In the Preface to Colonial and Historic Homes of Maryland artist Don Swann states "With the eyes of an artist, through the medium of an etcher's needle, I have endeavored to capture the picturesque on a copper plate. The quaint charm of primitive cabins, the rugged appeal of sturdy farm homes, the gracious air of commodious manor homes, and the impelling respect inspired by palatial mansions of great land-owners."
For four summers in the late 1930’s the artist and his son (Don Swann, Jr.) traveled throughout Maryland in search of early colonial homes. While the artist stopped to sketch and photograph the homes, his son drew floor plans and reconstructed the histories of the homes. The resulting sketches and accompanying text were published privately as a two-volume deluxe edition in 1939. The set contained 100 etchings and was limited to two hundred copies, priced at $200 per set upon publication. F. Scott Fitzgerald contributed a forward to the title.
Don Swann, Sr. was born in Florida in 1899 and moved to Baltimore as a child. Mr. Swann had a long and varied career that included aviation, exploring, and etching. Originally enrolled in St. John’s College in Annapolis, he left to attend the Maryland Institute to study art. He continued his art studies in Munich and Paris before returning to America. As an artist he illustrated significant structures, mostly in and around Washington D.C. and Baltimore. Much of his work is in permanent collections of the U.S. Naval Museum, the Smithsonian, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Library of Congress, as well as many notable private collections. He formed the Etchcrafters Art Guild in Baltimore. The artist resided in Baltimore until his death in 1954.
