|
Scope and Contents |
|
|
The Joseph and Elizabeth R. Pennell papers, 1832-1951, comprise correspondence,
diaries, appointment books, documents, photographs, notebooks, clippings, and
some
artwork (not by Joseph Pennell). The collection is grouped as it was foldered
by
Elizabeth Pennell in the 1920s, with additions made from items removed in 1936
from
her apartment and separately arranged. |
|
|
Series I contains the papers of Joseph Pennell, subdivided into a large subseries
of
correspondence and a much smaller group of personal papers. The second
series--Elizabeth Pennell's papers--comprises some business and personal
correspondence and a larger personal papers subseries containing (most
significantly) her diaries. Within the overall collection the correspondence is
most
extensive for the period from the late 1870s to about 1887 and from 1918 until
1936,
with Elizabeth's diaries covering the years between 1884 and 1917. Additionally
there is a group of Barton-Pennell family correspondence covering the period 1854
to
1898. |
|
|
The majority of the correspondence deals with the art and literary careers of Joseph
and Elizabeth Pennell, focusing on Joseph's exhibitions, teaching, and commission
work and Elizabeth's post-1926 writing career. Among the significant correspondents
are George Washington Cable; the Century Company; Edmund Gosse; Philip G. Hamerton;
Harper and Brothers; the Library of Congress; Little, Brown and Company; Longmans,
Green and Co.; the Modern Library; Harrison S. Morris; Mariana Van Rensselaer;
the
William Edwin Rudge firm; and Louis A. Wuerth. A list of all correspondents in
the
Pennell papers is located at the end of this inventory. |
|
|
The chronological and topical span of the Pennell papers presently in the Ransom
Center are largely dependent upon three factors: (a.) the flooding of stored
personal belongings at a London warehouse in 1917 that damaged or destroyed much
of
that material, (b.) the Pennells' gift of portions of their library, art, and
correspondence (especially that relating to James McNeill Whistler) to the Library
of Congress in the 1920s, and (c.) Elizabeth's apparent discarding of much of
her
own personal correspondence (both received and that sent to Joseph), keeping
primarily those materials which were of use in writing her life of Joseph Pennell. |
|
|
The material presently in the papers is that inherited by Edward and Frances Tinker
upon Elizabeth Pennell's death and which subsequently came to the Harry Ransom
Center as part of the Tinker Collection. Nothing of signficance relating to the
published works of the Pennells--drafts, outlines, proofs, or similar material--is
present in the collection, nor, apart from a few sketches on the margins of letters,
are there any examples of Joseph Pennell's graphic art. However the Ransom Center's
Art Collection holds 268 Joseph Pennell drawings, lithographs, and prints. Many
of
these are part of the Tinker Collection. |
|
Series Descriptions |
|
|
Series I. Joseph Pennell, 1832-1934 (bulk 1854-1926), 12 boxes |
|
|
This series is arranged in two subseries: A. Correspondence, 1854-1926 (11
boxes) and B. Personal Papers, 1832-1934 (1 box). |
|
|
The correspondence received by Joseph Pennell is largely professional,
although much of it from the years 1878 to 1883 is personal. Most of this
correspondence predates 1888 or comes from the period 1917 to 1926. Topics
covered include exhibitions, commissions, and travel to New Orleans,
England, France, and Italy. |
|
|
Pennell's correspondence from Richard W. Gilder, W. Lewis Fraser, and A. W.
Drake of the Century Company in the 1880s gives a remarkable look into the
role illustration played in a major American periodical of the day.
Similarly, Pennell's pivotal role in the London Daily
Chronicle's 1895 experiment to bring illustration to its pages
is captured in the letters he received from other illustrators taking part
in that project. |
|
|
Letters written by Joseph Pennell were collected by Elizabeth after his death
for use in her Life and Letters of Joseph
Pennell. Most of these date from about 1900 to his death, though
those sent to T. Fisher Unwin are as early as 1890. Many of these letters
are present as photostats or as typescript copies. Most of this
correspondence deals with Pennell's professional life but much of its is
laced with his own colorful asides and acerbic observations. |
|
|
The Barton-Pennell family correspondence comprises groups of letters from
Joseph's aunt Martha C. Barton and his great aunt Beulah Barton, together
with a substantial number of letters from his father Larkin Pennell. These
are mostly addressed to a youthful Joseph, but there are also courtship
letters of Larkin Pennell to Rebecca A. Barton. |
|
|
Joseph Pennell's personal papers preserved at the Ransom Center are
fragmentary and represent only the period 1913 to 1926, apart from one
childhood coloring book. The bulk of these papers deals with the loss of
personal possessions to water damage in 1917, together with Pennell's
involvement in the Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1915. Also present are a
group of passports and identity cards, together with legal documents
generated in settling his estate in the years between 1926 and 1933. |
|
|
Series II. Elizabeth R. Pennell, 1884-1951 (bulk 1884-1935), 12 boxes |
|
|
The second series comprises two subseries: A. Correspondence, 1912-1936 (5
boxes) and Personal Papers, 1884-1951 (7 boxes). |
|
|
Letters received by Elizabeth Pennell in the collection--apart from an early
group from Seeley & Co. filed with her husband's papers--date from
the mid-1920s to 1936. The majority of this correspondence was arranged by
Elizabeth Pennell by correspondent and generally deals with
business--bequests to the Library of Congress, writing Life and Letters and Whistler, the Friend, as
well as exhibitions of Joseph's work and royalty issues. |
|
|
The Modern Library correspondence of 1926-29 captures the business style of
that publisher in its earliest period, just as the Little, Brown letters of
1927-32 demonstrate all too clearly the difficulty of publishing expensive
art books at the bottom of the Depression. |
|
|
The correspondence collected from her apartment in 1936 had not been weeded
by Elizabeth Pennell and includes more personal and avocational interests,
including correspondence from Germaine Bertin, the Gypsy Lore Society, and
from her half-siblings. |
|
|
Elizabeth Pennell's own letters are scantily represented--one folder of
letters to Joseph Jackson are present, as well as one or two to her husband.
Her letters to Unwin are interfiled with her husband's in Series I. Several
letters are represented in the form of drafts scattered among the papers. |
|
|
The personal papers of Elizabeth Pennell are nearly as fragmentary as those
of Joseph, comprising most importantly her diaries from 1884 to 1917,
together with her appointment books covering the years 1904 to 1935. The
diaries (which are essentially complete save for the period May 1891 to
September 1898) contain extensive observations on the people and activities
the Pennells were involved with in the art and literary communities of
London during those years. |
|
|
Drafts of articles by William M. Ivins (on Joseph Pennell) and by Sarah Shaw
(on Whistler) are present, as are etchings and prints by Amelia Bauerle,
Bessie M. Brewer, R. Bryden, Charles Z. Klauder, E. H. Suydam, H. Devitt
Welsh, and Mason W. Zimmerman. Several notebooks, 1934-35 household bills,
and her estate materials are also found in her personal papers, together
with photographs of Joseph Pennell and the Bertin family. Several of the
appointment books and diaries in boxes 18 through 22 have had materials
withdrawn for separate housing; these are starred in the Folder List. |
