Albert Boni Collection of Material about Photography, ca. 1840-1983

Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Summary

Creators:
Boni, Albert, 1892-
Abstract:
Albert Boni (1892-1981) originated the idea of a very small format for abridged classics called “The Little Leather Library,” which were sold through Woolworth's (1914). He sold the book shop in 1917 and joined Horace Liveright to form the Boni-Liveright Publishing Company, which introduced the “Modern Library of the World's Best Classics”. In 1923, he and his brother founded a firm which introduced “Boni Paper Books” and sold them by mail-order subscription; the firm also published such controversial and influential writers as Marcel Proust, Colette, D.H. Lawrence, and Upton Sinclair. The collection consists of pamphlets, journal articles, bibliographies, catalogs, a scrapbook, notebooks, ephemera, photostats, photographs, and negatives relating to photography. Includes materials about technical processes and Boni's compilation, A guide to the literature of photography and related subjects.
Extent:
14 boxes (7 linear ft.)
Language:
English.

Background

Scope and content:

Collection consists of pamphlets, journal articles, bibliographies, catalogs, a scrapbook, notebooks, ephemera, photostats, photographs, and negatives relating to photography. Includes materials about technical processes and Boni's compilation, A guide to the literature of photography and related subjects. Also includes photographs relating to Louis Daguerre, Claude Niépce de Saint-Victor, and William Henry Fox Talbot.

Biographical / historical:

Boni was born in 1892 in New York City; attended Harvard University; in 1912, with his brother Charles, he established the Washington Square Book Shop, a gathering place for Bohemian intellectuals; about 1914 originated the idea of a very small format for abridged classics called “The Little Leather Library,” which were sold through Woolworth's; sold the book shop in 1917 and joined Horace Liveright to form the Boni-Liveright Publishing Company, which introduced the “Modern Library of the World's Best Classics”; in 1923 he and his brother founded a firm which introduced “Boni Paper Books” and sold them by mail-order subscription; the firm also published such controversial and influential writers as Marcel Proust, Colette, D.H. Lawrence, and Upton Sinclair; the firm finally failed with the depression, and Boni later created the Readex Microprint Corporation; he died on July 13, 1981 in Ormond Beach, Florida.

Acquisition information:

Gift of Albert Boni, 1965-1974.

Gift of William F. Boni, 1983.

Physical location:
Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.

Access and use

Location of this collection:
A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
Contact:
(310) 825-4988
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
Website