Lot of (2) Printing Plates. Dr. Kane in the Arctic & On the Greenland Coast. Group of two vignette plates. Included are:Dr. Kane in the Arctic. Steel. 4.5 x 2.5 inches. Imprint of Toppan, Carpenter and Company, New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. An important historical vignette showing Kane and members of his crew with life boats presumably moving south after the loss of their vessel among ice floes. The vessel is visible in the distance, with only the masts and forward portion of the ship still above the ice. A dog team and a few supplies are in the foreground. Below the vignette is the following, finely engraved, "Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1856 by Toppan, Carpenter & Co. in the Clerks Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York." This vignette appears on a $5 note of the Northern Bank in Providence, Rhode Island (Haxby RI-370, G8), as well as notes of the North Western Bank of Marquette, Wisconsin (Haxby WI-430), and others. The plate is light steel gray, lustrous and very attractive. Some fine hairlines are evident around the outer areas of the plate, but in general it is quite clean and attractive. While the depths of the engravings on most plates are dark, likely in large part due to retained ink residue, this one is white, either residue from white ink, chalk, or other some other such treatment.On the Greenland Coast. Steel. 4.25 x 3 inches. Imprint of Western Bank Note Company, Chicago. A rare theme among the engravings in the archive. Armed sailors stand on an ice floe in defense against a large polar bear. Two sailors in a rowboat are visible in the distance, as well as their large three-masted vessel which has succumbed to the unforgiving movement of ice floes. Only one end of the ship remains visible, the hull having been crushed, the ship sinking. Dated 92 in the lower left corner of the plate. Lustrous medium gray with mottled golden brown toning around.
