Thomas Cole papers, 1821-1863

Collection Information

Size: 7 Microfilm reels

Summary: Notebooks; sketchbooks; drawings; letters; manuscript poems; catalogs; paintbrushes.

REEL D40: ca. 575 drawings.

REEL D6: Letters, manuscript poems, catalogs and a sketchbook dated March 10, 1832.

REEL D39: 2 v. of notebooks; 1825, and 18 v. of sketchbooks, 1827-1847. Cole sketches mainly in New York State, The White Mountains, England, Italy, and Catskill, N.Y.

REELS ALC 1- ALC 4: Correspondence with Cole, including letters from friends, family, artists, and others; journals; notes; essays; lectures; poetry; clippings; and financial records.

Correspondents include: William Althorpe Adams, Samuel James Ainsley, Francis Alexander, Theodore Allen, Washington Allston, Thomas B. Ashton, Edwin T. Bennet, Simeon D. Bloodgood, William C. Bryant, Edward L. Carey, Cephas G. Childs, Lewis G. Clark, Thomas S. Cummings, Franklin Dexter, William Dunlap, Asher B. Durand, Robert Gilmor, George W. Greene, Charles C. Ingham, Charles R. Leslie, Jonathan Mason, Samuel F. B. Morse, John L. Morton, Henry C. Pratt, Luman Reed, John P. Ridner, Jonathan Sturges, Ithiel Town, Isaiah Townsend, Charles B. Trego, William P. Van Rensselaer, Cornelius Ver Bryck, Daniel Wadsworth, Samuel Ward, Robert W. Weir, Ambrose Wright, and others.

Biographical/Historical Note

Painter; Catskill, N.Y. Cole lived most of his life in New York City even though he studied abroad. He was elected member of National Academy in 1826.

Provenance

Material on reels D6, D39, D40 lent for microfilming 1961 by the Detroit Institute of Art. Material on reels ALC 1-ALC 4 lent for microfilming 1964 by the New York State Library. Paintbrushes were discovered 1964 by S.J. Fishburne, Albany Institute restorer, in basement of Cole's house. He turned them over to the Institute's director, Janet MacFarlane, who donated them to AAA, 1965.

Language Note

English .

Location of Originals

• Reels ALC 1-ALC 4: Originals in New York State Library, Albany, New York.
• Reels D6, D39, D40: Originals in Detroit Institute of Art.