Collection Guide
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Peck (Orrin M.) Papers
mssPeck
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Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Orrin M. Peck papers
Identifier/Call Number: mssPeck
Physical Description:
9.67 Linear Feet
(19 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1878-1951
Date (bulk): 1890-1915
Abstract: This collection consists of the personal correspondence of American portraitist and landscape painter Orrin Peck (1860-1921)
and his sister, Janet Peck. The collection contains references to various artists, musicians, authors, and public figures
chiefly from the 1890s-1910s.
Language of Material: English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more
information.
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.
[Identification of item]. Orrin M. Peck Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from W. P. Wreden, October 1961.
Orrin M. Peck (1860-1921) was born in Hobart, New York in 1860, the son of James and Margaret H. Peck and brother to Helen
P. Sanborn and Janet M. (Janet Moore) Peck (b. 1878). In 1862, on the steamship
Sonora bound for San Francisco from Panama, his mother, Margaret H. Peck, met Phoebe Apperson Hearst (1842-1919) and took care of
the then- pregnant bride. Orrin became a close friend of Phoebe's son, William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951), and was even the
best man at his wedding. With funding from Phoebe Apperson Hearst, Peck studied art in Munich and collaborated with Carl von
Marr (1858-1936) on some of his work. Peck became an accomplished portrait and landscape painter and had his works exhibited
in London, Munich, and the United States. He was commissioned to paint portraits of Mrs. Hearst and William Randolph Hearst.
Peck traveled to San Francisco from Europe periodically up until World War I and in 1912 he returned to San Francisco permanently.
He was with William Randolph Hearst in New York and Florida before being hired to design the landscaping for his San Simeon
home in California in 1920. Peck died suddenly in Los Angeles in 1921.
This collection consists mainly of the personal correspondence of Orrin M. Peck (1860-1921) and his sister, Janet M. (Janet
Moore) Peck (b. 1878). As an artist Orrin was in contact with and befriended many other artists of the time, and the collection
contains correspondence from Edwin Austin Abbey (1852-1911), Pablo Casals (1876-1973), John Drew (1853-1927), Neville Lytton
(b. 1879), Carl von Marr (1858-1936), Lillian Nordica (1857-1914), Joseph Pennell (1857- 1926), and John Singer Sargent (1856-1925),
as well as references to Sir Hubert von Herkomer (1849-1914).
As the Peck family moved in the various social circles of the elite in San Francisco, the letters often discuss the political
environment in the city during the 19th and 20th centuries as well as national politics during this same time period. Thus
there is correspondence from Frances Folsom Cleveland (1864-1947), John James Ingalls (1833-1900), Henry C. Ide (1844-1921),
and Lou Henry Hoover (1874-1944). References may also be found regarding Enrique Loynaz del Castillo (1871-1963), James D.
Phelan (1861-1930), Lillie Hitchcock Coit (1843-1929), and John D. Spreckels (b. 1853).
Orrin M. Peck and Janet M. Peck were quite social, with Orrin spending many evenings at the Bohemian Club and Janet throwing
dinner parties, they associated with a variety of people such as Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (1857- 1941), Charles
A. Dana (1819-1897), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951), Lou Henry Hoover (1874-1944),
William Orton Tewson (1877-1947), and Frances Evelyn Maynard Greville, Countess of Warwick (1861-1933). An additional note,
many correspondents refer to Janet as "Jen, Jenny, or Jennie."
There are 119 letters in the collection from Phoebe Apperson Hearst, which span the dates of 1885-1917. These letters discuss
her philanthropy in the fields of art and education, life in California, her son William Randolph Hearst, her travels to different
countries in Europe and Asia, and national politics.
Throughout the collection correspondents make numerous references to the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906, to the
Panama-Pacific International Exposition, and to their opinions and activities in regards to World War I and II.
Lastly two letters contain references to Henry E. Huntington (1850-1927), one from a man with the last name Deven written
to Orrin M. Peck in 1906 in regards to his art and literary collections and the other from Margaret H. Peck dated August 30th,
but with no year, in regards to his developments in Pasadena, California.
Former call number: mssPeck papers
Photographs in the collection were transferred to the Photo Archives:
- Orrin Peck collection of photographs, photCL 359
The collection is organized in the following manner:
- Correspondence – arranged alphabetically (Boxes 1-13). 724 folders
- Manuscript notes, fragments, lists, etc. (Box 14). 13 folders
- Financial documents, photographs, calling cards, etc. (Box 15). 10 folders
- Oversize ephemera, clippings, receipts & bills (Box 16). 13 folders
- Bound volumes and crystal seal (Box 17)
- Printed materials (Box 18)
- Oversize (Box 19)
Fielding, Mantle.
Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers. Poughkeepsie, N.Y.: Apollo, 1986.
Neuhaus, Eugen.
The History & Ideals of American Art. Stanford University, CA: Stanford University Press, 1931.
Robinson, Judith.
The Hearsts: An American Dynasty. Newark, Del.: University of Delaware Press, 1991.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Europe -- Description and travel
San Francisco (Calif.) -- Politics and government -- 19th century
San Francisco (Calif.) -- Politics and government -- 20th century
United States -- Politics and government -- 19th century
United States -- Politics and government -- 20th century
Letters (correspondence) -- 19th century
Photographs -- 19th century
Newspaper clippings -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- 20th century
Photographs -- 20th century
Newspaper clippings -- 20th century
Hearst, Phoebe Apperson, 1842-1919
Bohemian Club (San Francisco, Calif.)
Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915 : San Francisco, Calif.)
Hearst, Phoebe Apperson, 1842-1919