Lodewyk Bendikson Papers: Finding Aid

Finding aid prepared by Charla DelaCuadra, November 1, 2012.
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
© 2012
The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.


Overview of the Collection

Title: Lodewyk Bendikson Papers
Dates (inclusive): 1921-1950
Bulk dates: 1931-1942
Collection Number: HIA 38.5
Creator: Bendikson, L. (Lodewyk), 1878-
Extent: 2,020 items in 12 boxes
Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection contains photographs, correspondence, and articles of Dr. Lodewyk Bendikson (1875-1953), director of the Department of Photographic Reproductions at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, chronicling the experimental work he did in imaging as well as the day-to-day work of the department. The photographs include experimental and institutional prints, negatives, and lantern slides.
Language: English, with some material in German and Dutch.

Access

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
The negatives in Boxes 11-12 have been placed in cold storage for preservation. Arrangements for viewing negatives must be made in advance.

Administrative Information

Publication Rights

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item]. Lodewyk Bendikson Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Provenance

Chiefly received from Carey Bliss, Huntington Library Curator of Rare Books, September 25, 1978.

Related Materials in the Huntington Library

Biographical Note

Dr. Lodewyk Bendikson (1875-1953) was born in 1875 in Amsterdam. He received his early training at The Hague and was originally destined for a military career, but was unable to pass the required eye exams at the age of 12. He subsequently spent six years at Latin High School (Gymnasium) at Amsterdam and then entered medical school at the University of Amsterdam in 1893, where he graduated with his M.D. in 1901.
Dr. Bendikson first visited the U.S. to do post graduate work at New York University and Bellevue Hospital Medical College, and went on to work from 1903-06 as a clinical assistant at Bellevue. In 1906 he returned to Holland and worked for a time at the City of Amsterdam Hospital, then returned to the U.S. and established a permanent residence in 1909. However, owing to frequent visits to Europe he did not qualify for U.S. citizenship until 1923.
In 1910, Dr. Bendikson joined the staff of the New York Public Library through Dr. John Shaw Billings, a former surgeon general of the U.S.A. and the person responsible for the consolidation of the New York Public Library. (He and Dr. Bendikson had come into contact at the New York Academy of Medicine). After six years with the New York Public Library, Dr. Bendikson joined the Huntington Library staff in February of 1916.
Dr. Bendikson was one of the first men to join the staff of the Huntington Library in New York, and was instrumental in the move of the library from New York to San Marino. He worked for the Huntington Library for 27 years, during which time he contributed significantly to reproduction techniques and photographic imaging. Some of his breakthroughs included the use of color filters to make the Huntington’s ink stained Benjamin Franklin autobiography manuscript legible, infra-red imaging to illuminate passages obliterated by Spanish Inquisition censors, use of ultra-violet radiation to reveal invisible ink secret writing in Revolutionary era letters from Silas Deane to John Jay, and microphotography methods to help distinguish real texts from facsimiles. Also thanks to Dr. Bendikson’s experimenting, photostat reproductions from the Huntington were known to be of the best quality, both in terms of image clarity and resistance to fading. He also demonstrated that the fears of the time that microphotographic film would rapidly deteriorate were unfounded. In some cases he was able to adapt existing equipment for his experiments, like his favored Leitz Ultrapak/Ultropak microscope, or the way he used his Leica camera in conjunction with a photostat mounting apparatus for ease of imaging. When he found ultra-violet light sources unsatisfactory for his work, however, he created a new highly successful yet cost-effective type of ultra-violet light source for documentary photography.
Dr. Bendikson lived in Pasadena, California. He retired from his post as the director of the Department of Photographic Reproductions in 1943, and died on May 27, 1953.

Scope and Content

The papers of Dr. Lodewyk Bendikson span his career at the Huntington Library and the period shortly thereafter, chronicling the experimental work he did in imaging as well as the day-to-day work of the photographic department of the Huntington. The collection is divided into the following series: Correspondence (Boxes 1-3), Articles (Box 3), and Photographs (Boxes 4-12). All material is arranged chronologically wherever possible.
The Correspondence series contains letters mostly to and from Bendikson arranged by year, but other relevant departmental correspondence is present as well (including letters to and from Erwin Morkisch and other staffers). The bulk of the series concerns departmental business, including purchase orders and requests for imaging, photostats, and microfilm, while the rest primarily deals with his experimental work.
The Articles series is comprised of both typed and written Bendikson manuscripts, as well as the resulting published materials.
Photographs include experimental and institutional prints, negatives, and lantern slides. Institutional photographs consist primarily of lantern slides showcasing the treasures of the Huntington, but also include prints and negatives for work done for manuscripts department chair Capt. R.B. Haselden and other miscellany. The experimental photographs include prints, slides, and negatives of the various projects Bendikson undertook in the areas of reproduction technique and photographic imaging. Bendikson’s original labeling from envelopes and negative boxes has been preserved on sleeves whenever possible. Prints, glass negatives, and lantern slides are housed with the collection, while 181 nitrate negatives (Boxes 11-12) are housed separately in cold storage.

Arrangement

Organized into the following series: Correspondence (Boxes 1-3), Articles (Box 3), and Photographs (Boxes 4-12) Arranged chronologically whenever possible.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Huntington Library's Online Catalog.  

Subjects

Bendikson, L. (Lodewyk), 1878-.
Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery.
Books -- Reproduction.
Infrared photography.
Infrared radiation.
Microphotography.
Manuscripts -- Conservation and restoration.
Palimpsests.
Photocopying.
Photography, Ultraviolet.
Ultraviolet radiation.

Forms/Genres

Articles.
Lantern slides.
Letters (correspondence).
Manuscripts.
Negatives (photographic).
Photographs.
Professional papers.


 

Correspondence

Box 1

Correspondence (1925-1934)

Folder 1

Correspondence (1925-1928). 28 items.

Folder 2

Correspondence (1929). 7 items.

Folder 3

Correspondence (1930). 16 items.

Folder 4

Correspondence (1931 Jan. – June). 30 items.

Folder 5

Correspondence (1931 July – Dec.). 24 items.

Folder 6

Correspondence (1932 Jan. – June). 44 items.

Folder 7

Correspondence (1932 July – Dec.). 49 items.

Folder 8

Correspondence (1933 Jan. – June). 55 items.

Folder 9

Correspondence (1933 July – Dec.). 63 items.

Folder 10

Correspondence (1934 Jan. – Mar.). 45 items.

Folder 11

Correspondence (1934 Apr. – June). 58 items.

Folder 12

Correspondence (1934 July – Sep.). 39 items.

Folder 13

Correspondence (1934 Oct. – Dec.). 50 items.

Box 2

Correspondence (1935-1938)

Folder 1

Correspondence (1935 Jan. – Mar.). 25 items.

Folder 2

Correspondence (1935 Apr. – June). 75 items.

Folder 3

Correspondence (1935 July – Sep.). 20 items.

Folder 4

Correspondence (1935 Oct. – Dec.). 43 items.

Folder 5

Correspondence (1936 Jan. – Mar.). 34 items.

Folder 6

Correspondence (1936 Apr. – June). 45 items.

Folder 7

Correspondence (1936 July – Sep.). 30 items.

Folder 8

Correspondence (1936 Oct. – Dec.). 30 items.

Folder 9

Correspondence (1937 Jan. – June). 54 items.

Folder 10

Correspondence (1937 July – Dec.). 52 items.

Folder 11

Correspondence (1938 Jan. – June). 71 items.

Folder 12

Correspondence (1938 July – Dec.). 24 items.

Box 3

Correspondence (1939-1950) and Articles (1921-1945)

Folder 1

Correspondence (1939 Jan. – June). 47 items.

Folder 2

Correspondence (1939 July – Dec.). 33 items.

Folder 3

Correspondence (1940). 38 items.

Folder 4

Correspondence (1941). 43 items.

Folder 5

Correspondence (1942). 50 items.

Folder 6

Correspondence: Goodspeed palimpsest (1942-1948). 9 items.

Folder 7

Correspondence: Bendikson and Schad, Robert O. regarding retirement dinner (June- July 1943). 21 items.

Folder 8

Correspondence (1943-1950). 26 items.

Folder 9

Articles: manuscripts and typescripts (1926-1945). 24 items.

Folder 10

Articles: printed (1921-1942). 58 items.

 

Photographs

Box 4

Photographs (circa 1924-1943) and Miscellaneous [undated]

Folder 1

Photographs: Columbus letter (circa 1932). 59 items.

Folder 2

Photographs: John Jay/Silas Deane letters (circa 1937). 28 items.

Folder 3

Photographs: Medical Manual of Chemical Warfare photostat (1940). 1 item.

Folder 4

Photographs: Goodspeed palimpsest (circa 1942). 10 items.

Folder 5

Photographs: Imaging apparatus, Van Rappard photostats, microprints including Hero and Leander and Hariot’s Virginia, photomicrographs of fungi and molds, enlargements of leather graining (circa 1924-1943). 62 items.

Folder 6

Photographs: Wood’s Breviary, Dagron pigeon post, Lafcadio Hearn (Perkins), Goodspeed Pagan Poems inscription, miscellaneous (circa 1930-1943). 37 items.

Folder 7

Miscellaneous [undated]. 7 items.

Box 5

Photographs: Oversize [undated]

Scope and Content Note

Large and/or mounted black and white experimental photographs [undated]. 47 items.
Box 6

Photographs: Album [undated]

Scope and Content Note

Album of black and white experimental photographs [undated]. 1 item.
Box 7

Photographs: Lantern Slides [undated]

Scope and Content Note

Institutional lantern slides: treasures of The Huntington [undated]. 83 items.
Box 8

Photographs: Lantern Slides and Negatives (circa 1930-1935) and [undated]

Scope and Content Note

Institutional and experimental lantern slides and glass negatives: Shakespeare, Ultrapak micros of Columbus letters, Catholic censor, Haselden/palimpsests/anthracene stain/signature intensified, Ben Franklin, miscellaneous (circa 1930-1935) [undated].73 items.
Box 9

Photographs: Negatives (circa 1930-1933)

Scope and Content Note

Institutional and experimental glass negatives: Infra-red plates of Shakespeare, Catholic censor, Huntington plaque, work for Haselden including Blathwayt letter (circa 1930-1933). 37 items.
Box 10

Photographs: Negatives (circa 1933) and [undated]

Scope and Content Note

Institutional and experimental glass negatives: Infra-red plates of charred leaves from State Library in Albany New York, Van Rappard, globe, Haselden diagrams (circa 1933) and [undated]. 34 items.
Box 11

Photographs: Negatives [undated]

Access Information

The negatives have been placed in cold storage for preservation. Arrangements for viewing the negatives must be made in advance.

Scope and Content Note

Experimental nitrate film negatives separated from Box 4 prints and moved to cold storage: Dagron pigeon post, John Jay/Silas Deane letters, Imaging equipment, Goodspeed Pagan Poems, Wood’s Breviary, engraver’s collotype negative, miscellaneous (undated). 74 items.
Box 12

Photographs: Negatives (circa 1931-1942) and [undated]

Access Information

The negatives have been placed in cold storage for preservation. Arrangements for viewing the negatives must be made in advance.

Scope and Content Note

Experimental and institutional nitrate film negatives separated from Box 8-10 glass negatives and moved to cold storage: Van Rappard manuscripts, Huntington residence exterior, Huntington art collections, Collins Baker reprod., Francis Bacon, Goodspeed palimpsest, John Jay/ Silas Deane letters, infra-red radiation, Ultrapak micros of Columbus letters, Haselden/ palimpsests/anthracene stain/signature intensified (circa 1931-1942) and [undated]. 107 items.