Cinque, chief of the Amistad captives, New Haven. CHS collection. 1931.13.0
This portrait is of the freed Amistad captive Cinque. Or at least that is what we are told. How do we know that this is what he actually looked like? Cameras were in their infancy, so we cannot look at another image to compare. And the toga-like garment and the scenery, was that all the artist’s imagination or is there some basis in fact? Continue reading
It only measures 3-3/8” tall and 2” wide and has a gold stamp on the front and back cover. It is one of the latest additions to the CHS collection. The title is A Story for the Beautiful and it is inscribed “For Mary from Mary” and Hartford, 1845. The binding may be an example of Allen S. Stillman’s work, a Hartford binder.
A Story for the Beautiful was actually written by N.P. Willis and published in The New Monthly Magazine in 1839. What caught my fancy was the first paragraph in which the author states:
It is a conceded point that an author may chose his readers. The devout are separately addressed, so are the political, so are the scientific, so are the rich and the poor, so are the learned and unlearned. I address myself to the beautiful! Stop here plain reader! This tale is not for you! Continue reading
inside the CHS 