Letterio Calapai papers, 1858, 1870, 1900-1993, bulk 1920-1993

Found are resumes, certificates, awards, copies of letters of recommendation written in support of Calapai for fellowships or staff positions, exhibition files, and miscellaneous financial material. The exhibition files include various entry forms for juried exhibitions that were of interest to the artist as well as entry forms for art fellowships and contests. Financial material consists of payment stubs, receipts, scattered correspondence and invoices for art supply purchases, shipping costs and miscellaneous expenses.

Correspondence concerning Calapai's fifty-year retrospective exhibition in Rome in 1986, book projects, upcoming shows, and other career-related matters. Correspondents include Kendall College (includes audio reel), the New School for Social Research, the Society of Graphic Artists (SAGA), and others. Also found are letters from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) concerning Calapai's mural Historical Development of Military Signal Communication, undertaken for the Brooklyn Firemen's Association in 1939. There is one folder of correspondence with the Rockwell Kent Legacies concerning the posthumous printing of Rockwell Kent's engravings and other matters. General correspondence concerns a broader spectrum of career-related matters such as upcoming exhibitions and Calapai's printing workshop. Personal correspondence relates to sales and exhibition of prints discussed with friends and fellow artists, progress on current art projects, the health of Calapai's parents, and additional personal matters. Also found is a folder of letters addressed to his first wife, Delia Calapai, as well as copies of letters of recommendation written by Calapai in support of students for fellowship applications.

Found are exhibition announcements and catalogs, exhibition reviews published in newspaper and magazines, press releases, art journals and publications, and miscellaneous printed material.

Found are Calapai's writings and notes on the printmaking process, descriptive information on several of Calapai's prints, lists regarding prints and exhibitions, and writings by others about printmaking.

In the early 1970s, Calapai collaborated with New York's Historical Society of the Tarrytowns to reprint an 1845 etching of the oil painting, The Capture of Major Andre, by Asher B. Durand. One folder of correspondence relates to details associated with the enterprise.

Files relating to Calapai's teaching position at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine, as well as his involvement in this small community where he and his second wife Jean kept a summer home.

Files concerning a series of prints done by Calapai of 19th century printmaker Thomas Bewick's original wood block series based on the Aesop's Fables. Calapai published the prints in 1969 jointly with R. Hunter Middleton, director of the Ludlow Typography Company.

This series documents a portfolio of engravings Calapai created and published in 1949 based on the classic novel, Look Homeward Angel, by Thomas Wolfe. Found here are correspondence, printed materials, writings on Thomas Wolfe by Calapai and others, mailing lists, and proofs for the book jacket. Letters Returned to Sender refer to inquiry letters Calapai mailed in 1958 to collectors and potential buyers in hopes of generating further interest in the Look Homeward Angel portfolio. Correspondence from the 1980s documents a second attempt to republish the prints.

One folder concerning a possible exhibition of the 19th century British engraver William Hogarth and the publication of an accompanying exhibition catalog or book. Found are photograph contact sheets, typewritten notes, and layout designs.

Color and black and white images of Calapai at work in his studio and of his students. Also included are photographs of family members from Sicily including Calapai's parents, Emmanuela and Rosario Calapai, and photographs of Calapai's artwork.

Sketchbooks in graphite, pen and ink, and watercolor of landscape scenes, people, and other subjects. Places depicted include Kenya, Italy, New York City and Rockwell Kent's dairy farm, Asgaard, located in Au Sable Forks, New York. Also found are loose examples of artwork and original prints.