RICE UNIVERSITY FRIENDS OF FONDREN LIBRARY FONDREN LIBRARY Board of Directors, 1983-84 Founded under the charter of the univer- sity dated May 18, 1891, the library was Mr. T. Cabaniss, President established in 1913. Its present facility John was dedicated November 4, 1949, and Sally McQueen Squire, Vice-President, Membership rededicated in 1969 after a substantial Mr. Karl Doerner Jr., Vice-President, Programs addition, both made possible by gifts of Mr. John Baird III, Vice-President, Special Events Ella F. Fondren, her children, and the Mr. John F. Heard, Treasurer Fondren Foundation and Trust as a tribute Mrs. Victor H. Abadie Jr., Secretary Walter William Fondren. library to The Mr. Thomas D. Smith, Immediate Past President recorded its half-milhonth volume in Dr. Samuel M. Carrington Jr., University Librarian (ex-officio) 1965; its one millionth volume was cele- Dr. William E. Gordon, University Provost (ex-officio) brated April 22, 1979. Dr. C. R. O'Dell, Chairman, University Committee on the Library (ex-officio) Elizabeth V. Dabney, Executive Director (ex-officio) Members at Large THE. FRIENDS OF Mr. Frank Bay Mr. Richard Lilliott III FONDREN LIBRARY Mrs. Katherine B. Dobelman Mr. Robert E. Moore Dr. Wilfred S. Dowden Mr. H. Russell Pitman The Friends of Fondren Library was Mrs. Thomas Eubank Mrs. Ray Simpson, Jr. founded in 1950 as an association of J. Ms. Connie Ericson Dr. Bill St. library supporters interested in increasing John and making better known the resources Mrs. William P. Hobby Jr. Dr. F. Douglas Tuggle of the Fondren Library at Rice University. The Friends, through members' dues and sponsorship of a memorial and honor gift program, secure gifts and bequests and provide funds for the purchase of rare books, manuscripts, and other materials which could not otherwise be acquired by Mrs. Frank William Hart donated to the Woodson the library. COVER: Research Center an original dinner plate used during the opening ceremonies of t/i£ Rice Hotel. THE FLYLEAF Founded October 1950 and published quarterly by The Friends of Fondren Library, Rice University, P. O. Box 1892, Houston, Texas 77251, as a record of Fondren Library and Friends' activities, and of the generosity of the library's supporters. Editor, Elizabeth Dabney; Associate Edi- tor, Mrs. Victor H. Abadie Jr.; Editorial Committee, Samuel Carrington, Will Dowden. Photographs try Pamela Morris arul Elizabeth Dabr\ey LETTER TO THE FRIENDS CONTENTS Dear Friends: Art Nouveau This past spring the Board of Directors initiated a book Alan Rister collector's contest for all full-time Rice University students. The Board was pleased with the response and plans to hold the contest again this fall. There were many unusual entries including such Space Art and Photography subjects as Mountaineering Literature, Polar Regions, and The City Marc Hairston in Literature. The winning entries are published in this issue. 10 Each contestant submitted a statement of a maximum of five Twenty Years of the Beatles: hundred words and an annotated bibliography of twenty-five 1964-1984 representative titles. There were two juries, one for the graduate Marcela Daichman entries and one for the undergraduate entries, consisting of the University Librarian, the Vice-President for Programs of the 13 Continental European Marxist Friends, two faculty members, and a student. Philosophy O. Bradley Bassler The Board has voted to sponsor a similar contest for the members of the Friends. The award to be given will be a certificate 18 and a book in the winner's honor, placed in the Fondren's Friends' Book Collectors Contest collection reflecting the area of the winner's interest. More information concerning the contest and an entry form can be found 19 in this issue. Friends' Fiction W. Daviess Menefee The Board is looking forward to a strong participation from the members. The winners' collections will be displayed in the library. 20 Friends of Fondren Library Sincerely yours, Elizabeth Dabney 24 Executive Director Gifts to the Fondren Library ART NOUVEAU The principal attraction of the Art Nouveau style, of course, lies in the forms themselves, sometimes mystic, often exotic, but always elegant in an almost Alan Rister tran- scendent way. This beauty, joined with the joy of collecting and owning books, has given me great Mr. Rister is a Ph.D. candidate whose field is pleasure in assembling this collection, and I am pleased Linguistics. to share the joy of that beauty with the viewers of my collection. My collection of books on the Art Nouveau style is part of a larger collection on the history of the Works on tKe history of deanative arts decorative arts in general, and it complements my own small collection of Art Nouveau objets d'an. The Aussel, A. Etude des styles du mobilier, 3rd ed. (Paris: twenty-five titles listed in the accompanying annotated Bordas, 1975). bibliography represent a variety of treatments of the This work traces the evolution of furniture design subject, from its placement within the overall history of from classical antiquity through the mid-20th decorative arts to books on the works of individual century. A separate section is devoted to each artists. Several of the works, those written in French, significant period, and drawings illustrate the prin- were collected during my periods of residence in cipal characteristics by which each style may be France, at which time 1 was also able to see first-hand recognized. Synoptic tables at the end of the book many fine examples of Art Nouveau, both inside and provide parallel comparisons of the styles as to their outside museums. respective sources of inspiration, woods and other This style today known as "Art Nouveau" had its materials most preferred during each period, etc. beginnings in the midnineteenth century when artists and artisans in Europe began to react against the Gradmann, E. and M. Marthaler. Styles de meubles stagnancy of artistic creation that characterized design (Lausanne: Editions Payot, n.d.). and style at that time. In effect, during the Second Intended as a pocket guide, this small (11x15 cm) French Empire ( 1852-1870), for example, the norm in book devotes from one to four pages to a summary decoration was unhappy pastiches of neo-gothic, neo- of the principal characteristics of each major style renaissance, neo-baroque, neo-rococo, and neo- period, from classical antiquity through the early empire. Concurrent with the symbolist movement in twentieth century. Although these descriptions lack literature, these dissatisfied artists sought to free them- depth, they are the most concise of any work in this selves from servile imitations of genres of the past. In a category. word, they sought to create a new art, hence the term Art hlouveau. Valsecchi, Marco et al. Le Guide des styles du mobilier In fact, however, this "Art Nouveau" was not at all (Paris: Grange Bateliere, 1974). free from the influences of other, previous styles, and Each of the six principal sections of this work is much has been written about the various influences devoted to the history of a particular style, be- that played together to produce this new aesthetic. The ginning with the Louis XIV style and ending with sinuous, assymmetrical lines and the fantastic vegeta- Art Nouveau. Each section contains craftsmen's tive motifs that are the hallmarks of Art Nouveau, for designs for furniture and many color photographs instance, can easily be traced back to their historical of pieces that are most representative of the style in antecedent in the rococo style. Specific motifs of question. particular plants and insects—the ever-present cow- parsley and dragonfly, for instance—can be traced to Verier, Pierre, ed. Styles, meubles, dicors, du Moyen Age a Japanese influences. nos jours (Paris: Larousse, 1972), 2 vols. The Art Nouveau movement was at its greatest These two beautiful in-quarto volumes represent a height during the period known as "the Gay Nineties" major standard reference work on the subject of in the United States and as "la belle 6poque" in France, decorative arts. Twenty-one authors, each an expert and it reached its apogee at the Paris World's Fair of in one of the historical periods represented in this 1900; for this reason, the style is sometimes also grandiose survey, collaborated on this work which referred to as the "style 1900". Just as the years leading is not only copiously illustrated but is also docu- up to World War I marked the end of a certain lifestyle mented for each period as to the societal climate in Europe, so the Art Nouveau style may be seen as the which may have influenced the mood of each last, exuberant gasp of a disappearing civilizarion. individual style. Page 2 The Flyleaf — Viaux, Jacqueline. Le Meuble en France (Paris: Presses Holland; Paris and Nancy; London; Germany, Universitaires de France, 1962). Scandinavia, and Switzerland; Barcelona; Chicago More so than the other works listed in this category, and New York; Glasgow; and Vienna. This approach Viaux's book is a history of furniture. Particular brings to light the particular characteristics at- emphasis is placed upon the technical aspects of tributed to each individual school of Art Nouveau. furniture construction, as practiced in each period, and an introductory chapter presents an explanation Sterner, Gabriele. Art Nouveau: An Art o/ Transition of techniques such as the selection of woods for From Individualism to Mass Society (Woodbury, New natural colors and other properties, veneers, mar- York: Barron's, 1982). quetry, lacquers and varnishes, the casting and This work is a collection of several unrelated essays gilding of bronze appliques, etc. cast in the mold of formal academic art history. The first essay is a specific analysis of Hector Guimard's wrought iron entrances to the Paris M6tTO system.