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Erin Kinhart
Scope and Contents
The papers of etcher Morris Henry Hobbs measure 4.7 linear feet and date from circa 1901-2014. His career as an artist in Chicago and New Orleans is documented through biographical material, correspondence, writings, professional files, printed material, photographs, artwork, and four sketchbooks.
Biographical material includes chronologies, biographical statements, and documentation on his home and studio. Correspondence includes letters to friends and family regarding art, travel, and botany. Of note are letters from the etchers John Taylor Arms and Bertha Jaques and botanist Lyman Smith. Writings consist of Hobbs' diary kept during World War I while serving in the U.S. Army, journal pages documenting his move to New Orleans, and garden notebooks. Professional files include documents relating to Hobbs' memberships and activities in the Bromeliad Society, Chicago Society of Etchers, Louisiana Society of Etchers, New Orleans Art League, and other organizations. Also included are exhibition records, price lists, and sales records.
Printed material includes clippings and exhibition announcements documenting his career as well as published versions of his etchings. Photographs and slides are of Hobbs, family and friends, trips abroad, and his properties in New Orleans and Mandeville, Louisiana. Artwork includes architectural renderings, sketches of Chicago, France, and New Orleans, and an annotated scrapbook containing original etchings. Four sketchbooks include figure drawings and landscapes in pencil and ink.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated in 2014 by Reed Isbell-Hobbs, widow of Morris Henry Hobbs' son William Hobbs.
Processing Information
The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Erin Kinhart in 2016.
