available because he was not optimistic about the prospects for acquiring paintings and sculpture of a comparable caliber. As Jewett explained in the 1850 Smithsonian Institution Annual Report, “Engraving seems to be the only branch of the fine arts, which we can, for the present, cultivate. One good picture or statue would cost more than a large collection of prints . . . It can hardly be doubted, that, in no way, could this Institution, for the present do so much for every department of the fine arts, without injury to other objects of its care, as by procuring a collection of engravings, so full and so well chosen as that which now adorns its Library.

The Smithsonian demonstrated remarkable prescience in acquiring the Marsh Collection, but it also displayed a good deal of uncertainty about what to do with it. As it was the first public print collection in the nation, there was no established precedent to serve as a reference. The Smithsonian’s developing scientific agenda did not easily accommodate the visual arts, so the collection was not exhibited but remained part of the library.

After a devastating fire in 1865 damaged parts of The Castle, Secretary Joseph Henry sent the Smithsonian’s library, including the Marsh Collection, to the Library of Congress to form the Smithsonian Deposit. In 1874 Henry loaned several dozen remaining prints to the new Corcoran Gallery of Art. By the early 1880s the Smithsonian’s second secretary, Spencer Fullerton Baird, realized the collection’s potential for the expanded U. S. National Museum that was taking shape in what is now known as the Arts and Industries Building. Baird and his assistant secretary, George Brown Goode, began to recall the prints and books, and more than four hundred of Marsh’s prints were retrieved during the 1880s and 1890s for use in exhibitions. Today some of the Marsh Collection remains at the Library of Congress, and staff members from both institutions are working cooperatively to identify and describe the contents of this remarkable collection.

National Museum of American History Graphic Arts Curator Helena E. Wright's 2015 book, The First Smithsonian Collection: the European Engravings of George Perkins Marsh and the Role of Prints in the U.S. National Museum, recounts the complex history of the Smithsonian’s Marsh Collection. This website provides catalog information for Marsh’s books and prints held at the Smithsonian. Additions will be posted to the site as the identification process proceeds.

A note about numbering: Although the Marsh Collection was acquired in 1849, it was not accessioned at the time. In 1978 a group of Marsh prints was accessioned, and we are now using that number for additional cataloging.

Mezzotint portrait of the Spanish poet Joseph Carreras from George P. Marsh's copy of The Houghton Gallery, vol. 1. Removed from the binding for framing in 1894.
Description
Mezzotint portrait of the Spanish poet Joseph Carreras from George P. Marsh's copy of The Houghton Gallery, vol. 1. Removed from the binding for framing in 1894. This small print was originally mounted on the same page with the mezzotint portrait of Inigo Jones after van Dyck.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1775
date published
1775-11-01
publisher
Boydell, John
original artist
Kneller, Godfrey
delineator
Farington, George
engraver
Green, Valentine
ID Number
1978.0534.02.46
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.02.46
Mezzotint from George P. Marsh's copy of The Houghton Gallery, vol. 1. Removed from the binding for framing in 1894. Companion print to A Flower Piece, also after van Huysum.
Description
Mezzotint from George P. Marsh's copy of The Houghton Gallery, vol. 1. Removed from the binding for framing in 1894. Companion print to A Flower Piece, also after van Huysum. In the volume's table of contents, the publisher described these two prints as surpassing, "in point of execution, every print before engraved in this manner."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1781
engraver
Earlom, Richard
publisher
Boydell, John
delineator
Farington, Joseph
original artist
Huysum, Jan van
ID Number
1978.0534.02.90
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.02.90
Mezzotint from George P. Marsh's copy of The Houghton Gallery, vol. 1. Removed from the binding by curator S. R. Koehler for use in the Smithsonian exhbition at Cincinnati in 1888. Companion print to A Fruit Piece, also after van Huysum.
Description
Mezzotint from George P. Marsh's copy of The Houghton Gallery, vol. 1. Removed from the binding by curator S. R. Koehler for use in the Smithsonian exhbition at Cincinnati in 1888. Companion print to A Fruit Piece, also after van Huysum. In the volume's table of contents, the publisher described these two prints as surpassing, "in point of execution, every print before engraved in this manner."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1778
engraver
Earlom, Richard
delineator
Farington, Joseph
publisher
Boydell, John
original artist
Huysum, Jan van
ID Number
1978.0534.02.91
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.02.91
The Byzantine general Belisarius is portrayed as blind beggar in this engraving by Robert Strange after the original painting by Salvator Rosa.Currently not on view
Description
The Byzantine general Belisarius is portrayed as blind beggar in this engraving by Robert Strange after the original painting by Salvator Rosa.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 18th century
referenced
Justinian I Emperor of Byzantium
graphic artist
Strange, Robert
original artist
Rosa, Salvator
ID Number
1978.0534.04
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.04
Title attribution from the British Museum online catalogue. Signed in the plate " DvB in." [invenit]. Vinckboons's original drawing is in the Kunsthalle, Hamburg.Currently not on view
Description
Title attribution from the British Museum online catalogue. Signed in the plate " DvB in." [invenit]. Vinckboons's original drawing is in the Kunsthalle, Hamburg.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
17th century
graphic artist
Visscher, Nicolaes Jansz
original artist
Vinckboons, David
ID Number
1978.0534.05
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.05
Trimmed at the plate mark. Guido Reni's four paintings of the Labors of Hercules, once part of the collection of England's King Charles I, were purchased by the French King Louis XIV in 1662 and engraved by Rousselet in 1669-1670.
Description
Trimmed at the plate mark. Guido Reni's four paintings of the Labors of Hercules, once part of the collection of England's King Charles I, were purchased by the French King Louis XIV in 1662 and engraved by Rousselet in 1669-1670. The copper plates survive in the Chalcography of the Louvre. This impression probably was made in the 18th century.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th century
original artist
Reni, Guido
graphic artist
Rousselet, Gilles
ID Number
1978.0534.07
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.07
Mezzotint portrait of a beggar said to have frequented Bird Cage Walk in London. An old typewritten label taped to the mount attributes the original painting to George Dance, but the artist is now considered to be his brother Nathaniel Dance.Currently not on view
Description
Mezzotint portrait of a beggar said to have frequented Bird Cage Walk in London. An old typewritten label taped to the mount attributes the original painting to George Dance, but the artist is now considered to be his brother Nathaniel Dance.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1771
original artist
Dance, Nathaniel
graphic artist
Townley, Charles
publisher
Townley, Charles
ID Number
1978.0534.08
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.08
Plate 32 from Betrachtung der wilden Thiere mit beygefügter vortrefflicher Poesie des hochberühmten Herrn Barthold Heinrich Brockes/Study of wild animals with excellent poetry by the renowned Mr Barthold Heinrich Brockes, engraved and published by Ridinger, 1736.Currently not on
Description
Plate 32 from Betrachtung der wilden Thiere mit beygefügter vortrefflicher Poesie des hochberühmten Herrn Barthold Heinrich Brockes/Study of wild animals with excellent poetry by the renowned Mr Barthold Heinrich Brockes, engraved and published by Ridinger, 1736.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1736
maker
Ridinger, Johann Elias
ID Number
1978.0534.10
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.10
The centaur Chiron teaches the young Achilles to shoot with a bow and arrow, based on a painting in the royal collection that became part of the public museum of the Louvre after the French Revolution.
Description
The centaur Chiron teaches the young Achilles to shoot with a bow and arrow, based on a painting in the royal collection that became part of the public museum of the Louvre after the French Revolution. Reproductive prints were intended to broaden access to these artworks, part of an organized effort to "engrave the museum" after the royal collections were nationalized.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1798
graphic artist
Bervic, Charles-Clement
original artist
Regnault, Jean Baptiste
printer
Ramboz
publisher; engraver
Bervic, Charles-Clement
ID Number
1978.0534.11
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.11
2nd state (or later) with coat of arms and dedication to King Christian VII of Denmark. Wille was an official engraver to the king of France and a court engraver to the kings of Denmark and the Hapsburg emperors.
Description
2nd state (or later) with coat of arms and dedication to King Christian VII of Denmark. Wille was an official engraver to the king of France and a court engraver to the kings of Denmark and the Hapsburg emperors. Schalcken's painting is now in the British Royal Collection.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1709
graphic artist
Wille, Jean George
original artist
Schalcken, Godfried
ID Number
1978.0534.13
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.13
Silenus, in Greek mythology,was the tutor and companion to the wine god Dionysus. He is shown drunk and supported by other revelers. The original painting by van Dyck is now in Dresden.Currently not on view
Description
Silenus, in Greek mythology,was the tutor and companion to the wine god Dionysus. He is shown drunk and supported by other revelers. The original painting by van Dyck is now in Dresden.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
17th century
original artist
Van Dyck, Anthony
graphic artist
Bolswert, Schelte Adams
publisher
Galle II, Cornelius
ID Number
1978.0534.14
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.14
Etching on laid paper, trimmed. The outline of the animal is pricked, perhaps for tracing or transfer.Currently not on view
Description
Etching on laid paper, trimmed. The outline of the animal is pricked, perhaps for tracing or transfer.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
17th century
original artist
Roos, Johann Heinrich
ID Number
1978.0534.16
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.16
Printed on laid paper with LVG outline watermark; trimmed inside the plate mark. May be part of the series on horses Potter etched in 1652, possibly Chevaux au Paturage/horses in the field.Currently not on view
Description
Printed on laid paper with LVG outline watermark; trimmed inside the plate mark. May be part of the series on horses Potter etched in 1652, possibly Chevaux au Paturage/horses in the field.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1652
maker
Potter, Paulus
ID Number
1978.0534.17
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.17
Phytalus, kneeling at right, receives the fig tree from the goddess Ceres, standing at left, as a reward for his hospitality. Reversed copy after Rosa's etching with "inv." added and numeral "66" engraved in plate at lower right.
Description
Phytalus, kneeling at right, receives the fig tree from the goddess Ceres, standing at left, as a reward for his hospitality. Reversed copy after Rosa's etching with "inv." added and numeral "66" engraved in plate at lower right. Probably etched during the 17th century by Johann Jakob von Sandrart as he is credited with a series of prints after Rosa made in reverse with numbers added.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
17th century
original artist
Rosa, Salvator
graphic artist
Sandrart, Johann Jakob von
ID Number
1978.0534.19
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.19
Late impression or copy.Currently not on view
Description
Late impression or copy.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
17th century
maker
Berchem, Nicolaes
ID Number
1978.0534.20
catalog number
10095.01a
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.20
Number 63 in a series of animal subjects drawn from life by Ridinger. Trimmed; artist's initials at right below image.Currently not on view
Description
Number 63 in a series of animal subjects drawn from life by Ridinger. Trimmed; artist's initials at right below image.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1740
maker
Ridinger, Johann Elias
ID Number
1978.0534.22
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.22
Number 64 in a series of animal subjects drawn from life by Ridinger. Trimmed; artist's initials at right below image.Currently not on view
Description
Number 64 in a series of animal subjects drawn from life by Ridinger. Trimmed; artist's initials at right below image.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1740
maker
Ridinger, Johann Elias
ID Number
1978.0534.23
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.23
Etching, 5th state. Arched top, trimmed to etched border. Artist's monogram AvO faintly etched inside image at lower right. Alternate title: Peasant with crooked back. See Godefroy 20.Currently not on view
Description
Etching, 5th state. Arched top, trimmed to etched border. Artist's monogram AvO faintly etched inside image at lower right. Alternate title: Peasant with crooked back. See Godefroy 20.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Ostade, Adriaen van
ID Number
1978.0534.26
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.26
Etching, 6th state (or possibly from Picart edition), trimmed.. Artist's monogram AvO faintly etched inside image at lower left. See Godefroy 22.Currently not on view
Description
Etching, 6th state (or possibly from Picart edition), trimmed.. Artist's monogram AvO faintly etched inside image at lower left. See Godefroy 22.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1647
maker
Ostade, Adriaen van
ID Number
1978.0534.27
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.27
Circular print. 8th state, late impression, trimmed to edge of image; no plate mark. Night scene with figures gathered around hog which is being slaughtered. See Godefroy 41.Currently not on view
Description
Circular print. 8th state, late impression, trimmed to edge of image; no plate mark. Night scene with figures gathered around hog which is being slaughtered. See Godefroy 41.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1652
original artist
Ostade, Adriaen van
ID Number
1978.0534.29
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.29
Etching, 6th state after retouching. Trimmed to ruled border. Artist's monogram AvO faintly etched inside image at left. See Godefroy 14.Currently not on view
Description
Etching, 6th state after retouching. Trimmed to ruled border. Artist's monogram AvO faintly etched inside image at left. See Godefroy 14.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Ostade, Adriaen van
ID Number
1978.0534.30
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.30
Tiny etching, copy after the 5th state with bust continued to the border. Possibly from the 19th-c edition of the plates published by the widow Jean. Signed in the plate with the artist's monogram "A O" at upper left. Trimmed to ruled border. See Godefroy 2.Currently not on view
Description
Tiny etching, copy after the 5th state with bust continued to the border. Possibly from the 19th-c edition of the plates published by the widow Jean. Signed in the plate with the artist's monogram "A O" at upper left. Trimmed to ruled border. See Godefroy 2.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1650
maker
Ostade, Adriaen van
ID Number
1978.0534.32
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.32
Tiny etching, copy after the 4th state. Possibly from the 19th-c edition of the plates published by the widow Jean. Signed in plate with artist's monogram AvO inside image at right. Trimmed to ruled border. See Godefroy 1.Currently not on view
Description
Tiny etching, copy after the 4th state. Possibly from the 19th-c edition of the plates published by the widow Jean. Signed in plate with artist's monogram AvO inside image at right. Trimmed to ruled border. See Godefroy 1.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1650
maker
Ostade, Adriaen van
ID Number
1978.0534.33
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.33
One of six prints, known as the 'Masterpieces,' that depict episodes in the life of the Virgin Mary in the style of different artists. Goltzius engraved this setting of the Adoration of the Magi in the style of Lucas van Leyden.
Description
One of six prints, known as the 'Masterpieces,' that depict episodes in the life of the Virgin Mary in the style of different artists. Goltzius engraved this setting of the Adoration of the Magi in the style of Lucas van Leyden. Inscription "Henrich Goltzius" in brown ink at the lower right may be in George P.Marsh's hand.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1594
maker
Goltzius, Hendrik
ID Number
1978.0534.35
accession number
1978.0534
catalog number
1978.0534.35

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