Elihu Vedder papers, 1804-1969, bulk 1840-1923

Collection Information

Size: 9.2 Linear feet

Summary: The papers of painter and illustrator Elihu Vedder measure approximately 9.2 linear feet and date from 1804-1969, with the bulk of the material dating from 1840-1923. The collection documents Vedder's personal life and work. Best known for his illustrations of the 1884 edition of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam , Vedder's papers include correspondence, writings, diaries, photographs, a limited number of drawings, books and printed material, legal and financial papers, and scattered personal and family papers.

Biographical/Historical Note

Elihu Vedder was born in New York in 1836. He grew up in Cuba, where his father worked as a dentist, and on his grandfather's farm in Brooklyn. He was educated in boarding schools and by tutors, and showed an interest in drawing at an early age. He began his formal training with T. H. Matteson in New York, and went on to study with Francois-Edouard Picot in Paris and Raffaello Bonaiuti in Florence.

Provenance

The bulk of the collection was donated in 1962-1964 by Lawrence Fleischman and Harold Love (who bought the papers in 1926 from Mrs. Nadia Tomassi, a Vedder family friend who had held the papers since Vedder's death in 1923). Several books were donated by Irving Burton in 1964 and 1977. Some correspondence, writings, notes, and printed material were donated in 1981 by Mrs. John Breck.

Related Materials

Related material found in the Archives of American Art includes 3 letters written by Elihu Vedder that comprise a small collection donated by Charles E. Feinberg. Four originals drawings (filmed on Reel 671: 608-610 and 612) were returned to the donor and are not described in the Container Listing.

Language Note

English .

Digitization Note

The papers of Elihu Vedder in the Archives of American Art were digitized from 17 reels of microfilm. Photographs from Series 7 have been digitized from originals. The bulk of the papers have been scanned, totaling 21,794 images.

Funding Note

Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art