Jewelry History: A Core Bibliography

Notes

1. Tiffany & Co.'s archivist, Ms. Zapata oversaw the microfilming of the hand drawn sketches of Tiffany & Co. jewelry designers.

2. This comprehensive collection is being cataloged. Dirlam is concerned that many unique, irreplaceable books are brittle and also need original cataloging.

3. The alum sized paper, the glues used, and the cover treatments are all factors.

4. Judy Wood, acquisition librarian at the Fashion Institute of Technology Library (FIT) in New York City, reports there is no online catalog (OPAC). The library tries to acquire material whose formats will not need intense preservation. The most endangered items in the FIT Library are the journal and trade catalogs that span two centuries. Microfilm and microfiche replacements are sought in an effort to maintain the depth and scope of the collection.

5. Lee Haddon, librarian at the United States Geological Survey Library, Reston, VA., reports there are over 200 boxes of materials collected by George F. Kunz relating to gemstones and jewelry that are not organized and in varying stages of brittleness. Haddon is seeking funds to catalog and preserve the Kunz Collection.

6. The questions asked of each respondent:

What is the most difficult problem you encounter in the research process that relates to the accessibility of information?
What type (examples: book, journal, catalog, newspaper, photograph) of material do you consider to he the most important and therefore most valuable to your endeavors'?
Do you encounter items that you believe are in need of preservation? Please give an example by describing the items' appearance.
Please list or attach a bibliography of the 20 to 25 most important printed items in your field of expertise. Please limit this material to hooks printed since 1850. If you experience difficulty making decisions about what to include, please make a note of the issue involved and include it with your list.

7. The public librarians I have talked with in the past year all concur with Lorene's observation. An Arlington County, VA, librarian said she has many requests for books about antique jewelry, yet they are often not acquired because they are frequently "removed and not returned to the library."

8. Vivian Swift, "Preserving History at Top Jewelry Houses," Heritage, Jewelers Circular Keystone, (August, 1991): 174-182. Swift discusses the role of the corporate archivist at Tiffany, Cartier, and Van Cleef & Arpels.

9. More books have been published in the last five years on jewelry than are contained in the entire bibliography.

10. Over 40 percent of the bibliography has been published since 1950. Almost one-third of those have been reprinted. Forty-two of the books originally published between 1850 and 1989 were reprinted between 1959 and 1989.

11. Discussion with Margaret Child at The Commission on Preservation and Access.

1a. Some of these items should also be considered part of the brittle books problem and in need of preservation. Of 268 items included in this chart, 89 have been microfilmed or reprinted. Twenty-eight of these have been microfilmed. Four items have no publication date. Over one-half the list has been published since 1950 (144 books). Forty-two of the books originally published before 1949 have been reprinted.

2a. This term is used if over five reprints have been made of a single item.

12. DLM=The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum Library, Delaware
ASU=Arizona State University
AZU=University of Arizona
SML=The Smithsonian Institution Libraries, Washington, DC
GIA=Richard T. Liddicoat Gemological Library and Information
Center, California
USGS=United States Geological Survey Library, Reston, Virginia.

13. The Triangle Research Libraries is formed by three cooperating research libraries: Duke University, North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina. Their catalog is shared and accessible electronically. Their cooperation and shared catalog makes it easy to locate books. By combining records, each library's collection is enhanced, enabling comprehensive research.

14. While organizations such as one British antique association impose explicit definitions on the terms "rare" and "artifact," the jewelry historians interviewed for this study tended to view very old books as unique treasures from the past.

15. Dona M. Dirlam, Elise B. Misiorowski, Juli L. Cook, and Robert Weldon, "The Sinkankas Library," Gems & Gemology, 25 (Spring, 1989), 2-15.

1b. The 1967 reprint is listed for $50.00

2b. Condition described: Original wrappers, splitting in center of book at spine, still very good.

3b. Condition described: Title page plus 60 lithographed plates, mostly colored by pochoir, loose in portfolio. Without preface by Larroumet and list of plates. Rebacked. Very good.

4b. Described as "half cloth, very good."

5b. Reprinted in 1889 and 1901!

6b. If a dealer can find it! This hook is most commonly found in the open stacks of many libraries.

7b. Florence, Scelte, n.d. Reprint of the original Paris, Floury, 1906-1908 edition.

16. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Service, GSA, 1982.

17. Judy Cohen is a rare book dealer with expertise in jewelry books. Her address is PO Box 542, Bronx, NY, 10463.

18. M. Cohen catalog. For consistency, this catalo is used for all the prices in the following chart. Items not included in the catalog were quoted by Ms. Cohen in December 1991.

19. Signs of brittleness?

20. Lee Sorensen, Determined Donor: T. Edward Hanley & His Gift of Books to the University of Arizona Library, 1936-1964, Tucson: Friends of the University of Arizona Library, 1989.

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