Guide to the Portrait File ca 1640-present (bulk 1800-1950) PR52 The New-York Historical Society 170 Central Park West New York, NY 10024 Descriptive Summary Title: Portrait File Dates: ca 1640-present (bulk 1800’s-early 1900’s) Abstract: The Portrait File contains prints and photographs which were taken or made as portraits of people, arranged alphabetically. Quantity: 125 linear feet (177 boxes; 71 drawers of flat files) Call Phrase: PR 52 Note: Most recent update: May 7, 2019. It is key-word searchable and can be used to identify and request materials through our online request system (AEON). 2 The New-York Historical Society Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections PR 052 PORTRAIT FILE Series I. Individuals and Family Groups Series II. Groups Series III. Royalty Series IV. Unidentified Processed by Committee, June 30, 2003 PR 052 3 Provenance The Portrait File is an ongoing accumulation of images acquired from a variety of sources. Various donors including Daniel Parish, Jr. (1838-1914), a collector who was a long-time and regular donor to the Historical Society; on May 15, 1906 alone he gave “1,754 Prints, consisting of portraits (many of them are book plates and cut from Illustrated Newspapers).” Another major donor was William Ives Rutter, Jr., who gave a large collection of family portraits. In Series I, both medium and large formats, many prints are from the collection of Henry O. Havemeyer. Access The collection open to qualified researchers. Portions of the collection that have been photocopied or microfilmed will be brought to the researcher in that format; microfilm can be made available through Interlibrary Loan. Photocopying Photocopying will be undertaken by staff only, and is limited to twenty exposures of stable, unbound material per day. Researchers may not accrue unused copy amounts from previous days. On-site researchers may print out unlimited copies from microfilm reader-printer machines at a per-exposure rate; see guidelines in the reading room for details. Copyright The copyright law of the United States governs the making of photocopies and protects unpublished materials as well as published materials. Unpublished materials created before January 1, 1978, cannot be quoted in publication without permission of the copyright holder. Permission to reproduce or quote in publication Permission to reproduce or quote materials from this collection in a publication must be requested and granted in writing. Send permission requests, citing the call number and name of the collection, to Library Director, The New-York Historical Society, 2 West 77th Street, New York, NY 10024-5194. Citation This collection should be cited as: Portrait File, PR 052, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, The New-York Historical Society. PR 052 4 Scope and Content Notes The Portrait File contains prints and photographs which were taken or made as portraits of people. Portraits acquired by the New-York Historical Society have simply been filed alphabetically by sitter for decades; this list is an attempt to give greater access to the collection. The collection is divided into four series: Individuals and Family Groups; Groups; Royalty; and Unidentified. Thereunder, each series has been further organized by size in order to provide adequate housing and conservation of the material. Family groups as well as individuals can be found in Series I; groups of unrelated people can be found in Series II. European Royalty can be found in Series III. Portraits in which a name was illegible, as well as those on which no name was inscribed, can be found in Series IV. The Portrait File contains examples of many different formats of photography, most notably cabinet cards, snapshots, and studio portraits. Etchings, engravings, lithographs, and photomechanical prints are included as well. Portraits included here are from many dates, although most date from the nineteenth and early twentieth century. One notable early portrait of Jacobus Critonius (identified as James Crichton) was cut from a 1640 issue of Museum Historicum. Early portrait photography includes a photograph of John C. Fremont, taken by Root in 1855; the file includes an accompanying print made after the photo. In some cases, there is a great quantity of portraits of one person. In general many portraits exist for American presidents, Civil War generals, and New York City mayors. In another example, nineteen portraits of George Monck (1608-1670), the Duke of Albermarle, are present. Series I. Individuals and Family Groups is divided into four subseries, Small Format, Medium Format, Large Format, and Oversize Format. In each subseries, the portraits are filed alphabetically by sitter’s surname. Whenever possible, names were entered as they appear in Library of Congress authority files. Cross refererences between subseries do not exist in this register; all three lists should be consulted for a particular sitter. Filing rules were established and were followed for all subseries where relevant. In general, women are filed under their married names, if known, and then their first names, if known. Names beginning in Saint are filed in S miscellaneous in between Sah and Saj. Names beginning in Mc or Mac are filed together before other M names. British nobility is filed, as noted above, by their Library of Congress authority names. In general, these use the place name as the surname. For example, William Cavendish, Duke of Portland is filed under: Portland, Victor Frederick William Cavendish-Bentinck, Duke of. Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, is filed under: Clarendon, Edward Hyde, Earl of. While most persons pictured in this series are Americans and particularly New Yorkers, the following people do appear: Julius Caesar, Saint Cecelia, Alexander the Great, Galileo, Jesus, and Cupido, the Hottentot Evangelist. Portraits of E.B. Child, who was also a major donor to this collection, can be found in the Theatrical Portrait File as well as here (childhood portraits and pictures of his gravestone). Subseries I. Small Format contains portraits that are smaller than 9 by 14 inches and are housed in boxes. Surnames or individuals with more than five images have their own folders. Those with less than five images are filed in alphabetical “miscellaneous” files. If a specific name is being sought and it does not appear in the container list, the miscellaneous files should be consulted. Photographs of New York mayor John V. Lindsay include some of him performing in a 1938 production of George Bernard Shaw’s “The Devil’s Disciple” put on by the St. Paul’s School Dramatic Club. The Harold Applegate folder has photographs of Mr. Applegate in a dancing costume he wore in an 1899 carnival at his dancing school class, along with the program of the event. The N-YHS Museum owns the costume he wore in the carnival and the photograph. The Harry Scherman folder includes a homemade book PR 052 5 in which identical photographs of Scherman are decorated with different cut outs of hats. A photograph of artist Thomas Nast shows a corner of his studio. Several eighteenth and nineteenth century engravings show Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham (1536-1624), Lord High Admiral, England. A portrait of George Washington printed on silk was created for the bicentennial of his birth. A small carte de visite-size printed memorial card for Maria Jane Hurd, who died in Springfield, MA on March 12, 1849, has an oval portrait (printed) of her on it. Subseries II. Medium Format includes portraits that are housed in flat file drawers. Portraits in this subseries are between the sizes of 9 by 14 and 20 by 24 inches. All images are filed alphabetically, with list access provided to every sitter’s name. Sitters with their own folders have been denoted in the list by an asterisk. Folders of surnames have also been denoted in this way. John Ogilvie is pictured in an early mezzotint from 1775. Several other American print portraits date from ca. 1776. An early photograph shows the photographer Sarony. Several sets of portraits have been dispersed throughout this subseries. The Century Gallery of One Hundred Portraits, mainly prints of Americans noted for their contributions to arts and letters, was issued in 1886. A City College of New York class album from ca. 1860 contains photographs of the graduates. Due to the early photography, those sitters are marked with “CCNY” after their name. Portraits of American presidents foten contain notable items. Memorials to Abraham Lincoln printed on silk are included here. Broadsides containing suggestions for how to advertise for memorials to president Theodore Roosevelt are included under his name. Subseries III. Large Format includes portraits that are housed in flat file drawers. Portraits in this subseries are between the sizes of 20 x 24 and 24 x 40 inches. All images are filed alphabetically, with list access provided to every sitter’s name. Sitters with their own folders have been denoted in the list by an asterisk. Folders of surnames have also been denoted in this way. Many of these large images are portraits of Civil War generals lithographed by the Kurz & Allison firm. A photograph of New York governor William Sulzer is set into an oversize display menu made for a dinner given by the Lotus Club of New York on February 8, 1913. Subseries IV. Oversize Format includes very large portraits that are housed in flat file drawers. Portraits in this subseries are larger than 24 x 40 inches. All images are filed alphabetically, with list access provided to every sitter’s name. Sitters with their own folders have been denoted in the list by an asterisk. Folders of surnames have also been denoted in this way. Series II. Groups is divided into four subseries, Small Format, Medium Format, Large Format, and Oversize Format.