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Phyllis Pray Bober papers

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Held at: Bryn Mawr College [Contact Us]Bryn Mawr College Library, 101 N. Merion Avenue, Bryn Mawr 19010

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Bryn Mawr College. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Born in Portland, Maine in 1920, Bober received her B.A. from Wellesley College in 1941 with a major of her own creation: Art History with a concentration in Archaeology and a minor in Greek. She completed her graduate work at the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University. She received her M.A. in 1943 and her PhD. in 1946. In 1946 she went abroad with her husband Henry Bober where she conducted independent research, including the beginning of one of her life's projects: the Census of Classical Works of Art Known to the Renaissance. She held a number of teaching appointments at Wellesley College, the school of architecture at MIT, and NYU where she created the Department of Fine Arts at NYU's University College.

In 1973 she accepted the position of Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Bryn Mawr College which she held until 1980. she also held the position of professor at Bryn Mawr and became a professor emerita upon her retirement in 1991.

Bober had a life long interest in culinary history and developed a number of undergraduate courses, graduate seminars, lectures, and articles, not to mention her "historical banquets" presented at many institutions, including Bryn Mawr College. In 1999 the University of Chicago published her book: Art, Culture, and Cuisine: Ancient and Medieval Gastronony. At the time of her death she was at work on a sequel.

The Phyllis Pray Bober papers consist of miscellaneous materials related to Bober's career, including research notes and course notes and materials. The collection, which ranges from 1940-2002, also includes correspondence and material from her own graduate and undergraduate education.

The collection consists of ten series: "Series I: Miscellaneous Materials on Career," "Series II: Miscellaneous Notes," "Series III: Typescripts," "Series IV: Census Materials," "Series V: Course Materials," "Series VI: Lecture Scripts and Related Materials," "Series VII: Correspondence by Subject Matter," "Series VIII: Miscellaneous Correspondence Filed Chronologically," "Series IX: Notes and Materials from Bober's own Undergraduate and Graduate Courses," and "Series X: Tapes and Data."

"Series I: Miscellaneous Materials on Career" consists of Bober's vitae and information about her appointments as Dean of the Graduate School and at Smith, and her tenure at Florida State. "Series II: Miscellaneous Notes" contains miscellaneous bibliographies, notes on culinary history and catacombs, and notes collected for Prospective Volume II, Art, Culture, and Cuisine. "Series III: Typescripts" is comprised of typescripts on a large number of topics, most of which are related to art history and archaeology or historical cuisine. "Series IV: Census Materials" contains materials related to "Census of Antique Works of Art and Architecture Known in the Renaissance". "Series V: Course Materials" consists of materials related to art history and historical cuisine classes taught by Bober, including Roman Architecture and Roman Humanism, Antiquity in the Renaissance, and Culture and Cuisine. "Series VI: Lecture Scripts and Related Materials" consists of lectures given by Bober, including ones on the American education system, Renaissance cuisine, a commencement speech for Bowdoin, and a 1977 convocation speech. "Series VII: Correspondence by Subject Matter" includes miscellaneous correspondence, most of which is related to various art institutions, conferences, and lectures given. Correspondence concerning her Guggenheim proposal and the Smithsonian Symposium on "Power Dining" is notable. "Series VIII: Miscellaneous Correspondence Filed Chronologically" contains correspondence arranged chronologically, from 1942 to 2002. "Series IX: Notes and Materials from Bober's own Undergraduate and Graduate Courses" contains a sizable collection of Bober's class notes and her NYU graduate school transcript. "Series X: Tapes and Data" consists of a number of tapes and disks for Bober's talks, including three on the Roman era, three on the Medieval period, and two on the Renaissance. Additionally, it contains an undated NPR interview, another unidentified interview, the "Perelli" lecture and the "Kennedy" lecture.

In addition to being an influential art historian, Bober was a pioneer in the field of culinary history. This collection is useful as a tool for understanding Bober and her many academic interests, and for the unique insights Bober provides into the art history and culinary history disciplines.

Most materials were received from the estate of Phylis Pray Bober in 2004. Special Collections staff members personally removed them from her former home prior to its sale. A small amount of material (less than one document box) had been personally presented to the college archivist by Ms. Bober in 1998; those items were incorporated with the materials from the estate.

Publisher
Bryn Mawr College
Finding Aid Author
Lorett Treese, Melissa Torquato
Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

The Phyllis Pray Bober papers are the physical property of Bryn Mawr College's Special Collections Department. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns.

Collection Inventory

Archival Resource Key. Vitae.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Re: Appointment as Dean of Graduate School.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Re: Tenure as Appleton Eminent Scholar at Florida State.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Re: Appointment at Smith.
Box 1

Archival Resource Key. Miscellaneous Bibliographies.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Notes on Catacombs.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Notes on Culinary History.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Notes on Research on "Copyright Matters".
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Notes, Reprints, and Materials Collected for Prospective Volume II, Art, Culture, and Cuisine.
Box 1

Archival Resource Key. The Age of Enlightenment.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Ancient Art: Its Survival and Revival.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Ancient Figured Capitals.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Antiquity in the Renaissance.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Apicius.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Appreciation of Antique Art in Antiquity.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Architectural Ecology.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Arsinoeion or the Rotunda.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Bacchic Imagery.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Beauty.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Before and After the Census of Antique Works of Art Known to Renaissance Artists.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Black or Hell Banquet.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Campanile Hexagons.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Census of Antiquities Known to the Renaissance: Retrospective and Prospective.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Comparison of Recipes from the Catalan.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Convivial Renaissance.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Cuisine as Architectural Invention.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Dionysos, Bacchus, Leber.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. England in the Eighteenth Century.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Feasts.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Hercules Dracones Strangulans.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Hierarchy of Milk in the Renaissance.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Identity with Mycenaean Ancestors in Cult Meals at Ancient Greek Sancturaries.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Ingredients: A Comparative Guide to Ancient Roman and Modern Italian Usage.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Legacy of Pomponius Laetus.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Mesopotamia.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Politics and Ancient Roman Gastronomy.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Position Paper on Beauty.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Reproduction Rights in Scholarly and Educational Publishing.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Restaurants.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Search for Meaning: Collecting Antiquities in the Italian Renaissance.
Box 1

Archival Resource Key. Three sets of cards titled "Census of Antique Works of Art and Architecture Known in the Renaissance".
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Miscellaneous Materials Relating to "Census of Antique Works of Art and Architecture Known in the Renaissance".
Box 1

Archival Resource Key. Antiquity in the Renaissance.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Classical Tradition in Western Art.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Culture and Cuisine.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Fine Arts 3.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Fine Arts 4.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. History of Art 101.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. History of Art 102.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Renaissance Art.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Renaissance Sketchbooks after the Antique.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Roman Architecture.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Roman Humanism.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Survival and Revival of Antiquity in the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
Box 1
Archival Resource Key. Topics in Roman Sculpture.
Box 1

Archival Resource Key. The American Educational System.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Archaeology's Cradle: The Earliest Printed Bokos in Humanist Italy.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Beauty in Civilization.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Bowdoin Commencement Speech.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Census of Antiquities Known to the Renaissance.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Convocation Speech, 9/8/77.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Culture and Cuisine.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. The Educated Person.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Panel discussion: The Future of the Graduate Degree in Graduate Education .
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Gods and Heroes.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. KYW Radio on Women in Higher Education.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Legacy of Popmponius Laetus.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Pharos of Scholarship.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Phyllis Pray Bober Presents a Renaissance Feast.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. The Renaissance Uses of Antiquity in the Realm of Minor Arts.
Box 2

Archival Resource Key. Alsop, Joseph.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Architectural Ecology Project.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Art History Lecture Series, 1985.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Cambridge University Press.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Census of Antique Works of Art Known to Renaissance Artists.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Clement VII Conference, 2000.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. College Art Association.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Cyprus.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Guggenheim Proposal.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Historical Dictionary of Classical Archaeology.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Institute of Advanced Study.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Italian Renaissance Banquet Recreation.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Merrimack College.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. NEH Grant, 1970s.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. PhD Program Survey, c. 1983.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Publication of Renaissance Artists and Antique Sculpture.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Re: Other Publications.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Renaissance Scholarship in the Twentieth Century Conference.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Renaissance Society of America.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Smithsonian Symposium on "Power Dining".
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Society of the Humanities Fellowship.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. University of Chicago Press (re: Art, Culture, & Cusine ms).
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. V&A Musuem Issues.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Warburg Conference, 1999.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Warburg Institute, 1950s.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Warburg Institute, 1990s.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. WNET History of Art Production.
Box 2

Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1942-1945.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1946-1949.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1950-1953.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1954-1959.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1960s.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1970.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1971.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1972.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1973.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1974.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1975.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1976.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1977.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1978.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1979.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1980.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1981.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1982.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1983.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1984.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1985.
Box 2
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1986.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1987.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1988.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1989.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1990.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1991.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1992.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1993.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1994.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1995.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1996.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1997.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1998.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 1999.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 2000.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 2001.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence 2002.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Correspondence nd.
Box 3

Archival Resource Key. NYU Graduate School Transcript.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Antiquity and the Renaissance.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Baroque Painting.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Flemish Painting.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. General Character of Hellenistic Art.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Gothic Art.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Gothic Sculpture.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Greek and Roman Painting.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Greek Sculpture of the Classical Period.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. History of Research in Art.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Music 206.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Roman Portraiture.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Romanesque and Gothic Architecture.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Romanesque and Gothic Sculpture.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Art 209.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Art 325.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Greek 202.
Box 3
Archival Resource Key. Greek 301.
Box 3

Archival Resource Key. Ancient Near East and Beginning Greek.
Box 4
Archival Resource Key. Greek II.
Box 4
Archival Resource Key. Roman I.
Box 4
Archival Resource Key. Roman II.
Box 4
Archival Resource Key. Roman III.
Box 4
Archival Resource Key. Carolingian.
Box 4
Archival Resource Key. Medieval I.
Box 4
Archival Resource Key. Medieval II.
Box 4
Archival Resource Key. Medieval III.
Box 4
Archival Resource Key. Renaissance I.
Box 4
Archival Resource Key. Renaissance II.
Box 4
Archival Resource Key. Seventeenth Century.
Box 4
Archival Resource Key. Discussion.
Box 4
Archival Resource Key. "What Matters," NPR interview, n.d.
Box 4
Archival Resource Key. Unidentified interview on Bober's career.
Box 4
Archival Resource Key. "Perelli Lecture" for Guild of Food and Wine Writers, 1992 (2 tapes).
Box 4
Archival Resource Key. "Kennedy Lecture," 10/3/2000.
Box 4

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