Samuel Colt – Arms, Art and Invention (Wadsworth Atheneum Museum Of Art (Yale)) - Hardcover

Houze, Herbert G

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300111339 ISBN 13: 9780300111330

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2006

Synopsis

The fascinating story of the American inventor and manufacturer who perfected the revolver Samuel Colt (1814-1862) first patented his "Colt" revolver in 1835 and thereby redefined the architecture of handguns. This stunning book is the first to present in detail the evolution of his most famous invention and to document the unsurpassed Colt firearms collections held by the Wadsworth Atheneum. Colt designed his revolvers with an artistic sensibility--paying particular attention to form and beauty and juxtaposing colors and finishes to heighten the visual effects. He was also one of the first American manufacturers to secure celebrity endorsements and to commission paintings by renowned artists like George Catlin to promote his arms. Colt's standards for excellence, industrial foresight, and quest for market domination are explored in light of primary documents that reveal his constant battles to protect his patents. Essays discuss Colt's personal collection of historic firearms as well as the memorial collection of Colt-manufactured firearms, the relationship between art and commerce as they pertain to the inventor's career, and his international celebrity. Richly illustrated and beautifully produced, this volume presents the artistry of the firearms that Colt worked so diligently to perfect--as well as his promotional abilities that made a tremendous impact on American culture.

About this title

Review:

...a brilliantly executed, if unusual catalogue, remarkable for its swarthy
delve into the opening of the American frontier...' -- The Daily Telegraph, December 9, 2006

Synopsis:

Samuel Colt (1814-1862) first patented his 'Colt' revolver in 1835 and quickly redefined the architecture of handguns. This stunning book traces the evolution of Colt's most famous invention and examines his ambition for artistic excellence as well as his fascinating personal life, industrial foresight, and marketing savvy. "Samuel Colt" is the first book to examine in depth the complex relationship between art and commerce as they relate to the inventor's career. Colt designed his revolvers with an artistic sensibility, paying particular attention to form and beauty and juxtaposing contrasting colours and finishes to heighten the visual effects. He was also a ruthless advertiser and one of America's first manufacturers to use art as a marketing tool. Essays discuss Colt's extraordinary personal collection of firearms, now housed in the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. Unpublished documents reveal Colt's constant battles to protect his patents and show how he commissioned letters of endorsement from the celebrities of his day to promote his arms.

Richly illustrated and beautifully produced, this volume presents the artistry of the guns whose design and manufacture Colt worked so diligently to perfect, as well as his clever self-promotional abilities that had such a tremendous impact on American culture.

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0300111339
• ISBN 13: 9780300111330
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288