Finding Aid for the Albert Boni Collection of Material about Photography, ca. 1840-1983
Processed by K. Lopaty; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé
© 2003
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Finding Aid for the Albert Boni Collection of Material about Photography, ca. 1840-1983
Collection number: 1046
UCLA Library Special Collections
UCLA Library Special Collections staff
Los Angeles, CA
- Processed by:
- K. Lopaty, May 1975
- Encoded by:
- Caroline Cubé
- Online finding aid edited by:
- Josh Fiala, February 2004
© 2003 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Albert Boni Collection of Material about Photography,
Date (inclusive): ca. 1840-1983
Collection number: 1046
Creator:
Boni, Albert, 1892-
Extent:
14 boxes (7 linear ft.)
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
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.
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.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Restrictions on Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library Special
Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Albert Boni, 1965-1974.
Gift of William F. Boni, 1983.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Albert Boni Collection of Material about Photography (Collection 1046). UCLA Library Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography
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.
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.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Boni, Albert, 1892- --Archives.
Publishers and publishing--United States--Archival resources.
Photography--Archival resources.
Related Material
Box 1
Pamphlets
re photography and the chemisty of photography.
Physical Description: (5 folders).
Scope and Content Note
English and foreign language publications.
Box 2, Folder 1
Pamphlets
re photography and the chemistry of photography.
Scope and Content Note
English and foreign language publications.
Box 2, Folder 2
Pamphlets
re color-photography.
Box 2, Folder 4
Pamphlets
re moving-pictures.
Box 2, Folder 5
Pamphlets concerning microfilm and photostats.
Box 2, Folder 6
Miscellaneous catalogs concerning photography and photographic equipment (Dealers').
Box 3, Folder 1
A guide to the literature of photography and related subjects. Compiled by Albert Boni. New York: Morgan & Lester, 1944.
Creator/Collector: Boni, Albert
Physical Description: 2 copies. (Supplement no.18 for Photo-Lab-Index)
Box 3, Folder 2
Pyroxylin photographic and cinematograph films - patents.
Box 3, Folder 3
Pyroxylin photographic and cinematograph films - bibliography.
Box 3, Folder 4
Holograph letter to John A. Tennant.
Creator/Collector: Brown, George Edward
Scope and Content Note
re an article for Photo-Miniature,
Who Discovered Photography, together with photographs used to illustrate the article.
Included are photographs relating to Daguerre, Niépce, and Fox-Talbot. Subject entries for these names are in the catalog.
Box 3, Folder 5
Photostats
re a Mathew Brade
carte-de-visite.
Box 3, Folder 6
Photomechanical processes - bilbiolography of Library of Congress holdings.
Box 3, Folder 7
Miscellaneous bibliographies concerning photography.
Physical Description: (2 folders).
Box 3, Folder 10
Miscellaneous photographs.
Box 4, Folder 1
The Atlantic.
December 1957.
Box 4, Folder 2
Articles
re photography.
Physical Description: Photocopies.
Box 4, Folder 3
Journal articles
re photography.
Box 4, Folder 4
Newspaper clippings
re photography and photographers.
Box 4, Folder 5
Magazine clippings - chiefly various examples of photography.
Box 4, Folder 7
Daedalus, journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Winter 1960.
Box 5, Folder 1
Aperture (vol.2 no.3-vol.12 no.4)
1953-1965.
Physical Description: 12 issues (2 folders).
Box 5, Folder 2
Bibliographies concerning photography. Foreign language publications.
Box 5, Folder 3
Museum of Modern Art, New York.
A report on the Film Library, 1941-1956 (vol.24, no.1)
Fall 1956.
Box 5, Folder 4
Pamphlet on J.S. Mertle's photomechanic collection.
Box 5, Folder 5
Miscellaneous pamphlets on photographic exhibits.
Box 5, Folder 6
Pamphlet on photographic spectrum of comet.
Box 5, Folder 7
List of books and articles by C.E.K. Mees.
Box 6
Miscellaneous ephemera, camera catalogs, catalogs of photographers supplies and sundries.
Note
Gift of William Boni, 1983.
Box 9
Scrapbook - photographers.
Physical Description: (2 scrapbooks).
Box 9
Photographers / photographic history.
Box 10
Diazotype - Ozalid.
1927.
Box 10
Photographers / History of photography.
Box 10
Tennant notebook.
Physical Description: (2 notebooks).
Box 11
Reprints, bibliographies.
Box 11
Beaumont Newhall checklist.
Boxes 12, 13, 14
Printed material - ephemera, catalogs, articles, technical pamphlets.
