COLLECTION GIVEN TO MUSEUM

OGDENSBURG — As Frederic Remington Art Museum Executive Director Edward A. LaVarnway flipped through a collection of Collier's magazines, printed in the early 1900s, he opened a two-page print of something even he had never seen before.

It was "The Stampede," a nighttime image, called a nocturne, of a rider charging his horse through a swarm of frightened cattle.

The image was the centerpiece of just one of nearly 150 magazines, first-edition books and advertisements that were donated to the museum Saturday.

"The donor had a great eye for special Remington material," Mr. LaVarnway said. "These really show him as a painter."

Museum officials hope to use the materials, donated by Ogdensburg native Wallace N. Martel, for a small research library on the second floor of the Kid's Place building, 303 Washington St. Officials hope to open the library, which also will include several hundred books being housed in storage areas at the museum, in a few months.

"This is a substantial chunk of historic materials for our library," museum Curator Laura A. Foster said. "The items that we're most excited about are those that were produced as part of his career. Some of the landmark publications are in this set."

Among famous prints such as "The Song of Hiawatha," materials include books written by the artist and a book by Theodore Roosevelt, which Mr. Remington illustrated.

Although he is known today for his bronze sculptures, Mr. Remington wrote eight books and did 3,000 to 4,000 illustrations, Mr. LaVarnway said.

In an effort to erase his reputation as an illustrator and establish himself as a serious artist, Mr. Remington burned several hundred original paintings for the illustrative prints, leaving the magazines as the only record of the works, Mr. LaVarnway said.

"If you're an illustrator, you are doing what other people want you to do. After a while he got a little frustrated," he said. "But this is what brought Remington to American audiences."

Mr. Martel, who grew up in Ogdensburg, said he was drawn to the museum as a child and has spent the past 50 years slowly collecting publications with illustrations by American artists such as Remington and N.C. Wyeth.

Now in his 80s and living in Ohio, Mr. Martel decided to donate his Remington collection to the museum before moving to Florida.

"One thing I found out was there wasn't a whole lot of Remington available, but when I came across one, I bought it," he said. "Once you collect them, then it's even more fun to be able to give them to the museum where they could use them."