James McNeill Whistler (Lowell, Massachusetts, 1834 - 1903, London, England)
Etchings & Dry Points: Venice, Second Series, 1883
Printed ink on paper, 19.4 x 15 cm (7 5/8 x 5 7/8 in.)
Blue Room
Commentary
James McNeill Whistler composed this catalogue to accompany the publication of his second series of etchings and dry points of Venice. Bound in brown paper and stamped with his signature butterfly, the pamphlet wryly describes works in the series with derogatory excerpts from the critical press. Isabella Stewart Gardner included this book in her own catalogue, A Choice of Books from the Library of Isabella Stewart Gardner, in 1906.