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Finding Aid for Frick Art Reference Library Staff Research - Katharine McCook Knox Records, 1924-1979 FARL.1300.040
Table of Contents
Summary Information
- Repository
- The Frick Collection/Frick Art Reference Library Archives10 East 71st Street
New York, NY, 10021
archives@frick.org
© 2015 The Frick Collection. All rights reserved. - Creator
- Frick Art Reference Library.
- Title
- Frick Art Reference Library Staff Research - Katherine McCook Knox Records
- ID
- FARL.1300.040
- Date
- 1924-1979
- Extent
- 5.0 Linear feet (9 Boxes)
- Abstract
- Katharine McCook Knox (1890-1983), a Washington, D.C.-area art historian and author specializing in early American art, worked with the Frick Art Reference Library as a researcher, consultant, and special staff member for over 50 years. These records document her work as a member of the Library staff, as well as her personal research and writings in the field of early American art from 1922 to 1974. Records include correspondence, typescripts and manuscripts, galley proofs, handwritten and typed notes, invoices, photographs, and printed material.
Preferred Citation
Frick Art Reference Library Staff Research - Katharine McCook Knox Records. The Frick Collection/Frick Art Reference Library Archives.
Historical Note
The Frick Art Reference Library was founded in 1920 by Helen Clay Frick (1888-1984) in honor of her father, industrialist and art collector Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919). Katharine McCook Knox (1890-1983), a Washington, D.C.-area art historian and author specializing in early American art, began her association with the Frick Art Reference Library in 1922. A friend of Helen Clay Frick’s since they were classmates at Miss Spence’s School for Girls in New York City, her involvement with the Frick Art Reference Library as a researcher, consultant, and special staff member spanned over 50 years. Mrs. Knox provided new research on artists and paintings in the Library’s Photoarchive, researched entries for The Frick Collection catalog, and planned and participated in Library photographing expeditions. These photographing trips were undertaken by Library staff to document works of art held in private collections, historical societies, museums, and other institutions throughout the U.S.
In 1931, Mrs. Knox supervised the photographing of in the White House and compiled the photographs and her research into a binder, which the Frick Art Reference Library presented as a gift to the White House. Her book, The Story of the Frick Art Reference Library: The Early Years (1979), the only published history of the Library, traces its founding and growth, and includes her personal reminiscences. Originally drafted by Mrs. Knox in 1950, the book was reworked and edited in the 1970s by Frick Art Reference Library staff.
Mrs. Knox was also a lecturer and art collector, and was involved in planning exhibitions for Washington D.C. museums, including the National Collection of Fine Arts of the Smithsonian Institution, the Phillips Gallery, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Her publications include: The Sharples: Their Portraits of George Washington and His Contemporaries (1931), The Portraits of the Adams-Clements Collection and Their Painters (1951), and “Healy’s Lincoln No. 1” (1956, 1959), as well as numerous other articles.
Scope and Content Note
The records of Katharine McCook Knox document her work as a member of the Frick Art Reference Library staff, as well as her personal research and writings in the field of early American art, from 1922 to 1974. The records include correspondence, typescripts and manuscripts, galley proofs, handwritten and typed notes, invoices, photographs, and printed material. Some newspaper clippings date from 1882 to 1901. Mrs. Knox’s personal correspondence and research, which she donated to the Library from the 1930s to the 1970s, has been interfiled with her related work for the Frick Art Reference Library. Some folders indicate the date of the gift.
The records are organized in three series: Series I: Writings; Series II: Research on Artists; and Series III: Photographing Trips. Series I: Writings, 1924-1979, forms the bulk of the records. The series contains typescripts and manuscripts, galley proofs, correspondence, notes, and reference material related to Mrs. Knox’s publications and research. Of special interest are notes and drafts of research on portraits in the White House. Also of note are numerous typescript drafts of The Story of the Frick Art Reference Library: The Early Years, with accompanying notes and background material. The series also includes material on The Sharples: Their Portraits of George Washington and His Contemporaries, entries for The Frick Collection catalogue, and articles on Michel Felice Corné and a George P.A. Healy portrait of Abraham Lincoln. Series II: Research on Artists (1929-1977) contains Mrs. Knox’s research on specific artists, as well as general notes on artists and paintings. Series III: Photographing Trips (1925-1956) documents Mrs. Knox’s involvement in the organization and research related to Frick Art Reference Library photographing expeditions, primarily those in Baltimore and Kentucky. The series contains notes, correspondence and receipts for photographs sent to the Library.
Most photographs of works of art in the records were transferred to the Frick Art Reference Library Photoarchive and replaced in the files with preservation photocopies of the images.
Arrangement
Organized into three series: Series I: Writings; Series II: Research on Artists; and Series III: Photographing Trips. Arranged alphabetically within each series.
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
These records are open for research by appointment under the conditions of The Frick Collection/Frick Art Reference Library Archives Access Policy. For all inquiries or to schedule an appointment, please contact the Archives Department at archives@frick.org.
Processing Information
Arranged and described by Susan Chore, 2000; updated 2015.
Controlled Access Headings
Corporate Name(s)
- Frick Art Reference Library--History.
- White House (Washington, D.C.).
Genre(s)
- Correspondence.
- Newspaper clippings.
- Photographs.
- Research notes.
Personal Name(s)
- Cornè, Michele Felice, 1752-1845.
- Knox, Katharine McCook.
- Sharples, Ellen, 1769-1849.
- Sharples, James, 1752-1811.
Subject(s)
- Art, American.
- Portraits, American.
- Presidents--United States--Portraits.
Collection Inventory
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| Box | Folder | Date | ||
| 1 | 1 |
Typescript drafts, with corrections
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1950 | |
| 1 | 2 |
Correspondence
Scope and Contents note
Among the correspondents are: Addison, Julia de Wolf Antiques Magazine (Alice Winchester) Childs, Charles D. De Wolf, Halsey Essex Institute (Maida Beckett, Bessom Harris, and Russell Leigh Jackson) Frick Art Reference Library (Hannah Howell) Gower, W.W. Hubbert, Frances Kittredge, Elizabeth M. Lisle, Martha Marblehead Historical Society (Hannah Tutt) Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Barbara Parker) Newport Historical Society (Herbert O. Brigham) Nova Scotia College of Art (Donald C. Mackay) Peabody Museum (John Robinson and C. Wadleigh) Redwood Library and Athenaeum, Newport, R.I. (Charles W. Crosby and J. Alden Manley) Rhode Island School of Design (Pauline G. Burke) Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (Bertram K. Little) Sokobin, Samuel Yale University Press (Janet L. Marshall) |
1924-1950 | |
| 1 | 3 |
Research material
Scope and Contents note
Folder contains handwritten and typed notes, and printed material. Includes The Coast and the Sea: A Survey of American Marine Painting, November 19, 1948 to January 16, 1949, Brooklyn Museum; and Rhode Island History, July 1942. Also contains photocopies of 27 photographs transferred to the Frick Art Reference Library Photoarchive, along with ten negatives. |
1942-1950 | |
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| Box | Folder | Date | ||
| 1 | 4 |
Constable, John,
The White Horse
Scope and Contents note
Typescript drafts and notes. |
circa 1953 | |
| 1 | 5 |
Gainsborough, Thomas,
Mrs. Elliott
Scope and Contents note
Manuscript and typescript drafts, copy letter, and notes. |
circa 1953-1954 | |
| 1 | 6 |
Gainsborough, Thomas,
Richard Paul Jodrell
Scope and Contents note
Manuscript and typescript drafts, and notes. |
circa 1953 | |
| 1 | 7 |
Reynolds, Sir Joshua,
General John Burgoyne
Scope and Contents note
Typescript draft with corrections, notes, and correspondence related to attribution. |
1953-1954 | |
| 1 | 8 |
General notes
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circa 1953 | |
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Typescript draft, with corrections
Scope and Contents note
Stored in oversize box. |
circa 1930-1931 | |||
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Manuscript draft, with corrections and notes
Scope and Contents note
Stored in oversize box. |
circa 1930-1931 | |||
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Negative photostats of Frick Art Reference Library photo mounts
Scope and Contents note
Includes additions to White House collection, post-1931 and updated annotations. Stored in oversize box. |
circa 1930-1964 | |||
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| Box | Folder | Date | ||
| 1 | 9 |
Correspondence
Scope and Contents note
Primarily letters received, with several copy letters from Mrs. Knox. Letters concern publication of the Sharples book, obtaining photographs, identification of Sharples paintings, and genealogical research on the Sharples family. Among the correspondents are: Albany Institute of History and Art (Ledyard Cogswell, Jr.) Albany Public Library (Elizabeth Smith) American Antiquarian Society (Clarence S. Brigham) Armstrong, Margaret Benjamin, William Evarts Bolton, Theodore Bristol Museum & Art Gallery (Herbert Bolton) British Museum (K. Parker) Brown, Percy Chappel, W. Vivian Church of St. Peter (James E. Noonan) Clark, Mr. Cluett, George Alfred College of William and Mary Library (E.G. Swem) Davenport, B.C. Donnell, Mrs. William C. Frick Art Reference Library (Ethelwyn Manning) Fry, Lewis George Goodspeed’s Bookshop (Charles Goodspeed) Gray, Roland Harriman, Mrs. E.H. Historical Society of Pennsylvania Hobson, Gertrude S. Hoff, A. Bainbridge Hull, Maude Pollard Independence Hall National Museum (Wilfred Jordan) Iselin, Eleanor Lanier, Josephine S. Macomb, Christina Metcalf, L.D.S. Morgan, John Hill Morgan, Marshall S. Moulinier, Edward P. Mount Vernon (Frances Johnson Rogers) Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Charles H. Hawes) New York Historical Society (Alexander J. Wall) Nolan, J. Bennett Osler, A. May Pennsylvania Historical Commission (John Baer Stoudt) Princeton University (V. Lansing Collins) Russell, Lawrence, Jr. Sellers, Horace Wells Tompkins, Lilian E.A. Tuckett, Richard C. Tuttle, Mildred Victoria & Albert Museum (Eric Maclagan) Whitley, William William George’s Sons Yale University Library (Andrew Keogh) Not all correspondents are listed, as some signatures are illegible. |
1927-1931 | |
| 1 | 10-11 |
Notes - Notebooks [Folders 1-2 of 3 folders]
Scope and Contents note
Two notebooks (originally in binders). Typed and handwritten notes describing Sharples' paintings, with provenance, reproduction and citation information; extracts from newspapers articles; and two photographs. Includes letter from Belle da Costa Greene, Morgan Library. |
circa 1927-1930 | |
| 2 | 1 |
Notes - Notebooks [Folder 3 of 3 folders]
Scope and Contents note
Four notebooks (writing tablets). Handwritten notes describing Sharples' paintings, with provenance, reproduction and citation information. |
circa 1927-1930 | |
| 2 | 2 |
Notes - General Sharples research
Scope and Contents note
Notes on Sharples' paintings, including attribution, ownership, and measurements; excerpts from letters and publications tracing provenance and attribution; and copies of Ellen, Rolinda and James Sharples’ wills. |
circa 1927-1931 | |
| 2 | 3 |
Notes - Sharples' paintings indexed by subject
Scope and Contents note
Alphabetized on index cards, detailing subject, owner and address, with some additional notes. |
circa 1929 | |
| 2 | 4 |
Reference Material - Newspaper clippings and journal articles
Scope and Contents note
Original and photocopies, with some reprints regarding the Sharples' Washington portraits. Includes Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society (1886), and clippings from the New York Independent, the Boston Evening Transcript, Boston Post, Philadelphia Times, and unidentified newspapers and journals. Some original newsclippings are stored in an oversize box. |
1882-1901 | |
| 2 | 5 |
Reference material – Letters of Ellen Sharples (1840-circa 1844)
Scope and Contents note
Typescript of letters sent by Ellen Sharples (64 pages). |
circa 1928 | |
| 2 | 6-7 |
Reference material – Diary of Ellen Sharples (1803-1833) [2 folders]
Scope and Contents note
Typescript of diary (270 pages). Contains some handwritten notations. |
undated | |
| 2 | 8 |
Reference material – Photographs
Scope and Contents note
Folder contains photographs of Ellen Sharples' needlework pictures, label of Sharples' Washington painting, and lid of a leather container. The needlework pictures are: Caius Marius Sitting on the Ruins of Carthage (after J. Mortimer), 1804 The Deer Hunt (copy of an old engraving), 1790 Eastern Heads (after old circular engraving), 1792 Fishermen (after J. Mortimer), 1805 George Washington (Mount Vernon), silk embroidery. |
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| Box | Folder | Date | ||
| 3 | 1-2 |
Typescript draft, carbon, with corrections [2 folders]
Scope and Contents note
Contains chapter not in later versions, “Introductory Tour Through the Frick Art Reference Library,” which describes library and research orientation as experienced by a new reader. Includes details of the Frick Art Reference Library classification system, the Library's holdings, and a list of years of service by staff members (Summer of 1950). |
circa 1948-1950 | |
| 3 | 3 |
Typescript draft with corrections & photocopy
Scope and Content Note
Draft of section of Chapter II ("Growth of the Library"). |
1977 | |
| 3 | 4 |
Typescript draft, photocopy
Scope and Contents note
With handwritten revisions and inserts. Missing Chapter V ("Frick Art Reference Library in War Time"). Labeled “Revision of May 19, 1977.” |
1977 | |
| 3 | 5 |
Typescript draft and photocopy
Scope and Contents note
Draft of Chapter V ("Frick Art Reference Library in War Time"), with handwritten revisions, and additional notes. Includes questions about draft for Mrs. Knox. |
1977 | |
| 3 | 6 |
Typescript draft fragments and photocopies
Scope and Contents note
Primarily Chapter I ("How the Frick Art Reference Library Came Into Being"), with corrections and one page of editor’s comments. |
circa 1977 | |
| 3 | 7-8 |
Typescript draft, photocopy [2 folders]
Scope and Contents note
Helen Clay Frick’s copy, with comments attached, dated between May 19, 1977 and August 15, 1977. |
1977 | |
| 3 | 9 |
Typescript draft, with corrections
Scope and Contents note
Dated between May 19, 1977 and August 15, 1977. |
1977 | |
| 4 | 1 |
Typescript draft, photocopy
Scope and Contents note
Dated between May 19, 1977 and August 15, 1977. |
1977 | |
| 4 | 2 |
Typescript draft, photocopy, with corrections
Scope and Contents note
With three pages of typed commentary on the manuscript. Labeled “Editor’s version redraft – post October 11, 1977.” |
1977 | |
| 4 | 3 |
Typescript draft, photocopy, with corrections
Scope and Contents note
Dated after October 11, 1977. Labeled “retyped and rewritten.” |
1977 | |
| 4 | 4 |
Working notes, typed, with corrections
Scope and Contents note
Primarily re Chapter VII ("Services"). Labeled “Working Notes on The History of the Library compiled for Mrs. Knox." |
circa 1977-1978 | |
| 4 | 5 |
Manuscript and reference materials
Scope and Contents note
Re section of Chapter VII ("Services") on White House portrait album. Includes notes on meeting with White House Registrar Betty C. Monkman regarding Paintings in the White House (1931) on August 8, 1977. |
circa 1977-1978 | |
| 4 | 6 |
Typescript draft, photocopy, with corrections (editor’s revisions)
Scope and Contents note
Labeled “Revision of draft, received January 11, 1978. Editor’s revisions/Draft superseded in 1978.” |
1978 | |
| 4 | 7 |
Typescript draft, photocopy
Scope and Contents note
With corrections. Labeled “used by professional typist to retype.” |
circa 1978 | |
| 4 | 8 |
Typescript draft, photocopy, with corrections (editor’s revisions)
Scope and Contents note
Labeled “Editor’s revisions; very late draft.” |
circa 1978 | |
| 5 | 1 |
Typescript draft, with corrections
Scope and Contents note
Includes about the author, title page, table of contents, list of illustrations, scope, acknowledgements, preface, et al. Also includes library holdings, illustration credits, captions, and deleted letters from Chapter VII ("Services"). |
1978 | |
| 5 | 2 |
Typescript draft fragments, photocopies
Scope and Contents note
With corrections of Chapter VII ("Services"). |
undated | |
| 5 | 3 |
Typescript draft, photocopy, with copies of plates
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circa 1978 | |
| 5 | 4 |
Deletions from text, handwritten notes of Helen Sanger, photocopy fragments
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undated | |
| 5 | 5 |
Reference material
Scope and Contents note
Photocopies of library procedures, information on World War II, the Witt Library, Katharine McCook Knox, WPA Historical Records Survey on American Portraits, Lawrence Park, and the Winterthur Library. Labeled “Miscellaneous photocopies of reference materials.” |
undated | |
| 5 | 6 |
Excerpts from Frick Art Reference Library Annual Reports concerning book
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1977-1979 | |
| 5 | 7 |
Illustrations
Scope and Contents note
Photographs and photocopies of “Mrs. Knox’s choice of illustrations for the History,” dated May 21, 1973. Includes handwritten notes. Photographs of the Frick Art Reference Library transferred to The Frick Collection/Frick Art Reference Library Photographs, and photocopies of the images were placed in the file. |
1973 | |
| 5 | 8 |
Photographs not to be used
Scope and Contents note
Labeled "Photographs relating to the history of the Frick Art Reference Library, but not to be used as illustrations in Mrs. Knox’s History, May 21, 1973.” Includes a list of suggested photographs “to be excluded per Miss Frick, June 25, 1973.” Photographs were transferred to The Frick Collection/Frick Art Reference Library Photographs, and photocopies of the images were placed in the files. |
1973 | |
| 6 | 1-3 |
Galley proofs I and typescript draft, with corrections. [3 folders]
Scope and Contents note
Dated November 28, 1978. |
1978 | |
| 6 | 4-5 |
Galley proofs II [2 folders]
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circa 1978 | |
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| Box | Folder | Date | ||
| 6 | 6 |
Article and reference material
Scope and Contents note
Folder contains an offprint of the article on George P.A. Healy's first portrait of Abraham Lincoln, notes, photostat of 1879 letter to Healy, newspaper clippings on Lincoln portrait, postcard from Mrs. Knox, and a photograph of the portrait. |
1955-1958 | |
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| Box | Folder | Date | ||
| 7 | 1 |
Catlin, George
Scope and Contents note
Folder contains photostat images of Catlin paintings, notes, typed excerpts from printed and manuscript material, and list of works on exhibit at Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. |
circa 1940s-1962 | |
| 7 | 2 |
Fraser, Charles
Scope and Contents note
Notecards listing Fraser paintings with descriptions. |
1934 | |
| 7 | 3 |
King, Charles Bird - Correspondence
Scope and Contents note
Correspondents include: Bolton, Theodore Bullard, Mary (for Chester Dale) Campbell, W.P. Cates, Mary Randall Coleman, Dorothy Corcoran Gallery of Art Edmonds, Madeleine Thompson Frick Art Reference Library (Hannah Howell and Hope Mathewson) Gerdts, William H. Goddard, R.H.I. Graham, Robert C. Grant, Harry L. Hillcrest Children’s Village (Washington City Orphan Asylum) John Carter Brown Library (Lawrence C. Wroth) Keefer, Cornelia Terrell Kuhner, Adella R. M. Knoedler & Co., Inc. (Elizabeth Clare) National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution (Thomas M. Beggs) New York Public Library (Paul North Rice) Pleasants, J. Hall (includes two color snapshots of paintings) Silins, Janis Spark, Victor (includes three photographs) Strong, Betty Jane Thorpe, Francis United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution Vincent, Ruth Warren, Nancy Yale University Press (Eugene Davidson) |
1952-1955 | |
| 7 | 4 |
King, Charles Bird - Notes and reference materials
Scope and Contents note
Includes photocopies of 15 photographs transferred to the Frick Art Reference Library Photoarchive. |
1935-1955 | |
| 7 | 5 |
Pope, Thomas B.
Scope and Contents note
Folder contains correspondence, notes, and newspaper clippings (1891). Includes photostats of Newburgh Daily News articles on Pope’s death and funeral (May 1891). Contains photocopies of eight photographs sent to the Frick Art Reference Library Photoarchive, along with four negatives. Correspondents include: Cook, Mrs. Robert E. Historical Society of Newburgh Bay and the Highlands New York Historical Society (David H. Wallace) Staples, John A. |
1940-1957 | |
| 7 | 6 |
Sharples family - Correspondence
Scope and Contents note
Folder contains correspondence related to Sharples research. Contains photocopies of two photographs sent to the Frick Art Reference Library Photoarchive, along with two color transparencies of same photos. Correspondents include: Avery, Kathryn City of Atlanta Carnegie Library David David, Inc. (Alan David) Jeffrys, William H. Jones, Spotswood Hunnicutt Tompkins, Lillian E.A. |
1931-1974 | |
| 7 | 7 |
Sharples family - Notes
Scope and Contents note
Notecards listing Sharples photographs acquired by the Frick Art Reference Library since the publication of The Sharples: Their Portraits of George Washington and his Contemporaries (1930). |
1932 | |
| 7 | 8 |
Slafter, Alonzo
Scope and Contents note
Includes notes, postcard, and note from owner of paintings, Mrs. Henry Wilder Keyes. Contains photocopies of ten photographs transferred to the Frick Art Reference Library Photoarchive. |
1949-1952 | |
| 7 | 9 |
West, Benjamin
Scope and Contents note
Research on Queen Aliquippa, portrayed in Treaty with the Indians. Folder contains correspondence, typescript excerpts from printed and manuscript material, handwritten notes, and photostats. Correspondents include: Historical Society of Pennsylvania (Julia P. Boyd) Library of Congress (M.A. Roberts) University of Pennsylvania (Josephine Cook) |
1935 | |
| 7 | 10 |
General research - Correspondence
Scope and Contents note
Correspondents include: Barsanti, Annaluisa Carpenter, Harriet Cotton, Joseph P. (Undersecretary of State) Duke, Lucy W. Groce, George C. Henderson, Bertha B. Hill, R.D. Kershaw, Sybil Lewison, Florence Lord, Ellen S.B. Loring, William Cushing Metropolitan Museum of Art (Alice L. Felton) Miller, A.C. Nutt, Cordie Paine, John Miller Pleasants, J. Hall Rosenberger, Francis C. (Columbia Historical Society Editor, United States Senate) Schaeffer, Hilda West Point Museum (Leona P. Patton) Willard, Mrs. William Bradley Williams, Mary Page Woodward, Stewart M. |
1929-1972 | |
| 7 | 11 |
General research - Notes, articles, reference material [Folder 1 of 2]
Scope and Contents note
Contains photocopies of six photos and two engravings transferred to the Frick Art Reference Library Photoarchive, along with two negatives. Includes newsletters, newsclippings, and general notes. |
1930-1977 | |
| 8 | 1 |
General research - Notes, articles, reference material [Folder 2 of 2]
Scope and Contents note
Contains photocopy of one photo sent to the Frick Art Reference Library Photoarchive. Includes 1968 copy of Army Digest with Healey painting of Abraham Lincoln on back cover. |
1930-1977 | |
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| Box | Folder | Date | ||
| 8 | 2 |
Invoices
Scope and Contents note
Bills for work performed and miscellaneous expenses. |
1933-1934 | |
| 8 | 3 |
Letters received
Scope and Contents note
Includes letters from Frick Art Reference Library head librarian Ethelwyn Manning re: permissions, suggestions regarding private collections to photograph, list of Baltimore portraits, traveling logistics, expenses, and Library policy of crediting attribution on photos. Other correspondents include: Berry, John T. Coleman, Mrs. Thomas H. Craft, Cornelia Crittenden Filson Club (Ludie J. Kinkead) Mahin, Mrs. M.W. Pleasants, J. Hall Royal West of England Academy (Salisbury) |
1927-1935 | |
| 8 | 4 |
Notes on paintings
Scope and Contents note
Includes lists of photographs with negative numbers, and notes on individual paintings, with paintings listed geographically or by owner. |
undated | |
| 8 | 5 |
Notes on paintings – Kentucky photographing trip
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1933 | |
| 8 | 6 |
Receipts for items sent to Frick Art Reference Library
Scope and Contents note
Receipts for photographs sent to the Frick Art Reference Library, many with owners’ name and address. Some include short handwritten notes from Mrs. Knox. Also some receipts for letters and permissions to photograph. |
1925-1956 | |
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