Enormous Early American Engraving On Continuous Machine-Made Paper.

WASHINGTON, GEORGE. Washington's Farewell Address [letters 3" high] to the People of the United States. [Caption title]. Broadside, 38" x 26." With two engravings, one a small oval laid on of Washington by Gideon Fairman from a drawing of Stuart, plus an engraving by Fairman from a drawing by T[homas] Sully. Script by Charles H. Parker, engraved by Charles Toppan. Signed in script at bottom by Fairman, B.H. Rand and Toppan. [Philadelphia]: "Paper by T. Gilpin & Co., Brandywine"; Printed by Wm. Duffee, [1821]. Quite foxed, some water stains in lower margins. On canvas & nailed to a stretcher (early). Some slight breaks, but remarkable. $1,500.00

Sabin 101660. Stauffer 995 for the Washington oval by Fairman, which is slightly damaged. However, Stauffer does not list this work under Fairman, nor does he list Toppan at all. Fielding reports that Toppan was born in Newburyport, Mass. in 1796, and was a pupil of Fairman. Fairman died in 1827 and Toppan, who worked for Fairman after his apprenticeship, became a partner with Fairman's successors, and others, in several successive banknote companies.

The marking on the paper cited above is most unusual and interesting. According to Gravell & Miller, A Catalogue of American Watermarks, 1690-1835, Thomas Gilpin originally worked for his brother, Joshua. In 1811 in Europe Joshua acquired "enough information for Thomas to build America's first 'endless-paper-making' machine. By February 1817 paper made on the machine was being marketed....A six-foot section of this machine-made paper is today in the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia."

We don't find anything on the printer, Duffee.