DOI issue:
No. 391 (October 1925)
DOI article:Grimsditch, Herbert B.: The MacPherson collection
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21403#0233
THE MACPHERSON COLLECTION
"LORD BRIDPORT." MEZZOTINT BY
V. GREEN AFTER L. F. ABBOTT
(Macpherson Collection)
countenance); or if our transcendental critic
has a little literary culture (which, however,
is not likely) his theory must lead him to
the belief that Milton, instead of writing—
" Of man's first disobedience and the fruit,
Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world and all our woe,"
would have been equally great and glorious
had he written a verse-treatise on the
intensive cultivation of potatoes. A
mean subject meanly treated comes
lowest in the scale, of course ; next to it,
a great subject meanly treated, next to
that a mean subject well treated, but,
best of all, a great subject grandly treated.
Returning to the Macpherson Collec-
tion, I can only ask again (craving indul-
gence for the Americanism), How would
our " transcendental " critic ** get away
with it ** i Here we have a collection
whose raison d'etre is its subject, and
that subject itself one which is close to
the heart of every British man. The primary
purpose of the great majority of these
artists was to record and communicate
their delight in the sea and all that thereon
floats. Sometimes theaim was merely to con-
vey instruction, in maps, designs of naval
costumes, and so forth. But even here,
the work shows the finish of a job well and
lovingly done, and the maps particularly
evince a charmingly na'ive imagination
and a pleasant taste for colour which show
that they were drawn in an age when men
still had time to think and dream. 0
It is only possible here to give the
briefest outline of the scope of the col-
lection. It comprises naval actions, naval
ships, merchant ships, merchant steamers,
yachts, whaling, early discovery, carica-
tures, views of seaports, and portraits.
The total number of prints is about 9,000,
and most of the sections, individually,
are considered the finest in the world.
And not only is it comprehensive, but by
a process of gradual elimination the weaker
examples from the point of view of
technique have been weeded out and re-
placed by others ; and good " states "
have been substituted for those which
were less fine examples. 000
The " naval actions " (of which Mr.
Macpherson possesses 2,300—more than
three times the number in the well-known
Cust collection) rank first in importance.
The aquatint maritime views in colour
also have a particular interest, showing, as
they do, the development of many great
seaport towns the world over, from early
times. The large mezzotint portraits,
some of which we reproduce, are nearly
all in proof state and fine condition;
while the early atlases and sea charts
comprise one of the finest privately-owned
collections of such things. The housing
problem, which would seem to have been
necessarily great, has been solved by
storing the prints in a large oak cupboard,
where any one is readily accessible 0
From the days of Widsith and " The
Seafarer " our people have been a maritime
people, and in sea-power our very exist-
ence is bound up. Yet the paucity of
maritime material in our public galleries
and museums is remarkable. It seems
more than strange that no collection like
this is in national possession, and it would
be a reproach to us as a nation if Mr.
Macpherson's wonderful assemblage were
ever to be broken up. Historically and
artistically the collection is unique and
irreplaceable, and undoubtedly its proper
place is some national museum or gallery,
where its delights would be accessible
to all. 0 0 0 0 0 0
Herbert B. Grimsditch.
227
"LORD BRIDPORT." MEZZOTINT BY
V. GREEN AFTER L. F. ABBOTT
(Macpherson Collection)
countenance); or if our transcendental critic
has a little literary culture (which, however,
is not likely) his theory must lead him to
the belief that Milton, instead of writing—
" Of man's first disobedience and the fruit,
Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world and all our woe,"
would have been equally great and glorious
had he written a verse-treatise on the
intensive cultivation of potatoes. A
mean subject meanly treated comes
lowest in the scale, of course ; next to it,
a great subject meanly treated, next to
that a mean subject well treated, but,
best of all, a great subject grandly treated.
Returning to the Macpherson Collec-
tion, I can only ask again (craving indul-
gence for the Americanism), How would
our " transcendental " critic ** get away
with it ** i Here we have a collection
whose raison d'etre is its subject, and
that subject itself one which is close to
the heart of every British man. The primary
purpose of the great majority of these
artists was to record and communicate
their delight in the sea and all that thereon
floats. Sometimes theaim was merely to con-
vey instruction, in maps, designs of naval
costumes, and so forth. But even here,
the work shows the finish of a job well and
lovingly done, and the maps particularly
evince a charmingly na'ive imagination
and a pleasant taste for colour which show
that they were drawn in an age when men
still had time to think and dream. 0
It is only possible here to give the
briefest outline of the scope of the col-
lection. It comprises naval actions, naval
ships, merchant ships, merchant steamers,
yachts, whaling, early discovery, carica-
tures, views of seaports, and portraits.
The total number of prints is about 9,000,
and most of the sections, individually,
are considered the finest in the world.
And not only is it comprehensive, but by
a process of gradual elimination the weaker
examples from the point of view of
technique have been weeded out and re-
placed by others ; and good " states "
have been substituted for those which
were less fine examples. 000
The " naval actions " (of which Mr.
Macpherson possesses 2,300—more than
three times the number in the well-known
Cust collection) rank first in importance.
The aquatint maritime views in colour
also have a particular interest, showing, as
they do, the development of many great
seaport towns the world over, from early
times. The large mezzotint portraits,
some of which we reproduce, are nearly
all in proof state and fine condition;
while the early atlases and sea charts
comprise one of the finest privately-owned
collections of such things. The housing
problem, which would seem to have been
necessarily great, has been solved by
storing the prints in a large oak cupboard,
where any one is readily accessible 0
From the days of Widsith and " The
Seafarer " our people have been a maritime
people, and in sea-power our very exist-
ence is bound up. Yet the paucity of
maritime material in our public galleries
and museums is remarkable. It seems
more than strange that no collection like
this is in national possession, and it would
be a reproach to us as a nation if Mr.
Macpherson's wonderful assemblage were
ever to be broken up. Historically and
artistically the collection is unique and
irreplaceable, and undoubtedly its proper
place is some national museum or gallery,
where its delights would be accessible
to all. 0 0 0 0 0 0
Herbert B. Grimsditch.
227