Adolphe Jean Baptiste Bayot
The War between the United States and Mexico Illustrated, Embracing Pictorial Drawings of All the Principal Conflicts, by Carl Nebel, Author of “A Picturesque and Archaeological Voyage in Mexico,” with a Description of Each Battle, by Geo. Wilkins Kendall, Author of “The Texan Santa Fé Expedition,” etc., etc.

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Artist Adolphe Jean Baptiste Bayot (French, 1810–1866)French, 1810–1866

Artist Louis-Pierre-Alphonse Bichebois (French, 1801–1850)French, 1801–1850

Artist Erhard Schiéble (French, born Germany, 1821–1880)French, born Germany, 1821–1880

Artistafter Carl Nebel (German, 1805–1855)German, 1805–1855

Author George Wilkins Kendall (American, 1809–1867)American, 1809–1867

Printer Rose Joseph Lemercier (French, 1803–1887)French, 1803–1887

Publisher D. Appleton & Company (New York, founded 1831)New York, founded 1831

Publisher George S. Appleton (Philadelphia)Philadelphia

CultureAmerican

Titles

The War between the United States and Mexico Illustrated, Embracing Pictorial Drawings of All the Principal Conflicts, by Carl Nebel, Author of “A Picturesque and Archaeological Voyage in Mexico,” with a Description of Each Battle, by Geo. Wilkins Kendall, Author of “The Texan Santa Fé Expedition,” etc., etc.

Date1851

MediumBook with 12 hand-colored lithographs and one lithograph

DimensionsClosed: 23 × 18 1/8 × 1 1/2 in. (58.4 × 46 × 3.8 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by John Bookout and Wallace S. Wilson in honor of Ann Bookout and Jeanie Kilroy Wilson at "One Great Night in November, 2015"

Object numberB.2015.13.1-.13.B

Not on view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS

DescriptionPublished in 1851, this book is a firsthand report, in both words and images, of the first offensive war fought by the United States. It contains a brief history of the war, written by George Wilkins Kendall, the editor of the New Orleans Picayune newspaper and the first true wartime correspondent, who engaged with soldiers on the battlefield and corresponded back to his newspaper. While Kendall accurately discussed the war by successive events, the book also includes 12 hand-colored lithographs of the scenes and a lithographic map of the region. Kendall asked the German artist Carl Nebel to draw images to accompany his text that portray the 12 major clashes of the war. In Kendall’s preface, he notes that the drawings were made “on the spot by the artist…So far as regards the general configuration of the ground, fidelity of the landscape, and correctness of the works and buildings.” However, unlike Kendall, Nebel was not there at the specific time of the battles but reviewed the various places after the war. The watercolor drawings Nebel produced were subsequently transferred to lithographic plates and printed in Paris, the great center for the lithographic technique at that time.
ProvenanceJ. Dudley Thompson (1925–2010), Santa Barbara, California; Estate of J. Dudley Thompson; consigned to [Dorothy Sloan—Rare Books, Austin, Texas, auction 24, The Mexican-American War Collection of J. Dudley Thompson]; purchased by MFAH, 2015.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Inscribed in graphite, front page spread, top right corner: 81.048

Inscribed in graphite, front page spread, top left corner: 12 colored pieces / [cursive]

Inscribed in graphite, back page spread, top right corner: RLM 77

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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