The Wilmingtonian. (Wilmington, Del.) 1882-188?, 1884-05-17
WILMINGTON, DEL, MAYIz, 1854.
ART NOTES.

lca greatest steel englaver, anu-lt may be
said " Without xaGgeration-one OF the lead
ing opponents of his art throughout the wide,
wide world?
The assurance of hearty welcome was of
course not the least Of the attractions that led
? the writer of these notes to Mr.. Sartain's
dwelling on Samson Street, Philadelphia.
There was the consciousness of meeting the
intimate friend of Edgar Allan Poe and Bay
ard Taylor face to face; the expectation of
gathering from well-stored mind facts of
priceless value in the domain of art
The door was opened, and the writer intro
duced into quiet reception room, lit with
dim religious light by stained glass win
dows. Everything bespoke the home of the
true artist. On the walls were the plates
which Mr. Sartan's busy hands had wrought
out within the fifty years of his toil:-plates
which are famous the world over. Pres
emily the artist entered Somewhat below
the middle height, with slight stoop
natural to his years of occupations; fresh
healthy face, large keen eyes, a fine broad
forehead, genial easy smile, and the per-
feet self-possesson of the true gentleman
the first impression disarmed all reserve and
made the visitor feel quite at home 1t did not
take two minutes to discover that Mr.. Sar-
tain was aa&raveled man, man of the world
and Injured by long experience to the ordeal
of interviews.
The visitors eye fell on the steel plate
engraving of Rothermel's great picture OF
the Battle of Gettysburg, well-known fea-
ture of the Centennial Exhibition and now
in the State Capital at Harrisburg.
"Ah there is quite story attached to that
plate, said Mr.. Sartain smlingly 81 hope
may never have such task again. can
not tell you how long the work occupied me-
for had other demands on my time, and
worked at it as opportunity offered. To
facilitate my work, the original picture,
which is 36 feet long, was photographed
down to 36 inches, the size of the plate-the
photograph being in three parts. After
lad mac -s6SsaaS-lFogress with tlle-x9Fi
bethought myself DIGGING to the Centennial
before the opening hoursNan2 working from
the original picture. | soon found that my
time was being wholly taken up in correct
ing the work at the sides and that it became
necessary to alter very considerably the dis
tribution of the light and shade in the minor
groups of figures. All the figures (fOur hun
dred or more) were bitten in and worked up
separately with the grayec before the Mez-
zotint was put on. 1t was a very heavy task,
and l would not undertake it again. In the
end | was sued for breach of contract by the
lint ba 1oI l.,
court on terms satisfactory to myself. l
believe the plate is sold at $40 copy.
Mr.. Sartain then gave the history of the
other large plates in the room, each of which
seemed a fair task for a lifetime to an ordi-
nary man. Among these was the celebrated
engraving of king Solomon and the Iron
worker the special delight of the Masonic
fraternity; "Christ Rejected after Benja-
min West; and Knox before Mary Queen
of Scots after Lentze. Even if the works
in this apartment We're Mr.. Saltain's monu-
ment, he might indeed say "Circumspice!'
and the observer would not hesitate to say
that the man had given a good account OF
his stewardship. But these productions are
but tithe of the product of his patient
industry. lie is vigorous and successful
journalist, having at one time edited the
Union Magazine afterwards known as Sar-
tain's Magazine; he has also been connected
with Grsham's Magazine, the Ecetic and
Campbel's Foreign Magazine, both as jour
nalist and artist. 1t is recorded of him that
on one occasion he received an untouched
plate at midnight and had it fully engraved.
even to the lettering, when the printers came
TO work at daylight the same morning He
was the first publisher in America of "The
Song of the Shirt, " the Bridge of Signs
and the 'Drop of Gin, gems from the pen
of poor Tom Hood. In water color drawing
he has excellent gifts and was a pupil of the
celebrated John Marley; in oils he was the
pupil of Manuel J Defranca.
Nor is the list of Mr. SaItain' accomplish.
ments even yet exhausted, He prepared all
the designs for the Pennsylvania Academy
of Fine Arts, and his architectural skill is
even more strikiugly displayed in the great
Granite Monument to Washington AMI LAT.
ayette at Monument Cemetery, Philadelphia
He modelled the two colossal medalions
from which the bronze likeness were cast
and even wrote the inscriptions.
The name, Sartan, suggests French
extraction, and such proves to be the case.
But the strain of French blood dates back
many generations. Turning to number Of
carefully arranged slips Of paper, the artist
informs us that they represent extracts from
the parish register of Trowbridge, a Wilt
shire village, lying to the North of the great
English waste known as Salisbury plain. II
may DO remembered that the poet Crabbe
was at one time rector of Trow bridge a fact
on which Mr. Sdrtain somewhat proudly
dwells. Our artist is then of English PAT,
entage and of French extraction. The
name appears on the baptispal register as
Certyn, Sarten, and Sartayne; evidently the
caprice Of the various clerks who made the
entries, which date back as Far as 1915. Mr..
Sartain has a strong love for the old conn.
try, and visits Europe pretty regularly every
year.
Professor Fowler, the eminent phrenolo-
gist, says among other things of Mr.. Sar-
tain:-
''This gentleman has a very excellent
organization for health and long life, and
also for mental activity, physical vigor and
endurance. There is such a balance between
the temperaments as to produce harmonious