Work/Cited Episode 5: Excavating the Art and Life of Eliza Pratt Greatorex

In this episode, NYPL’s Elizabeth Cronin and art historian Katherine Manthorne discuss Manthorne's new book, Restless Enterprise: The Art and Life of Eliza Pratt Greatorex, which tells the story of the most famous woman American artist you’ve probably never heard of. In the post-Civil War era, Greatorex was a painter in the Hudson River School, a chronicler of Old New York and pioneer in the etching revival, and the NYPL’s collection of her lost pictures, papers, and even a wooden book cover carved in Bavaria made the book possible.

Episode Recording and Transcript

Work/Cited Episode 5: Excavating the Art and Life of Eliza Pratt Greatorex from The New York Public Library on Vimeo.

A transcript of this event is available here.

Episode References and Additional Resources

Eliza Greatorex’s Works from NYPL

Available on the Digital Collections site

Eliza Greatorex’s Books at NYPL

• Die Heimath von Oberamergau (Oberammergau, 1871)

• The Homes of Ober-Ammergau: A series of twenty etchings in heliotype, from the original pen-and-ink drawings, together with notes from a diary kept during a three months' residence in Ober-Ammergau, in the summer of 1871 (Munich, J. Albert, 1872)

• Old New York: From the Battery to Bloomingdale (New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1875)

• Relics of Manhattan: A series of photographs, from pen and ink sketches taken on the spot, by Eliza Greatorex; illustrating historic scenes and buildings in and around this city, and comprising the following views … (New York, 1869)

• Summer Etchings in Colorado (New York: G. P. Putnam's sons [c1873])

Other Important Books Mentioned

• Elizabeth Ellet, Women Artists in All Ages and Countries(New York: Harper and Bros., 1859)

• Mary Louise Booth, History of the City of New York (New York: W.R.C. Clark, 1867)

• Madeleine Beaufort, ed. The Diaries of Samuel P. Avery (New York: Arno Press, 1979)

• Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, ed. History of Woman Suffrage. Ed. by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Matilda Joslyn Gage (New York: Fowler & Wells, [1881]-1922)

About the Work/Cited Series

Work/Cited is a program series that showcases the latest scholarship supported by the rich collections of The New York Public Library with a behind-the-scenes look at how the finished product was inspired, researched, and created.  Episodes air monthly via Zoom; view our scheduled events on the NYPL calendar, and sign up for NYPL's Research Newsletter to hear about future programs as they are announced.   And if you miss an episode, check the NYPL blog, where videos and links to related resources are posted shortly afterward.