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  2. Morris Henry Hobbs papers, circa 1901-2014
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Morris Henry Hobbs papers, circa 1901-2014

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Occupation

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Select containers from the following list if you want to request them for reading room use or reproduction

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1918-2014
0.2 Linear feet
Box 1

Biographical Material includes chronologies, biographical statements, vital records, and military records. Also included are subject files regarding living in New Orleans, Hobbs' home and studio, and hurricane experiences. Additionally, there are two guest books for studio visitors.
Description Container Select
Biographies and Chronologies, circa 1966-2014
1
1
Alice Seddon Hobbs Biographical Information, 1950-2014
1
2
Birth and Death Certificates, 1967, 1961
1
3
House in Mandeville, Louisiana, 1945-1973
1
4
Hurricanes, 1964-1969
1
5
Life in the French Quarter, 1939-1962
1
6
Military Service, 1918-1967
1
7
Move to New Orleans, 1938-1939
1
8
New Orleans Studios, 1938-1974
1
9
Obituaries, 1967
1
10
Pontalba Apartments, 1952-1961
1
11
Studio and Home Guest Book, 1938-1939
1
12
Studio and Home Guest Book, 1940-1992
1
13
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Series 2: Correspondence, 1921-1993
0.7 Linear feet
Box 1 and 5

Correspondence primarily consists of personal letters to and from friends and family regarding art, travel, and botany. Of note are letters from the etchers John Taylor Arms and Bertha Jaques and botanist Lyman Smith. Additional professional correspondence is included in Series 4: Professional Files.
Description Container Select
Arms, John Taylor, 1939-1950
1
14
Condolence Letters, 1967-1969
1
15
Davis, Ralph, 1959-1970
1
16-31
Dean, J. Ernest, 1928-1932
1
32
Hobbs Family Christmas Letters, 1959-1993
1
33
Jaques, Bertha, 1939-1940
1
34
Smith, Lyman (Smithsonian Horticulture), 1941, 1954-circa 1966
1
35
Wisdom, William and Mary, 1960-1985
1
36
General Correspondence, 1921-1967
1
37
Oversized Handmade Card from Friends, 1953
5
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Series 3: Writings, 1918-2014
0.3 Linear feet
Boxes 1-2

Writings include draft manuscripts and notes for a book on etchings, loose journal pages documenting Hobbs' move to New Orleans in 1938, and a garden diary and notebook documenting his bromeliad collection. Also found are original pages from a pocket diary Hobbs kept during his service in World War I and a typescript of the diary by Reed Isbell-Hobbs. Writings by Alice Seddon Hobbs include two essays and a speech about her husband's artwork.
Description Container Select
"How Etchings Are Made", 1937-1985
1
38
Journal Pages, 1938
1
39
Mandeville Garden Diary, 1949-1950
2
1
Notebook on Bromeliad Collection, 1955-1956
2
2
Poetry, 1941-1967
2
3
World War I Diary (Original and Typescript), 1918-1919, 2014
2
4
Writings by Alice Seddon Hobbs, 1967, undated
2
5
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Series 4: Professional Files, 1922-2014
1 Linear foot
Boxes 2-3

Professional files include documents relating to Hobbs' memberships and activities in the Bromeliad Society, Chicago Society of Etchers, Louisiana Society of Etchers, New Orleans Art League, and other organizations. Also included are exhibition records, price lists, and sales records. Additionally there are records documenting his career as an architectural draftsman. Files may include correspondence, publications, news clippings, lists of artworks, and event photographs. Some records dating after Hobbs' death in 1967 were maintained by his wife, Alice "Judy" Seddon Hobbs.
Description Container Select
Architectural Career, circa 1920s-1963
2
6-8
Art Dealers, 1930-1962
2
9
Art Institute of Chicago, 1932-1940
2
10
Bromeliad Society, 1952-1977
2
11
California Society of Etchers, 1938-1950
2
12
Chicago Society of Etchers, 1931-1954
2
13
Chicago Studio, 1930-1943
2
14
Harmanson Bookseller, circa 1958
2
15
Historic New Orleans Collection, 1959-1976
2
16
Houston Museum of Fine Arts, 1966
2
17
Library of Congress, 1937-1950
2
18
Louisiana Society of Etchers, 1939-1941
2
19
Louisiana State Museum, 1985-1987
2
20
MacDowell Colony, 1943-1956
2
21
Miniature Print Society, 1941-1942, 2014
2
22
New Orleans Art Associations, 1939-1950
2
23
Permo Press, 1936-1938
2
24
Price Lists and Sales Records, 1967-1978
2
25-26
Reinike Gallery, 1967-1973
2
27
St. Tammany Art Association, 1983-1987
2
28
Salmagundi Club, circa 1945-1948
2
29
Smithsonian Institution, 1936-1939
2
30
Society of American Etchers, 1928-1950
2
31-32
Toledo Museum of Art, 1922-1954
2
33
Tulane University, 1951-1969
2
34
University of Southwest Louisiana, 1963
2
35
Various Exhibitions, Louisiana, circa 1939-1963
2
36
Various Exhibitions, Midwest US, 1930-1971
2
37
Various Exhibitions, Northeast US, 1931-1948
3
1
Various Exhibitions, Southern US, 1930-1970
3
2-3
Various Exhibitions, Western US, 1931-1948
3
4
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Series 5: Printed Material, 1929-2014
0.6 Linear feet
Box 3

Printed material documents Hobbs' career through news clippings, one scrapbook containing new clippings, exhibition catalogs, and brochures listing prints for sale. Also found are published reproductions of Hobbs' etchings found in advertisements, event programs, a deck of cards, and on the cover of several issues of the Bromeliad Society Bulletin.
Description Container Select
Book Jacket Illustration, 2014, 1946
3
5
Bromeliad Society Bulletin, 1952, 1958-1964
3
6-8
Clippings, 1932-1986
3
9-11
Clippings Scrapbook, 1929-1936
3
12
Commercial Art Samples, 1939-1960s
3
13-14
Exhibition Catalogs and Print Brochures, 1930s-1986
3
15-16
Mardi Gras/Carnival Program Illustrations, 1948-1957
3
17
Miscellaneous Printed Material, circa 1938-1991
3
18
Playing Cards, circa 1940s
3
19
Published Etching Descriptions, undated
3
20
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Series 6: Photographs, circa 1901-1991
0.6 Linear feet
Boxes 3-4

Photographs and slides are of Hobbs, his family, trips abroad, his properties in New Orleans and Mandeville, Louisiana, and artwork.
Description Container Select
Morris Henry Hobbs, circa 1930s-1960s
Oversized material housed in Box 5.
3
21
Alice Seddon Hobbs, circa 1901-1980s
3
22-23
William Hobbs, circa 1945-1958
3
24
Jaycox Family, 1991, 1936
3
25
Homes and Studios, circa 1930s-1950s
3
26
Travels in Central America, circa 1960s
3
27
Artwork, circa 1940s, undated
3
28-29
Slides of Bromeliads, circa 1950s
3
30
Slides of House and Garden at Mandeville, circa 1950s
3
31
Slides of Carnival, 1956
3
32
Slides of Travel, 1962
3
33
Slides of Travel, 1963-1966
4
1-5
Oversized Photographs of Morris Henry Hobbs from Box 3, Folder 21, circa 1940-1960s
5
Oversized Photograph of James Swann, 1936
5
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Series 7: Artwork, circa 1919-1950s
0.3 Linear feet
Boxes 4-5

Artwork includes Hobbs' original prints and sketches of Chicago, France, and New Orleans, as well as architectural renderings and plans created during his career as a draftsman. Also of note is a scrapbook containing original etchings in chronological order with annotations about the sale, exhibition, and printing process of each work. Additional artwork includes original bookplates and illustrations by Hobbs and a few pencil drawings by others.
Description Container Select
Architectural Renderings, 1929-1931
Oversized material housed in Box 5.
4
6
Bookplates, circa 1930s-1940s
4
7
"Louisiana Cookery" Illustrations, undated
4
8
Prints and Sketches, "Louisiana Works", circa 1930s-1940s
Oversized material housed in Box 5.
4
9
Prints and Sketches, "Works from France", circa 1919-1940s
Oversized material housed in Box 5.
4
10
Prints and Sketches, "Chicago Works", circa 1930s
Oversized material housed in Box 5.
4
11
Prints and Sketches, Miscellaneous, undated
4
12
Stationery Designs, circa 1930s-1950s
4
13
Drawings by Others, 1933
Oversized material housed in Box 5.
4
14
Oversize Scrapbook of Etchings, circa 1926-1929
5
Oversize Architectural Plans, circa 1935-1944
5
Oversized Architectural Renderings from Box 4, Folder 6, 1935
5
Oversized Prints and Sketches, "Louisiana Works" from Box 4, Folder 9
5
Oversized Prints and Sketches, "Works from France" from Box 4, Folder 10
5
Oversized Prints and Sketches, "Chicago Works" from Box 4, Folder 11
5
Oversized Drawings by Others from Box 4, Folder 14, 1941
5
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Series 8: Sketchbooks, 1930s-1950s
0.2 Linear feet
Box 4

Four sketchbooks include figure drawings, landscapes, and street scenes from the French Quarter in pencil and ink.
Description Container Select
Sketchbook, "Pen Sketches and Studies for Block Prints", circa 1930s
4
15
Sketchbook, "Carnival Sketches", 1938
4
16
Sketchbook, circa 1939
4
17
Sketchbook, circa 1950s
4
18

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.