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R. B. Beckett English artist research files: Finding Aid
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Collection Contents

Box 1

Beckett documents and travel ephemera

Folder 1

Sketchbook. 1927-1928

Small sketchbook with approximately 20 drawings chiefly of landscapes, mainly in pencil with two watercolors.
Folder 2

Miscellaneous correspondence and documents [10 items]. 1944-1967

Folder 3

Published articles by Beckett. 1947-1959

Consists of 7 clipped articles and 2 reprints of published articles from periodicals by R.B. Beckett, chiefly related to John Constable.
  • "'Kilgarran Castle' A link between Turner and Wilson." Connoisseur, CXX, no. 505 (September 1947)
  • "Notes on Greenhill." Burlington, XCII, no. 571 (October 1950)
  • "Constable's Honeymoon." Connoisseur, CXXIX, No. 525 (March 1952)
  • "Constable at Leydenhall." Burlington, XCIV, no. 598 (April 1952)
  • "Constable as an Illustrator." Connoisseur (October 1954)
  • "Notes on Old Drawings and Modern Drawings: Constable's Early Drawings," reprinted from The Art Quarterly (Winter 1954) [2 copies]
  • "Constable in the Lake District." Country Life (March 10, 1955)
  • "Constable's 'Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds'" reprinted from The Art Quarterly (Summer 1957) [2 copies]
  • "Constable at Malvern Hall." The Connoisseur Yearbook, 1959
Folder 4

Travel ephemera.

Consists of ten miscellaneous pieces of travel of ephemera presumably collected while Beckett was doing field research in England, chiefly in the 1950s.
Folder 5

Maps "About Britain."

 

Wessex: About Britain No. 2 [with second cover]. 1951

 

Home Counties: About Britain No. 3. 1951

 

The Lakes to Tyneside: About Britain No. 10. 1951

Folder 6

Maps of Dorset, Bournemouth, etc.

 

Bartholomew's Revised 'Half-Inch' Contoured Maps: England Sheet 34. Dorset. Approximately 1934

 

Firestone Mileage Map of England & Wales : Hants, Wilts, and Dorset. Approximately 1935?

 

Johnston's New 2 miles to 1 inch map : Bournemouth Sheet.

Folder 7

Maps of London and environs.

 

Bacon's Map of the Environs of London, S.E., for Cyclists & Tourists.

 

Bacon's New Large-Scale Map of South London and Suburbs.

 

"Geographia" Large Scale Street Plan of Central London.

 

W.H. Smith & Son's Maps of London and its Environs. Approximately 1883?

 

Artist research files

Box 2

William Blake

Folder 1

Correspondence about William Blake [10 items]. 1947, 1952-1953

Folder 2

Articles [newspaper/periodical clippings]. 1952-1957 and undated

Folder 3

Exhibition catalogs and pamphlets. 1913-1947

 

The National Gallery, British Art. Catalogue of loan exhibition of works by William Blake. October to December, 1913. (London: Darling and Son). Second edition. 1913

 

Tate Gallery. William Blake (1757-1827). [2 copies]. 1947

 

William Blake, 1757-1827 [Paris : British Council et la Galerie René Drouin]. 1947

Laid in: fragment (page 3) of typescript text by Archibald G.B. Russell.
Folder 4

Exhibition catalogs and pamphlets. 1948-1953 and updated

 

Anthony Bertram. William Blake : The World's Masters - New Series. (London and New York: The Studio Publications) [lacking cover]. 1948

 

Christie, Manson & Woods. Catalogue of original works by William Blake, the property of the late Graham Robertson, Esq. 1949

 

Princeton University Library. The Princeton University Library Chronicle. [Contains article "Blake, Milton, and Edward Burney" by Morse Peckham] (Volume XI, Number 3). Spring 1950

 

Fogg Art Museum. Blake's Illustrations for Dante : selections from the originals in the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia and the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts [Fogg Picture Book No. 2] 1953

 

"Beatrice addressing Dante from the Car, William Blake 1757-1827" [fragment of pamphlet]. Undated

 

"The Simoniac Pope, William Blake 1757-1827" [fragment of pamphlet]. Undated

 

The Faber Gallery. Blake (1757-1827) [incomplete only contains introduction by Geoffrey Keynes]. (London : Faber and Faber). Undated

Folder 5

Images by date: 1773-1799.

Folder 6

Images by date: 1800-1809.

Folder 7

Images by date: 1820-1827.

Folder 8

Images by date: undated.

Folder 9

Images and notes related to Dante.

Folder 10

Images related to Job.

Folder 11

Images and notes related to Milton.

 

John Constable

Box 3

Documents and exhibition catalogs, reprints, etc. 1929-1962

Folder 1

Correspondence about Constable [approximately 30 items]. 1951-1967

Related Material

Some correspondence is also integrated into the image files.
Folder 2

Notes and lists of Constable's work.

Various notes and lists of Constable's work, as well as a set of handwritten indexes reflecting the general filing organization of the Constable study photos, presumably created by Beckett.
Folder 3

Exhibition catalogs. 1929-1946

 

Albert Hall & Art Gallery, Colchester. Exhibition of Collection of Paintings and Drawings by John Constable, R.A. (1776-1837), the property of Cecil B. Morgan ... September 1929

 

Tate Gallery, Millbank. Centenary Exhibition of Paintings and Water-Colours by John Constable, R.A. [1776-1837]. May 4-August 31, 1937

 

Wildenstein's Galleries. A Centenary Memorial Exhibition of John Constable, R.A. : His Origins and Influence. Aril 21-May 29, 1937

 

Art Institute of Chicago. Masterpieces of English painting : William Hogarth, John Constable, J.M.W. Turner / Lent by His Majesty the King, the museums and collectors of Great Britain. October 15-December 15, 1946

 

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. An exhibition of paintings, drawings and prints by J.M.W. Turner, John Constable [and] R.P. Bonington. March 21-April 28, 1946

Folder 4

Exhibition catalogs. 1949-1954

 

Arts Council of Great Britain. An Exhibition of Sketches & Drawings by John Constable from the Collection of Dr. H.A.C. Gregory, M.C. 1949

 

British Council. British Painting from Hogarth to Turner.(Kunsthalle, Hamburg). 1949-1950

 

Borough of Colchester. Catalogue of the Exhibition of works by John Constable, R.A. : Kindly lent to the Borough Council by Colonel J.H. Constable and exhibited in the Colchester Public Library. [2 copies] 1950

 

Victoria & Albert Museum. Constable. 1950

 

Legatt Brothers. Exhibition of English Painters, 1700-1850. 1951

 

Guildhall Art Gallery. Exhibition of paintings by John Constable, 1776-1837. July 8-August 30, 1952

 

[Legatt Brothers]. Summer Exhibition, Coronation Year. 1953

 

P. & D. Conaghi & Co. Paintings by Old masters. April 1954

 

Christchurch Mansion-Wolsey Art Gallery (Ipswich). An Exhibition of the Works of the Constable Family - Five Generations : Lent by Lieut.-Colonel J. H. Constable and Members of his Family. June 23-September 30, 1954

Folder 5

Exhibition catalogs and reprints. 1956-1962

 

City of Manchester Art Gallery. John Constable, 1776-1837. April 26-June 3, 1956

 

Legatt Brothers. 1956 Summer Exhibition of English Pictures including the Collection of H. L. Fison, Esq. 1956

 

Michael Kitson. "John Constable, 1810-1816: A Chronological Study," reprinted from The Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes (Vol. XX, Nos. 3-4). 1956

 

The Minories, Colchester. The Victor Battle-Lay Trust : Catalogue of the First Loan Exhibition. May 30-June 28, 1858

 

Louis Hawes, Jr. "Graham Reynolds, Catalogue of the Constable Collection, Victoria and Albert Museum ... [book review]" reprinted from The Art Bulletin (Vol. XLIII, No. 2) June 1961

 

Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery. John Constable Drawings & Sketches : An Exhibition at the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery. November-December 1951

 

Thos. Agnew & Sons. 89th Annual Exhibition of Water-colours and Drawings. [2 copies]. January 22-March 3, 1962

Box 4

Images by county, Berkshire-Essex

Folder 1

Berkshire: East Berkshire.

Folder 2

Berkshire: West Berkshire.

Folder 3

Berkshire: Windsor.

Folder 4

Buckinghamshire: Stokes Poges.

Folder 5

Cumberland: Borrowdale, Keswick, etc.

Folder 6

Dorset: Gillingham, Osmington, Osmington Mills, Preston, Portland Harbour, Weymouth Bay.

Folder 7

Essex.

Folder 8

Essex: East Anglia.

Folder 9

Essex: Colchester.

Folder 10

Essex: Dedham.

Folder 11

Essex: Hadleigh Castle.

Folder 12

Essex: Harwich, Kelveden, Langham, Mistley.

Folder 13

Essex: Valley Views.

Folder 14

Essex: Walton and Wivenhoe.

Box 5

Images by county, Hampshire-Oxford

Folder 1

Hampshire.

Folder 2

Hampstead: houses, trees, sky and effects.

Folder 3

Hampstead: Hampstead, Hampstead Heath.

Folder 4

Hampstead: Hampstead Heath.

Folder 5

Hampstead: Upper Heath, West End.

Folder 6

Kent.

Folder 7

Leicestershire.

Folder 8

London: Waterloo Bridge.

Folder 9

Middlesex.

Folder 10

Norfolk.

Folder 11

Oxford.

Box 6

Images by county, Suffolk

Folder 1

Suffolk.

Folder 2

Suffolk: Bergholt and East Bergholt.

Folder 3

Suffolk: Brantham.

Folder 4

Suffolk: Flatford.

Folder 5

Suffolk: Flatford and Denham Mills.

Folder 6

Suffolk: Flatford: Valley Farms.

Folder 7

Suffolk: Helmingham, Ipswich, and Orwell.

Folder 8

Suffolk: Stoke by Nayland and Stratford.

Folder 9

Suffolk: Stour.

Folder 10

Suffolk: Valley Views.

Folder 11

Suffolk: copies of historic maps, etc.

Box 7

Images by county, Sussex-Worcestershire

Folder 1

Sussex: Arundel.

Folder 2

Sussex: Bignor and Chester.

Folder 3

Sussex: Brighton.

Folder 4

Sussex: Findon and Fittleworth.

Folder 5

Sussex: Hove, Houghton, Little Hampton.

Folder 6

Sussex: Middleton, Midhurst (Cowdray).

Folder 7

Sussex: Petworth, Tillington.

Folder 8

Sussex: Miscellaneous.

Folder 9

Surrey.

Folder 10

Warwickshire.

Folder 11

Westmorland.

Folder 12

Wiltshire: Salisbury.

Folder 13

Wiltshire: Salisbury Cathedral.

Folder 14

Wiltshire: General and Stonehenge.

Folder 15

Worcestershire.

Box 8

Images by year

Folder 1

Images by year, 1794-1813.

Folder 2

Images by year, 1814-1820.

Folder 3

Images by year, 1821.

Folder 4

Images by year, 1822.

Folder 5

Images by year, 1823-1828.

Folder 6

Images by year, 1829-1837.

Box 9

Images by subject

Folder 1

Animals.

Folder 2

Churches, Castles, Cottages and Barns, Houses, Mills.

Folder 3

Cornfield.

Folder 4

Fields, Flowers, Commons and Heaths (unknown).

Folder 5

Illustrations.

Folder 6

Mountains, Rocks, Plants, Rivers and Ponds.

Folder 7

Religious and Histories.

Folder 8

Roads.

Folder 9

Seascapes, coastal.

Folder 10

Sky and Earth, Cloud Studies.

Folder 11

Trees.

Folder 12

Valleys and Woods.

Folder 13

Windmills.

Folder 14

Miscellaneous.

Folder 15

Copies.

Box 10

Portraits

Folder 1

Figure studies, nudes.

Folder 2

Portraits of children.

Folder 3

Portraits of men.

Folder 4

Portraits of women.

Folder 5

Portraits of groups.

Box 11

Thomas Gainsborough

Folder 1

Articles [newspaper clippings].

3 items.
Folder 2

Exhibition catalogs. 1949, 1953

 

The Arts Council of Great Britain. Thomas Gainsborough : an Exhibition of Paintings. 1949

 

The Arts Council. Thomas Gainsborough, 1727-1788 : an Exhibition of paintings arranged by the Arts Council of Great Britain and the Tate Gallery. 1953

Folder 3

Images: landscapes, etc.

Folder 4

Images: portraits and figures.

Box 11

Thomas Rowlandson

Folder 5

Correspondence and notes related to Thomas Rowlandson [approximately 10 items].

Includes 1923 letter from Charles Sessler to Henry Huntington regarding an edition of Rowlandson's English Dance of Death; two copies of a 1938 inventory of the Rowlandson prints and watercolors held by Charles D. Childs ("from the private collection of Ronald A. Reader"); and some additional notes.
Folder 6

Draft of catalog [3 notebooks].

Three spiral notebooks with penciled text. Handwritten cover titles:
  • Rowlandson. 284 Drawings Vol. I
  • Rowlandson 284 drawings, Vol. II; Cries of London; Costume
  • III. 1. Cries of London (unpublished) (Rowlandson IV); 2. Johnny Quaegenus [most of this notebook is blank]
Folder 7

Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827), Record of a tour in a post chaise, made with Henry Wigstead to Spithead, in 1782. (In two volumes.) [typescript draft with handwritten annotations, 21 pages].

Folder 8

W. Combe's The Dance of Death [2 copies of typescript list, each 34 pages].

Folder 9

Images.

Box 12

J. M. W. Turner

Folder 1

Correspondence and notes about J. M. W. Turner. 1962-1963 and undated

10 items chiefly related to the oil painting My Kilgarren Castle.
Folder 2

"Kilgarren Castle by J. M. W. Turner, R.A. (1775-1851)" [typescript article]. Undated [after 1947]

Folder 3

Articles (newspaper clippings, etc.). 1951-1956 and undated

19 items.
Folder 4

Exhibition catalogs. 1931-1963

 

National Gallery, Millbank. Exhibition of Turner's Early Oil-Paintings (1796-1815). July to September 1931

 

British Council. Turner, 1775-1851, exposition de peintures organisée par la Tate Gallery pour le British Council et le Ministere de l'Instruction Publique de Belgique. March-April 1948

 

Tate Gallery. The Turner Collection from Petworth. May-July 1951

 

Whitechapel Art Gallery (London). J. M. W. Turner R.A. 1775-1851 : an exhibition of pictures from public and private Collections in Great Britain. February 5-March 15, 1953

 

John Herron Art Museum (Indianapolis). Turner in America : oils, water colors, drawings and some engraved works of Joseph Mallord William Turner, English, 1775-1851. November 12-December. 25, 1955

 

The Art Gallery, University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame, Indiana). Turner in Indiana : pencil sketches, watercolor drawings and some oils and engraved works of Joseph Mallord William Turner, R.A., P.P., 1775-1851. February 3-24, 1963.

Folder 5

Charles Holme, ed. The Genius of J. M. W. Turner, R.A. (London ; New York, J. Lane, Offices of "The Studio"). 1903

1 printed volume, lacking cover.
Folder 6

Images.

Box 12

Richard Wilson

Folder 7

Articles [clippings]. 1923, 1941-1954, and undated

12 items.
Folder 8

Exhibition catalogs. 1925, 1936, 1948-1951

 

National Gallery, Millbank. Catalogue : Loan exhibition of works by Richard Wilson. June 26 to September 30, 1925

 

City of Manchester Art Gallery. Richard Wilson Loan Exhibition. October 22 to December 5, 1925

 

Ferns Art Gallery (City and County of Kingston Upon Hull). Exhibition of Works by Richard Wilson, R.A. November-December 1936

 

City Museum & Art Gallery, Birmingham. Catalogue of Pictures by Richard Wilson and his Circle. November 17-January 9, 1948-9

 

Tate Gallery. Catalogue of an Exhibition of Pictures by Richard Wilson and his Circle, organized by the City Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham. January 1949

 

J. A. Tooth's Galleries. Catalogue of an Important Exhibition of Pictures by Richard Wilson, Gaspard Poussin, Jacob Ruysdael, Salvator Rosa, etc. May 1951

Folder 9

Images: English and other landscapes.

Folder 10

Images: Italian

Folder 11

Images: Portraits and figures

Box 13

Artists (various)

Study photographs, clippings, etc. for a large number of English artists arranged by surname. Rarely, the images are accompanied by typescript or handwritten notes, as in the cases of Henry Alken (1785-1851), Samuel Howitt (1756/7-1822), and Samuel Scott (1702-1772).
 

Portrait artists

Clippings, study images, etc. for various artists arranged by surname. Rarely, the images are accompanied by typescript or handwritten notes, as in the cases of Godfrey Kneller.
Box 14

Portraits (through early 19th century)

Folder 1

17th century and earlier, artists A-K

Folder 2

17th century and earlier, artists L-Z

Folder 3

17th century and earlier, artists unidentified and miscellaneous

Folder 4

18th-early 19th century, artists A-D

Folder 5

18th-early 19th century, artists E-H

Folder 6

18th-early 19th century, artists J-P

Folder 7

18th-early 19th century, artists R (except Reynolds)

Folder 8

18th-early 19th century, Joshua Reynolds

Folder 9

18th-early 19th century, artists S-Z

Folder 10

18th-early 19th century, artists unidentified and miscellaneous

Box 15

Portraits (Victorian period and later), Miniatures, Silhouettes

Folder 1

Victorian-Edwardian, artists A-F

Folder 2

Victorian-Edwardian, artists G-L

Folder 3

Victorian-Edwardian, artists M-P

Folder 4

Victorian-Edwardian, artists R-Z and unidentified

Folder 5

20th century miscellaneous

Folder 6

Articles (clippings) about Shakespeare portraits. 1906-1913

Folder 7

Carl Winter. Elizabethan Miniatures (Penguin Books, 1949)

Folder 8

Articles (clippings) about miniature portraits 1907-1913

Folder 9

Miniatures

Folder 10

Silhouettes

Box 16

Sporting and comic images

Folder 1

Sporting and comic images

Includes catalog: National Gallery of British Sports and Pastimes ... List of Sports and Pastimes (Hutchinson House, undated)
Folder 2

Ralph Nevill. Old Sporting Prints (London: The Connoisseur Magazine). 1908

1 printed volume, lacking cover.
Box 16

Exhibition catalogs and misc. printed volumes 1941-1963 and undated

Folder 3

Exhibition catalogs. 1941-1953

Arrangement

Exhibition catalogs are arranged chronologically.
 

Beryl Clay. "John Harden : Amateur Draughtsman, 1772-1847" reprinted from The Society of Friends of Dunblane Cathedral (Vol. III, Part VI). 1941

 

R.W.S. Galleries. Paintings and Drawings: Lowes D. Luard, 1872-1944 : Memorial Exhibition. May 14-June 1, 1946

 

Arts Council of Great Britain. An Exhibition of Some Masterpieces from Welsh Houses : Illustrated Catalogue. 1946

 

Arts Council of Great Britain. English Romantic Art. 1947

 

Arts Council of Great Britain. An Exhibition of Paintings by Jack B. Yeats, The Tate Gallery. August 14-September 15, 1948

 

California Palace of the Legion of Honor. After the Hunt" -- And After [related to William Harnett exhibit]. [1948?]

 

Thos. Agnew & Sons. Loan Exhibition of Water-Colour Drawings by Francis Towne (1740-1816) The property of A. P. Oppé, Esq., C.B. October 1949

 

Thos. Agnew & Sons. Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings by Samuel Scott : In aid of the Victoria Art Gallery, Bath. April 3-28, 1951

 

Arts Council. William Dobson, 1611-1646: at the Tate Gallery, An Exhibition of Paintings. 1951

 

Arts Council. An Exhibition of Watercolours and Drawings by John Harden. 1951

 

Thos. Agnew & Sons. Loan Exhibition of Water-Colour Drawings by Thomas Girtin. February-March 1953

Folder 4

Exhibition catalogs. 1954-1963 and undated

 

The Fine Art Society. Early English Water-Colours and Drawings : Spring Exhibition. 1954

 

Rutland Gallery. Aspects of British Marine Painting. March-April 1963

 

Brighton Art Gallery. Exhibition of Pictures from the Collection of James H. Bingham, Esq. [Undated]

 

Walker's Galleries. Walker's Quarterly : John Sell Cotman (The Bulwer Collection) / by C. F. Bell. (Nos. 19-20). [Undated]

Folder 5

Miscellaneous clipped articles about art.

Folder 6

Charles Holme, ed. Modern Pen and Drawings: European and American (London: Offices of "The Studio"). 1901

1 printed volume, lacking cover.
Folder 7

Charles Holme, ed. Modern Etching and Engraving (London: Offices of "The Studio"). 1902

1 printed volume, lacking cover.