Contents and Arrangement Expanded View

Collection Overview

Creator:
La Farge, C. Grant (Christopher Grant), 1862-1938
Collector:
Princeton University. Library. Special Collections
Title:
American Architectural Drawings
Repository:
Manuscripts Division
Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/z316q166f
Dates:
1880-1988 (mostly 1900-1930)
Size:
115 boxes
Storage Note:
This is stored in multiple locations. ReCAP (rcpxm): Boxes 1-37; 39-101; 104-105; 1A; 2A; 3A; 23A; 34A; 58A; 86A; 86B; 86C; 86D; 86E Firestone Library (hsvm): Box 102-103
Language:
English

Abstract

Consists of approximately 5000 early 20th-century American architectural drawings (blueprint and trace drawings), primarily by C. Grant La Farge and various firms with which he was associated, including Heins & La Farge, La Farge, Clark & Creighton, La Farge, Warren & Clark, La Farge & Morris, and La Farge & Son. There are also groups of drawings by the architects Wilson Eyre, Pennington Satterthwaite (Princeton Class of 1893), Robert Gibson, and a few miscellaneous firms.

Collection Description & Creator Information

Description:

The collection consists of approximately 5000 early 20th-century American architectural drawings (blueprint and trace drawings), primarily by C. Grant La Farge and various firms with which he was associated, including Heins & La Farge, La Farge, Clark & Creighton, La Farge, Warren & Clark, La Farge & Morris, and La Farge & Son. There are also groups of drawings by the architects Wilson Eyre, Pennington Satterthwaite (Princeton Class of 1893), Robert Gibson, and a few miscellaneous firms.

La Farge's drawings (1896-1931) represent churches, homes, instituions, boathouses, and mausoleums, including plans for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (New York City), St. Matthews Cathedral (Washington, D.C.), the U.S. Naval Hospital (Brooklyn), Caspar Whitney's home in Irvington, N.Y., and J. P. Morgan, Jr.'s home in Matinecock Point, N.Y. For Wilson Eyre, a noted Philadelphia architect, there are drawings (1903-1932) for Walter Jefford's house in Conn., and various other buildings. Satterthwaite's works (1901-1927) include architectural plans for the Princeton Club (New York City), the Nassau Club (Princeton), the boathouse at Princeton University, and A. C. Hencken's home in Greenwich, Conn. Also present are drawings and prints used by Robert W. Gibson in the competition for the plans of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in N.Y., and miscellaneous drawings by Carrere & Hastings, D. H. Faia, Robert Walters, C. P. Gilbert, and others.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized in boxes: related rolls are housed together.

Collection Creator Biography:

Christopher Grant La Farge was the eldest son of the artist John LaFarge, famous especially for his stained glass panels. La Farge and George Lewis Heins met at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and trained together in the Boston offices of Henry Hobson Richardson. In 1886 they opened their office, Heins & La Farge. Heins was the man on the site; LaFarge was the principal designer. Their firm is probably best known for its plans for original sections of the Cathedral St. John the Divine in New York City. LaFarge, a fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) often served on advisory committees for the schools of architecture at Columbia University, M.I.T. and Princeton University, and also as trustee and secretary for the American Academy in Rome.

Collection History

Acquisition:

No AM given.

Custodial History:

The collection was originally formed by Mrs. Carl F. Gould as a foundation for the Archives of American Architecture which was begun in 1942 at Princeton University Library. No further additions seem to have been made since then.

Archival Appraisal Information:

No appraisal information is available.

Processing Information:

Folder inventory added by Nicholas Williams '2015 in 2012.

Access & Use

Access Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Conditions for Reproduction and Use:

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. Inquiries regarding publishing material from the collection should be directed to RBSC Public Services staff through the Ask Us! form. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.

Credit this material:

American Architectural Drawings; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/z316q166f
Location:
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-3184
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