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Finding aid for the Walter Horn papers, 1917-1989
920087
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Title: Walter Horn papers
Date (inclusive): 1917-1989
Number: 920087
Creator/Collector:
Horn, Walter William, 1908-1995
Physical Description:
27.0 linear feet
(69 boxes) + additions (circa 40 linear feet of unprocessed material)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California, 90049-1688
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: Research archive of the art historian Walter William Horn (1908-1995) comprises manuscripts, field notes, drawings, correspondence,
publications, blueprints, photographs, slides, and negatives compiled during Horn's research of medieval timber-framed vernacular
structures such as barns, halls, churches, and hospitals in England, France, and the Lowlands. Horn used much of this material
in works written with his frequent collaborator, the architect Ernest Born.
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Language: Collection material is in
English
Walter William Horn was born on January 18, 1908 and received his education in Germany, where he studied under Erwin Panofsky.
In 1938, Horn joined the faculty at the University of California at Berkeley as a professor of architecture and art history.
Horn specialized in medieval architecture and sculpture, and he devoted much of his career to the study of vernacular architecture.
Horn served as Chair of the Department of History of Art from 1946 to 1974. Horn was also the Head of the U. S. Army Intelligence
Unit, Monuments and Fine Arts Section after World War II (see Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution).
Horn was a frequent collaborator with the architect Ernest Born, with whom he published
The Plan of St. Gall: a study of the architecture and economy of and life in a paradigmatic Carolingian monastery, 1979, and
The barns of the Abbey of Beaulieu at its granges of Great Coxwell and Beaulieu-St. Leonards, 1965.
The Plan of St. Gall received eight major awards for scholarship, bookmaking and typography. In 1982, Horn and Born received a medal from the American
Institute of Architects in recognition of their achievements.
Other publications by Horn include
On the Author of the Plan of St. Gall and the relation of the plan to the monastic reform movement, 1962,
The plan of St. Gall: original or copy?, 1962, and
The forgotten hermitage of Skelling Michael (with Jenny White Marshall, Grellan D. Rourke, Paddy O'Leary and Lee Snodgrass), 1990. Horn also collaborated on articles
with the architect Frederick William Bolton (Fred) Charles.
In 1958, Horn presented a paper to the College Art Association titled "On the Origin of the Medieval Bay System." This was
a significant event in the study of medieval timber structures, and the paper was later published in a 1976 anthology.
Horn served as a member of the board of trustees of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. He died in San Francisco in 1995.
Open for use by qualified researchers, except for approximately 40 lin. ft. of additions received in 1998-1999 and not yet
processed.
Contact
Library Reproductions and Permissions .
Walter Horn papers, 1917-1989, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 920087.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa920087
The Horn archive was purchased from Horn in 1995. The Getty received additional material in 1998-1999 that has not yet been
processed.
Lorna Price did initial processing before the Getty purchased the collection from Horn in 1995. Hillary Brown completed the
processing of the material and wrote this finding aid in May, 1997. Approximately 40 linear feet of material was received
in 1998-1999, but has not yet been processed.
Ernest Born architectural drawings of medieval aisled timber halls, ca. 1944-ca. 1981. Getty Research Institute, Research
Library, Accession number 920089.
Scope and Content of Collection
This scholarly archive of professor Walter Horn contains material relating to Horn's study of timber-framed vernacular structures
at various sites in England, France, and the Lowlands. These materials include field notes, drawings, correspondence, publications,
offprints, and photographs, slides and negatives. This research was accomplished in collaboration with the architect Ernest
Born [see also Born architectural drawings Special Collections accn no. 920089].
Media in the collection include manuscripts, drawings, blueprints, clippings, correspondence, photographs, slides, and negatives.
The titles on the folders (i.e. "Halles: General") are the titles given by Horn. Most of the material in Series II, III, IV,
and V was separated out of Series I.
The collection is arranged in five series:
Series I. Papers, ca. 1929-1989
Series II. Photographs, ca. 1929-1989
Series III. Slides, ca. 1929-1989
Series IV. Negatives, ca. 1929-1989
Series V. Oversize blueprints, plans and drawings, ca. 1937-1987
Born, Ernest, 1898-
Horn, Andrew
Barn of Great Coxwell (Great Coxwell, England)
Beaulieu Abbey
Church of St. James and St. Paul . (Marton, Cheshire, England)
Grange de Vaulerant (Seine-et-Oise, France)
Great Hall (Leicester Castle, Leicester, England)
St. Mary's Hospital (Chichester, England)
St. Oswald's Church (Lower Peover, England)
Ter Doest (Cistercian abbey : Lissewege, Belgium)
Architecture, Medieval
Architecture, Medieval--England
Architecture, Medieval--France
Barns
Church buildings
Church buildings--England
Church buildings--France
Guildhalls
Hospitals--Design and construction--History
Market halls--France
Vernacular architecture
Vernacular architecture--England
Vernacular architecture--France
Blueprints (reprographic copies)
Drawings (visual works)
Negatives
Photographic prints
Photographs, Original
Plans (drawings)
Slides (photographs)