Joseph Grego
Encyclopedia
Joseph Grego. was an art collector and exhibitor, author and journalist, inventor and graphics expert.

Family origins and Company Directorships

Joseph Grego was born in 1843, at 23 Granville Square, Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell is an area of central London in the London Borough of Islington. From 1900 to 1965 it was part of the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury. The well after which it was named was rediscovered in 1924. The watchmaking and watch repairing trades were once of great importance...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, the elder son of Joseph Grego (1817–1881) and his wife Louisa Emelia Dawley. Joseph Grego died unmarried on 24 January 1908, at the address where he was born and spent most of his life.

His grandfather, Antonio Grego, a native of Como
Como
Como is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy.It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como....

 in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, settled in London before 1821 as a looking-glass manufacturer, the firm becoming Susan Grego and Sons in 1839, and Charles & Joseph Grego in 1845. Joseph Grego invented the 'Colour Photo-Copier', a system of reproducing 18th century colour prints in such exact facsimile that they have often been mistaken for originals. He was also Director of photo-engravers Carl Hentschel Ltd, 1899-1908. [1896 Patent: No 2013: “Improvements in the Production of Zink or other Metal Blocks for Printing Purposes.”] Grego was also a Director and substantial shareholder of Kegan Paul & Co.
Routledge
Routledge is a British publishing house which has operated under a succession of company names and latterly as an academic imprint. Its origins may be traced back to the 19th-century London bookseller George Routledge...

 from 1903 and The Graphic
The Graphic
The Graphic was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company Illustrated Newspapers Limited....

Company, until his death..

Writer and Editor

After a private education, Grego worked briefly at Lloyds the underwriters. As an art journalist and author, he specialised as a writer and collector in the works of James Gillray
James Gillray
James Gillray , was a British caricaturist and printmaker famous for his etched political and social satires, mainly published between 1792 and 1810.- Early life :He was born in Chelsea...

, Thomas Rowlandson
Thomas Rowlandson
Thomas Rowlandson was an English artist and caricaturist.- Biography :Rowlandson was born in Old Jewry, in the City of London. He was the son of a tradesman or city merchant. On leaving school he became a student at the Royal Academy...

, George Morland
George Morland
George Morland was an English painter of animals and rustic scenes.-Life:Morland was born in London, the 3rd son of Henry Robert Morland , artist, engraver and picture restorer...

, Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...

 and George Cruikshank
George Cruikshank
George Cruikshank was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other authors, reached an international audience.-Early life:Cruikshank was born in London...

, and was an acknowledged authority on all of them. Chiefly responsible for the edition of James Gillray’s ‘works’ (1873), and editing ‘Rowlandson the Caricaturist’ (1880), both cited as standard books of reference. He collected much material for a life of Morland, which he did not complete. In 1904, he published ‘Cruickshank’s Water Colours’ with reproductions in colour. In 1874, he compiled a volume of ‘Thackerayana;’ (600 sketches) (1875 suppressed – reissued 1898.)

Grego also edited Pear's Pictorial (1893–1906), wrote ‘History of Parliamentary Elections in the Old days, from the time of the Stuarts to Victoria’ (1886 & 1892) and edited Gronow's
Rees Howell Gronow
Rees Howell Gronow , "Captain Gronow", was a Welsh Grenadier Guards officer, an unsuccessful parliamentarian, a dandy and a writer of celebrated reminiscences.-Origins and education:...

 Reminiscences with repro-prints (1889); Vuilliers ‘History of Dancing’ (1898) ‘Pictorial Pickwickiana: Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...

 and his illustrators’ (1899) and Goldsmith’s ‘Vicar of Wakefield’, including Forster
Forster
Forster may refer to:* Forster, New South Wales, a town in Australia* Forster , several people with the surname* Forster Music Publisher, Inc., a sheet music publisher founded in 1916 based in Chicago...

’s essay on the story (1903.).

Collector and Exhibitor

Inheriting the spirit of collecting from his father, as an Art dealer, Grego always lent his prints and drawings for public exhibitions, occupying most of his time organising such, chiefly of ‘English Humorists in Art.’ English Humourists in Art Exhibition; Royal Institute; Piccadilly; 1889. Nottingham Castle Exhibition; also publishing an illustrated souvenir with historical notes for the Royal Naval Exhibition in 1891. From 1897 to 1899 Joseph Grego was secretary of the 'Kernoozer's Club';

Victorian Era Exhibition 1897

Joseph Grego was also a named member of the Honorary Sub-Committee, as an organiser and contributor to; the Historical and Commemorative Section; Charles Dickens Memorials; Art and Letters; for the Victorian Era Exhibition
Victorian Era Exhibition 1897
The Victorian Era Exhibition 1897; was held to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee, and the overall Victorian Era of Queen Victoria, celebrating her 60th year on the Throne. , the exhibition was held at Earls Court, and was opened by HRH The Duke of Cambridge, May 24, 1897...

. Earls Court 1897. Opened by HRH The Duke of Cambridge
Duke of Cambridge
Duke of Cambridge is a title which has been conferred upon members of the British royal family several times. It was first used as a designation for Charles Stuart , the eldest son of James, Duke of York , though he was never formally created Duke of Cambridge...

, May 24th 1897. This section of the exhibition depicted relics, autographs, paintings, and drawings illustrating novels by Dickens, and also a selection of works by the great Pictorial Humorists of the Victorian Era, &c. The exhibition began with items (58-71), (NB: 1-57 not listed/exhibited), with a series of drawings by Charles Green, RI, illustrating eight of the Dickens works, followed by further (C Green) works lent by Joseph Grego &c &c. This Art Gallery is listed (58-325) concluding with the Dickens Memorial Room, listing items (325a - 325h). Both sections were exhibited in the West-wing of the Earls Court venue.

1897: Victorian Era Exhibition, foreword: “The history of Pickwick
Pickwick
Pickwick may refer to:*The Pickwick Papers, a novel by Charles Dickens, or its main character, Mr Pickwick**The Pickwick Papers , a british 1952-film**The Pickwick Papers ....

 – The section undertaken by Mr. Joseph Grego is the fullest collection of Dickensiana ever gathered into one focus. There are (268) illustrations of his works by his contemporaries, some unique and even unpublished*.”

ART AND LETTERS ROOM: THE CHARLES DICKENS MEMORIAL,

(Between Historical and Naval Corridor and Military rooms.)

CASE – DICKENS MEMORIALS
  • 325A. Silver Two-Handled Loving Cup, with Stand. Presented to Charles Dickens
    Charles Dickens
    Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...

     from the Philosophical Institution, Edinburgh. 26th March 1858.
  • 325B. Pair of Silver and Tortoise-Shell Ash trays. A Memento presented by Benjamin Disraeli, (afterwards Earl of Beaconsfield
    Earl of Beaconsfield
    The title Earl of Beaconsfield in the peerage of the United Kingdom was created in 1876 for Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, a favourite of Queen Victoria. Victoria favoured Disraeli's Tory policies over those of his Liberal rival, William Ewart Gladstone. Disraeli had also promoted the Royal...

    .) to Charles Dickens. Gadshill, November 16th, 1852. Lent by James Orrock
    James Orrock
    James Orrock , was a prominent Scottish collector of art and oriental ceramics, illustrator and landscape watercolourist...

    , Esq RI.
  • 325C. DISPATCH BOX used by Charles Dickens on his last visit and reading tour to America. With leather cover of the same. Some of the adventures of this Dispatch Box are related by Dickens. See Life of Charles Dickens by John Forster. Lent by J Ashby Sterry, Esq.
  • 325D. WRITING DESK of Thomas Hood
    Thomas Hood
    Thomas Hood was a British humorist and poet. His son, Tom Hood, became a well known playwright and editor.-Early life:...

     The humourist, (1789-1845). Authenticating Documents in possession of the exhibitor. The Desk was given by Mrs. Hood to the late Thomas Reseigh, and was inherited by the present owner. Lent by James Martin
    James Martin
    -Actors, musicians, and other performers:*James Martin , saxophonist, singer, and record producer*James Martin , actor on EastEnders*James Martin , actor on Still Game...

    , Esq.
  • 325 E. COLLECTION OF AUTOGRAPH LETTERS OF:- Charles Dickens, Douglas Jerrold, Carlisle
    Carlisle (surname)
    Carlisle is a surname, and may refer to:*Anthony Carlisle, surgeon and discover of electrolysis*Belinda Carlisle, American singer, of the Go-Go's*Bob Carlisle, American Christian singer*Clarke Carlisle, English footballer with Burnley F.C....

    , Cardinal Manning
    Cardinal Manning
    Cardinal Manning may refer to* Henry Edward Manning , English Roman Catholic Archbishop and Cardinal* Timothy Manning , Archbishop of Los Angeles...

    , Cruickshank
    Cruickshank
    Cruickshank is a surname and may refer to:* Adrian Cruickshank , Australian politician* Andrew Cruickshank , Scottish actor* Bobby Cruickshank , Scottish professional golfer...

    , Wilkie Collins
    Wilkie Collins
    William Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. He was very popular during the Victorian era and wrote 30 novels, more than 60 short stories, 14 plays, and over 100 non-fiction pieces...

    , Tennyson
    Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson
    Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular poets in the English language....

    , Thackeray
    Thackeray
    Thackeray is the name of:*William Makepeace Thackeray, a novelist*Bal Thackeray, an Indian politician*Edward Talbot Thackeray, a recipient of the Victoria Cross*A David Thackeray, a South African astronomer...

    , Darwin
    Charles Darwin
    Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...

    , Thomas Hood
    Thomas Hood
    Thomas Hood was a British humorist and poet. His son, Tom Hood, became a well known playwright and editor.-Early life:...

    , &c., &c. Lent by Maitland Coffin.
  • 325F. TWO AUTOGRAPH LETTERS. The last letter written by the Duke of Wellington
    Duke of Wellington
    The Dukedom of Wellington, derived from Wellington in Somerset, is a hereditary title in the senior rank of the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first holder of the title was Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington , the noted Irish-born career British Army officer and statesman, and...

    . Letter from Thomas Hood to Landseer
    Landseer
    Landseer may refer to:* Sir Edwin Henry Landseer , painter* Landseer , Thoroughbred racehorse trained in Ireland* Landseer , a black-and-white variant of the Newfoundland, named after the painter...

    . Lent by Algernon Graves
    Algernon Graves
    Algernon Graves was a British art sales and art exhibition documenter. He created reference sources that began the modern discipline of provenance research.-Early life:...

    , Esq., F.S.A.


CARLYLE RELIC
  • 325G. WRITING TABLE, formerly the Property of Thomas Carlyle
    Thomas Carlyle
    Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the Victorian era.He called economics "the dismal science", wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator.Coming from a strict Calvinist family, Carlyle was...

    , bequeathed by him to Sir James Fitzjames Stephen
    James Fitzjames Stephen
    Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, 1st Baronet was an English lawyer, judge and writer. He was created 1st Baronet Stephen by Queen Victoria.-Early life:...

    , Bart., K.C.S.I. Lent by Sir Herbert Stephen, Bart.
  • 325H. H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES (Bronze Statuette). Lent by M.H. Spielman, Esq.


VEE 1897. Commemorative Medal

A memorial Medal (50mm) was struck in the Exhibition by Spink & Son, London, commemorating the Victorian Era Exhibition of 1897, held at Earls Court. The front of the coin has a raised image of Queen Victoria with the surrounding writing Victoria D: G: Britt: Regina F: D: Ind: Imp in commemor an reg sexagesimi MDCCCXCVII. The back of the coin carries the wording Victorian Era Exhibition, opened by HRH The Duke of Cambridge, May 24th 1897.

See also: "A Pictorial Reminiscence of a Visit to the Victorian Era Exhibition Earl's Court 1897", an 18 page illustrated booklet issued by Fownes' Gloves.

Kernoozer's Club

From 1897 to 1899 Joseph Grego was secretary of the Kernoozer's Club; (motto: Nostrum de armis quaerere,) a close and select little body of connoisseurs in Arms and Armour (“the armour-club par excellence in the world”) formed to promote ‘friendly intercourse between Gentlemen to study, collect and exhibit Ancient Armour and Arms.’ The words kernoozer or kernoozling are late C19th humorous travesties on connoisseur. Its sense now extended to form a verb; I kernooze, he kernoozes, I/he should kernoozle.

The Kernoozers Club was founded in 1881 by its first president; Charles Alexander, Baron de Cosson, (from a family of French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

 emigrees) born in Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...

 28 August 1846. Vice President was Robert Alexander Hillingford
Robert Alexander Hillingford
Robert Alexander Hillingford was an English painter. He specialized in historical pictures, often battle scenes.-Bibliography:He was born in London on January 28, 1828, and studied in Düsseldorf in 1841 for five years and before traveling to Munich, Rome, Florence and Naples, where he married and...

, (1825–1904) with Joseph Grego as its Secretary. It was limited to 20 members, whose meetings were held at members’ homes. Members are known to include Sir Richard Burton; Egerton Castle
Egerton Castle
Egerton Castle M.A., F.S.A. was a Victorian era author, antiquarian, and swordsman, and an early practitioner of reconstructed historical fencing, as well as the captain of the British épée and saber teams at the 1908 Olympics.He was born into a wealthy family; his maternal grandfather was the...

; Sir Walter Pollock; John Camden Hotten
John Camden Hotten
John Camden Hotten was an English bibliophile and publisher.Hotten was born in Clerkenwell, London to a family of Cornish origins. He spent the period 1848–1856 in America and on his return opened a small bookshop in London at 151a Piccadilly, and founded the publishing firm later known as Chatto...

; Arthur Charles Fox-Davies
Arthur Charles Fox-Davies
Arthur Charles Fox-Davies was a British author on heraldry. By profession, he was a barrister but he also worked as a journalist and novelist.Born in Bristol, he was the second son of T...

; John Forster; and Edward McDermott.

A Kernoozers Club meeting was featured in the Magazine of Art (1889; Cassell & Co,) also referred to as “a club of armour virtuosi,” by The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

; Identical arm and armor societies were supposedly forming in Madrid and Paris about that time emulating the Kernoozers, which folded in 1922 (Sirelmann, p. 363). In 1890 the Junior Kernoozers Club was founded, this club, later becoming the Meyrick Society, whose collections of armour now form the bulk of the Wallace Collection
Wallace Collection
The Wallace Collection is a museum in London, with a world-famous range of fine and decorative arts from the 15th to the 19th centuries with large holdings of French 18th-century paintings, furniture, arms & armour, porcelain and Old Master paintings arranged into 25 galleries.It was established in...

 in London.

Reviews

1897: VEE: “The history of Pickwick
Pickwick
Pickwick may refer to:*The Pickwick Papers, a novel by Charles Dickens, or its main character, Mr Pickwick**The Pickwick Papers , a british 1952-film**The Pickwick Papers ....

 – The section undertaken by Mr. Joseph Grego is the fullest collection of Dickensiana ever gathered into one focus. There are illustrations of his works by his contemporaries, some unique and even unpublished*.”

1899: “Pictorial Pickwickiana:” Unique. Being literary and artistic treasures unlikely to come onto the market – their value… inestimable – examples beyond price – unequalled in interest from a literary/historical point of view – scarce, costly and difficult to procure and impossible for an individual to secure a collection of...

British Library and Estate Auctions

His vast accumulations of prints, drawings, and books &c, were dispersed on his death at Christie's
Christie's
Christie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house.- History :The official company literature states that founder James Christie conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766...

 (April to June 1908) and Puttick and Simpson
Phillips de Pury & Company
Phillips de Pury & Company is an auction house and art dealership, with offices in London, New York, Geneva, Berlin, Brussels, Los Angeles, Milan, Munich and Paris. Phillips conducts auctions in New York, London and Geneva in the areas of Contemporary Art, Photography, 20-21st Century Design, Art...

 (April, June, July 1908.)

There are 28 indexed files of Grego’s submissions in the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...

. Although Grego was involved with photographic techniques throughout his life, with the exception of 87 19th century glass-negatives of Pickwickiana* in his estate, withheld from the 1897 VEE, there are no other surviving Grego-photographic records. Albeit there are receipts for ‘Photogravure
Photogravure
Photogravure is an intaglio printmaking or photo-mechanical process whereby a copper plate is coated with a light-sensitive gelatin tissue which had been exposed to a film positive, and then etched, resulting in a high quality intaglio print that can reproduce the detail and continuous tones of a...

 plates produced by Joseph Grego for use by ‘Chapman and Hall
Chapman and Hall
Chapman & Hall was a British publishing house in London, founded in the first half of the 19th century by Edward Chapman and William Hall. Upon Hall's death in 1847, Chapman's cousin Frederic Chapman became partner in the company, of which he became sole manager upon the retirement of Edward...

’- Dickens's publishers, and a rare life-photograph* of Hablot Knight Browne
Hablot Knight Browne
Hablot Knight Browne was an English artist, famous as Phiz, illustrator of books by Charles Dickens, Charles Lever and Harrison Ainsworth.-Biography:...

 ('Phiz'). Jules Bastien-Lepage
Jules Bastien-Lepage
Jules Bastien-Lepage , was a French naturalist painter, a style related to the Realist movement.-Life and work:...

 drew a small head of Grego in pen and ink on a visit to London, circa 1880-81..

Obituaries

The Times, 28 Jan; Athenaeum, 2 Feb; Graphic 1 Feb 1908; (With portrait from a photo.)

Research notes

Robert Seymour (illustrator)
Robert Seymour (illustrator)
Robert Seymour was a British illustrator. Seymour is known for his illustrations of the works of Charles Dickens and for his caricatures.-Early years:...

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