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  3. Series 9: Thomas Ellis Kirby Personal Papers, circa 1861-1929

American Art Association Records, circa 1853-1929, bulk 1885-1922

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Series 9: Thomas Ellis Kirby Personal Papers, circa 1861-1929
3.6 Linear feet
Boxes 15-19

Scattered personal papers of Thomas Ellis Kirby include awards and certificates; an address book; correspondence with clients, buyers, and others; writings, including annotated drafts and typescripts of Kirby's biography and autobiography; speeches; legal materials documenting partnerships and a legal dispute in which Kirby was the intermediary; and extensive auction records. There are also photographs of Thomas Ellis Kirby and Gustavus T. Kirby.
This series is arranged as 7 subseries.
  • 9.1: Address Book, circa 1885-circa 1911
  • 9.2: Biographical Material, circa 1861-1929
  • 9.3: Correspondence, 1864-1924
  • 9.4: Writings and Speeches, circa 1910-circa 1924
  • 9.5: Legal Material, 1871-1922
  • 9.6: Auction Records, 1884-1911
  • 9.7: Photographs, circa 1861-circa 1922

9.1

Address Book, circa 1885-circa 1911
Description Container
Address Book, "Press Book", circa 1885-circa 1911
15
10

9.2

Biographical Material, circa 1861-1929
Description Container
Biographical Material, circa 1861-circa 1923
15
11
Gustavus T. Kirby Biographical Material, 1929
15
12

9.3

Correspondence, 1864-1924
Correspondence, arranged chronologically, includes incoming and outgoing letters. Correspondents include Edward A. Abbey, Jules Breton, Thomas B. Clarke, A. T. Clearwater, Clarence Cook, Royal Cortissoz, Durand-Ruel, William Loeb, Alfred Parsons, James F. Sutton, and William C. Van Horne.
Description Container
Correspondence Regarding Autobiography and Biography, 1910-1924
The correspondence includes Thomas E. Kirby and Rose H. Lorenz letters to Doubleday Page and Co. and Gustavus T. Kirby letters to Doubleday Page and Co. and Charles De Kay. Incoming letters are from Frank N. Doubleday, Arthur Page, Russell Doubleday, and Henry W. Lanier of Doubleday Page and Co.
15
13
Chadwick, Cassie L., 1905
15
14
Regarding Holden, Edwin Babcock, 1910
15
15
Kirby, Gustavus T., 1923-1924
Includes letters to Rose H. Lorenz concerning her finances, the settlement of Thomas E. Kirby's estate, and Kirby's biography, and also includes two letters to his father.
15
16-17
General Correspondence, 1864-1923
15
18-27

9.4

Writings and Speeches, circa 1910-circa 1924
Thomas E. Kirby and Rose H. Lorenz, Kirby's chief assistant, worked on Kirby's autobiography after their retirement from the American Art Association. The book was to be published by Doubleday Page and Co. After Kirby's death in 1924, Charles De Kay was hired by Kirby's son to write Kirby's biography with the assistance of Lorenz.
Materials include research material, drafts, and meeting minutes for Kirby's autobiography and biography, as well as speech notes and drafts for the opening of the American Art Galleries in 1922.
Description Container
Autobiography, Art Under the Hammer
Meeting Minutes, circa 1923
Publisher's conference with Arthur Page, Thomas Ellis Kirby, and Rose Lorenz, on August 20, 1923.
15
28-30
Research Material, F. D. Millet Material, 1911-1913
15
31
Research Notes, circa 1922
15
32-35
Miscellaneous Manuscript Pages and Notes, circa 1922
15
36-39
Manuscript Drafts, circa 1923-circa 1924
15
40-47
Biography Drafts, circa 1911-circa 1924
15
48-49
Biography Drafts, circa 1911-circa 1924
16
1-2
Speeches at Sales, circa 1910-circa 1923
16
3
American Art Galleries Opening, Speech Notes, Drafts, and Press Release, 1922
16
4-7

9.5

Legal Material, 1871-1922
Description Container
Partnership Agreements, 1871-circa 1891
16
8
Vitall Benguiat-Cartier Dispute, 1920-1922
16
9

9.6

Auction Records, 1884-1911
This record system was created by Rose H. Lorenz to aid Charles De Kay in the preparation of Thomas E. Kirby's autobiography, Art Under the Hammer. The files are arranged chronologically and contain research material for the book and are usually prefaced with a brief handwritten note by Lorenz. The files may include correspondence to and from sellers, buyers, artists, dealers, and art experts, as well as clippings, priced lists of sales items, photographs of sales items, and typed and carbon manuscript pages from Art Under the Hammer. The majority of the files concern American Art Association auctions. Files on exhibitions are included in the series and some files contain only manuscript pages or clippings. Auction records can also be found in series 1.2.
Description Container
George Inness Exhibition (April 4, 1884), 1884
16
10
George I. Seney: Paintings (March 21-April 2, 1885), 1885
16
11
George W. Whitney: Paintings (December 16, 1885), 1885
16
12
Impressionists Exhibition, 1886
16
13
Mary Jane Morgan Art Collection (March 3-15, 1886), 1886
16
14
Mary Jane Morgan Art Collection (March 3-15, 1886), 1886
16
15
Beriah Wall and John A. Brown Sale (March 30-April 2, 1886), 1886
16
16
Robert Graves Collection of Paintings and Bric-a-Brac, 1887
16
17
Estate of A. T. Stewart: Paintings, Bronzes, Bric-a-Brac, Library (March 23-31, 1887), 1887
16
18-19
Henry Probasco (April 18, 1887), 1887
16
20
Henry Ward Beecher (November 8-17, 1887), 1887
16
21
Christian H. Wolff (April 2-3, 1888), 1888
16
22
Henry T. Chapman, Jr. (April 13-16, 1888), 1888
16
23
Vassili Verestchagin Exhibition, 1888-1889
16
24
Vassili Verestchagin Exhibition, 1888-1891
16
25
James H. Stebbins: Modern Paintings (February 12, 1889), 1889
16
26
Don Pedro de Borbon, Duque de Durcal (April 10-11, 1889), 1889
16
27
Elmer H. Capen, Wilmot L. Warren: Modern Paintings (March 7-8, 1889), 1889
16
28
Loan Exhibition of Works of Antoine-Louis Barye (November 15, 1889-January 15, 1890), circa 1889
16
29
Jean Francois Millet's "Angeles" Exhibition, 1889
16
30-31
Book Selling, 1890
16
32
Samuel Latham Mitchill Barlow: Library and Bric-a-Brac (February 3-12, 1890), 1890
16
33
Walter Browne: Modern Paintings (March 5, 1890), 1890
16
34
Bernhard Stern, William T. Evans: Paintings (March 6, 1890), 1890
16
35
Francisco Guin de Gabalda (March 31, 1890), 1890
16
36
Exhibitions, 1890-1891
16
37
George I. Seney (Second Sale): Modern Paintings (February 11-13, 1891), 1891
16
38
Brayton Ives (March 9, 1891), 1891
16
39
Vassili Verestchagin: Paintings (November 17, 1891), 1891
16
40
Louis Prang and Co. (February 16, 1892), 1892
16
41
Richard Austin Robinson Estate Sale at American Art Association (April 7-27, 1892), 1892
16
42-43
Second Annual Herald Free Ice Fund and Tribune Fresh Air Fund Exhibition (June-July, 1892), 1892
16
44
Arthur B. Koopman Exhibition (1892-1893), 1892
16
45
Jinbel Kawashima's Textile Fabrics of Japan Exhibition (1892-1893), 1892-1904
16
46
Charles J. Osborn, Edwin Thorne, Edwin S. Chapin (January 27-28, 1893), 1893
16
47
Baron M. von Brandt (February 21-22, 1893), 1893
16
48
Jean Charles Cazin Exhibition, 1893
16
49
Exhibition of the Bureau of Applied Arts (March 3-13, 1893), 1893
16
50
M. Knoedler and Co.: Modern Paintings (April 11-14, 1893), 1893
16
51
John Hoey Estate (April 22-26, 1893), 1893
16
52
F. Brinkley (May 9-10, 1893), 1893
16
53
George I. Seney (February 7-9, 1894), 1894
16
54
S. A. Coale, Jr. (April 18, 1894), circa 1897
16
55
Special Exhibition by Robert V. V. Sewell, A. Brewster Sewell, W. Hamilton Gibson, Herbert A. Olivier, George Agnew Reid, Elihu Vedder (December 1894), 1894
16
56
Richard H. Halsted: Paintings by George Inness (January 9, 1895), 1895
16
57
Edwin A. Abbey's "The Quest of the Holy Grail" Exhibition (March 1895), 1895
16
58
Dissolution Sale (April 25-30, 1895), 1895
16
59
Sarah A. Smith (November 19-20, 1895), 1895
16
60
Paran Stevens (November 25, 1895), 1895
16
61
Shelley W. and William D. Denton: Collection of Butterflies Exhibition (December 1895), 1895
16
62
N. Q. Pope (January 23, 1896), 1896
16
63
David H. King, Jr. (February 17-19, 1896), 1896
16
64
William Schans (February 28, 1896), 1896
16
65
Claude Monet Exhibition (March 9, 1896), 1896
16
66
James F. Sutton's Peru Trip (March 28, 1896), 1896
16
67
Edward Brandus (April 16-18, 1896), 1896
16
68
Holland Art Galleries: Dutch Paintings, Watercolors (February 24-26, 1897), 1896
16
69
George F. Tyler (April 9, 1897), 1897
16
70
Frank H. Platt (April 26, 1897), 1897
16
71
William Hood Stewart: Modern Paintings (February 3-4, 1898), 1898
16
72
Charles A. Dana: Eastern Ceramics, Objects of Art (February 24-26, 1898), 1898
16
73
William H. Fuller: Early English and Barbizon Paintings (February 25, 1898), 1898
17
1
Abraham Disbecker (April 1, 1898), 1898
17
2
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (April 21, 1898), 1898
17
3
Daniel W. Powers (January 18, 1899), 1899
17
4
Walter Richmond (January 27, 1899), 1899
17
5
Thomas B. Clarke (February 14-17, 1899), 1899
17
6
William B. Bement (February 27-28, 1899), 1899
17
7
Maurice Boutet de Monvel Exhibition (March 13-22, 1899), 1899
17
8
J. James Tissot's "The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ" Exhibition (1899), 1898-1900
17
9-10
Exhibitions: Fernand Lungren and Society of Landscape Painters (March -April 1899), 1899
17
11
E. M. Harris, Edward Holbrook, T. J. Blakeslee (April 13-15, 1899), 1899
17
12
O. C. Marsh (October 6-7, 1899), 1899
17
13
William T. Evans: American Paintings (January 31, 1900), 1900
17
14
Henry Hilton (February 13-16, 1900), 1900
17
15
Thomas E. Kirby Trip to Japan (Spring 1900), 1900
17
16
Eugene Fischhof and T. J. Blakeslee: Paintings (March 9-10, 1900), 1900
17
17
Augustin Daly: Books, Bric-A-Brac, Furniture (March 19-30, 1900), 1900
17
18
Frederic Bonner and American Art Association: Paintings (April 10, 1900), 1900
17
19
George N. Tyler (February 1, 1901), 1901
17
20
Edward Kearney (February 7, 1901), 1901
17
21
Charles E. West (March 25, 1901), 1900-1901
17
22
Henry T. Cox (January 17, 1902), 1902
17
23
Mrs. P. C. Hanford: Paintings (January 30, 1902), circa 1896-1902
17
24
E. F. Milliken (February 14, 1902), 1902
17
25
Boussod Valadon and Co. (February 26-28, 1902), 1902
17
26
F. O. Matthiessen (April 1-2, 1902), 1902
17
27
T. J. Blakeslee (April 10-11, 1902), 1902
17
28
John G. Johnson, circa 1902
17
29
Mrs. S. D. Warren (January 8-9, 1903), 1903
17
30-31
Henry G. Marquand (January 23-31, 1903), 1903
17
32-33
David C. Lyall (February 10, 1903), 1903
17
34
Special Exhibition: "The Recent Work of Alfred Parsons, A. R. A., and Frank D. Millet, N. A." (February 11-18, 1903), 1903
17
35
J. P. Ichenhauser (February 26-29, 1903), 1903
17
36
Clarence King, W. H. Fuller, Theodore G. Well, H. Victor Newcomb, Zabriskie, Burrill and Murray (March 12, 1903), 1903
17
37
A. Melrose Burritt (March 25-26, 1903), 1903
17
38
Samuel Colman (March 25, 1903), 1903
17
39
H. Wood Sullivan (April 3, 1903), 1903
17
40
Dikran Khan Kelekian (April 15-18, 1903), 1903
17
41
Thirty-Sixth Annual Exhibition of the American Water Color Society (April 20-30, 1903), 1903
17
42
Loan Exhibition of Portraits for the Benefit of the Orthopaedic Dispensary and Hospital (November 18-December 13, 1903), 1903
17
43
Frederick S. Gibbs (Februar 24-26, 1904), 1904
17
44
Dowdeswell and Dowdeswell and T. J. Blakeslee (April 7-8, 1904), 1904
17
45
J. James Tissot Exhibition (November 10-25, 1904), 1904
17
46
Yamanaka and Co. (January 5-11, 1905), 1905
17
47
Robert C. Minor (January 18, 1905), 1905
17
48
Thomas E. Waggaman (January 25-February 3, 1905), 1905
17
49-50
John W. Kauffman (February 3, 1905), 1905
17
51
Mrs. S. B. Conkling, S. B. Sexton, Mark Hoyt, L. Crist Delmonico, A. A. Crosby (February 9-10, 1905), 1905
17
52
Edwin Lord Weeks (March 15, 1905), 1905
17
53
David H. King, Jr. (March 31, 1905), 1905
17
54
T. J. Blakeslee (April 6, 1905), 1905
17
55
Heber R. Bishop (January 1906), 1906
17
56
Edward M. Knox (January 26, 1906), 1906
17
57
R. Swain Gifford (February 2, 1906), 1906
17
58
Irving M. Scott (February 9, 1906), 1906
17
59
Alexander Blumenstiel (February 15-16, 1906), 1906
17
60
Peter A. Schemm, Moses Tanenbaum, William Salomon, Solomon Mehrbach, Louis A. Biddle, Hentry Steers (March 1, 1906), 1906
17
61
Joseph Jefferson (April 27, 1906), 1906
17
62
Paul Nocquet Memorial Exhibition (April 28-May 6, 1906), 1906
17
63
Vitall Benguiat (December 6-8, 1906), 1906
17
64
S. M. Burnett (January 7-9, 1907), 1906
17
65
Combination Sale (January 10, 1907), 1907
17
66
H. S. Henry: Paintings, Masterpieces by "The Men of 1830" (January 25, 1907), 1907
17
67-68
A. August Healy (February 15, 1907), 1907
17
69
Alexander W. Drake (February 25-28, 1907), 1907
17
70
Samuel L. Bronson, Julius O. Frank, Theodore Marburg, Scott and Fowles (March 15, 1907), 1907
17
71
Auguste F. Chamot (March 16, 1907), 1907
17
72
Stanford White: Artistic Furnishings, Interior Decorations (April 4-6, 1907), 1907
17
73
Anna N. Kendall (April 19, 1907), 1907
17
74
Mrs. A. G. Hunt and Albert Bierstadt (January 22-23, 1908), 1908
17
75
Richard Mansfield (March 2-3, 1908), 1908
17
76
T. J. Blakeslee (April 9-10, 1908), 1908
17
77
Henry O. Tanner Exhibition (December 15-26, 1908), 1908
17
78
Baron Speck von Sternburg: Chinese Art Treasures (January 13-16, 1909), 1908
17
79
Deming Jarves: Chinese Porcelains (January 20, 1909), 1909
18
1
Joseph F. Knapp, Warren Sherburne, Miss Schouler, Robert Glendenning, G. H. Buek (January 21-22, 1909), 1909
18
2
Henry Graves (February 25-29, 1909), 1909
18
3
James S. Inglis, Cottier and Co., and Others (March 11-12, 1909), 1909
18
4
James Albert Garland (March 19, 1909), 1909
18
5
John T. Martin (April 15-16, 1909), 1909
18
6
Henry W. Poor (April 21, 1909), 1909
18
7
Exhibitions of Artists Represented in the G. H. Buek Collection of American Water Colors (May 1909), 1909
18
8
Theron R. Butler (January 7, 1910), 1910
18
9
Bunkio Matsuki (January 7-8, 1910), 1910
18
10
James Henry Smith: Mansion and Artistic Contents of House Sale (January 18-22, 1910), Inventory, Correspondence, 1910
18
11
James Henry Smith: Mansion and Artistic Contents of House Sale (January 18-22, 1910), Photographs, 1910
18
12
Cyrus J. Lawrence (January 21-22, 1910), 1910
18
13
H. S. Henry (February 4, 1910), 1910
18
14-16
J. B. Ladd (February 25, 1910), 1910
18
17
James Albert Garland (February 26, 1910), 1910
18
18
Frederick C. Hewitt, William Francklyn Paris, Mrs. Frederica H. Elwood, Charles H. Truax, James F. Pumpelly (March 9-10, 1910), 1910
18
19
James S. Inglis (March 9-10, 1910), 1910
18
20
Charles Tyson Yerkes (April 5-8, 1910), 1890-1911
19
1-3
Richard Berl (1910), 1910-1911
19
4

9.7

Photographs, circa 1861-circa 1922
Description Container
Thomas Ellis Kirby and Others, circa 1861-circa 1922
19
5

Make a Request

  • To request an appointment to view materials, make your selections using the checkboxes and click the "Reading Room" button. Please note, you will receive the full box.
  • To request reproductions, make your selections using the checkboxes and click the "Reproduction" button.