[Benjamin S. Dunham collection of Emil Jacobi “Re-Proofs”] [graphic].

Title supplied by cataloger.

Date inferred from active dates of printer and copyright records of similar prints issued by printer.

Most signed in pencil by Emil Jacobi in lower left or lower edge of print.

Some contain Campbell Art Company publisher’s mark, copy right mark, reproduced artist’s mark, and/or a series number.

Some contain imprint of Campbell Art Company or Campbell Print Inc.

Some mounted on board.

Small number possibly photomechanical reproductions of Jacobi “re-proofs.”

Small number accompanied by original descriptive label. Labels sometimes include concluding statement: This re-proof is a facsimile of a signed proof Color etching. Color etchings are produced by rubbing the color into the plate, a process that is tedious and requiring great skill. A limited number of copies are pulled from the original plate and signed by the artist. This Re-Proof retains in a marked degree the subtle technic [sic] of the original and bears a facsimile of the artist’s signature. The public is cautioned against inferior imitations; genuine Re-Proofs bear the signature Jacobi [facsimile of signature].

Various artists and etchers, including Andrew F. Affleck, Maurice Bompard, J. Alphege Brewer, J.B. Corot, Hedley Fitton, Axel H. Haig (Hägg), F. Le Gout-Gérard, James S. King, Fritz Krostewitz, Gaston de Latenay, Paul Emile Lecomte, Ferdinand J. Luigini, Luigi Loir, Marino M. Lusy , Mortimer Menpes, Tavik Frantisek Šimon, and Vaughan Trowbridge.

Collection of ca. 1910s photomechanical prints, “re-proofs,” printed by Emil S. Jacobi reproducing the work of many celebrated early 20th-century European artists and etchers. The prints, some with their original descriptive labels, primarily depict cathedral interiors and exteriors; town and cityscapes; and bucolic landscapes in Europe before World War I. Sites and titles include Milan Cathedral (i.e., Duomo di Milano); Rheims Cathedral (i.e., Notre-Dame de Reims); Norwich Cathedral; Notre Dame; Rio Dei Miracoli; Pont St. Etienne, Limoges; The Shrine of Edward the Confessor, Westminster; The Pantheon; Canterbury Cathedral; Toledo Cathedral; On the Quay; The Harvesters; Pont des Invalides; Shakespeare Memorial, Stratford-on-Avon; Uhelny, Trh, Prague; and Amalfi. Prints also show a European street view, including a clock tower and street peddlers; an unidentified cathedral interior; a view of a tree-lined path near a river; a French street scene; a bucolic marinescape; a portrait of the Madonna; a riverside cottage; and a European village scene. Views also contain images of landscape and marinescape, including bodies of water, dwellings, walkways, and bridges; street, marine, or pedestrian traffic, including men, women, and children; shops and stores; water and land vehicles, including horse-drawn wagons and barges; cathedral visitors; trees and pastures; and domesticated animals and wildlife. Collection also includes a ca. 1917 advertising print promoting an exhibition of Jacobi “re-proofs” that includes a portrait of Emil Jacobi signed “E. Jacobi,” as well as ca. 1916 large and small plate “re-proof” copies of Brewer’s “Rheims Cathedral (The Rose Window).”

Contents: Exhibition of Jacobi Re-Proofs (New York?, ca. 1917), collotype advertising print, including portrait of Emil Jacobi signed “E. Jacobi”; collotype “Re-Proof after Andrew F. Affleck, [Interior of Milan Cathedral] ([New York: Campbell Art Co.], ca. 1915), printed and signed in pencil by E. Jacobi and with Campbell publisher’s mark in lower right; collotype “Re-Proof” after Maurice Bompard, Rio Dei Miracoli (New York: Campbell Art Company, ca. 1915). No. 2857, printed and signed in pencil by E. Jacobi, mounted on board, and copyright sign in lower left; collotype “Re-Proof after J. Alphege Brewer, [Rheims Cathedral (The Rose Window)] ([New York?], ca. 1916), printed and signed in pencil by E. Jacobi ” with copyright sign in lower left (small plate copy); collotype “Re-Proof" after J. Alphege Brewer, [Rheims Cathedral (The Rose Window)] ([New York], ca. 1916), printed and signed in pencil by E. Jacobi, ” with copyright symbol (large plate copy); collotype “Re-Proof" after J. Alphege Brewer, Rheims Cathedral (West Front) ([New York: Campbell Art Company], ca. 1916]), printed and signed by E. Jacobi., with Campbell publisher’s mark in lower right; collotype marked “Re-Proof "after J. Alphege Brewer, [The Choir, Norwich, Cathedral] ([New York], ca. 1916), probably printed by E. Jacobi; collotype “Re-Proof” after Hedley Fitton, [Pont St. Etienne, Limoges] ([New York: Campbell Art Co.], ca. 1915), printed and signed in pencil by E. Jacobi, mounted on board, and including Campbell publisher’s mark in lower right and copyright sign in lower left; collotype “Re-Proof” after Hedley Fitton, [Rose Window, Notre Dame] ([New York?], ca. 1915), printed and signed in pencil by E. Jacobi and including copyright sign in lower right; collotype “Re-Proof” after Hedley Fitton, [The Shrine of Edward the Confessor, Westminster] ([New York?], ca. 1915), printed and signed in pencil by E. Jacobi and including copyright sign in lower right; collotype “Re-Proof” after Hedley Fitton, [The Pantheon] ([New York?], ca. 1915), printed and signed in pencil by E. Jacobi and including copyright sign in lower right; collotype “Re-Proof”after Hedley Fitton, [European street view including a clock tower and street peddlers] ([New York?], ca. 1915])., printed and signed by E. Jacobi; collotype “Re-Proof” after Axel H. Haig, Canterbury Cathedral 1912 ([New York?], [1916]), printed and signed by E. Jacobi and including copyright sign and artist’s mark of Haig in lower right; collotype “Re-Proof after Axel H. Haig, [Cathedral interior 1881] ([New York?], [1916?]), printed and signed in pencil by E. Jacobi,” mounted on board, and includes artist’s mark of Haig in lower right; collotype “Re-Proof” after Axel H. Haig, [Toledo Cathedral, Spain 1908] ([New York?], [1916]), printed and signed in pencil by E. Jacobi and including artist’s mark of Haig in lower right corner; collotype “Re-Proof” after T. Le Gout Gerard, On the Quay ([New York?], ca. 1915). [No.] 2741, printed and signed in pencil by E. Jacobi; collotype “Re-Proof” after Fritz Krostewitz after J.B. Corot, The Harvesters ([New York?], ca. 1915), printed and signed in pencil by E. Jacobi, and mounted on board; collotype “Re-Proof.” after Gaston de Latenay, [View of tree-lined path by a river] ([New York?], ca. 1915), printed and signed by E. Jacobi; collotype “Re-Proof” after Ferdinand J. Luigini, [French street scene] ([New York?], ca. 1915), printed and signed in pencil by E. Jacobi, mounted on board, and including copyright sign in lower right; collotype “Re-Proof" after Loir Luigi, Pont Des Invalides ([New York?], ca. 1915), printed and signed in pencil by E. Jacobi, and including copyright sign in lower left; collotype “Re-Proof” after Mortimer Menpes, Shakespeare Memorial, Stratford-on-Avon ([New York?], ca. 1915), printed and signed in pencil by E. Jacobi and including copyright sign in lower right; collotype “Re-Proof” after Tavik Frantisek Simon, [Uhelny, Trh, Prague] ([New York?], ca. 1915), printed and signed in pencil by E. Jacobi and including artist’s mark of T.F. Simon in lower center; collotype “Re-Proof” after Vaughan Trowbridge, Amalfi 1913 (New York: Campbell Print Inc., [1915]). [No.] 8480, probably printed by E. Jacobi and including artist’s mark of V. Trowbridge in lower left; reproduction of Emil Jacobi “Re-Proof” after [Or. Chabasson?], [Bucolic marinescape] (New York: Campbell Prints Inc., ca. 1915). [No.] 8208; reproduction of Emil Jacobi “Re-Proof” after James S. King, [Portrait of Madonna] ([New York: Campbell Art Co.], ca. 1915); reproduction of Emil Jacobi “Re-Proof” after Paul Emile Lecomte, [Riverside cottage] ([New York: Campbell Art Co.], ca. 1915); reproduction of Emil Jacobi “Re-Proof” after Marino M. Lusy, [European village scene] ([New York: Campbell Art Co.], ca. 1915),“Re-Proof” printed by E. Jacobi and including copyright sign in lower left.

Originally issued during the 1910s, while he served as superintendent of the Campbell Art Company of New York (printing facility in Edison, N.J.), the prints were created through a collotype process that Jacobi had previously overseen at the facility of prominent Philadelphia photographer Frederick Gutekunst to whom he had assigned the patent in 1880. Jacobi “re-proofs,” which he advertised as reproductions retaining "the subtle Artistic Qualities of Rare and Valuable ARTIST PROOFS" continued to be proactively exhibited and sold in the commercial art market until at least the 1920s.

Emil Jacobi (1853-1918), photographer and phototype printer born in Germany, and son of Berlin Phototype Institute proprietor Carl Heinrich Jacobi, worked in the photomechanical processing trade in the U.S. from the late 1870s to his death. Immigrating to the U.S. in 1878 following the negotiation by Philadelphia photographer Frederick Gutekunst (1831-1917) for the U.S. rights to his father’s photomechanical printing process, Jacobi would go on to serve as the superintendent of the photographer’s process print facility until 1897. During this period, in 1880, he assigned a patent for an improved collotype process to Gutekunst. Following his tenure at Gutekunst’s, he would go on to supervisory positions at the Albertype Co. (N.Y.) and then the Campbell Art Company, the latter particularly known for their art reproductions. While at Campbell, during the 1910s, Jacobi began to issue collotype “re-proof” prints after European artists and etchers. Following his death, Jacobi “re-proofs” continued to be issued, sold, and exhibited internationally.

Gift of Benjamin S. Dunham.

Collection research file available at repository.

See also Emil Jacobi, "The Gelatin Process," in Frederick H. Hitchcock, The Building of a Book (New York: The Grafton Press, 1906) [Yg 72886.D].

Circa 1893 portrait photograph of unidentified woman by Frederick Gutekunst [P.2024.9.1] and ca. 1865 carte-de viste portrait photograph of unidentified man by Ch. Jacobi [P.2024.9.2] included with the collection.