On the right page of an aged book, a decorative banner with a hanging ornament, the name “Nelly Gray” written upon it.
An aged open book with a musical composition with the title of “DARLING NELLY GRAY”.
An aged open book with an illustration of a cotton branch above a poetic line on the left and two figures working in a field on the right.
An aged open book with a circular floral illustration above a poetic verse and an empty boat in open water surrounded by tall grass on the right page.
An aged open book with a small illustration of a stringed instrument above a poetic verse on the left and an illustration of two figures conversing on the right.
An aged open book with a small illustration of an angel above a poetic line on the left page and a larger illustration of two angels embracing on the right.
An aged open book with a musical composition on the left page and an illustrated title page with the text “MY DARLING Nelly Gray” on the right.
An aged open book with a small illustration and a poetic verse on the left and a larger illustration of people walking in the countryside on the right.
An aged open book with a small floral illustration above a poetic verse and an illustration of a lone figure seated at a desk by a window on the right.
An aged open book with a small illustration of a shoreside cabin above a poem on the left and a larger illustration of a riverside landscape with floral embellishments.
An aged open book with illustrations of a seated figure above a poetic verse and a circular illustration of a man with his head in his hands on the right.
An aged open book with a blank right page. On the left, an illustrated fragment of a letter laying over flowers.
An aged open book with a small portrait and a poetic verse on the left page and a larger illustration of a man playing a banjo on the right.
An aged open book with a floral illustration with butterflies above a poetic line on the left and a sleeping figure under a window to the right.
An aged open book with a portrait sketch above a poetic line on the left and a larger illustration of a figure bent over a desk on the right page.
An aged open book with a floral illustration above a poetic line on the left and a reclining figure below an angel on the right page.
An aged open book with a small illustration featuring instruments among vines above a poetic verse and a larger illustration of a couple in a boat on the right.
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George W. Brenneman

My Darling Nelly Gray
Now On View

Maker

George W. Brenneman (American, 1856-1906), illustrator
Benjamin Russel Hanby (American, 1833 - 1867), composer
Charles E. Brown &amp

Title

My Darling Nelly Gray

Year

1892

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

book cloth, paper, ink

Supports

Geography

Place Made: Boston; Place Made: Massachusetts

Dimensions

22.9 x 17.8 x 0.6 cm (9 x 7 x 1/4 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Chase

Object Number

81.254

Type

Exhibition History

Process Work
Intersections of Photography and Print ca. 1825 to Today
Feb 01, 2025 – Jul 20, 2025

Label copy

George Brenneman’s illustrations for the book My Darling Nelly Gray were reproduced as photographic half-tone prints. To print a half-tone, a photograph of the original drawing is taken through a grid or screen. As the photograph is captured, the screen breaks up the tonal range of the drawing into small dots of varying size. This image is then transferred to a printing plate, etched in relief, and printed. At a distance, the dots in half-tone prints blend together, resulting in faithful reproductions of the original drawings. 

Landscape and Leisure
19th-Century American Drawings from the Collection
Mar 13, 2015 – Jul 19, 2015

Label copy

These atmospheric wash drawings by George Brenneman accompanied the song My Darling Nelly Gray, written more than 30 years earlier by Benjamin Hanby, a pastor and abolitionist in Ohio. Published in 1857, the song became popular among Union troops. It was based on the writer’s experience as a boy, when his parents hid a runaway slave named Joseph Selby in their home. Selby died soon after arriving, but told the story of his sweetheart, Nelly Gray, who had been sold away from their Kentucky plantation to Georgia. Stricken with grief, Selby ran away and was headed to Canada to earn money to buy Nelly Gray’s freedom when he died.

Brenneman’s appropriately sentimental vignettes were published along with a number of other illustrated songs in 1892, in a book titled Favorite Folk Ballads. The book was a nostalgic compilation of popular favorites from the past.

Recent Gifts and Acquisitions
Nov 05, 1982 – Jan 02, 1983

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

George W. Brenneman (American, 1856-1906), illustrator
Benjamin Russel Hanby (American, 1833 - 1867), composer
Charles E. Brown & Co. (Boston, active 1890s), publisher
My Darling Nelly Gray, 1892
Bound book with half-tone illustrations
22.9 x 17.8 x 0.6 cm (9 x 7 x 1/4 inches)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Chase 81.254

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