John Quincy Adams Ward papers, 1857-1915 | WorldCat.org (original) (raw)

Summary:Papers, 1857-1915. The collection contains correspondence related to Ward's work as a sculptor, some contracts with groups who commissioned statues from him, invoices from photographers, bronze casters, etc., and miscellaneous printed ephemera. The correspondence includes letters from sculptors, architects, public officials, craftsmen, individuals interested in ordering exhibitions or monuments, including two widows commissioning busts of their late husbands, members of art and sculpture societies, and some friends, although all of the correspondence is work-related. Correspondents include Herbert Adams, Thomas Gold Appleton, Karl Bitter, Gutzon Borglum, Daniel Chester French, Robert Underwood Johnson, Thomas Addison Richards, Edward Clark Potter, Alexander E. Orr, R.S. Chilton, National Sculpture Society, New York City Department of Parks, National Academy of Design, Paul Dana, F. Wellington Ruckstull, National Arts Club, Charles N. Thomas, and C.A. Heber. The letters deal with his activities in connection with statues in New York City, particularly the Brooklyn Soldiers and Sailors monument; statuary in the Library of Congress; the St. Louis Exposition; the World's Columbian Exposition; the Henry Ward Beecher statue in Brooklyn - these papers include two small sketches of the statue, Beecher's measurements, and a telegram announcing his death and asking for instructions about taking a death mask; the South Carolina Interstate and West Indian Exposition; the Washington statue for Newburyport (Mass.); and other professional activities. There are also letters from Robert Cushing, written from Carrara and other places in Italy in 1869, describing his experiences supervising the execution into marble of one of Ward's large groups, then being done by Tommaso Gagliardi of Carrara. Printed ephemera mostly relates to artistic organizations, but includes a 1909 price list for carriages and passenger wagons issued by Studebaker Bros. A few letters to Ward's widow discuss biographical data and acknowledge gifts of his sculptures