How a 19th-century ventriloquist compiled a great collection of prints
When we came across this antique print of the interior of a theatre in Edo, Japan, we had no idea of its fascinating origin story.
As we discovered from the vendor from whom we sourced the print, the piece is from the Album Cosmopolite, compiled by Alexandre Vattemare. Further research revealed that the album was a rare folio released in twenty issues between 1837 and 1839, collecting high-quality facsimiles of artwork from various cultures (some of which would have seemed very strange and foreign indeed for the Europeans of the day).
Just as fascinating as the album, though, was Vattemare himself. Unbelievably, the man was, in turns, a surgeon, a seminarian, mime – as well as the most famous ventriloquist of his time!
Nicolas-Marie-Alexandre Vattemare was born in Paris in 1796, the son of a Parisian lawyer who moved to Normandy. As was only right for the son of a good family, Alexandre was sent to a seminary at a young age. The priesthood was not for him, though, as he discovered his true calling: as a ventriloquist. Fortunately, or unfortunately, this talent, discovered between the ages of seven and 10, only got him expelled from the seminary. This was a pattern to be repeated in his life, as he was also later expelled from his medical studies in Paris because of his dedication to ventriloquism.
He eventually gained great success as a ventriloquist throughout Europe (under the name “Mr Alexandre”), and reportedly gave generously to charitable organizations wherever he plied his trade. He visited museums and libraries in these towns and hatched a plan to share with many people the large numbers of duplicates in books and other objects lying unused in collections. Vattemare thus became a ventriloquist-philanthropist and a “missionary of exchanges” in Europe.
In 1839, he brought his ideas to America, and he went to major American cities, which supplied him with money, books, works of art, and natural history specimens in the name of cultural exchange. He thus became the owner of a famous collection of prints, autographs, coins and medals, and found time as well to engage in international projects (such as being one of the founders of the Boston Public Library). He published the Album Cosmopolite, from which the Edo print is taken, to finance his ambitious project of establishing a system of international cultural exchanges.
There is even a Canadian connection in Vattemare’s story. In 1840 he was in Montreal and established connections with prominent figures there, thus enabling him to promote his plan of exchange and stressing the need to bring together people of different beliefs and political opinions.