On Jan. 22, the Mercantile Library at UMSL will be featured on “The Antiques Road Show,” a weekly production of WGBH, a public television affiliate out of Boston. The show will air at 6 p.m. on KETC Channel 9.
The Mercantile Library’s fine collection of rare Amaricana prints on steamboats and the Mississippi River will be one of the major focuses of the program.
Some of these rare works include: Karl Bodmer’s watercolor prints of life along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and George Katlin’s paintings of Native Americans, as well as the first known painting of the city of St. Louis, completed in 1832.
John Hoover, the director of the Mercantile Library, wrote the script for the piece. “We are very pleased to be a part of ‘The Antiques Road Show’ and it comes at a very good time,” Hoover said. “The national exposure will be a very good thing for the University.”
Last summer, “The Antiques Road Show” visited many historical sites in the St. Louis area, and became very interested in the Mississippi River and much of the history attached to it. They were especially fascinated by river travel, specifically steamboats.
The Mercantile Library has an extensive collection of artifacts connected with steamboats. These include numerous models, paintings, as well as an authentic pilot wheel. It was a perfect place from which to film the upcoming episode.
Aug. 4, 2000, the crew from “The Antiques Road Show” arrived at UMSL, and began filming from the backdrop of the aforementioned pilot wheel, eventually moving down into the atrium.
Don Cresswell, a member of the Mercantile Library’s National Board, and a world-reknowned expert on art, narrated the whole project. He has worked with the Mercantile Library on numerous occasions in the past, and is also the director of the Philadelphia Print Shop, which sells historical maps and prints to museums throughout the world.
“I really like the Mercantile Library, and admire the collections it contains,” Cresswell said. “Frankly, I believe that it to be one of the finest libraries in the US. I was happy that we filmed there.”
John Hoover was also very pleased with how things worked out. “We were all real glad to have Don,” Hoover said. “The crew began filming at noon and continued until six that evening, they covered a considerable amount of material.”
If you are unable to see the program on Jan. 22, it will air several times during the week.
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