Collection Information

Size: 1 v. (on 1 partial microfilm reel)

Summary: A guestbook/scrapbook with signatures, poems, sketches, musical notations of European and American artists, writers, poets, musicians, and other dignataries who visited Thomas Ball's studio or villa in Florence, Italy, Montclair, New Jersey, New York City and Boston from 1874-1932. Among the many prominent signers are Ralph Waldo Emerson, Richard Wagner, Henry Longfellow, Franz Liszt, Christina Rossetti. An introduction by the lender states that some insertions from earlier correspondence were added to the book; also later insertions from musicians visiting the family in Santa Barbara were added.

Biographical/Historical Note

Sculptor, miniature and portrait painter, musician; Boston, Mass., Florence, Italy, and Montclair, New Jersey.

Provenance

Lent for microfilming 1988 by Greta Couper, Thomas Ball's great great grandaughter.

Location of Originals

• Original returned to the lender, Greta Couper, after microfilming.

Alternative Forms Available

Microfilm reel 4039 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.

Restrictions on Access

The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.

How to Cite This Collection

Thomas Ball guestbook, 1874-1932. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.