Series I: Writings (Chronological)
- Scope and content:
-
The first grouping of manuscripts includes prepublication manuscripts, drafts of articles, lectures, reviews, and some fugitive fragments. The series is arranged in loose chronological order, with each subseries representing a decade of Wright's career. Many of the manuscripts in this series are short in length (1 to 10 pages). The original filing system for the manuscripts was prepared by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and has been maintained for this finding aid. In this filing system, each manuscript was given an identification number, for example, "2401.017."
According to Nicholas Olsberg in his 1988 essay "A Guide to the Archives of The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation":
"Wright developed full-length manuscripts by assembling shorter pieces. He persistently modified essays and statements prepared in one context for use in another, and he re-edited after publication, often on the manuscript or by adding a new version to the file. Each piece of writing was also treated in development to extensive and repeated stylistic revisions or to less frequent but significant re-working. In addition some major manuscripts were developed as statements about projects or exhibitions, and may be closely related to project records. The status of each manuscript piece--its position in the development of another and its relationship to a published version--is therefore difficult to ascertain."
As such, related manuscripts can have multiple dates spanning several decades. Some related manuscripts have been filed together, while others are filed separately. For example, all associated drafts for the "Introduction to German Monograph of 1910" were arranged together (by the FLW Foundation) and assigned the manuscript number 2401.017. The "2401.017" file is now located in Subseries 2: 1910s, but also includes drafts completed in the 1950s. Alternatively, drafts for Wright's manuscript "To The Young Man In Architecture" are filed separately as both 2401.081 (dated 1930, and found in Subseries 4: 1930s) and 2401.299 (1950, and found in Subseries 6: 1950s). If a manuscript has been identified as being of interest, users are encouraged to search the title across the collection for other instances of its appearance (search using Ctrl+F).
--DESCRIPTION STYLE GUIDE--
[Manuscript Title]. [Inclusive Date] *in bold
[Draft Version]: [Draft Title], [Date]. [Form] : [Description] ; [Pagination]
Contents
Access and use
- Parent restrictions:
- This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
- Parent terms of access:
- In addition to permission from Columbia University, permission of the copyright owner (if not Columbia University) and/or any holder of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) may also be required for reproduction, publication, distributions, and other uses. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of any item and securing any necessary permissions rests with the persons desiring to publish the item. Columbia University makes no warranties as to the accuracy of the materials or their fitness for a particular purpose.
- Location of this collection:
- Before you visit:
- Researchers are encouraged to request materials at least one month in advance. You will receive an email from the department within 2-3 business days confirming your request and currently available appointment times. Requests are limited to 8 boxes per day (or equivalent), with a maximum of 5 boxes for off-site materials, 5 folders of drawings, or 5 rolls or tube boxes.
- Contact:
- avery-drawings@columbia.edu