[American Art – Music – Nineteenth Century] Cowell, Sam; Homer, Winslow [Illustration Attributed To]

The Ratcatcher’s Daughter.

Boston / New York / Philadelphia / New Orleans: [1856]. Lacks stitches at spine, likely removed from a larger volume, lithograph in fine condition, one small tear to margin at final leaf. Very good plus overall. Item #List3639

An uncommon American sheet music printing of the popular comic song , associated with the English music-hall performer Sam Cowell (1820–1864), whose repertoire of character songs achieved wide transatlantic circulation in the mid-nineteenth century. The lithographic cover illustration represents one of the earliest published works attributed to Winslow Homer, produced during his apprenticeship at the Boston lithographic firm of J.H. Bufford when the artist was approximately twenty years old. The original design depicts the ratcatcher as a Boston Irishman with a black eye and well worn clothing, surrounded by lively narrative vignettes including cats pursuing rats into holes and cages, donkeys pulling a carriage, a view of St. Paul’s Cathedral, and a tragic scene of the lovelorn daughter’s death by drowning. Homer’s initials appear subtly incorporated into the design beneath one of the donkeys. During this formative period Homer produced sheet music illustrations alongside political graphics and book work, though early sheet music designs from Homer’s Bufford years remain comparatively scarce.

A fine and visually engaging early work connected to one of the most significant figures in nineteenth-century American art.

Price: $950.00