The Definitive Dwiggins no. 712—Illustrations of Rome and Venice

Three illustrations of sites in Rome—fragments of the Acqua Claudia, a detail of the Lateran Cloister, and a rustic view of the Colosseum—by W.A. Dwiggins exist in the Carl Purington Rollins Papers at Yale University. The first two illustrations were created for the title pages of the two volumes of Eternal Rome by Grant Showerman (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1924). Dwiggins’ original pen-and-ink artwork for both of them has survived. [1] For the third illustration, there is only a proof labeled “W.A.D. 5”. [2]

The illustration of fragments of the Acqua Claudia used for volume I has the notation “First used in ‘Eternal Rome'” in the lower margin. This suggests that Carl Purington Rollins (1880–1960), Printer to Yale University, reused the illustration for one or more other Yale University Press books. But there is no mention of that in The Works of Carl P. Rollins by Gay Walker (New Haven: Yale University Library, 1982). [3] And I have been unable to identify or locate any other usage.

Original artwork for title page of Eternal Rome (vol. I) by Grant Showerman (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1924). Pen-and-ink illustration by W.A. Dwiggins. Image courtesy of Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library, Yale University.

Original artwork for title page of Eternal Rome (vol. II) by Grant Showerman (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1924). Pen-and-ink illustration by W.A. Dwiggins. Image courtesy of Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library, Yale University.

Undoubtedly, Dwiggins drew these two illustrations from photographs, but I have been unable to track down his sources. His only trip to Rome occurred in 1908. It lasted less than a week. There is no indication of what he saw while there other than “antiques”. [4]

When I first came across the third illustration, I blindly assumed that it had been made—and then rejected—for Eternal Rome since the proof is in a Yale University Press binder containing ornaments and cuts. However, once I examined it more closely I realized that its proportions were narrower and its drawing style was sketchier. These qualities—plus the double-ruled frame—make it a match for the headpieces that Dwiggins created at the request of D.B. Updike of The Merrymount Press for A Tenderfoot Abroad by Justine Grayson (Boston: W.A. Butterfield, 1907). [5]

W.A.D. 5 proof from Yale University press scrapbook. Illustration by W.A. Dwiggins. Image courtesy of Robert B. Haas Family Art Library, Yale University.

Dwiggins designed four headpieces, a frontispiece, and a tailpiece for the book as well as its binding and jacket. The headpieces are for the ocean voyage (p. 1), Cairo (p. 27), Rome (p. 55) [see below], and Paris (p. 93). Updike rejected two drawings that Dwiggins made for Paris and Rome, calling the latter “too 18th century”. [6] His comment may have referred to this illustration of a decayed Colosseum with a farmhouse adjoining it. But how did it end up at the Yale University Press? Perhaps Dwiggins submitted it for Eternal Rome, Rollins proofed it, and then it was rejected again.

“Letter IX: From Rome, March 12th” (p. 55) from A Tenderfoot Abroad by Justine Grayson (Boston: W.A. Butterfield, 1907). Illustration by W.A. Dwiggins.

I have yet to identify Dwiggins’ source for the Romantic illustration of the Colosseum. It was surely a painting or engraving, but none of those I have found online has a similar farmhouse in the foreground. [7] Giovanni Paolo Panini (1691–1765) created paintings in which he jumbled up the monuments of ancient Rome in ways that defied reality. They are referred to as capricciosi. Perhaps Dwiggins’ illustration is in that imaginary vein.

There is another drawing by Dwiggins intended, but not used, for A Tenderfoot Abroad. It shows a gondolier in the Venetian lagoon with Isola di S. Giorgio Maggiore in the background. What is peculiar is that a proof of the illustration exists in the job ticket for the book, but there is no reference to it in either the correspondence between Updike and Dwiggins or in the Merrymount Press business records. [8] Thus, I have no idea why the drawing was rejected.

The proof is marked “XII,” indicating it was intended as the headpiece for “Letter XII: From Venice: April 18th.” There is no headpiece for that chapter of A Tenderfoot Abroad, suggesting that the illustration was not rejected due to its content or quality, but because Updike changed his mind about which chapters he wanted to have illustrated. His decision was unfortunate since Dwiggins’ gondolier illustration is livelier than the ones finally used in the book.

Proof of unused illustration for “Letter XII: From Venice: April 18th” (p. 79) of A Tenderfoot Abroad by Justine Grayson (Boston: W.A. Butterfield, 1907). Illustration by W.A. Dwiggins. Image courtesy of the Boston Athenaeum.

Dwiggins created the gondolier drawing from either a photograph or an existing illustration supplied by Updike. I suspect it was a late 19th century photograph given the gondolier’s dress and the presence of the felze which was abandoned in the early 20th century. However, I have been unable to find the specific source. [9]

Notes
1. The artwork for the “Fragments of the Acqua Claudia” and “The Lateran Cloister” is respectively in two folders labeled Dwiggins Originals for Yale UP [1] and Dwiggins Originals for Yale UP [2], Box 49, Carl Purington Rollins Papers (AOB 9), Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library, Yale University. For a discussion of the title pages see The Definitive Dwiggins no. 75.
2. The proof is in an unlabeled Yale University Press binder containing proofs of ornaments and cuts in Box 66, Carl Purington Rollins Papers (AOB 9), Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library, Yale University. The binder is item no. 806 in The Works of Carl P. Rollins by Gay Walker (New Haven: Yale University Library, 1982).
3. Eternal Rome is item no. 560. Walker’s inventory is organized by author making it difficult to identify any possible Yale University Press books that might have reused the illustration. There is also the possibility that Rollins used it for an ephemeral project such as an announcement, invitation, or bookplate. He reused the illustration of the lion of St. Mark that Dwiggins drew for the jacket of Heirs of Old Venice by Gertrude Slaughter (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1927) on a bookplate for the Saint Mark School Library. See items nos. 569 and 1720.
4. See W.A. Dwiggins to Daniel Berkeley Updike 19 May 1908 [postcard], 108:181 in File 108, Box 69, Merrymount Press Collection, Henry E. Huntington Library. Dwiggins was in Florence on May 13 with plans to visit Siena before arriving in Rome. On May 22 he sailed from Naples for the United States on the S.S.Albert König. That indicates that his stay in Rome was less than a week.
5. A Tenderfoot Abroad by Justine Grayson (Boston: W.A. Butterfield, 1907) is no. 273 in Notes on the Merrymount Press and Its Work With a Bibliographical List of the Books Printed at the Press: 1893-1933 by Julian Pearce Smith (Boston: The Merrymount Press, 1934). Dwiggins’ role in the book is not mentioned. A Tenderfoot Abroad is not in The Books of WAD: A Bibliography of the Books Designed by W. A. Dwiggins by Dwight Agner (Baton Rouge: Press of the Nightowl, 1974).
6. See D.B. Updike to W.A. Dwiggins 12 October 1907, 108:96 in File 108, Box 69, Merrymount Press Collection, Henry E. Huntington Library. Dwiggins’ drawing shows the Colosseum prior to the removal of vegetation and the addition of triangular brick reinforcements in 1807 and 1827. See the entry for the Amphiteatrum Flavium, the official name of the Colosseum, in A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome by Samuel Ball Platner, completed and revised by Thomas Ashby (London: Oxford University Press, 1929).
7. I looked at depictions of the Colosseum by Jan Gossaert (1509), Hieronymous Cock (c.1550), Antonio Lafreri (mid-16th c.), Giacomo Lauro (1641), Gaspar van Wittel (1707), Francesco Ficorini (1744), Bernardo Bellotto (1742), and Elizabeth Batty (1821). Whatever Dwiggins used for inspiration most likely came from Updike who often provided him with reference material for projects.
8. The proof is in Job Ticket 4401, Merrymount Press Job Tickets, Boston Athenaeum. The Merrymount Press account books and ledgers at the Henry E. Huntington Library only indicate that Dwiggins was paid for two headpieces (without specifics) and a book jacket. There is no mention of the other work he did for the A Tenderfoot Abroad.
9. Dwiggins never visited Venice in his life. He had an opportunity to do so during his 1908 European trip, but changed his mind and instead went to Siena after visiting Florence and before going to Rome. See W.A. Dwiggins to Daniel Berkeley Updike 13 May 1908 [postcard], 108:180 in File 108, Box 69, Merrymount Press Collection, Henry E. Huntington Library. There are many paintings (especially by Francesco Guardi [17172-1793]), engravings, and photographs of gondoliers in the Venetian lagoon, but none that I have seen with the perspective of Dwiggins’ illustration.