Object details
Object number
U19w40
Creator(s)
Title
Tribute Book of Autographs
Date
1909
Medium
Binding: leather set with silver and an emerald; Ink on paper
Language
English
Publication Place
Boston
Binding Description
Tooled leather with silver and emerald
Dimensions
23 x 15 cm (9 1/16 x 5 7/8 in.)
Signatures, inscriptions, and markings
Dedication in ink (pages 2-3): We the signors of this book desire to give you an earnest expression of our feeling about the noble work done by you for Boston. / You have conceived and built a beautiful house and have filled it with treasures of art. To this end you have worked with / untiring energy and love of your task, a task involving ungrudging self-denial. / For us and for posterity you have created a museum priceless for refreshment and education, a unique achievement of imagination, skill and ardent purpose. / For this great public benefaction we offer you our deepest gratitude. Henry Lee Higginson / Ida Agassiz Higginson
Provenance
Commissioned by Henry Lee Higginson (1834-1919), founder of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Mrs. Fiske Warren (Gretchen Osgood, 1871-1961), actress, singer, and poet and given to Isabella Stewart Gardner on her 69th birthday, 14 April 1909, Boston.
Commentary
For Isabella’s 69th birthday, her friends Gretchen Osgood Warren and Henry Lee Higginson, founder of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, commissioned the binding for this book of autographs from the influential Arts and Crafts bookbinder Mary Crease Sears and her partner, Agnes St. John. More than 200 of Isabella’s friends signed it to show their appreciation for her creation of the museum.
Bibliography
"Exhibitions: Boston." American Art News 11, no. 27 (19 April 1913), p. 6. (as designed and executed by Mary Crease Sears and Agnes St. John)
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 166. (as designed by Mary Crease Sears in consultation with J. Templeman Coolidge, and executed by Miss Sears)
Kristin Parker. "Mary Crease Sears: A Complete Bookbinder." Guild of Book Workers Journal (2009), pp. 16-25, ill.
Christina Nielsen (ed.). Sargent on Location: Gardner's First Artist-in-Residence. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2018), pp. 33, 61, no. 20; ill. p. 38, fig. 26.
Gallery
Tapestry Room
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