|
| |
|
|
| |
Thomas Cole papers
The print version of the finding aid was compiled by Maria McCashion,
New York State Archives.
© 2005
Overview of the Collection
Repository: |
New York State Library
Manuscripts and Special Collections |
Sponsor: |
Funding for encoding
this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the
National Endowment for the Humanities. |
Collection Number: |
SC10635_SA14607 |
Creator: |
Cole, Thomas, 1801-1848 |
Title: |
Thomas Cole papers
|
Dates: |
1818-1964 |
Physical Description: |
4 cubic feet of textual
records; notebooks; sketches; sketchbook; and 1 letter |
Summary: |
Thomas Cole was a
nineteenth century American painter and one o the founders
of the Hudson River School of landscape painting. His work
often depicted scenes of the Hudson River Valley, Catskill
Mountains, and Adirondack Mountains. Cole also wrote poetry,
short stories, and text to accompany hpaintings. These papers
consist of correspondence; personal journals and travel diaries;
essays; lecture notes; poetryand verses; sketches; a sketchbook;
notebooks; exhibition catalogs; calling cards; personal financial
records; and newspaper clippings. |
|
|
Arrangement
The papers have been arranged into four series: Correspondence; Journals,
Essays, Poetry an Prose; Sketches, Exhibition Catalogues and Records
of Visitors; and Personal Financial papers
Overview
These papers consist of correspondence; personal journals and travel
diaries; essays; lecture notes; poetry and verses; sketches; a sketchbook;
notebooks; exhibition catalogs; calling cards; personal financial
records; and newspaper clippings. Papers have been arranged into four
series: Correspondence; Journals, Essays, Poetry and Prose; Sketches,
Exhibition Catalogues and Records of Visitors; and Personal Financial
papers.
Biographical Sketch
Thomas Cole was born in Bolton-le-Moor, Lancashire, England in 1801.
In 1819 he moved, with h family, to Philadelphia, PA, where his father
established a dry good business and Cole took up wood engraving. A
year later the family removed to Steubenville, Ohio where Cole and
his father produced wallpaper. While in Steubenville, Cole met a painter
named Stein and studied with him for a time. The Cole family moved
again in 1823 to Pittsburgh, PA, where Cole's father established a
floor cover business. The business failed and the family moved to
New York City. Here, Cole's art work was noticed by merchant George
W. Bruen, who financed a steamboat trip up the Hudson River allowing
Cole to explore and sketch the Catskill Mountain region of New York
State. Upon his return, Colonel John Trumbull, president of the American
Academy of Fine Arts, noticed his work and Cole's wor soon became
well known. Over the following years, Cole continued to spend time
in the Catskill region traveling and painting. In 1826, he became
a founding member of the National Academy of Design. In 1829, Cole
moved to England, and during this time traveled throughout France
and Italy. He returned t New York in 1832 and four years later, in
1836, he married Maria Bartow, daughter of Stephen and Maria (Thomson)
Bartow and niece of Thomas T. and John Alexander Thomson. The couple
settled in Catskill, N.Y. and had five children, Theodore, (b. 1838),
Mary (b. 1839), Emily (b. 1843), Elizabeth (b.1847 but dying in infancy),
and Thomas II (b. 1848). Cole continued to travel and paint, visiting
Europe (1841-1842), the Adirondack Mountains, (1846) and Niagara Falls
(1847). Cole died in 1848.
Custodial History
The majority of materials were collected by Cole's daughter and granddaughter,
both of whom lived in Ceda Grove, Cole's Catskill, N.Y. home. Donated
in 1935 by Florence Cole Vincent, Cole's granddaughter.
Processing Information
Papers were originally processed in 1935 and reprocessed in 1993.This
collection's description was enhanced as a part of the New York State
Archives Environmental History VirtuaResearch Collection Project,
2004. The National Endowment for the Humanities provided funding for
this project.
Use of Collection
Access Restrictions
There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.
The Sketchbook (1827) is housed separateand two business days notice
is required for retrieval.
Available Alternate Formats
Papers are also available on microfilm. The finding aid for the original
records does not correspond to the order in wh
Related Information
Related Material
Thomas Cole papers, sketchbook, and paintings at the Albany Institute
of History and Art, Albany, New York; Florence Cole Vincent memorial
collection at the Greene County Historical Society. Jessie Van Vechten
Vedder Memorial Library, Coxsackie, N.Y.; Excerpts of Cole's 1837
diary are available at the Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake,
N.Y.; Thomas Cole papers at the Detroit Institute of Art, Michigan;
and three letters written by Cole areavailable at the Archives of
American Art, Smithsonian Institution. The records held by both the
New York State Librarand the Detroit Institute of Art are available
on microfilm at the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Other Finding Aids
Finding aid and an alphabetical list of correspondents are available
at the repository and online http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/msscfa/sc10635.htm.
Access Terms
Corporate Names
Subjects
Hudson River School of landscape painting
Landscape painters-United States-Correspondence
Landscape painting, American 19th century
Art, Modern-19th century
Art
Artists-New York (State)
Personal Name
Cole, Thomas, 1801-1848 -- Correspondence
Detailed Description
| Title: |
Correspondence |
| Dates: |
1821-1863 |
| Quantity: |
1.75 cu. ft. textual records including ca. 100 sketches
|
Container List
| Dates |
Contents |
Box |
Folder |
| 1821-1835 |
Letters by Thomas Cole
to artists William A. Adams, Sir Thomas Lawrence, and HoratGreenough;
patrons Simeon DeWitt Bloodgood and Luman Reed; and others |
1 |
1 |
| 1836 |
Letters by Thomas Cole
to artists Asher B. Durand and Charles Robert Leslie; GeorgeWatterson
(secretary of the Washington Monument Society); patrons Simeon
DeWitt Bloodgood and Luman Reed; and others |
1 |
2 |
| 1837-1838 |
Letters by Thomas Cole
to artists William A. Adams and Asher B. Durand, and others |
1 |
3 |
| 1839-1840 |
Letters by Thomas Cole
to artists William A. Adams, Asher B. Durand, Ithiel Town; patron
Samuel Ward; and others |
1 |
4 |
| 1841-1847 |
Letters by Thomas Cole
to artists William A. Adams, Asher B. Durand, and Thomas PRossiter;
author George Washington Greene; patrons Samuel Ward and Alfred
Smith; and others including Cole's family |
1 |
5 |
| 1837-1845 |
Drafts and fragments
of letters to and from Cole, including letters to Isaiah Townsend
and patron William P. Van Rensselaer |
1 |
6 |
|
Drafts and fragments
of letters to and from Cole, including letters to Isaiah Townsend
and patron William P. Van Rensselaer |
1 |
7 |
| 1821-1829 |
Letters to Thomas Cole
from artists Thomas Sully, Thomas Sier Cummings, Samuel Rogers,
and Pierre Antoine Labouchere; Daniel Wadsworth (Whitney Museum
founder); John Morton Ludlow (National Academy of Design; and
others |
2 |
1 |
| 1830-1832 |
Letters to Thomas Cole
from artists Charles R. Leslie, Mosley Isaac Danforth, Horatio
Greenough, John Cranch, and Francis Alexander; and others |
2 |
2 |
| 1833 |
Letters to Thomas Cole
from artists Charles Ingham, Alexander Francis, Charles LymaSamuel
Atkins Eliot (Mayor of Boston); Joshua Bates (American financier);
Jonathan Mason (friend and agent); John MortLudlow; Daniel Wadsworth;
and others |
2 |
3 |
| 1834 |
Letters to Thomas Cole
from artists Alexander Francis, William A. Adams, Charles R.
Leslie, and William Dunlap; Henry Pickering (poet); Edward Everett
(writer, orator, statesman); Catherine Maria Sedgwick(author);
and others |
2 |
4 |
| 1835 |
Letters to Thomas Cole
from artists Alexander Francis, William A. Adams, and Charle
R. Leslie; Washington Irving (author); patrons Simeon DeWitt
Bloodgood and Luman Reed; Franklin Dexter (lawyer); Sam F. B.
Morse (scientist); and others |
2 |
5 |
| 1836 |
Letters to Thomas Cole
from artists William Dunlap, Asher B. Durand, Thomas SeirCummings,
and Charles H. Inman; patrons Luman Reed, Jonathan Mason, William
P. Van Rensselaer, and Jonathan Sturges; George Watterson; Morton,
John Ludlow; and others |
2 |
6 |
| 1837 |
Letters to Thomas Cole
from artists Alexander Francis, Thomas Seir Cummings, and Charles
Cromwell Inman; patrons Jonathan Sturges, Jonathan Mason, and
William P. Van Rensselaer; Samuel F. B. MorPeter Gerard Stuyvesant
(American lawyer); and others |
2 |
7 |
| 1838 |
Letters to Thomas Cole
from artists Alexander Francis, William A. Adams, Thomas SeCummings,
Charles Cromwell Inman, Asher B. Durand, and William Dunlap;
patrons Jonathan Mason and Jonathan Sturges; John Morton Ludlow;
and others |
2 |
8 |
| 1839 |
Letters to Thomas Cole
from William A. Adams, Cornelius Ver Bryck, Ithiel Town, and
Thomas B. Ashton; patrons Jonathan Mason, Samuel Ward Jr., William
P. Van Rensselaer; Orville Dewey (American theologian); Benjamin
Silliman (scientist); and others |
2 |
8 |
| 1840 |
Letters to Thomas Cole
from artists William A. Adams, Henry Inman, Ithiel Town, and
Thomas B. Ashton; patrons Jonathan Mason, James S. Huggins,
and Samuel Ward, Jr.; Lewis Clark Gaylord (writer); andothers |
3 |
1 |
| 1841 |
Letters to Thomas Cole
from artists William A. Adams, Cornelius Ver Bryck, and Thomas
B. Ashton George Washington Greene (author); William Cullen
Bryant (poet); Lewis Clark Gaylord (writer); OrvilleDewey (theologian);
and others |
3 |
2 |
| 1842-1843 |
Letters to Thomas Cole
artists Asher B. Durand, Francis William Edmonds, Thomas Prichard
Rossiter, and Robert Walter Weir; William Cullen Bryant; Henry
Pratt Cheever; Isaiah Townsend; William Firth; George Washington
Greene; and others |
3 |
3 |
| 1844 |
Letters to Thomas Cole
from artists Samuel James Ainsley and Frederick Edwin ChurDaniel
Wadsworth; John Morton Ludlow; Henry Pratt Cheever; Alfred Smith
(lawyer); and others |
3 |
4 |
| 1845 |
Letters to Thomas Cole
from artist Samuel James Ainsley; writers George WashingtonGreene
and Lewis Clark Gaylord; patron Jonathan Sturges; and others |
3 |
5 |
| 1846-1848 |
Letters to Thomas Cole
from artists Jasper F. Cropsey, William A. Adams, Samuel James
Ainsley, Robert Walter Weir, Asher B. Durand, and Daniel Huntington;
W. Spencer; and others |
3 |
6 |
| [18-] |
Letters to Thomas Cole
from James Renwick (physicist); Joshua Bates; Dexter Frankl(lawyer);
Jeremiah Van Rensselaer; and others |
3 |
7 |
| 1826-1837 |
Robert Gilmor to Cole
and draft of letters from Cole to Gilmor |
3 |
8 |
| 1827 |
Letters to persons other
than Thomas Cole (mostly letters of condolence to Maria Cole) |
3 |
9 |
| 1820-1839 |
Cole family letters |
4 |
1 |
| 1840-1843 |
Cole family letters |
4 |
2 |
| 1844 |
Cole family letters |
4 |
3 |
| 1845-1855 |
Cole family letters |
4 |
4 |
| [18-] |
Notes on Cole's life
and time spent at Chillicothe Journal |
4 |
5 |
Detailed Description
| Title: |
Journals, Essays, Poetry and Prose |
| Dates: |
1818-1848 |
| Quantity: |
1 cu. ft. of textual records including ca. 50 sketches
|
Container List
| Dates |
Contents |
Box |
Folder |
| 1818 |
Journal: Philadelphia
to Ohio |
4 |
6 |
| 1834-1848 |
Journal: New York (Catskill
and New York City) |
4 |
7 |
| 1829-1831 |
Journal: England |
4 |
8 |
| 1841-1844 |
Journal: Europe |
4 |
9 |
| 1831-1832 |
Journal: France and
Italy and Visit to Volterra |
4 |
10 |
| 1831 |
Journal: Visit to Volterra |
4 |
11 |
| 1832 |
Journal: Naples |
4 |
12 |
| 1832 |
Journal: Journey from
Rome to Florence |
4 |
13 |
| 1842 |
Journal of a Journey
from Rome to Sicily |
4 |
14 |
| [18-] |
Journal: Trip to Mount
Desert Island, Maine |
4 |
15 |
| [183-] |
"Essay on American Scenery"
(3 drafts) |
5 |
1 |
| [18-] |
"Lecture" [on art] (drafts) |
5 |
2 |
| [18-] |
"Letter to the Publick
[sic] on the Subject of Architecture" |
5 |
3 |
| [18-] |
Essay: "The Bewilderment"
(2 drafts) |
5 |
4 |
| [18-] |
Essay: "The Storm" |
5 |
5 |
| [18-] |
Essay: "The Death of
Chocorua" (2 drafts) |
5 |
6 |
| [18-] |
Essay: "Sicilian Antiquities
and Scenery" (draft) |
5 |
7 |
| [18-] |
"Verdura, or a Tale
of After Time" (draft) and "The Clove Valley" (draft) |
5 |
8 |
| [184-] |
Essay: "Influence of
the Plastic Arts" |
5 |
9 |
| [18-] |
Essay: "The Wanderer"
(draft) |
5 |
10 |
| [184-] |
Untitled, essay fragments
and lecture notes |
5 |
11 |
| 1846 |
"Pictures in Churches"
(letter to the editor) |
5 |
12 |
| 1826 |
Poem: "The Wild" |
5 |
13 |
| 1838 |
Poem: "The Complaint
of the Forest" |
5 |
14 |
| [18-] |
Poem: "The Voyage of
Life" |
5 |
15 |
| [184-] |
Verse and poetry: drafts
and notes |
5 |
16 |
| 1825-1846 |
Verse and poetry: drafts
and notes |
5 |
17 |
| 1826-1847 |
Verse and poetry: drafts
and notes |
5 |
18 |
| [184-] |
Essay: "Tribute to Cornelius
Ver Bryck" |
5 |
19 |
| [18-] |
Prose descriptions of
ideas for paintings, including "Course of Empire" and "Voyage
of Life". Also, extracts copied from books and articles |
6 |
1 |
| 1839-1840 |
Lists (Books, clothes,
and paintings) |
6 |
2 |
| 1829-1842 |
Travel documents and
notes re: European trips |
6 |
3 |
| [183-] |
Notes on art techniques
(one in French) |
6 |
4 |
| [18-] |
Notes re: public monuments
and plans for monuments of Washington |
6 |
5 |
Detailed Description
Title: |
Sketches, Exhibition Catalogues and Records of Visitors
|
Dates: |
1827-18421827-1964, bulk 1827-1842 |
Quantity: |
0.7 cu. ft. of textual records; sketches; sketchbook |
Container List
| Dates |
Contents |
Box |
Folder |
| [18-] |
Commissions for paintings
(2) |
6 |
7 |
| 1858 |
Receipt for "Elijah
of the Cave" |
6 |
8 |
| [18-] |
Advertisement for book
by George Field and pamphlet entitled "Dr. Mahan'sSpeech" |
6 |
9 |
| 1834-1964 |
Newspaper articles by
and about Cole and his work; and obituaries about Cole |
6 |
10 |
| 1834-1844 |
Exhibition registers |
7 |
1 |
| 1828-1848 |
Exhibition catalogues,
calling cards, and an admission ticket to view "The Angel Appearing
to the Shepherds" |
7 |
2 |
| 1835 |
Notebook: Catskill,
The broken warblings of a dreaming bird and drafts of "The Spirits
of the Wilderness" |
7 |
3 |
| 1844 |
Notebook: "The Spirits
of the Wilderness" (pages 1-75) |
7 |
4 |
| 1844 |
Notebook: "Spirits of
the Wilderness" (pages 76 to end), and "The Vision" |
7 |
5 |
| [18-] |
19 pen and ink, and
pencil sketches |
8 |
1 |
| [18-] |
4 matted sketches |
8 |
1a |
| 1826-1827 |
Notebook: "Catskilliana" |
8 |
2 |
| [18-] |
Notebook: "Observations
from Nature" |
8 |
3 |
| 1827 |
Sketchbook (stored in
vault) |
8 |
4 |
Detailed Description
Title: |
Personal Financial papers |
Dates: |
1829-1846 |
Quantity: |
0.3 cu. ft. textual records |
|
|
Container List
| Dates |
Contents |
Box |
Folder |
| 1835-1837 |
Agreement, transfer
of contract, and a mortgage |
6 |
6 |
| 1832-1846 |
Bills, accounts, receipts,
notes, including exhibition accounts |
6 |
11 |
| 1829-1846 |
Bills, accounts, receipts,
notes, including exhibition accounts |
6 |
12 |
|
|
|
|
