Arthur Lee Loeb papers, circa 1930s-2002

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Summary

Abstract:
Papers of Arthur Loeb contain correspondence, publications, presentations, textbooks related primarily to chemistry, faculty papers, material related to M.C. Escher, juvenalia, photographs, etc.
Extent:
54.75 Linear Feet (105 manuscript boxes, 3 cartons, 2 card boxes, 4 flat boxes)
Language:
English and Most of the collection is in English, some is in Dutch.
Preferred citation:

[identification of item], Arthur Lee Loeb papers (M1590). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Background

Scope and content:

The papers have been minimally processed and arranged in 10 series: Series 1. Correspondence, Series 2. Publications, Series 3. Faculty/Coursework, Series 4. MC. Escher, Series 5. Miscellaneous, Series 6. General files, Series 7. Associations/Conferences/Bulletins, Series 8. Academic Juvenalia, Series 9. Born-Digital Materials, and Series 10. Oversize materials.

Series 1, Correspondence, is arranged in two alphabetical sequences.

Series 2, Publications, consists primarily of articles and books by Arthur Loeb, but includes some by Buckminster Fuller and others.

Series 3, Faculty/Coursework, primarily relates to the Harvard University Visual and Environmental Studies Department. It includes correspondence, committees, curriculum review, exhibisitions, Task Forces and reports, lectures, etc.

Series 4, M.C. Escher, is primarily related to Loeb's collaborations with Escher and contains correspondence with Escher and his widow, books, exhibition announcements, postcards, and some of Loeb's essays on Escher.

Series 5, Miscellaneous, contains punch cards (alphabetical list of references), notebooks from Legdemont Labs, files related to dance (see also "medieval misc." in Series 6), Loeb's memorial, notes of Bucky Fuller, video interview with Loeb on survivors on the holocaust, etc.

Series 6, General Files, relate to Loeb's varied interests such as medieval era, art, and contain photographs of Loeb and his work. The folders titled "medieval misc." contain files on medieval and renaissance dances as Loeb was interested in the symmetry and repeating patterns.

Series 7, Associations/Conferences/Bulletins, contains materials primarily related to the American Crystallographic Association.

Series 8, Academic Juvenalia, contains a diary from 1940, schook notebooks, papers, textbooks, etc.

Series 9, Born-Digital Materials, are CLOSED until processed.

Series 10, Oversize Materials, consist of paste-ups for Loeb's books and articles as well as photographs of his models.

Biographical / historical:

Arthur Lee Loeb was a scientist and crystallographer who was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands on July 13, 1923 and died in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2002.

Loeb was an internationally renowned leader in the field of design science. Throughout his career, he successfully combined the worlds of science and art, devising a language of spatial patterns that he described as "Visual Mathematics." He arrived in America in 1940 after fleeing his native Holland on the first day of the Nazi occupation. He was admitted to the University of Pennsylvania at the age of 20 and went on to earn his Ph.D. in chemical physics from Harvard in 1949. His scientific career began while working on the Whirlwind computer project, in which scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology struggled to develop "core memory" for the next generation of computers. It was at M.I.T. that Loeb began to articulate a language of spatial patterns that became the central focus of his career, leading to lifelong collaborations with such innovators as R. Buckminster Fuller and M.C. Escher.

Loeb was a founder of the International Society for the Interdisciplinary Study of Symmetry (ISIS-Symmetry), and was the Society's first Vice-President and later Chairman of the Advisory Board. [From the Harvard Gazette and Wikipedia]

Acquisition information:
This collection was given by the Estate of Charlotte I. Loeb to Stanford University, Special Collections in 2007.
Physical location:
Special Collections and University Archives materials are stored offsite and must be paged 36-48 hours in advance. For more information on paging collections, see the department's website: http://library.stanford.edu/spc.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The materials are open for research use. Audio-visual materials are not available in original format, and must be reformatted to a digital use copy. Series 10. Born-digital materials is CLOSED until data is fully accessioned and processed.

Terms of access:

All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California 94305-6064. Consent is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/spc/using-collections/permission-publish.

Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.

Preferred citation:

[identification of item], Arthur Lee Loeb papers (M1590). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Location of this collection:
Department of Special Collections, Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-6004, US
Contact:
(650) 725-1022
specialcollections@stanford.edu
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