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Finding aid for the Lester Bridaham photographs and papers relating to gargoyles, 1895-1987
87.P.4  
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Table of contents What's This?

Container List

 

Series I. Materials relating to Gargoyles, Chimères and the Grotesque in French Gothic Architecture, 1929-1970, undated

Physical Description: 7.4 linear feet (9 boxes)

Scope and Content Note

Production and research materials related to Bridaham's book, Gargoyles, Chimères, and the Grotesque in French Gothic Art, form this series. Production materials include mounted photographs with printer's instructions, page layouts and proofs. Notes, articles, correspondence, and a small number of images comprise the preserved research materials for the book. The materials in this series derive from the creation of both the 1930 edition of the book and the slightly enlarged 1969 edition. Also included are the contract for the second edition of the book, as well as promotional fliers for the first edition.

Arrangement note

The series is organized into two groupings: production materials and research materials.
 

Production materials

Box 1-3, 32-33, 34*

Individual image mock-ups with printer's instructions

Scope and Content Note

Arranged by size into three groupings; then by illustration number.
Box 35*, Folder 1-3

Page layouts

Box 35*, Folder 4-6

Corrected text proofs

Box 4-5

Research materials, notes and correspondence

Scope and Content Note

See also research materials reused for subsequent projects below, especially bound volumes in boxes 30-31.
 

Series II. Unpublished projects, 1917-1987, undated

Physical Description: 9.3 linear feet (21 boxes)

Scope and Content Note

Series II is comprised of materials relating to Bridaham's unpublished book projects. The publication of the second edition of Gargoyles, Chimères, and the Grotesque in French Gothic Architecture spurred Bridaham to further research on the theme of gargoyles. Over the next two decades he would produce three further projects, each expanding the scope of his core idea in terms of geography, chronology and audience.
From 1968 to 1981, Bridaham worked on a book project entitled "Gargoyles, Chimères, and the Grotesque in the Sculpture of the Middle Ages in England, Germany, Italy and Spain," an expansion of his study of gargoyles to include monuments of the Romanesque period as well as the Gothic, and to cover much of Europe. Bridaham's previous publisher, Plenum Press, declined the book and he was unable to interest another publisher in the project. In 1980 Bridaham met John Oliver, who shared his interest in gargoyles, and the two men decided to collaborate. From 1981 to 1983 Bridaham retooled his research into a popular book, co-authored with Oliver, with the working title "Meet My Fabulous Grotesque Friends." Bridaham and Oliver were unable to find a publisher. In 1986 and 1987, Bridaham returned to the topic again, envisioning a more scholarly project, "The Bridaham Collection of Photographs of Gargoyles and Grotesque-Style Sculptures of the Middle Ages in all Countries," which would include 1600 photographs. The project remained unpublished.
Each of the projects documented in this series includes both images and papers. The images are primarily photographs, but may also include postcards and other printed material. The images are generally organized by Bridaham's planned chapter headings. The types of textual material is also relatively similar for each project, including correspondence, research, notes and drafts of text. A limited number of images are also included in these files. Of particular interest is the text dummy for the "Fabulous Friends" book.
Due to the fact that the research projects relate and often overlap, many materials may relate to more than one research project. Although they are generally grouped by the date he last worked with a folder, some anomalies still exist. Thus, the final grouping of this series contains materials relating to all three of the previous unpublished projects, as well as a certain amount of miscellaneous and duplicate material. This includes catalogs and pamphlets, articles, research notes and a variety of images.

Arrangement note

The series is arranged in three groups of material correlating to Bridaham's unpublished book projects. A final, fourth grouping contains materials relating to all three of the previous unpublished projects, as well as a certain amount of miscellaneous and duplicate material.
 

"Gargoyles, Chimères, and the Grotesque in the Sculpture of the Middle Ages in England, Germany, Italy and Spain"

Box 6-8

Research, notes, correspondence and sections of draft text

Box 9-11

Images

 

"Meet my Fabulous Grotesque Friends"

Box 12-13

Research, notes, correspondence and sections of draft text

Box 26

Final text dummy

 

Images

Box 14, Folder 1-6

Gargoyles

Box 14, Folder 7-9

Devil

Box 15

Bestiary

Box 16

Chimères

Box 17

Symbolism

Box 18

Various

 

"The Bridaham Collection of Photographs of Gargoyles and Grotesque-Style Sculptures of the Middle Ages in all Countries,"

Box 19

Research, notes, correspondence and sections of draft text

 

Images

Box 20, Folder 1-2

Gargoyles

Box 20, Folder 3

Bestiary

Box 20, Folder 4

Heads

Box 21, Folder 1-4

Chimères

Box 22, Folder 1-2

Symbolism

Box 22-23

Miscellaneous

 

Cumulative project research materials and images

Box 24, Folder 1-10

Research materials and notes

Box 24-25

Images

 

Series III. General research materials, 1895-1981, undated

Physical Description: 4.5 linear feet (7 boxes)

Scope and Content Note

Series III includes images and materials that relate to Bridaham's entire span of research on gargoyles and the grotesque rather than being attributable to a specific project. Although Bridaham's date notations allow most of his files to be assigned to a project, or at least the project on which he used it last, the materials in this series remain general or are clearly used throughout.

Arrangement note

The series is arranged by type of material.
Box 27

Articles, clippings and notes

Box 30-31

Bound volumes of research notes

 

Images

Box 28

Photographs

Box 29

Postcards

Box 34*, Folder 3

Oversize photograph

Box 36-37

Negatives

Scope and Content Note

Restricted access.