Descriptive Summary
Administrative Information
Biography
Scope and Content
Indexing Terms
Related Material
Descriptive Summary
Title: Albert Boni Collection of Material about Photography,
Date (inclusive): ca. 1840-1983
Collection number: 1046
Creator:
Boni, Albert, 1892-
Extent:
14 boxes (7 linear ft.)
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Abstract: Albert Boni (1892-1981) originated the idea of a very small format for abridged classics called “The Little Leather Library,”
which were sold through Woolworth's (1914). He sold the book shop in 1917 and joined Horace Liveright to form the Boni-Liveright
Publishing Company, which introduced the “Modern Library of the World's Best Classics”. In 1923, he and his brother founded
a firm which introduced “Boni Paper Books” and sold them by mail-order subscription; the firm also published such controversial
and influential writers as Marcel Proust, Colette, D.H. Lawrence, and Upton Sinclair. The collection consists of pamphlets,
journal articles, bibliographies, catalogs, a scrapbook, notebooks, ephemera, photostats, photographs, and negatives relating
to photography. Includes materials about technical processes and Boni's compilation,
A guide to the literature of photography and related subjects.
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library Special
Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Restrictions on Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library Special
Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Albert Boni, 1965-1974.
Gift of William F. Boni, 1983.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Albert Boni Collection of Material about Photography (Collection 1046). UCLA Library Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography
Boni was born in 1892 in New York City; attended Harvard University; in 1912, with his brother Charles, he established the
Washington Square Book Shop, a gathering place for Bohemian intellectuals; about 1914 originated the idea of a very small
format for abridged classics called “The Little Leather Library,” which were sold through Woolworth's; sold the book shop
in 1917 and joined Horace Liveright to form the Boni-Liveright Publishing Company, which introduced the “Modern Library of
the World's Best Classics”; in 1923 he and his brother founded a firm which introduced “Boni Paper Books” and sold them by
mail-order subscription; the firm also published such controversial and influential writers as Marcel Proust, Colette, D.H.
Lawrence, and Upton Sinclair; the firm finally failed with the depression, and Boni later created the Readex Microprint Corporation;
he died on July 13, 1981 in Ormond Beach, Florida.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of pamphlets, journal articles, bibliographies, catalogs, a scrapbook, notebooks, ephemera, photostats,
photographs, and negatives relating to photography. Includes materials about technical processes and Boni's compilation,
A guide to the literature of photography and related subjects. Also includes photographs relating to Louis Daguerre, Claude Niépce de Saint-Victor, and William Henry Fox Talbot.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Boni, Albert, 1892- --Archives.
Publishers and publishing--United States--Archival resources.
Photography--Archival resources.
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