Overview of the Collection
Access
Administrative Information
Related Materials in the Huntington Library
Biographical Note
Scope and Content
Arrangement
Indexing Terms
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
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.