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History of Publishing and Printing Collection
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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
Seymour Adelman was a Philadelphia based collector of prints, letters, and ephemera. Although he worked in real-estate – a family business – he is most well known for his extensive collecting habits. Adelman has no direct relation to Bryn Mawr, but was invited to visit by James Tanis, the director Canaday Library. The then newly build library offered Adelman an office and a space to house his collection, and this formed the relationship between Bryn Mawr College and Adelman.
Adelman's extensive collection contained material on Thomas Eakins, John Keats, Claude Lovat Fraser, and Laurence Hausman, as well as a large collection of letters. In addition to this work, Adelman also collected fine art prints, material related to the history of the book and publishing, and architectural history, among other interests. Most of the History of Publishing and Printing Collection was originally part of Adelman's collection of prints and drawings.
This collection contains prints and book fragments that contain mostly or entirely text (rather than images). Included here are Quaker Announcements, 18th century newspapers (The Tatler), Civil War era ephemera, modern letterpress and print studio materials, illustrations for books, announcements and posters, and single sheets from books. Part of the collection was already processed at an earlier date (Series "Previously Sorted"), and seems to be related to early American print history, with several interesting and valuable items. The other two folders contain more eclectic materials that do not share a clear connecting logic.
Please note there are an addition two items in the collection "Adelman Oversized Prints."
Subject
- Publisher
- Bryn Mawr College
- Finding Aid Author
- Elliot Krasnopoler
- Access Restrictions
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This collection is open for research. Records containing personal or confidential student information may be used subject to the discretion of the president of the college.
- Use Restrictions
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The Scientific Prints Collection is the physical property of the Special Collections Department, Bryn Mawr College Library.
Collection Inventory
Miscellaneous prints from the 19th Century, including: 1) Punch Cleaner advertisements, 2) George Kleine Poster for a film, 1913, 3) 2 prints by Maurice Sendak, 4) Cos Club Party poster, 5) Letterpress announcement of Leonard Baskin print series, 6) Joseph Reed, Limner invoice (etching), 7) Reproduced letter by Charles Dickens created by Yale University Library.
1) Vanity Fair Poster "Pinaforte" dated Jan 21 1888, 2) Sheet of filled-in invoices from Cooper Shop Volunteer Refreshment Saloon from Americna Civil War (1862), 3) Printed "Address to the Carriers of Poulson's American Daily Advertiser, to its Patrons on the commencement of the year 1812," 4) Small bookplate with latin inscription (could be earlier), 5) 2 single sheets from a book "Emblemata" with hand-colored woodcuts, in Latin.
These folders containing mostly items from the history of printing in Early America were previously labeled and sorted. That orginization is preserved here.