The
The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and
Printed Ephemera
Henry Francis du
Pont Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, DE
19735
302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883
Creator: Brown,
Edith Blake (1869-1907)
Title: Papers
Dates: 1877-1907,
1897-1899 (bulk dates)
Call No.:
Acc. No.: 95x84
Quantity: 1
box
Location: 34
L 1
BIOGRAPHICAL
STATEMENT
Edith Blake Brown (1869-1907) was an
interior decorator and designer. She was
the daughters of Emma Isadore Clapp and Edward Payson Brown, a lawyer in
In 1899, Edith married John Lincoln
Wilkie, a New York City lawyer. They had
two sons John L., Jr. (born in 1904) and Neil Wilkie. Edith died in 1907, a month after the birth
of her second child. Husband John Wilkie
was a partner in the firm Gould and Wilkie, chairman of the board of the
Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corp., and was interested in the history of the
SCOPE
AND CONTENT
This collection
of approximately 230 items documents part of Brown’s career. Of primary interest are the items of
correspondence concerning the renovation in 1897 of a townhouse located at
Nearly 100 items
in the collection document Brown’s contact with the architects and
subcontractors concerning the refurbishing of the Paget residence. Most notable are the letters from the firm of
Schultze, Dowling, &
Besides the
items documenting the house renovations, this collection contains letters from
the editor of The House Beautiful
concerning an article by Brown published in the July 1898 issue of this
journal, miscellaneous bills and receipts, original drawings of bookplates, two
photographs of Brown, and a sketchbook begun in 1887 containing original works
by Brown and her sister, Ethel Isadore Brown.
ORGANIZATION
The papers are arranged in accession number order.
PROVENANCE
Purchased from Judith Webb of Antique
Associates.
LANGUAGE
OF MATERIALS
The materials are mostly in English, with
a very few in French.
RESTRICTIONS
ON ACCESS
Collection is open to the public. Copyright restrictions may apply.
ACCESS
POINTS
People:
Paget,
Almeric H. (Almeric Hugh).
Paget,
Pauline Whitney.
Hagen,
Ernest F.
White,
Stanford, 1853-1906.
Brown,
Ethel Isadore.
Topics:
A.H.Davenport
Co.
McKim, Mead
& White.
Schultze, Dowling, &
Architecture, Domestic.
Interior decoration.
Bookplates.
Watercolor painting, American.
Commercial correspondence.
Business records -
Drapery in interior decoration.
Artists.
Artists and architects.
Artists' bookplates.
Upholstery.
Drawing - Specimens.
Paperhanging.
Dwellings - Remodeling.
Decoration and ornament,
Architectural.
Tapestry.
Wall coverings.
Furniture.
Receipts.
Invoices.
DETAILED
DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION
Location:
34 L 1
Folder 1: (acc.
95x84.1-.25)
Contains 25
items of correspondence, primarily with the architectural firm of McKim, Mead
& White, concerning the renovation in 1897 of a house at
Folder 2: (acc.
95x84.26-.61)
Contains 32
items of correspondence with Shultze, Dowling, and
Folder 3: (acc.
95x84.62-.102)
Miscellaneous
correspondence, 1897 (approximately 45 items) with the following suppliers and
contractors: A.H. Davenport (furniture);
Arnold, Constable, & Co. (curtains); Black & Boyd Manufacturing Co. (electric
light fixtures); Boston Society of Decorative Art (unclear what ordered); Bureau
of Fire Alarms, Telegraph, and Electrical Appliances (certificate approving
installation of electrical equipment); John M. Crapo (china); Ernest F. Hagen (includes
sketch of bedstead and fabric sample); Frank Bowles (furniture); Georges A.
Glaenzer & Co. (door knockers, lanterns, etc.); J. Bensusan (furniture);
J.B. Millet Co. (request that she try to sell some artistic curios from Japan
for him); Joseph P. McHugh and Co. (wallpaper); Persian Rug Manufactory
(Oriental and Axminister style rugs and carpets); Richard Briggs Company (china
and glass); W. & J. Sloane (carpets); Wm. Baumgarten & Co. (textiles;
furniture repairs, new furniture, painting)
Folder 4: (acc.
95x84.103-.125)
Contains 23
items of correspondence pertaining to Brown’s drawings, publications (including
correspondence with publisher of The
House Beautiful), shipping of artwork, personal expenses, and two bills of
sale written on paper with an Oriental design.
Some of the documents refer to items being worked on by both Edith Blake
and Ethel Isadore Brown. Also included
are three examples of bookplates drawn by Brown, dated 1912.
Folder 5: (acc. 95x84.126)
A photocopy of
her article entitled “Beauty in the Home,” which appeared in The House Beautiful in July 1898.
Folder 6: (acc. 95x84.127-.211)
This folder
contains 81 bills and receipts, dated 1896-1898, for milk, chairs, electricity,
books and periodicals, furniture repairs, art supplies, photography work, coal,
laundry, clothing, groceries, stationery supplies, drapery material and upholstery.
Almost all the bills are from stores in
Folder 7: (acc.
95x84.212-.227)
16 items,
including two photos of an unidentified woman and a letter in French, are
located in this folder. Most items are
calling cards, including on for Ethel Isadore Brown. One of the photos was taken in
Folder 8: (acc.
95x84.228.1)
This folder
contains one scrapbook of drawings by Edith Blake Brown and her sister, Ethel
Isadora Brown, dated 1887. The 36 leaves
(plus inserts, which are in Folders 9 and 10) of the scrapbook contain pencil
drawings, watercolors, crayon, colored pencil, and pen and ink sketches used
for pen wipers, greeting cards, calendars, playbills, periodical covers,
bookplates, stained glass window designs (one set marked as being for First
Presbyterian Church, Mount Auburn, Cincinnati), and possibly trade cards. Themes depicted include fantasy characters
such as gnomes, elves, nymphs, etc. and religious motifs. Some of the drawings are initialed EBB or
EIB.
Folder 9: (acc.
95x84.228.2-.6)
Loose items from the scrapbook in Folder 8, including a 1907
calendar for
Folder 10: (acc.
95x84.228.7-.20)
Loose items from
the scrapbook in Folder 8, including calendar illustrations and a copy of the October
1891 issue of Life and Light for Woman
(a publication of the Woman’s Boards of Missions). One of the Miss Browns drew the illustrations
for the front cover and the first page for this publication.