Overview
Collection Information
Size: 1 Microfilm reel, 1 volume on 1 partial microfilm reel
Summary: The microfilmed Thomas Ball guestbook/scrapbook includes signatures, poems, sketches, musical notations of European and American artists, writers, poets, musicians, and other dignitaries who visited Thomas Ball's studio or villa in Florence, Italy, Montclair, New Jersey, New York City, and Boston from 1874 to 1932. Among the many prominent signers are Ralph Waldo Emerson, Richard Wagner, Henry Longfellow, Franz Liszt, Christina Rossetti. An introduction by the lender, Ball's great great granddaughter, states that some insertions from earlier correspondence and later insertions from musicians visiting the family in Santa Barbara were added to the book.
Biographical/Historical Note
Thomas Ball (1819-1911) was a sculptor, miniaturist, portrait painter, and musician in Boston, Massachusetts, Florence, Italy, and Montclair, New Jersey. His most well-known work is a statue of George Washington in the Boston Public Garden. Ball maintained a studio in Boston until he moved to Italy in 1854, where he studied sculpture. He made frequent visits to the United States, but remained an expatriate until 1897, when he moved to Montclair, New Jersey.
Provenance
Lent for microfilming 1988 by Greta Couper, Thomas Ball's great great grandaughter.
Related Materials
The Archives of American Art also holds the microfilmed Thomas Ball letter to Stilson Hutchins, 1888 March 30. The Massachusetts Historical Society holds the Thomas Ball letters, 1869-1882.
Language Note
English .
Location of Originals
- Original returned to the lender, Greta Couper, after microfilming.
