The case of Sergeant Delaney

Bellows, George, 1882-1925 · 1921

After an illustration which appeared in the Century Magazine. (Bellows) / Of all the Bellows lithographs, "The Case of Sergeant Delaney" is the most problematic. Because of the military subject matter, Emma Bellows included this in the War Series and accordingly dated the print "1918." In the artist's record book references to "Incident of Delaney I" and "Delaney II" are listed for 1921. For "Incident of Delany I" the artist wrote "for U.S. Navy." Next to the entry "Delaney II" he noted "O.K. USN." Only one state or stone is known as of this writing. The only known connection to Bellows' reference to the U.S. Navy is the existence of the impression in the collection in the Library of Congress, dedicated by the artist to Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy from 1913 to 1921. There is no record, however, of Secretary Daniels having commissioned the print. Attempts to find the "Century Magazine" story alluded to by Emma Bellows in her catalogue have been unsuccessful. If the subject appeared elsewhere as an illustration, it is not known when or where. No documentation can be found to suggest that a real Sergeant Delaney existed or that a noteworthy incident that fits the circumstances illustrated ever occurred. Bellows recorded neither a size for either print, nor a selling price--information he did supply for most other prints of the same year. Instead, for the size of the print in each case be noted large. (Mason)