Rare Book Monthly

Articles - April - 2012 Issue

Couple, Separated Almost 200 Years, Reunited at the Rosenbach

Thomas Sully's portrait of Maria Gratz.

On a bright sunny day in 1831, or perhaps a cloudy one, we do not know, Benjamin and Maria Gratz sat for portraits. The painter was Thomas Sully, one of the foremost American portrait artists of the 19th century. He painted many notables, including Thomas Jefferson, Lafayette, and Queen Victoria. If the Gratzs were not quite as well known as those individuals, they were nonetheless part of a prominent and remarkable family.

Benjamin's father, Michael, and his uncle were Jewish immigrants to America before the Revolution. They settled in Philadelphia, where they developed successful mercantile and business interests. The brothers were involved early in the patriot cause. They boycotted British merchandise subject to the hated Stamp Act of 1765, and by the time revolution broke out, they swore their allegiance to the new, would-be nation. After the war, the family's business interests would continue to grow and prosper. Benjamin was one of Michael's 12 children, most of whom became involved in the Philadelphia businesses.

Benjamin was an exception. Michael Gratz had purchased a sizable amount of land on the frontier, and it was Benjamin who went off to the wilderness to manage it. He settled in Lexington, Kentucky, and quickly became one of the most important of community leaders. Among his close ties was the orator and “Great Compromiser,” Kentucky's Henry Clay (one of Benjamin's daughters later married Henry Clay's grandson). At some point, Benjamin met and married Maria Gist, from a prominent family herself. It was reportedly a most successful and loving marriage, and the couple was beloved by many of the leaders of their community.

In 1831, on a visit to Philadelphia, the Gratzs discovered that Benjamin's sister, Rebecca, had had her portrait painted by Sully. Rebecca Gratz is a story herself. She devoted her life to worthy causes. She was very active in providing aid for poor women and children, and founding an orphanage in Philadelphia (Benjamin would do the same in Lexington). She was also active in various Jewish causes, for which she is still known today. It is said that she was the model for Rebecca in Ivanhoe, her attributes conveyed to author Walter Scott by their mutual friend, Washington Irving. Benjamin and Maria liked the painting of Rebecca, and commissioned Sully to paint theirs as well. When the visit ended, they returned to Lexington, portraits in hand.

What exactly happened to the portraits over the years is uncertain, though they remained in the family. Maria died in 1841, while Benjamin later remarried and lived for many more years. Somewhere along the way, their portraits became separated.

Fast forward a century. Dr. A.S.W. Rosenbach, the noted 20th century bookseller, and his brother, Philip, collected Gratz family items, books and manuscripts, naturally, along with furniture, silver, ceramics, and portraits. They were also descendants of the Gratz family. After the Rosenbach brothers died, their Gratz family collection was one of the many items left to the Rosenbach Museum and Library. Since then, descendants of the original family have left more heirlooms to the Rosenbach. One of those gifts was the portrait of Benjamin Gratz, along with a second Sully portrait of Rebecca, bequeathed in 1970 by a granddaughter from his second wife, Henrietta Gratz Clay. Then, in 1984, the museum was notified by another descendant, Fanny Gratz, that there was also a portrait of Maria, though she knew not where it was. All she had was a photograph of what she called a “crayon copy” of the original portrait. Despite scouring auction records and other sources over the years, Rosenbach curators were never able to locate the missing portrait of Maria Gratz.

In June of 2011, still with no leads, Rosenbach curator Judith Guston tried a “shot in the dark.” She asked Susan Sklaroff of the Rebecca Gratz & 19th-Century America blog to post a request for readers to search their attics, friends' homes, and libraries to see if they could locate the painting. To everyone's surprise, she received a call just three weeks later. It came from Maria Gratz Roberts, a great-great-great granddaughter of Benjamin and Maria. It had been sitting in her house for decades. She had no idea anyone was looking for it. Evidently, the portraits must have at some point, probably early on, been separated, as one came to the Rosenbach through the family of Maria, while the others came through the family of Benjamin's second wife.

Though she had lived with the painting all of her life, Maria Gratz Roberts believed it belonged at the Rosenbach with the other portraits and Gratz family heirlooms. She donated the painting, along with a chair Benjamin had brought home from Philadelphia, to the Rosenbach. Once again, Benjamin and Maria are together, at least in portrait. It's a happy ending to a long tale. Dr. Rosenbach, something of a matchmaker himself, between books and their collectors, would undoubtedly be pleased. Families belong together.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas

Article Search

Archived Articles

Ask Questions