Talk:Theodore Jasper

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Identity of Theodore Jasper, artist in Studer's Popular Ornithology

Latest comment: 15 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

This page from Cornell University says that Theodore Jasper (artist for Studer's Popular Ornithology) was a medical doctor and ornithologist, however this appears to be an error. Haverstock et al. (2000, see references in article) has a biographical listing for an artist Theodore Jasper in Columbus Ohio active at the same time that ornithologist/lithographer Jacob Henry Studer resided there. There is no mention of Jasper being a physician or an ornithologist--he is listed as a tinter of photographs and a portrait painter. It seems reasonably certain that Haverstock's entry is correct and that this is Theodore Jasper, the artist of Studer's work.

Additional note: the 1903 edition of Studer's Birds of America (a.k.a. Studer's Popular Ornithology, see page text from Univ. Wisconsis) says:

The original drawings for the work were made from nature, by THEODORE JASPER, A. M., M. D., an Artist of superior capabilities, who has made Ornithology a life-study.

This would appear to be the source of the statement on Cornell's web page above, but it seems really likely this was marketing hype. The concurrence of Studer and Jasper's biographies in Haverstock's work cited in the article is just too darn good--both working in printing/illustration in Columbus, Ohio, during the same period. Cotinis (talk) 21:11, 8 April 2009 (UTC)Reply

- - See any of the works of Oliver Davie, a famous ornithologist from Columbus Ohio in the late 19th century (Nests and Eggs of North American Birds, or Methods in the Art of Taxidermy), wherein you will find many drawings by Jasper, praises for his skill in bird taxidermy from this much more famous colleague. Havistock treats only the commercial artistic work, and leaves out entirely his bird illustrations. Studer, by contrast, has no history as an ornithologist, although he claimed to be one at the end of his life; see the pathetic obit in the New York Times. John Maynard Wheaton, author of "Report on the Birds of Ohio" 1882 mentions Jasper's work with birds in eight different references. Studer, by contrast, knew very little about birds; his 'contributions' to the book he published based on Jasper's paintings feature lots of plagiarism: the account of the ivory-billed woodpecker is stolen word for word from Audubon!

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