Brown University Library Collections
Graphic Arts Collections
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Alphabet Stones
Two alphabet stone tablets, by Gill and Benson; with presentation tablet stating "Alphabet stones carved by Eric Gill and John Howard Benson, given to the Library by John M. Crawford, '37".
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Ames (Robert S. and Margaret A.)
The Robert S. and Margaret A. Ames Collection was assembled over a thirty year period and built around three distinct but related ideas; the history of illustration, particularly nineteenth century books illustrated with woodcuts, wood or steel engravings or by lithography; the literature of travel and exploration, with a preference given to the North American continent; and pictorial representations of areas in which the Ames family lived before their arrival in Providence in 1970. The Ames Collection is notable for the degree to which it adds new titles to the Brown Library, the extent to which it complements other Brown holdings both in the John Hay Library and in Government Documents, and for its superb physical condition.
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Anne S.K. Brown Military
The Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection is the foremost American collection of material devoted to the history and iconography of soldiers and soldiering, and is one of the world's largest collections devoted to the study of military and naval uniforms. It was formed over a period of forty years by the late Mrs. John Nicholas Brown (1906-1985) of Providence and is still growing. It contains approximately 12,000 printed books, 18,000 albums, sketchbooks, scrapbooks and portfolios, (containing thousands of prints and drawings), and over 13,000 individual prints, drawings and water-colors as well as a collection of 5,000 miniature lead soldiers.
Formerly in the Brown family residence (the Nightingale-Brown House, 1791), the entire collection (which was probably the largest private military collection in the world), was presented to Brown University and transferred to Special Collections located in the John Hay Library in 1982.
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Audubon's Birds of America
The double elephant folio edition of Audubon's The Birds of America was published between 1827 and 1838. Subscribers received 87 parts of 5 prints each (one large, one medium and three small prints). The series contains 435 hand colored plates of 1065 birds. "Double elephant" refers to the size of the sheet of paper, which is the largest size that can be made by hand. Each sheet measures more than two by three feet.
There were 308 original subscribers, who paid approximately 00 for a complete set. While there were 308 original subscribers, only 161 subscribers purchased all parts. It is not possible to locate all of the complete sets. Some have been broken up and sold as individual images.
Albert E. Lownes, Class of 1920, presented his copy (bound in six volumes) to the University on the occasion of his 50th Class Reunion in 1970. Mr. Lownes received his copy as a wedding gift.
In addition, to the Double Elephant Folio edition, the library owns several uncolored proofs and an original printing plate, as well as other published editions of Audubon's work.
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Bookplate
The Collection includes over 5,500 bookplates of interest for the study of heraldry, symbolism, and design, as well as bibliophilia. Many printing and illustration techniques are represented in this collection, such as copperplate and wood engraving, hand-colored Japanese block printing on rice paper, and linoleum block printing. Among the collection's rarer plates are those designed by Albrecht Durer and Paul Revere. Part of the Broadsides Collection.
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Broadsides
The Broadsides Collection houses broadsides (single-sheet imprints), posters, bookplates, prints, valentines, greeting cards, postcards, and photographs. From a nucleus of 8,000 pieces in 1928, holdings have increased to over 40,000 items. Largely ephemeral by nature, broadsides are collected by only a few major libraries and historical societies in the United States. Originally issued primarily by governmental, religious, and political bodies, broadsides were later used for advertisements, programs, notices, ballad verses, elegies, and comments on contemporary events. More recently, they have become popular as exemplars of fine printing.
Includes holdings of the Harris, Rider, Lincoln, Koopman, Military and general library collections. Notable areas within Harris include slip ballads and carriers' addresses.
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Bromsen (Maury A.) Lincoln
In 2006, the Hay Library received a large bequest of materials relating to Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War from the estate of Boston book dealer Maury A. Bromsen. The collection included a significant array of prints and ephemera from the period, along with books, pamphlets, sheet music, sound recordings, period newspapers, portraits, and manuscripts. Among the key items included in the bequest were the original copper plates and full sets of prints from the Confederate War Etchings series by Maryland artist Adalbert Volck, substantial sets of manuscripts of Confederate General P.T.G.Beauregard and Union General George B. McClellan, and a set of the copy plates made by George Ayres from the original glass plate negatives created during an 1860 photo shoot by Chicago photographer Alexander Hesler.
Bromsen was an assiduous collector, and his own papers, which comprise part of the bequest, reveal his collecting activities as well as his efforts to place important items in public institutions.
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Brooks (William H.) Family
The Brooks family papers consist almost exclusively of correspondence from the period 1861-1865 of members of the Brooks family of Little Falls, New Jersey. While most of the letters are primarily concerned with family matters and relationships, some portion of the content relates the military activities of William H. Brooks and Jesse S. Comac, who enlisted in the Union Army at the rank of private early in the war. Camp life and battle scenes are described.
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Brown University Archives - Photograph
This collection contains views of Brown University, including buildings, events and activities, student organizations, group shots of department members, reunion classes and fraternities, and faculty members, alumni and visitors.
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Brown University Archives - Prints
This collection contains prints and etchings, mainly of Brown University buildings, but also includes portraits of faculty members and alumni, broadsides, athletic cartoons and postcards of Brown University buildings and events.
This collections includes the Helen Grose drawings and Tilden Thurber prints of the Brown University campus.
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Bullard Napoleon
This collection, given by Paul Revere Bullard (Brown Class of 1897), constitutes one of the largest collections of caricatures of Napoleon in the United States, and represents the work of English, French, German Russian, and Spanish artists; almost all the cartoons are hostile to their subject. The Bullard Collection complements similar holdings in the Anne S. K. Brown Collection, and is rivalled only by collections in the British Museum and the Bibliotheque Nationale. ...more information
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Carriers Addresses
Carriers' addresses were published by newspapers, usually on January 1, and distributed in the United States for more than two centuries. The custom originated in England and was introduced here during colonial times. The newsboys delivered these greetings in verse each New Year's Day and the customers understood that a tip was expected. The poems, often anonymous, describe the events of the past year, locally, regionally, and nationally, and end with a request for a gratuity for the faithful carrier. Often the poem referred to the carrier's diligence and hardships during winter weather. Illustrated with wood-engravings and decorative borders, carriers' addresses are distinctive examples of popular publishing in nineteenth century America. Brown University Library holds one of the largest collections of these charming works, in the Broadsides Collection and the Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays.
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Ciaraldi Comics
The collection, housed in the John Hay Library at Brown University, was amassed by the donor, Michael J. Ciaraldi, beginning in the early 1970s, and came to the Library beginning in 1996. The majority of the collection consists of comic books published since that time, up to 1995; there are also significant sections of magazine-format comics, graphic novels, fan and collector's journals, reissues of classic "golden age" comics and newspaper strips, translations of Japanese "manga" and "anime" comics and European comic art, and compilations of the work of comic artists, as well as advertising ephemera, role-playing game materials, and adult erotica. The Collection is particularly noteworthy for its holdings of comics by the small and independent publishers of the 1970s and 1980s. Imprints are very largely American, with some British satirical graphic magazines. The total number of items in the Collection is estimated at 60,000.
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Eckhardt, Jason C. drawings
Jason C. Eckhardt is an artist and illustrator born in 1958. He is known for his illustrations for science fiction books. This collection contains original artwork by Eckhardt for science fiction books and a Narragansett beer can featuring his illustration for their Lovecraft Innsmouth Olde Ale. Many of the illustrations relate to the science fiction writer Howard P. Lovecraft.
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Eichenberg (Fritz)
Engravings (25 total) acquired from the estate of book illustrator and graphic artist Fritz Eichenberg, who is primarily known for his work in wood engraving.
The copyright and literary rights to the works of Fritz Eichenberg reside in the Fritz Eichenberg Trust. Permission to publish must be obtained from the trustees. Requests should be directed to the Trustees of the Fritz Eichenberg Trust, c/o VAGA, 111 Broadway, Suite 1006, New York, NY 10006, (212)736-6666 - info@vagarights.com. ...more information
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Ellsworth (Elmer Ephraim)
The Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth papers, covering the period 1854-1861, consist of correspondence, a journal fragment, drafts of his writings, and sketches concerning Ellsworth's involvement with the Illinois Militia, the United States Zouave Cadets, and the New York Fire Zouaves, along with memorabilia about Ellsworth and his military career that was produced some time after his death.
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Frost Currency
The bank notes and documents in this collection were collected by Michael Freezy Frost. He was born in 1932 in Tulsa, Oklahoma and died on February 08, 2012 in McAllen, Texas. This collection contains examples of 26 pieces of currency, of varying types, issued in Rhode Island between 1775-1929, one bank note issued in Delaware in 1759, and 5 documents related to the fiscal history of 18th century Rhode Island.
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Greene Memorial
The name by which the collection of manuscripts by and relating to Albert Gorton Greene has been known. It is now more properly cited as Ms. Greene.
The Greene Memorial is a collection of materials relating to Judge Albert Gorton Greene, 1802-1868, the founder of the Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays. Included are fourteen watercolors of Italian and Roman ruins painted by Judge Greene; two paintings by Giovanni Thompson related to poems by Greene; a manuscript copybook of letters from John Quincy Adams to his son about the Bible; manuscripts and letters; certificates; daguerrotypes; scrapbooks of poems; autograph albums; deeds; and a sea-letter of the brig Clinton signed "G. Washington, 1795."
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Hamm Etchings
Eighty-one etchings, chiefly architectural, presented to the Library by Walter Charles Hamm, Class of 1870. ...more information
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Koopman (Harry Lyman)
Harry Lyman Koopman (1860-1937 ) was librarian from 1893 to 1930. In honor of Koopman at his retirement, Philip D. Sherman, class of 1902, who had been his student, presented his collection of literature, book arts, and the history of the book to the Library. "This collection contains over 5,000 first editions and rare books, manuscripts and association items, plus prints, drawings, and broadsides. It is a rich source for the study of English literature and the growth of fine printing from the works of Caxton and Chaucer in the 15th century to William Morris and William Butler Yeats in the 19th and 20th centuries." The Koopman Collection is notable for its prose fiction by Cooper, Irving, Holmes, and Melville, and for the collection of the works of Thackeray and Dickens issued in parts. Intended as a laboratory collection for the study of the art and history of the book, it includes the production of many late 19th century private presses, books issued in parts, and literary relics. Prints, Photographs, Museum objects, Specimen leaves listed in Koopman Accession book (in Archives).
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Langdon (William Chauncey)
Collection of pageants directed and organized by Langdon, founder and President of the American Pageant Association, and also includes scripts, correspondence, photographs, and memorabilia relating to other pageants of the early 20th century. Some pageants are classified in the Harris Collection, but most of them are part of the Langdon Papers.
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Linton (William James)
The William James Linton Papers of Brown University contains material reflecting the three major spheres of activity--literary, artistic, and political--to which Linton chiefly devoted himself during the course of his long life. The literary manuscripts, correspondence to and from Linton, sketchbooks, drawings, and photographs, which comprise the chief part of this collection, are materials which will serve the researcher in good stead in attempting to understand Linton's various achievements. When considered in conjunction with the large holdings of printed Linton materials in various collections elsewhere within the Brown University Library, the papers comprising the Linton Papers described here take on added significance, insofar as they serve well to complement those printed holdings. Special interest may attach to some of the literary manuscripts in this collection, "Love's Diary", "Mr. Joseph", and "Blue-Beard", which are as yet unpublished. The researcher may also be especially interested in the correspondence involving noteworthy personalities, such as Winslow Homer, Christina Rossetti, Algernon Charles Swinburne, et al.
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Martensen (Augustus)
The Martensen Papers are comprised of letters and documents; including fifty-five Civil War letters in German by Martensen and letters received by Martensen and members of Martensen's family.
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Miller
The Miller Collection, consisting of approximately 40,000 volumes, is the personal library of Bernard, Saul, and George Miller, amassed over a period of fifty years and donated to Brown University in the early 1990s. The Collection consists primarily of 20th-century American imprints, but also includes significant sections of 19th-century joke books, British imprints, and works in Russian, Hebrew, French, German, and Italian. The Collection includes early humor material, such as Joe Miller's Jests, or The Wit's Vade-Mecum (London, 1739), and Yankee Notions, or, The American Joe Miller, by Sam Slick (London, 1839). There are also sections of comic novels, familiar essays by humorists, political satire, light verse, theatrical memoirs of comedy performers, vaudeville routines, collections of political cartoons, paperback joke and cartoon books, and playscripts; and a notable section of "Army joke books", pulp periodicals from the World War II era.
Materials in this collection, which comprise a part of the cultural and historical record, depict offensive and objectionable perspectives, imagery, and norms.
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Napoleon
The William Henry Hoffman collection on Napoleon I, donated in 1924 by Hoffman's widow, contains over 100 manuscripts pertaining to the First French Republic and the Napoleonic era, many of which are signed by the Emperor, and 400 rare books, prints, art objects and examples of fine bindings. It still occupies its own room on the John Hay Library's top floor.
Annotated guide to collection in RS filing cabinet.
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Paterson (William)
The William Paterson Papers, dating from 1919-2003, includes photographs, plays in manuscript, an autobiography in manuscript, a pen and ink drawing, clippings, military decorations, acting awards, pamphlets, and other documents. Paterson, a Brown University graduate (Class of 1941) and a World War II veteran, was an actor by profession. He joined the Cleveland Playhouse in 1947 and worked there for the next 20 years. In 1967 he joined the American Conservatory Theatre where he remained for over 30 years. He also occasionally performed in television and film productions.
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Persian Miniature Paintings
Miniature paintings from the estate of Mrs. Adrienne Minassian. The paintings often include text from Persian and Indian tales.
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Posters
The Poster Collection, a part of the Broadsides Collection, contains over 800 items, focusing mainly on American war posters from World War I and II. Other collections include some labor posters, book-related items, and posters designed to be displayed on buses.
Other named collections within special collections also contain posters, including the Sidney Albert-George Bernard Shaw Collection, the Robert J. Tierney Jr. Entertainment Memorabilia Collection, the Chester H. Kirk Collection on Alcoholism and Alcoholics Anonymous, the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, the William Chauncey Langdon Collection of Pageants, the H. Adrian Smith Collection of Conjuring and Magicana, the Paul R. Dupee Jr. '65 Collection on Fireworks, the Sidney S. Rider Collection, among others. ...more information
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Poulin Comics
The Wayne D. Poulin Collection includes over 10,000 comic books, primarily from the 1970s and 1980s. It consists primarily of "superhero" comics of the perio. Donated by Brown University Professor Barton St. Armand.
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Prints
Prints in special collections include those that are part of the Broadsides Collection and the general rare book collections. There are a wide variety of subject represented, including views, portraits, and historical subjects. Rhode Island views are a specialty. It is estimated that there are approximately 10,000 prints in the collections, exclusive of the large named collections noted below.
Other named collections include significant holdings of prints, notably including the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, the Bullard Napoleon Collection, the Hoffman Napoleon Collection, and the Harry L. Koopman Collection. The illustrated covers of many thousands of 19th century pieces of sheet music are also of interest for the print collection. ...more information
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Shakespearian Advertiser printing blocks
Wood engraving printing blocks created by Edward S. Jones to illustrate a booklet titled "The Shakespearian Advertiser" published by Harlen P. Boyce in Providence, RI in 1871. The images are comic illustrations of quotes from various plays by William Shakespeare.
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Sheet Music
The Sheet Music Collection, an outgrowth of the Harris Collection, contains approximately 500,000 pieces of sheet music, largely American imprint vocal music dating from the late 18th century to the present day; the bulk of the titles date between 1800 and 1950.
Owing to its size, the Collection is divided into a number of sections. The largest is the section of vocal music, some 150,000 pieces, with an additional 35,000 pieces representing songs from the musical theatre, films, radio, and television shows. Afro-Americana accounts for perhaps 10,000 titles, of which perhaps 2,500 (mainly from the 19th century) are fully cataloged. There are another 2,000 pieces of cataloged music relating to World Wars I and II, and perhaps 1,500 cataloged musical settings of American poetry; there are another 1,500 uncataloged pieces belonging to these categories. Sheet music from the Confederacy is keyed to the citations in the Crandall bibliography; pre-1800 music is keyed to Sonneck-Upton, and music from 1801-1825 is filed by Wolfe number. Approximately one-third of the titles cited by Wolfe are in the Collection. There are also smaller (less than 2,500 pieces each) sections of: color lithographs; works by Boston lithographers; Endicott lithographs; Union imprint Civil War music; Latin American music; Yiddish-American music; Harrigan and Hart music; silent film music; dance folios; theatre music (non-vocal); music dealers' stamps; Canadian music.
Note: Only approximately 5,000 titles have Josiah records. These include Afro-Americana, music relating to World Wars I and II, and musical settings of American poetry.
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Slides (John Hay Library)
Collection of slides of covers, bindings, pages, illustrations, manuscripts, museum objects, and other materials in the collections. Slides have been made at user request, to illustrate lectures/presentations relating to specific subject areas or collection, or for a variety of publication purposes.
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Stamp
Webster Knight Collection - OPEN BY APPOINTMENT
W. L. L. Peltz Collection - CLOSED
Irene Heneghan Stamp Collection - CLOSED
George S. Champlin Memorial Stamp Collection - CLOSED
United States First Day Covers - CLOSED
Robert T. Galkin Collection - CLOSED
In 1933 Colonel Webster Knight, Class of 1876, bequeathed an almost complete collection of mint United States postage stamps, in blocks of four, along with mint and used singles and blocks of revenue stamps plus an endowment for supporting the collection. The Knight Collection served as a magnet to attract the Peltz and Morriss Collections of Special Delivery stamps, in 1947 and 1960, as well as the George S. Champlin Memorial Stamp Collection of international issues, which began arriving in 1960. The Robert T. Galkin Collection of First Day Covers was presented to the Library in 1976. The Irene Heneghan Stamp Collection, given in 2002, includes 93 mounted stamp albums and several hundred early 20th century U.S. postcards with cancelled one-cent stamps.
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Tefft (Thomas Alexander) Architectural Drawings
Architectural drawings by Thomas Alexander Tefft, Brown University Class of 1851.
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Thatcher (Henry Knox)
The Henry Knox Thatcher papers comprise three journals kept by Thatcher while he was on active duty as an officer of the U.S. Navy between 1839 and 1863, and cover his service on board the U.S.S. Brandywine (1839-1841), the U.S.S. Jamestown (1847-1849), the U.S.S. Shore Ship Relief (1851-1852) and the U.S.S. Constellation (1862-1863). The collection also includes Thatcher's naval commissions, a pamphlet that details his naval service, Thatcher's military insignia (including dress sword, admiral's hat and epaulets), and an 1862 painting of the Constellation by Italian artist Tomaso de Simone.
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Turner (William Mason)
Contains personal correspondence, legal documents, poetry, photographs, and sketches of William Mason Turner, a graduate of Brown University (1855), physician, Confederate surgeon, traveler and author. ...more information
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Volck (Adalbert) Confederate Etchings
In 1863, Adalbert J. Volck, a Maryland dentist and Southern sympathizer, produced a series of copper-plate etchings that caricatured Lincoln and the Union cause. The prints were published as a set and were very popular in the South during and after the war.
The collection now at Brown was compiled by Boston book dealer Maury A. Bromsen and bequeathed to the John Hay Library. Though the prints are widely available in academic libraries today, the Bromsen collection of the Volck prints is unique as it includes the original copper plates from which the etchings were printed, as well as notes and reference material from Bromsen's research on Volck.
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Wengenroth
The American lithographer, Stow Wengenroth (1906-1978), perfected the art of transferring a
drawing to a smoothed limestone surface to convey both the texture of the natural world and
subtleties of atmosphere and mood. The settings for Wengenroth's lithographs are drawn from
natural and inhabited landscapes in Maine, Cape Ann, Massachusetts and other locations in the
northeast.
Of the 369 lithographs produced by Wengenroth during his lifetime, 367 were collected and
generously donated to the Brown University Library by Lyman G. Bloomingdale, Class of 1935,
along with over 40 of Wengenroth's original dry-brush drawings.
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