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Edward A. Wilson Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Wilson, Edward A. (Edward Arthur), 1886-1970.
Title: Edward A. Wilson Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1915-1963
Quantity: 2.5 linear ft.
Abstract: Spanning 1915 to 1963, the Edward A. Wilson Papers comprises biographical material, correspondence, artwork, writings, and memorabilia of the Scottish-born illustrator, lithographer, and painter (1886-1970). The collection illuminates Wilson's artistic career, which ranged from book and magazine illustration to the design of advertisements, bookplates, magazine covers, postage stamps, and war posters.
Language: English
Repository: Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries
222 Waverly Avenue
Syracuse, NY 13244-2010
https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center

Biographical History

Edward Arthur Wilson (1886-1970) was a Scottish-born illustrator, lithographer, and painter.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

Spanning 1915 to 1963, the Edward A. Wilson Papers comprises biographical material, correspondence, artwork, writings, and memorabilia. The collection illuminates Wilson's artistic career, which ranged from book and magazine illustration to the design of advertisements, bookplates, magazine covers, postage stamps, and war posters.

Correspondence-subject files consists primarily of incoming letters, as well as other documents relating to artwork. Among the correspondents are fellow artists (Charles Dexter Allen, C. B. Falls, Fred Freeman, Charles Dana Gibson, Marston Dean Hodgin, Joseph Pennell, Ray Prohaska, William Arthur Smith, Harve Stein); authors (David Bland, Theodore Bolton, Eugene Burdick, Earnest Elmo Calkins, Ashley Havinden, William A. Kittredge, George L. Moses, Harlan Ware); collector Wilbur Macey Stone; designers (Edwin Eberman, Bruce Rogers); editor Frank Shay; and publishers (Bennett Cerf, Storer B. Lunt, George Macy). Organizational correspondence includes art associations (American Institute of Graphic Arts, Boston Printmakers, Guild of Free Lance Artists, Print Club); art galleries and museums (Bezalel National Museum, San Joaquin Pioneer Museum and Haggin Art Galleries); clients (American Artists Group, Dutch Treat Year Book, Cadillac Motor Car Company, Cargoes, Forum, Life, John Morell & Co., Peck & Peck, Reader's Digest, Salmagundi Club); an educational institution (Rhode Island School of Design); and publishing houses (R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company, Doubleday, Doran and Company, Doubleday, Page & Co., Grosset & Dunlap, Houghton Mifflin Company, Rand McNally & Company, Random House, John C. Winston Company).

Artwork encompasses advertisements, book illustration, bookplates (5), magazine cover design and illustration, postage stamp design (2), and war poster art (4), as well as miscellaneous reproductions and one original woodcut. Advertisements are arranged by client name while book and magazine illustration and design work are organized under title. Postage stamps, war poster art, and miscellaneous reproductions are arranged chronologically. Articles and Speeches, both typescript and printed, constitute Writings.

Memorabilia includes photographs and printed material. Images of Wilson in his studio and with ship models as well as prints of two Wilson portraits by Jerry Farnsworth and William Oberhardt constitute Photographs. Printed material comprises articles and reviews (1922-1958), newspaper clippings (1915-1963), exhibition catalogs and invitations (1930-1954), one exhibition poster, and book publicity (1924-1942).

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Arrangement of the Collection

Correspondence-subject files are arranged alphabetically. Artwork, writings and memorabilia are arranged alphabetically by type.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Allen, Charles Dexter, 1865-1926.
Bennett, Paul A., 1897-1966.
Bland, David (David Farrant)
Bolton, Theodore, 1889-1973.
Burdick, Eugene.
Calkins, Earnest Elmo, 1868-1964.
Cerf, Bennett, 1898-1971.
Eberman, Edwin.
Falls, C. B. (Charles Buckles), 1874-1960.
Freeman, Fred, 1906-1988.
Gibson, Charles Dana, 1867-1944.
Havinden, Ashley.
Heintzelman, Arthur William, 1891-1965.
Kittredge, William.
Macy, George.
Maule, Harry E. (Harry Edward), 1886-
Moses, George L.
Pennell, Joseph, 1857-1926.
Prohaska, Ray.
Rogers, Bruce, 1870-1957.
Rowland, Earl.
Shay, Frank, 1888-1954.
Stein, HarveĢ, 1904-1996.
Stone, Wilbur Macey.
Ware, Harlan.
Whitehill, Walter Muir, 1905-1978.
Wilson, Edward A. (Edward Arthur), 1886-1970.

Subjects

Art, American -- 20th century.
Art, American.
Commercial art.
Commercial artists -- United States.
Illustration of books -- United States -- 20th century.
Illustrators -- United States.
Lithographers -- United States.
Magazine covers.
Magazine illustration -- 20th century.
Marine art, American.
Marine artists -- United States.
Painters -- United States.
Printmakers -- United States.
Scottish Americans.

Genres and Forms

Advertisements.
Articles.
Book illustrations.
Bookplates.
Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence.
Exhibition catalogs.
Photographs.
Speeches (documents)

Occupations

Artists.
Illustrators.
Lithographers.
Painters.
Printmakers.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Edward A. Wilson Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Finding Aid Information

Created by: ASE
Date: Dec 1993
Revision history: 6 Dec 2007 - converted to EAD (MRC); 7 Nov 2011 - updated bio (MRC); 16 Jul 2012 - LCNAF updates (MRC)

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Inventory

Biographical material
Box 1 Miscellaneous
Correspondence-subject files
Box 1 Allen, Charles Dexter 1925
Box 1 American Artists Group Inc. (New York, N.Y.) 1936-1940
Box 1 American Institute of Graphic Arts (New York, N.Y.) 1939
Box 1 Bennett, Paul A. 1955
Box 1 Bezalel National Museum (Jerusalem, Israel) 1954
Box 1 Bland, David 1958
Bolton, Theodore
See Century Association
Box 1 Boston Printmakers 1954
Box 1 Boston Public Library 1951-1954
Box 1 Burdick, Eugene 1953
Box 1 Cadillac Motor Car Company (Detroit, Mich.) 1932-1933
Box 1 Calkins, Earnest Elmo 1925, 1955, 1962
Box 1 Cargoes (Summit, N.J.) 1931
Box 1 Century Association (New York, N.Y.) 1956
Cerf, Bennett
See Random House, Inc.
Box 1 R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company (Chicago, Ill.) 1930-1932
Box 1 Doubleday, Doran and Company (Garden City, N.Y.) 1928-1938
Box 1 Doubleday, Page & Co. (Garden City, N.Y.) 1925, 1927
Box 1 Dutch Treat Year Book 1937
Box 1 Eberman, Edwin 1953, 1954
Falls, C. B.
See Guild of Free Lance Artists
Box 1 Forum (New York, N.Y.) 1929
Box 1 Franklin Bookshop (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1939
Box 1 Freeman, Fred 1955
Box 1 Gibson, Charles Dana 1919
Box 1 Grosset & Dunlap Inc. (New York, N.Y.) 1950-1953
Box 1 Guild of Free Lance Artists (New York, N.Y.) 1921
Box 1 Havinden, Ashley 1951
Heintzelman, Arthur William
See Boston Public Library
Heritage Press (New York, N.Y.)
See Macy, George
Box 1 Hodgin, Marston Dean 1959
Box 1 Houghton Mifflin Company (New York, N.Y.) 1958
Box 1 Ketterlinus Lithographic Manufacturing Co. (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1937
Kittredge, William A.
See R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company
Box 1 Kleppner Company (New York, N.Y.) 1953
Box 1 Life (New York, N.Y.) 1955, undated
Limited Editions Club (New York, N.Y.)
See Macy, George
Box 1 Lunt, Storer B. 1955
Box 1 Macy, George 1929-1959
George Macy Companies, Inc. (New York, N.Y.)
See Macy, George
Macy, Helen
See Macy, George
Maule, Harry E.
See Doubleday, Doran and Company
Box 1 John Morrell & Co. (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1937
Box 1 Moses, George L. 1963
Box 1 New York Public Library 1936
Box 1 Peck & Peck (New York, N.Y.) 1932
Box 1 Pennell, Joseph 1922
Pictorial Review (New York, N.Y.)
See Macy, George
Box 1 Print Club (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1936
Box 1 Prohaska, Ray 1954
Box 1 Rand McNally & Company (Chicago, Ill.) 1954, 1956
Box 1 Random House, Inc. 1951
Box 1 Reader's Digest 1953-1961, undated
Box 1 Rhode Island School of Design 1953-1954, undated
Box 1 Rogers, Bruce 1927, 1954-1957
Rowland, Earl
See San Joaquin Pioneer Museum and Haggin Art Galleries
Box 1 Salmagundi Club (New York, N.Y.) 1952
Box 1 San Joaquin Pioneer Museum and Haggin Art Galleries (Stockton, Calif.) 1959
Box 1 Shay, Frank 1937
Box 1 Smith, William Arthur 1955
Box 1 Stein, Harve 1955
See also Rhode Island School of Design
Box 1 Stone, Wilbur Macey 1925
Box 1 Ware, Harlan 1935
Box 1 Whitehill, Walter Muir 1951
Box 1 John C. Winston Company (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1955
Box 1 A-Z
Box 1 Unidentified
Artwork
Oversize 1 Advertisements, A-Z by company - includes 4 original signed lithographs
Book illustration
Box 2 Deep Sea Chanties - reproductions
Box 2 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - worksheets, proofs (2 folders)
Box 2 Full and By - reproductions
Box 2 Green Mansions - original drawings, proofs (2 folders)
Box 3 Iron Men and Wooden Ships - reproductions
Box 3 Ivanhoe - worksheets, proofs (2 folders)
Box 3 Longfellow - proofs
Box 3 The Mysterious Island - proofs
Box 3 Ranging the Maine Coast - original signed lithograph -"Maine Lobsterman"
Box 3 The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor - proofs
Box 3 Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea - sketches, worksheets (2 folders)
Box 3 Westward Ho! - worksheets, proofs (2 folders)
Box 3 Bookplates. A-Z (by name of person or organization) (5 items)
Box 3 Magazine cover design and illustration, A-Z (by title of magazine)
Box 3 Postage stamp design undated (2 items)
Box 3 War poster art 1943, 1944, undated (4 items)
Box 3 Miscellaneous
Box 3 Other reproductions 1925, 1926, undated
Box 3 Woodcut (original) undated
Writings
Box 3 Articles, speeches 1957, 1963, undated
Memorabilia
Photographs
Box 4 Portraits of Wilson, drawn by William Oberhardt, painted by Jerry Farnsworth undated (2 items)
Box 4 Wilson, Edward A. undated
Printed material
Box 4 Articles, reviews 1922-1958, undated (2 folders)
Box 4 Clippings 1915-1963, undated
Box 4 Exhibition catalogs 1930-1954, undated
Box 4 Exhibition invitations, receipts 1954, undated
Box 4 Exhibition poster undated
Box 4 Publicity (book) 1924-1942, undated

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