lottery ticket with figure of Hope and a telescope
Date: before 1869
Inventory Number: 2000-1-0012
Classification: Print
Subject:
Maker: Richard Ely Hamlin (1814 - 1880)
Maker: William Hamlin (1772 - 1869)
Cultural Region:
Place of Origin:
Dimensions:
0.1 x 5.5 x 6.5 cm (1/16 x 2 3/16 x 2 9/16 in.)
in frame: 0.1 x 30.5 x 24.5 cm (1/16 x 12 x 9 5/8 in.)
Material:
Bibliography:
With Compass and Chain: Early Modern Surveyors and Their Instruments
Description:
This rectangular engraved print is a lottery ticket, but has sometimes been called a trade card.
Across the top it reads: "R.E. HAMLIN's / REFLECTING TELESCOPE."
Below this on the left is a reflecting telescope on a library mount. The tube is marked "Hamlin." The telescope sits on a rock along the sea shore. To the right stands a woman leaning on an anchor. She represents Hope. Behind her is a tall ship leaning in the waves. Hope gestures to a banner floating over her head. To her right is a crescent moon. On the shore below her feet, we find the engraver's signature: W Hamlin Sc."
Along the right hand side of the print is a place for a serial number, marked: "No: ____"
Across the top it reads: "R.E. HAMLIN's / REFLECTING TELESCOPE."
Below this on the left is a reflecting telescope on a library mount. The tube is marked "Hamlin." The telescope sits on a rock along the sea shore. To the right stands a woman leaning on an anchor. She represents Hope. Behind her is a tall ship leaning in the waves. Hope gestures to a banner floating over her head. To her right is a crescent moon. On the shore below her feet, we find the engraver's signature: W Hamlin Sc."
Along the right hand side of the print is a place for a serial number, marked: "No: ____"
Signedat top: R.E. HAMLIN'S / REFLECTING TELESCOPE
below print: W Hamlin Sc.
below print: W Hamlin Sc.
Historical AttributesThe female figure in the print represents Hope, and the iconography of the print resembles that of the coat of arms of Rhode Island. As illustrated in 1876 in a book by Henry Mitchell, the arms include a fouled anchor in a shield supported on a rock surrounded by crashing waves. In a banner above, there is a motto: "HOPE."
The engraver of this print is William Hamlin, who earned his living engraving bank notes, lottery tickets, and trade cards, as well as supplying and repairing navigational and optical instruments in Providence. Before the summer of 1826, Hamlin made his own reflecting telescope, and demonstrated it to the public. Admission was by ticket, which was an earlier form of this print.
William's son, Richard Ely Hamlin, was a grocer and merchant who has been thought to have succeeded his father in the instrument business, but there is no evidence except this print, which has been interpreted as a trade card with a spot to insert a serial number. If his business was large enough to require serial numbers, however, we would expect to find some of his instruments surviving in historical collections and private hands. We don't.
Silvio Bedini has pointed out that the print is a derivative version of William Hamlin's admission ticket. It now has "R.E." added before Hamlin; there is a place to insert a number, and the words "Admit the Bearer" have been removed from the banner. It is likely a lottery ticket. In this case, the prize would have been a reflecting telescope provided by R. E. Hamlin.
The engraver of this print is William Hamlin, who earned his living engraving bank notes, lottery tickets, and trade cards, as well as supplying and repairing navigational and optical instruments in Providence. Before the summer of 1826, Hamlin made his own reflecting telescope, and demonstrated it to the public. Admission was by ticket, which was an earlier form of this print.
William's son, Richard Ely Hamlin, was a grocer and merchant who has been thought to have succeeded his father in the instrument business, but there is no evidence except this print, which has been interpreted as a trade card with a spot to insert a serial number. If his business was large enough to require serial numbers, however, we would expect to find some of his instruments surviving in historical collections and private hands. We don't.
Silvio Bedini has pointed out that the print is a derivative version of William Hamlin's admission ticket. It now has "R.E." added before Hamlin; there is a place to insert a number, and the words "Admit the Bearer" have been removed from the banner. It is likely a lottery ticket. In this case, the prize would have been a reflecting telescope provided by R. E. Hamlin.
Curatorial RemarksOther examples of this ticket are in the Rhode Island Historical Society and the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.