Research by Subject: Art: SDSU Special Collections

Manuscript and Archival collections

Marybelle S. Bigelow Collection, 1953-2001 The Marybelle S. Bigelow Collection dates from 1953 to 2001. The collection is arranged in two series, personal and professional. In addition, there is an oversized section, which contains materials from both series. The collection includes correspondence, drafts and manuscripts, photographs, diaries, slides and other papers related to Bigelow's personal life and career as an art professor.
Genny Guracar Papers, 1959-1999
Bradley Smith Collection, 1962-1988 The Bradley Smith Collection documents the career of photographer and writer Bradley Smith. The collection dates from 1962-1988. It consists entirely of paper records. The collection documents Smith's professional career through correspondence, research materials, book drafts, mockups, and photographs. The entire collection is grouped into one series: Project Files.
Donna Barr Papers, 1963-2014
Art Department Records, 1964-2000 This collection documents the activities of the Department of Art's Art Council, Galleries, faculty, students, and alumni from 1964-1989. These records are organized in chronological order. This material was compiled by the Art Department, and descriptions and headings were left as originally devised. These are in boxes 1 through 3. All loose archival material, including exhibits catalogs, is located in box 4 of the collection.
American Society for Aesthetics Records, 1935-1995 The collection includes correspondence, meeting minutes, reports, conference information, and election information. It is arranged chronologically.
Beatrice S. Levy Papers, 1912-1968 The collection encompasses a variety of document types related to the professional life of Beatrice Levy. There is active correspondence, most of which pertains to exhibition activities throughout her career. Newspaper clippings in the collection primarily document exhibition showings or awards from a variety of sources for Ms. Levy’s work. General ephemera include invitations, program and award announcements, and the like. Personal documents include several versions of her artist’s professional resume.
Arline M. Fisch Papers, 1961-1999 The collection includes syllabi, exhibition slides, and other items pertaining to SDSU's Metalsmithing Program.

Print collections

Rare Books Collection

Our Rare Books Collection contains many historical items in the fine arts and art history, including scarce nineteenth- and twentieth-century European and American periodicals, important catalogues, rare photography monographs, artists’ books, fine press editions, and materials on the history of printing.

Janus Press Collection

Claire Van Vliet started the Janus Press while a student at San Diego State in 1955. Janus Press is recognized as an outstanding leader in the book arts field and has made a major contribution to American fine printing. The independent small press is noted for creating innovative, hand-made, and experimental limited editions of contemporary poetry, literary classics, and fine books of art. A winner of the MacArthur "Genius" grant, Van Vliet has an extensive list of collaborators in literature, including Galway Kinnell and Rita Dove. Special Collections has a full run of Janus Press productions.

Roycroft Press Collection

Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) founded his Roycroft Printing Shop in 1895 and created books treasured today for their craftsman style, fine bindings, handmade paper, and elaborately designed and decorated pages. The San Diego State University Library is pleased to own a collection of over one hundred books printed by Elbert Hubbard and the Roycrofters.

Richard Yale Western Printing Collection

This collection was created by Dick B. Yale, printer and lithographer who operated a printing shop in San Diego’s Old Town. Mr. Yale was a long-time member of the Zamorano Club and printed and collected many keepsakes for the Club. The collection includes monographs, serials, and ephemeral items, all of which relate to aspects of printing in the West.

Zines and Minicomics Collection

Graphic and Ephemera collections

Wilfrid Dellquest Print Collection (unprocessed)
This collection of over 2000 original prints, dating from the mid-eighteenth century to the early twentieth century, was donated in 1969 by Wilfrid Dellquest, a rare book and print dealer in Los Angeles. Steel engravings, lithographs, mezzotints, stipples, woodcuts, and etchings make up this unique collection, and prints from Sartain, Scott, Hall, Marshall, Robinson, Kelly, and Hollyer are among the holdings.

Vince Meades Sheet Music Collection (unprocessed) [ MS-0004 ]

This collection contains approximately 58,000 sheet music titles, in the form of individual popular songs, music from movies, from Broadway shows, and from television and radio shows. Many of the pieces are significant for their cover artwork as well as for the music contained within. The individual pieces of sheet music within this large collection are not included separately with the SDSU library catalog.

Edward Gorey Collection

During his lengthy career, Edward Gorey illustrated more than 100 of his own books and more than 60 by other authors. His characteristic style, which mixes humor with horror and mystery, is widely recognized by readers of all ages. Special Collections holds an extensive collection of Gorey’s drawings, proofs, and collaborations with other authors.

Barbara Abele Bookplate Collection, 1915-1998 The Barbara Abele Bookplate Collection documents the historical development of bookplates, bookplate designers, and collectors, as well as the communication networks they used when interacting with each other. The collection dates from 1915 to 1998 with the bulk of documents created or collected between 1970 and 1998. It consists of six main series: Bookplates by Subject, Bookplates by Designer, Collector Files, Correspondence, the American..., and Published Materials. The Published Materials series includes two subseries: an incomplete run of the newsletter Bookplates in the News, and other miscellaneous published works, all relating to bookplate collecting and designing.
Calvert E. Norland Manuscript, Print, and Artifact Collection, 2nd century-1995 The Calvert E. Norland Manuscript, Print, and Artifact Collection measures 4 linear feet plus 161 items and date from 2nd century CE to 1995. The collection is arranged in four series: Professional series (1803 - 1973), Personal series (1944 – 1995), Prints and Drawings series (1785-1929), Artifacts (2nd century CE – 1880).
John and Jane Adams Artwork Collection, 1890-1936 The collection contains a number of pieces of artwork (etchings, oil, watercolor, acrylic, and others) by early twentieth century American and European artists.
John and Jane Adams Greeting Card Collection, 1830-1970 Greeting cards are arranged alphabetically by subject.
John and Jane Adams Photograph Collection, 1840-1946 The John and Jane Adams Photograph Collection documents the history of photography, including various photographic processes and formats, such as albumen prints, cyanotypes, platinotypes, ambrotypes, gelatin silver prints, glass negatives, carte de visites, tin types, cabinet cards, and more. In addition, the collection also illustrates the evolution of photographic subject matter and studio advertising. Highlights include early daguerreotypes, an assortment of unique photo albums, and a wealth of studio advertisements from all over the world dating from the mid nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. In some cases, this finding aid uses technical terminology to describe the photographic processes and formats, but every effort was made to include laymen's terms as well. The collection consists of portraits, landscapes, and travel photography, and is divided into four series based on format: Paper Prints (1850s-1946), Metal and Glass Plate Processes (c. 1840s-1890s), Glass Plate Negatives (1898), and Albums (1886-1946).
John and Jane Adams Postcard Collection, 1880-2007 The postcards document over 100 years of history and communication. The collection includes over 4,000 postcards of San Diego County, and over 200,000 cards from all over the world.
John and Jane Adams Trade Card Collection A variety of products are advertised in the collection. All trade cards in the collection are American except two French cards which can be found in the "Miscellaneous Products" folder. This collection has been digitized: http://ibase.sdsu.edu/index.php?a=ViewItem&i=531
Homer and Betty Peabody Magic Lantern Collection [ MS-0480] Betty and Homer Peabody collected late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century magic lanterns and slides for several years during their retirement. The collection consists of over forty magic lanterns and approximately 5000 glass slides. The slides range in size and type and include hand-painted slides, photographic slides, and chromolithographic slides. The collection includes supporting texts and literature related to magic lanterns, their history and the collecting of lanterns and slides as well. A comprehensive online exhibit of this collection is available here.

Art

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Manuscript and Archival collections

Print collections

Graphic and Ephemera collections