Guide to the John M. Crawford, Jr. Papers , 1940-1978

(bulk 1950-1970)

John Hay Library , Special Collections
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: 401-863-2146
email: hay@brown.edu

Published in 2013

Collection Overview

Title:	John M. Crawford, Jr. papers
Date range:	1940-1978, (bulk 1950-1970)
Creator:	Crawford, John M
Extent:	9.5 linear feet
Abstract:	The collection is comprised of manuscripts, correspondence, photographs, clippings relating to the history of writing, the art of calligraphy, Asian Art, and other lifelong interests of Mr. Crawford. Also included are ten calligraphy notebooks.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library , Special Collections
Collection number:	Ms.2011.014

Scope & content

The collection is comprised of manuscripts, correspondence, photographs, clippings, printed materials relating to the history of writing, the art of calligraphy, Asian Art, and related lifelong interests of Mr. Crawford. Also included are ten calligraphy notebooks and media (slides, cassettes)

Series I, Personal papers, comprises a range of records created and collected by Crawford. Chiefly related to Crawford's interest in Asian art, the personal papers series includes the following materials: Correspondence: arranged chronologically; majority of the series includes incoming and outgoing letters to business associates from 1949 to 1992. Main subjects are art collecting, sales, exhibitions. Also included are several letters to and from Mr. Crawford’s friends. Art institutions and organizations: chiefly business and financial records and reports relating to the activities of Friends of Asia House Gallery, Asia Society Group, Friends of Columbia Library, Grolier Club, and China Institute in America. Art galleries and museums: promotional materials (booklets, flyers) relating to upcoming events and exhibitions at various institutions with the majority of materials covering events at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Nelson Gallery in Kansas City, Missouri. Articles: clipped journal articles on the subject of art, with emphasis on Chinese art. Periodicals and publications: separate issues of New York Times and other newspapers and journals from the 1950s. Symposium papers: papers presented or intended for presentation at symposiums on Asian art. The majority of the papers were presented at the Symposium on Chinese Calligraphy at Yale University in April 1977. Speeches and addresses: presentations by Norman H. Strouse on subject of art and libraries, 1967-1968. Brown University: the materials in this series cover the presentation of the Degree of Doctor of Letters to Mr. Crawford during the 1964 Commencement Exercises at Brown University. This event is captured in correspondence to and from Mr. Crawford as well as in photographs and newspaper clippings. Other materials related to Brown University include brochures, flyers, publications from 1964 to1968. Indiana University: correspondence and photographs from the Dedication of the Lilly Library on October 3, 1960. Also included are periodicals, brochures, flyers highlighting this event in the history of the University. Syracuse University: publications, periodicals, brochures, flyers, photographs related to Syracuse University’s award of the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters to Mr. Crawford on May 8, 1967. Also included is correspondence to Mr. Crawford regarding his monetary support of the University Library from the Chancellor and Director of the Library. The correspondence is dated 1966-1969. Book and art appraisals: notes and price lists for various art sales. Clippings: materials on book and art collecting, sales, exhibitions. Graphic and audio materials: extensive collection of photographs documenting exhibitions, presentations, various art events, and family. Numerous travel and art postcards document destinations in Europe and Asia, various museums, and art. Four sets of slides primarily personal in nature. One 16mm silent film containing views of the 1950 eruption of Mauna Loa, Hawaii. Three audiocassettes labeled Fr. Monihan, Richard Edwards, Ellen Laing, and Cyril Birch. One long-playing record printed "to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the John M. Crawford Music House at the Asheville School, Asheville, North Carolina, 1962" (box 5). A number of oversize and framed photographs are housed according to size (boxes 3-5). Ephemera and realia: contains honorary degrees and commendations from Syracuse University (1967-1969), handmade paper, a bas-relief portrait presented to Crawford by Herman Kapp; a poster for an exhibition of Crawford's collection at RISD (box 5). Personal documents: include diaries, calendars, travel itineraries, bills, communication cables, and a published genealogy of the Crawford family (boxes 1 and 7). Parkersburg Rig and Reel Company: contains promotional material and documentation as well as investment brochures (box 2).

Series II, Scrapbooks, includes five oversized scrapbooks with materials related to social and cultural pursuits, politics, Crawford's education. In addition, the series includes a baby book for John M. Crawford with materials dating from his birth in 1913 to his confirmation in 1926 (boxes 4 and 8).

Series III, Calligraphy notebooks consist of the following titles: Revelations of Divine Love / Julian of Norwich ; calligraphy by Margaret Alexander, 1956 The Ode of Change / Lewis Morris; calligraphy Edith C. Goodwin, Birmingham, 1920. The Flour and the Leef / Walter Skeat; calligraphy Graily Hewitt, London, 1916; binding Charles McLeish, 1916 The Eve of Saint Mark / John Keats; calligraphy Graily Hewitt, 1924; binding McLeish. Anakreontos (Anacreon) / calligraphy Graily Hewitt (in Greek). Sonnets / William Shakespeare; calligraphy D.J., 1969. Penmanship copybook / Edward Johnston; calligraphy Edward Johnston. The Song of Songs (Bible) / calligraphy Violet Wilson, Wimbledon, Surrey, 1957; binding Sangorski and Sutcliffe, London. Rubaiyat / Omar Khayyam (Persian). The First Writing Book / Ludovico Arrighi; an English translation and facsimile with introduction and notes by John Howard Benson, 1954. Penmanship copybook, 1908 / Edward Johnston. Original manuscript mock-up that was never published. Includes also the album of correspondence between Johnston and Graily Hewitt concerning the work.

Series IV, Additions, includes three subseries with materials added to the collection after the original donation. Supplement 1, is comprised of items removed from printed volumes, including correspondence (1968-1977) to and from friends, photographs, programs, menus, invitations, newspaper clippings (box 3). Supplement 2 contains materials accessioned at a later date: correspondence (1968-1977), printed material, photographs taken at the exhibitions and art presentations, personal documents. Also included are galley proofs of Mr. Crawford's Catalogue of the Chinese Art (box 6). Supplement 3 contains correspondence, itineraries, copies of Crawford's will, offprints, and printed ephmera.

Access Points

Subject Names

• Crawford, John M.

Subject Topics

• Art, Chinese--Collectors and collecting
• Calligraphy
• Copybooks
• Graphic arts--Exhibitions

Document Types

• Articles
• Letters (Correspondence)
• Newspaper clippings
• Photographs

Subject Topics

• Education

Arrangement

The collection is organized in four series:

• I. Personal papers, 1949-1992
• II. Scrapbooks, circa 1910-1937
• III. Calligraphy notebooks, 1916-1969
• IV. Additions, 1940-1978

Biographical/Historical note

John M. Crawford Jr., a prominent collector of Oriental art and a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia. He was the son of a manufacturer of oil-drilling equipment. Mr. Crawford graduated from Brown University in 1937. In 1941, Mr. Crawford went into publishing in Manhattan and began collecting books. He began collecting art in 1946. In 1962, when the Morgan Library exhibited his collection, Mr. Crawford noted that he was then the only such collector of calligraphy.

Mr. Crawford also collected fine books, including medieval manuscripts and bindings done by William Morris, the leader of the English crafts movement of the 19th century. In 1975, Mr. Crawford gave his Morris collection to the Morgan Library.

In 1981, Mr. Crawford gave 60 works, then estimated to be worth $18 million, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which considerably enhanced the quality of the museum's collection. Among the significant works were paintings from the Sung Dynasty, one of the highest periods of Chinese landscapes and flower paintings. In addition, he promised the museum the remainder of his collection, more than 200 works.

Scholars and art critics have described Mr. Crawford's collection as the largest and finest private assemblage of Chinese painting and calligraphy in the West. It has been compared with the collection formed by Charles Freer, which constitutes the Freer Gallery in Washington. Works from Mr. Crawford's collection have been exhibited in many museums, including the J. Pierpont Morgan Library and the Fogg Museum in Cambridge.

His legacy continues at Brown today through his bequest and the John M. Crawford, Jr. Book Fund. His generosity has helped to build collections of books and teaching materials that form the core of undergraduate study and graduate student training in the arts of East Asia at Brown. Among the Crawford Fund acquisitions, superb facsimiles of important Chinese paintings—like Zhao Mengfu’s revolutionary Autumn Colors, dated 1296 and 10 calligraphy notebooks.

Mr. Crawford was a former member of the board of trustees of Brown University, from which he had an honorary doctorate, and an associate of John Howard Benson, some of whose works he commissioned.

Mr. Crawford died of cardiac arrest on Wednesday, December 24, 1988 at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan. He was 75 years old.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Use of the materials:	Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	John M. Crawford, Jr. Papers, Ms.2011.0014, Brown University
Contact information:	John Hay Library , Special Collections Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Tel: 401-863-2146 email: hay@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	The collection was given to Brown University as a gift by Mr. Crawford's estate.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Brown University Library staff.
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2013 January 25
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)
Sponsor:	Processing funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Additional Information

Related material:

Related materials can be found in Manuscripts, letters, and ephemera removed from printed volumes bequested by John M. Crawford, Jr., Ms. 93.11., Brown University Library.

Inventory

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