Wallace Nutting Books
Best known among the general public for his hand-colored pictures, Wallace Nutting was also widely recognized as one of the leading authors of his time.
In all, he personally wrote 19 books, contributed photographs to several others, and wrote numerous magazine articles about antiques and colonial living.
This article will provide readers with an introduction to Wallace Nutting - The Author.
One of the rarest and most highly sought-after of all Wallace Nutting books is "Old New England Pictures".
This particular item was the first "book" ever published by Wallace Nutting.
Although Nutting had originally released two other "picture books" which contained only pictures, ("Up at the Vilas Farm" circa 1912 and a book of mounted "Palestine" pictures circa 1905-10), but neither of these books contained any text.
Originally published in 1913, Old New England Pictures was Nutting's first attempt at publishing text alongside his hand-colored photographs.
Although a label in the front of these books indicate that 200 copies of Old New England Pictures were originally published, long-time Nutting collectors generally agree that fewer than 12-14 copies are known to exist today.
It is assumed that although Nutting probably thought that he could sell 200 copies of this book, the high cost resulting from the enormous work and expense that went into the preparation of the book resulted in only a limited number of copies ever being released.
We have sold several copy of this book for more than $10,000.
00, but most other Wallace Nutting books are valued at far, far less.
Wallace Nutting was widely known for his "States Beautiful" series.
As he traveled throughout America taking his photographs, he wrote eight books about states that he visited.
Each book contained approximately 300 of his photos taken throughout the state.
Nutting would elaborate about key regions of each state, and its houses, people, history, and charm.
These books had two primary markets.
First: the residents of each particular state.
Most people like reading about themselves, or at least about something near and dear to them, including their home state.
As a result, he would sell a considerable number of books to residents of each state that he wrote about.
Secondly: This was an era before travel became inexpensive and convenient.
For the average person, commercial air travel had not yet arrived, transatlantic ocean voyages were lengthy and expensive, and the automobile was still being perfected.
Books were they easiest way to travel.
Libraries were frequent purchasers of his States Beautiful books, as well as those individuals interested in learning about and seeing new and far-away places.
Overall, Nutting published ten States Beautiful books, although technically only eight were written on "states", while two others were written on foreign countries: o Vermont Beautiful o Massachusetts Beautiful o Connecticut Beautiful o New Hampshire Beautiful o Maine Beautiful o Pennsylvania Beautiful o Ireland Beautiful o New York Beautiful o England Beautiful o Virginia Beautiful Five other States Beautiful books were under consideration: Ohio, Colorado, California, New Jersey, and Florida, but none of these were ever published.
The dust jacket of the 1st edition Connecticut Beautiful went so far as to state that Florida Beautiful was released in 1924 but that never occurred.
Approximately 25 pages of the unpublished manuscript were found, but no such book was ever published.
As a result, Nutting sold quite a number of these books.
Based upon comments in Wallace Nutting's Biography, approximately 10,000 copies of most 1st editions were sold.
These books were so popular that by the 1930's, each of the States Beautiful books were reprinted in a 2nd edition.
The way to easily distinguish 1st editions from 2nd editions is simply by the color of the cover.
1st editions had dark green covers (with black & white dust jackets, when remaining); 2nd editions had tan covers (with colored dust jackets, where remaining).
In the 1970's, as Wallace Nutting collecting was being revived, Bonanza Books reprinted some of these titles as well.
Somewhat surprisingly, a Wallace Nutting autograph doesn't add that much value to a book.
You should recognize that Nutting was a great marketer and promoter, and in order to promote book sales, Nutting frequently attended book signings.
So although an autographed copy of a States Beautiful book is somewhat rarer, it's not all that unusual.
What is the value of States Beautiful books? Today, they seem to be retailing for $15-$50 range, with the earlier, more plentiful books bringing the lower amount.
Condition is extremely important in obtaining the higher-end price, and any cover-blemish will usually relegate the book to the lower end of the range.
If Wallace Nutting became well-known for his States Beautiful series, he became even more famous for the books he published on his true passion: Antiques of the Pilgrim Century.
Nutting claimed that the search for attractive backgrounds for his Interior hand-colored pictures was responsible for his quest for antiques.
As mentioned earlier, Nutting had purchased and restored five houses.
His objective was to provide a series of homes furnished in the styles from 1640 to what he termed "the decline of taste", i.
e.
, the end of the Empire Period.
Although Nutting began purchasing antiques in the early 1900's, he did not begin collecting seriously until he moved to Framingham in 1912.
It was here that his picture business reached its peak, the demand for his 'authentic' Interior scenes was at an all time high and Nutting needed a great deal of furniture to furnish his series of colonial homes.
Through the accumulation of antiques for his homes, Wallace Nutting had the opportunity to see such a diverse assortment and large quantity of antiques that he began to record what he saw...
through his camera.
It was in 1917 that he published his first book on antique furniture...
American Windsors...
the first definitive book on windsor chairs.
American Windsors, nearly 200 pages long, was the first serious study of the Windsor form, with chairs dating from 1725-1825.
Picturing nearly 100 different Windsor forms, this book included an in-depth discussion of Windsor variations, and each piece's merit, dating, and relative frequency of occurrence.
Nutting's passion for antiques then led to his publication in 1921 of Furniture of the Pilgrim Century.
This work went well beyond the Windsor form to include American chests, desks, tables, other forms of chairs, mirrors, clocks, utensils, and hardware.
Nutting felt that World War I stirred a great deal of patriotism and stimulated interest in the work of our forefathers.
Some credit him with playing a significant role in the Colonial Revival Movement.
More than 500 pages long, and including more than 1000 photos of items dating between 1620-1720, Wallace Nutting tried to include only things made in America...
of native American woods.
Wallace Nutting took most of the photos used in this book, and wrote the entire text.
Except for the more serious collectors, this extensive publication was all but forgotten because it was eclipsed by his most important work ever...
the Furniture Treasury.
The Furniture Treasury, still available in many bookstores today is really not one book, but 3 separate volumes.
Volumes I & II, published in 1928, contain more than 5000 photos of American furniture and utensils.
Somewhat overlapping the Furniture of the Pilgrim Century, this work covers 1650 to the end of the Empire Period, which, according to Nutting, 'brings us to the beginning of the degraded styles".
In 1933, Nutting published a 3rd volume of the Furniture Treasury.
Intended as a supplement to Volumes I & II, this book supplied additional details concerning styles, dates, construction, and origins of the previous volumes.
It also provided a listing of early American clock makers, which supplemented another book that he wrote The Clock Book.
Unlike the first two volumes of the Furniture Treasury, Volume III had no photographs.
Rather, it was illustrated with hundreds of sketches, mostly drawn by his assistant, Ernest John Donnelly.
It was Wallace Nutting's love of antiques...
and his uncanny sense of entrepreneurial spirit...
that led to his least profitable, and according to some, most important business venture of all...
Reproduction Furniture (which will be covered in our next article).
In all, he personally wrote 19 books, contributed photographs to several others, and wrote numerous magazine articles about antiques and colonial living.
This article will provide readers with an introduction to Wallace Nutting - The Author.
One of the rarest and most highly sought-after of all Wallace Nutting books is "Old New England Pictures".
This particular item was the first "book" ever published by Wallace Nutting.
Although Nutting had originally released two other "picture books" which contained only pictures, ("Up at the Vilas Farm" circa 1912 and a book of mounted "Palestine" pictures circa 1905-10), but neither of these books contained any text.
Originally published in 1913, Old New England Pictures was Nutting's first attempt at publishing text alongside his hand-colored photographs.
Although a label in the front of these books indicate that 200 copies of Old New England Pictures were originally published, long-time Nutting collectors generally agree that fewer than 12-14 copies are known to exist today.
It is assumed that although Nutting probably thought that he could sell 200 copies of this book, the high cost resulting from the enormous work and expense that went into the preparation of the book resulted in only a limited number of copies ever being released.
We have sold several copy of this book for more than $10,000.
00, but most other Wallace Nutting books are valued at far, far less.
Wallace Nutting was widely known for his "States Beautiful" series.
As he traveled throughout America taking his photographs, he wrote eight books about states that he visited.
Each book contained approximately 300 of his photos taken throughout the state.
Nutting would elaborate about key regions of each state, and its houses, people, history, and charm.
These books had two primary markets.
First: the residents of each particular state.
Most people like reading about themselves, or at least about something near and dear to them, including their home state.
As a result, he would sell a considerable number of books to residents of each state that he wrote about.
Secondly: This was an era before travel became inexpensive and convenient.
For the average person, commercial air travel had not yet arrived, transatlantic ocean voyages were lengthy and expensive, and the automobile was still being perfected.
Books were they easiest way to travel.
Libraries were frequent purchasers of his States Beautiful books, as well as those individuals interested in learning about and seeing new and far-away places.
Overall, Nutting published ten States Beautiful books, although technically only eight were written on "states", while two others were written on foreign countries: o Vermont Beautiful o Massachusetts Beautiful o Connecticut Beautiful o New Hampshire Beautiful o Maine Beautiful o Pennsylvania Beautiful o Ireland Beautiful o New York Beautiful o England Beautiful o Virginia Beautiful Five other States Beautiful books were under consideration: Ohio, Colorado, California, New Jersey, and Florida, but none of these were ever published.
The dust jacket of the 1st edition Connecticut Beautiful went so far as to state that Florida Beautiful was released in 1924 but that never occurred.
Approximately 25 pages of the unpublished manuscript were found, but no such book was ever published.
As a result, Nutting sold quite a number of these books.
Based upon comments in Wallace Nutting's Biography, approximately 10,000 copies of most 1st editions were sold.
These books were so popular that by the 1930's, each of the States Beautiful books were reprinted in a 2nd edition.
The way to easily distinguish 1st editions from 2nd editions is simply by the color of the cover.
1st editions had dark green covers (with black & white dust jackets, when remaining); 2nd editions had tan covers (with colored dust jackets, where remaining).
In the 1970's, as Wallace Nutting collecting was being revived, Bonanza Books reprinted some of these titles as well.
Somewhat surprisingly, a Wallace Nutting autograph doesn't add that much value to a book.
You should recognize that Nutting was a great marketer and promoter, and in order to promote book sales, Nutting frequently attended book signings.
So although an autographed copy of a States Beautiful book is somewhat rarer, it's not all that unusual.
What is the value of States Beautiful books? Today, they seem to be retailing for $15-$50 range, with the earlier, more plentiful books bringing the lower amount.
Condition is extremely important in obtaining the higher-end price, and any cover-blemish will usually relegate the book to the lower end of the range.
If Wallace Nutting became well-known for his States Beautiful series, he became even more famous for the books he published on his true passion: Antiques of the Pilgrim Century.
Nutting claimed that the search for attractive backgrounds for his Interior hand-colored pictures was responsible for his quest for antiques.
As mentioned earlier, Nutting had purchased and restored five houses.
His objective was to provide a series of homes furnished in the styles from 1640 to what he termed "the decline of taste", i.
e.
, the end of the Empire Period.
Although Nutting began purchasing antiques in the early 1900's, he did not begin collecting seriously until he moved to Framingham in 1912.
It was here that his picture business reached its peak, the demand for his 'authentic' Interior scenes was at an all time high and Nutting needed a great deal of furniture to furnish his series of colonial homes.
Through the accumulation of antiques for his homes, Wallace Nutting had the opportunity to see such a diverse assortment and large quantity of antiques that he began to record what he saw...
through his camera.
It was in 1917 that he published his first book on antique furniture...
American Windsors...
the first definitive book on windsor chairs.
American Windsors, nearly 200 pages long, was the first serious study of the Windsor form, with chairs dating from 1725-1825.
Picturing nearly 100 different Windsor forms, this book included an in-depth discussion of Windsor variations, and each piece's merit, dating, and relative frequency of occurrence.
Nutting's passion for antiques then led to his publication in 1921 of Furniture of the Pilgrim Century.
This work went well beyond the Windsor form to include American chests, desks, tables, other forms of chairs, mirrors, clocks, utensils, and hardware.
Nutting felt that World War I stirred a great deal of patriotism and stimulated interest in the work of our forefathers.
Some credit him with playing a significant role in the Colonial Revival Movement.
More than 500 pages long, and including more than 1000 photos of items dating between 1620-1720, Wallace Nutting tried to include only things made in America...
of native American woods.
Wallace Nutting took most of the photos used in this book, and wrote the entire text.
Except for the more serious collectors, this extensive publication was all but forgotten because it was eclipsed by his most important work ever...
the Furniture Treasury.
The Furniture Treasury, still available in many bookstores today is really not one book, but 3 separate volumes.
Volumes I & II, published in 1928, contain more than 5000 photos of American furniture and utensils.
Somewhat overlapping the Furniture of the Pilgrim Century, this work covers 1650 to the end of the Empire Period, which, according to Nutting, 'brings us to the beginning of the degraded styles".
In 1933, Nutting published a 3rd volume of the Furniture Treasury.
Intended as a supplement to Volumes I & II, this book supplied additional details concerning styles, dates, construction, and origins of the previous volumes.
It also provided a listing of early American clock makers, which supplemented another book that he wrote The Clock Book.
Unlike the first two volumes of the Furniture Treasury, Volume III had no photographs.
Rather, it was illustrated with hundreds of sketches, mostly drawn by his assistant, Ernest John Donnelly.
It was Wallace Nutting's love of antiques...
and his uncanny sense of entrepreneurial spirit...
that led to his least profitable, and according to some, most important business venture of all...
Reproduction Furniture (which will be covered in our next article).
Source...