I'd Be a Butterfly.

PrinterPrinted by D. W. Kellogg & Co. (American, 1830 - 1840)

PublisherPublished by D. W. Kellogg & Co. (American, 1830 - 1840)

Date1830-1840

MediumLithography; printer's ink on wove paper

DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (image height x width): 6 1/4 x 8in. (15.9 x 20.3cm)
Sheet (height x width): 10 1/16 x 9 1/2in. (25.6 x 24.1cm)

ClassificationsGraphics

Credit LineMuseum purchase

DescriptionA small boy sits at an open window in a stone building with a book in his hands. He wears a tight-fitting double-breasted jacket over a shirt with a ribbon bow tied at his neck. He is looking at a small butterfly perched on the leaf of a vine, probably ivy, encircling the right side, top, and bottom of the window. A bird cage containing a bird hangs at the upper left. Behind the boy, in the interior of the room, a boy or man beats another boy with a bundle of switches. Drapery is at the right.

Object number1972.38.0

NotesSource Note: A wood-engraved illustration in a short story entitled "I'd Be a Butterfly" by "A Juvenile Correspondent" (published in Parley's Magazine, Saturday, May 25, 1833, p. 89-91) corresponds to the composition of this lithograph and is either its visual source, or, possibly, is based on it. The title "I'd Be a Butterfly" is derived from a poem by Thomas Haynes Bayly (English, 1797-1839). (Finlay 2/18/2004)

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