Guide to the J. Paul Getty Trust Publications Records, 1975-1999
Finding aid prepared by Sue Luftschein
Descriptive Summary
Title: Records
Date (inclusive): 1975-1999
Number: IA20005
Creator/Collector:
J. Paul Getty Museum. Publications
Physical Description:
1.88 linear feet
(5 boxes)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Institutional Records and Archives
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California, 90049-1688
(310) 440-7390
archives@getty.edu
Abstract: These records were generated by the J. Paul Getty Trust Publications offices and departments and its related Editorial Committee
during the course of day-to-day operations. The records comprise correspondence, memoranda, publishing proposals, budget information
(including information from the J. Paul Getty Museum bookstore and the Getty Education Institute), and legal documents, 1975-1999.
The bulk of the material contains meeting minutes and agendas; many of these meetings were the occasion to discuss publishing
proposals. The records also include documentation on the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals, and miscellaneous files
regarding publishing activities of the Museum.
Request Materials: To access physical materials at the Getty, go to the
library catalog record for this collection and click "Request an Item." Click here for
general library access policy . See the Administrative Information section of this finding aid for access restrictions specific to the records described
below. Please note, some of the records may be stored off site; advanced notice is required for access to these materials.
Language: Collection material is in
English
Administrative History
The J. Paul Getty Trust is a not-for-profit institution, educational in purpose and character, that focuses on the visual
arts in all of their dimensions. As of 2009 the Trust supports and oversees four programs: the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty
Foundation, the Getty Conservation Institute, and the Getty Research Institute. The J. Paul Getty Trust and Getty programs
serve a varied audience from two locations: the Getty Center in Los Angeles and the Getty Villa near Malibu, California.
The origins of the J. Paul Getty Trust date to 1953, when J. Paul Getty established the J. Paul Getty Museum as a California
charitable trust to house his growing art collections. Mr. Getty died in 1976 and bequeathed the majority of his estate to
the museum trust. In 1981 the trust began a year of exploration to determine where it would focus its resources and energies
in order to make the greatest possible contribution to the field of art and art history as a whole. Out of this resolve grew
an expanded commitment to the arts in the general areas of scholarship, conservation, and education. This took the shape of
new Getty programs including the Center for the History of Arts and Humanities, Art History Information Institute, Conservation
Institute, and Center for Education in the Arts as well as smaller programs such as the Museum Management Institute and the
Program for Art on Film. In 1983 the estate funds became available to the museum trust, the trust's name was officially changed
from the J. Paul Getty Museum to the J. Paul Getty Trust, and the museum became an operating program under the trust, retaining
the name the J. Paul Getty Museum.
The Publications office / department was originally established as part of the Museum and is frequently referred to as "Getty
Publications." With the founding of the Trust in 1983, the Publications department became responsible for the publications
produced by the J. Paul Getty Trust and its operating programs. Since then Publications has undergone considerable restructuring.
Over the years the administration of the Publications department has shifted back and forth several times between the Museum
and the Trust, and at times there have been separate publications departments within various Getty programs.
In recent years Publications' primary focus has been the editing, design, production, and marketing of exhibition catalogs
and books for the J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Conservation Institute, and Getty Research Institute, including books on art,
photography, art history, and children’s literature. Historically Publications has also produced a wider variety of materials,
including Trust reports and ephemera such as event invitations, newsletters, informational brochures, site and gallery maps,
and other visitor handouts.
Administrative Information
Restrictions on Access
The records in accession 2004.IA.01, subject to review for permanently closed information, are open to qualified researchers.
Requests for access will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
The following types of records are permanently closed: records containing personal information, records that compromise security
or operations, legal communications, legal work product, and records related to donors. The J. Paul Getty Trust reserves the
right to restrict access to any records held by the Institutional Archives.
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
[Cite the item and series (as appropriate)], Records, 1975-1999, Getty Trust Publications, J. Paul Getty Trust. Institutional
Archives, Getty Research Institute, Research Library, Finding Aid no. IA20005.
Acquisition Information
The records in this finding aid originated in accession no. 2004.IA.01.
Processing History
A preliminary inventory of the records was done prior to 2004 by Institutional Archives part-time staff. In 2005, Sue Luftschein
rehoused the records encoded this finding aid based, in part, on the original inventory.
Scope and Content of Collection
The records include correspondence, memoranda, meeting agenda and minutes, book proposals, spreadsheets, royalty statements,
contracts, letters of agreement, reports, press releases, and production logs, dating 1975-1999, of the Getty Publications
Office at the J. Paul Getty Trust. The meeting minutes and agendas seem to be complete from the period 1988 to 1998, and contain
a great detail on the process of bringing a proposal to publication. The agendas of meetings of the office's Editorial Committee
include full book project development proposals and recommendations.
The records also include information about the continued publication of the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals, specifically
the transition from print version to CD-ROM version, and the role of the publisher G.K. Hall in that transition. Included
in this series are original, and amended contracts between G.K. Hall, Getty Trust Publications, and Columbia University, the
author of the Avery Index.
Also included are miscellaneous files regarding special events in which the Publications Office was involved, and records
of royalty payments and correspondence to Norman Neuerburg, author of
From Herculaneum to Malibu.
Organization
These records are organized in four series:
Series I. Meeting minutes, 1988-1998;
Series II. Budget and financial information, 1977-1999;
Series III. Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals, 1993-1999;
Series IV. Miscellaneous files, 1975-1998.
Indexing Terms
Subjects - Names
Getty, J. Paul (Jean Paul), 1892-1976
Subjects - Corporate Bodies
Columbia University
Getty Conservation Institute
J. Paul Getty Museum
Subjects - Topics
Museum publications
Museum stores
Genres and Forms of Material
Agendas (administrative records)
Book proposals
Budgets
Correspondence
Financial records
Legal documents
Letters (correspondence)
Memorandums
Minutes
Notes
Press releases
Reports
Contributors
G.K. Hall & Company
J. Paul Getty Trust
Neuerburg, Norman
Series I.
Meeting minutes and agendas,
1988-1998
Physical Description:
1.04 linear feet
1.04 linear feet
(3 boxes)
Scope and Content Note
Records consist of meeting minutes of the Getty Publications office dating 1988-1991, meeting minutes and agendas of the Editorial
Committee dating 1988-1998, and meeting minutes, agendas, meeting notes, and related memoranda of the Publications Department
and the Getty Conservation Institutue, dating 1993-1998, of the J. Paul Getty Museum, J. Paul Getty Trust. The Publications
minutes (1988-1991) discuss specific publication projects as well as analysis of sales and administrative matters such as
topics for meeting agenda, damaged inventory, and budgets. The Editorial Committee records (1988-1998) encompass primarily
meeting minutes, but also include two memoranda in regard to the Lanier Graham proposal of an exhibition of Degas prints.
The meeting minutes of the Editorial Committee are similar in content to those of Publications, discussing specific publications
(often many of the same publications as discussed in the Publications minutes), but the majority of the minutes discuss idea
and development proposals submitted to the Committee, including a proposal for the
GRI Journal. The Editorial Committee agendas include full book project development proposals and recommendations.
Arrangement
The records are arranged primarily in chronological order.
Publications Department meeting minutes:
Box 2004.IA.01-1, Folder 1
Box 2004.IA.01-1, Folder 2
Box 2004.IA.01-1, Folder 3
Editorial Committee meeting minutes:
Box 2004.IA.01-1, Folder 4-5
1988-1991, 1993-1994, 1996-1998
Physical Description:
[2 files]
Box 2004.IA.01-1, Folder 6
Agenda and minutes,
September 2, 1993
Box 2004.IA.01-1, Folder 7
Box 2004.IA.01-1, Folder 8
Agenda and minutes,
December 20, 1993
Box 2004.IA.01-1, Folder 9
Box 2004.IA.01-1, Folder 10-11
Meeting and agenda,
November 29, 1994
Physical Description:
[2 files]
Box 2004.IA.01-1, Folder 12
Meeting agenda,
December 12, 1995
Box 2004.IA.01-1, Folder 13-14
Meeting agenda,
March 13, 1996
Physical Description:
[2 files]
Box 2004.IA.01-2, Folder 1
Meeting agenda,
June 21, 1996
Box 2004.IA.01-2, Folder 2-3
Meeting agenda,
October 24, 1996
Physical Description:
[2 files]
Box 2004.IA.01-2, Folder 4-5
Meeting agenda and idea proposals,
May 5, 1997
Physical Description:
[2 files]
Box 2004.IA.01-2, Folder 6
Exhibition proposal,
May 5, 1997
Box 2004.IA.01-2, Folder 7-8
Meeting agenda,
October 27, 1998
Physical Description:
[2 files]
Box 2004.IA.01-2, Folder 9-11
Meeting agenda,
June 19, 1998
Physical Description:
[3 files]
Box 2004.IA.01-2, Folder 12-13
GRI Journal memoranda and proposals,
1993, 1997
Physical Description:
[2 files]
GCI-Publications meeting minutes, agendas, memoranda:
Box 2004.IA.01-3, Folder 1
Box 2004.IA.01-3, Folder 2
Box 2004.IA.01-3, Folder 3
Box 2004.IA.01-3, Folder 4
Box 2004.IA.01-3, Folder 5
Box 2004.IA.01-3, Folder 6
Box 2004.IA.01-3, Folder 7
Series II.
Budget and financial information,
1977-1999
Physical Description:
0.42 linear feet
(1 box)
Scope and Content Note
These records consist of budget and financial information from the Getty Bookstore, the J. Paul Getty Trust publications programs,
and the Getty Education Institute, 1977-1994. Included are spreadsheets detailing monthly sales figures, general ledger printouts,
capital budget reports, and memoranda.
Arrangement
These records are arranged by department and in general chronological order.
Box 2004.IA.01-3, Folder 8
Getty Education Institute publications budget information,
1998-1999
Box 2004.IA.01-3, Folder 9
Getty Trust write-downs and spreadsheets,
1993-1994
Box 2004.IA.01-3, Folder 10
Getty bookstore general ledger reports,
1981
Box 2004.IA.01-3, Folder 11
Getty bookstore general ledger reports,
1980
Box 2004.IA.01-3, Folder 12
Getty bookstore sales summaries,
1978-1983
Box 2004.IA.01-3, Folder 13
Box 2004.IA.01-3, Folder 14
October 1977-December 1979
Box 2004.IA.01-4, Folder 1
October 1980-September 1981
Box 2004.IA.01-4, Folder 2
October 1981-September 1982
Box 2004.IA.01-4, Folder 3
October 1982-September 1983
Box 2004.IA.01-4, Folder 4
October 1983-September 1984
Box 2004.IA.01-4, Folder 5
Box 2004.IA.01-4, Folder 6
Box 2004.IA.01-4, Folder 7
Publications operating budget roster,
1984
Box 2004.IA.01-4, Folder 8
Museum publications budget information,
1987, 1989
Box 2004.IA.01-4, Folder 9
Museum sales and distribution budget information,
1989
Box 2004.IA.01-4, Folder 10
Getty bookstore sales and distribution performance,
1989
Series III.
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals,
1993-1999
Physical Description:
0.21 linear feet
(1 box)
Scope and Content Note
These records consist of contracts, legal documents, correspondence, memoranda, and reports relating to the publication of
the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals by G.K. Hall and the transition to publication by Getty Publications, J. Paul
Getty Trust, the transition of the Index to CD-ROM format, and the relocation of the Index from the Getty Information Institute
to the Getty Research Institute, 1983-1999. Also included are copies of information materials about the CD-ROM version of
the Index, a report on usage by Howard Batchelor, information about subscribers and subscriptions, budget and financial information,
and the 1998-99 Annual Report.
Arrangement
These records are arranged generally in chronological order.
Box 2004.IA.01-4, Folder 11-12
Letters of agreement, contracts between G.K. Hall, Trust Publications, Columbia University,
1983-1999
Physical Description:
[2 files]
Box 2004.IA.01-4, Folder 13
Informational materials about the index,
1987-1992
Box 2004.IA.01-4, Folder 14
Howard Batchelor, Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals: a comparative study of usage and markets,
1996
Box 2004.IA.01-4, Folder 15
Avery Index financial information,
1998-1999
Box 2004.IA.01-4, Folder 16
Box 2004.IA.01-4, Folder 17
Avery Index subscription information,
1999
Box 2004.IA.01-4, Folder 18
Correspondence re: CD-ROM,
1999
Series IV.
Miscellaneous files,
1975-1998
Physical Description:
0.13 linear feet
(1 box)
Scope and Content Note
This series contains miscellaneous files related to Getty Publications including correspondence, memoranda, financial records,
royalties statements, production logs, and press releases, dated 1975-1998. Of special note are the records relating to the
publication of Norman Neuerburg's
From Herculaneum to Malibu, including correspondence between Neuerburg and Stephen Garrett regarding the Getty's continued
publication of Neuerburg's work, and Neuerburg and Roberta Stothart in which Neuerburg confesses that he has no wish to continue
writing about the Getty; also included is a copy of Neuerburg's article "Painting in the California Missions," originally
published in American Art Review, July 1977.
Arrangement
These records are arranged by subject.
Box 2004.IA.01-5, Folder 1
Exhibition department information,
ca. 1980
Box 2004.IA.01-5, Folder 2
Norman Neuerburg, correspondence, royalty statements,
1975-1982
Box 2004.IA.01-5, Folder 3
Publication production logs,
1993
Box 2004.IA.01-5, Folder 4
Press releases, exhibitions,
1994
Box 2004.IA.01-5, Folder 5
Getty Publications special events invitation lists and memoranda,
1997-1998