Summary Information
Abstract
Robert Branner, professor of Art History at Columbia University, was a scholar of French Gothic architecture, sculpture and illuminated manuscripts. Branner’s papers include material related to the art history courses he taught, and to the scholarly research he conducted regarding 13th and 14th century illuminated manuscripts.
At a Glance
Bib ID: | 6378034 View CLIO record |
Creator(s): | Branner, Robert. |
Title: | Robert Branner
Papers,
1936-1973
[Bulk Dates: 1955-1973]
|
Physical description: | 5.5 linear ft. (13 document boxes)
|
Language(s): | In English,
French,
German,
and Latin.
|
Access: |
Three folders (Box 1, folders 13 and 18, and box 2, folder 1) which contain graded,
student papers, are restricted. The folders in Box 1 are restricted until 2039; the
folder in Box 2 is restricted until 2049.
The remainder of the collection has no
restrictions.
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least
two business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and
Manuscript Library reading room.
More information » |
Arrangement
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in two series.
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Description
Scope and Content
The Robert Branner Papers include material related to the art history courses Branner
taught, and to the scholarly research he conducted regarding 13th and 14th century
illuminated manuscripts.
The teaching material includes bibliographies, chronologies, slide lists, lecture
notes, syllabi, class lists, notes, sketches, and student papers. Also included are
notes Branner took during classes or lectures he attended, and from papers that he
read. Scholars represented in his notes include Jurgis Baltrušaitis, Jean Bony,
Sumner Crosby, Henri Focillon, Louis Grodecki, Julius Held, George Kubler and
Charles Seymour Jr.
The scholarly-research material Branner accumulated based on his study of 13th and
14th century manuscripts includes notes, correspondence, and photocopies or
photographs of pages from manuscripts. Many of the folders also contain annotations
written by his wife, Shirley Branner.
Series I: Teaching Materials, 1936-1973
This series contains correspondence, bibliographies, chronologies, slide lists, lecture notes, syllabi, class lists, notes, sketches, and student papers. Also included are notes that Branner took during classes or lectures he attended, and from the papers that he read. Material in this series is arranged alphabetically.
Subseries I.1. Columbia University, 1957-1973
This subseries comprises correspondence, bibliographies, chronologies, slide lists, lecture notes, syllabi, class lists, notes, sketches, and student papers.
Subseries I.2. University of Kansas, 1955-1957
Making up this subseries are bibliographies, chronologies, slide lists, lecture notes, syllabi, class lists, notes, sketches, and student papers from the art history courses.
Series II: Medieval Manuscript Research Materials, 1965-1973,
undated
This series comprises scholarly-research material Branner accumulated based on his study of 13th and 14th century illuminated manuscripts. Included are notes, correspondence, and photocopies or photographs of pages from manuscripts. Many of the folders also contain annotations written by his wife, Shirley Prager Branner. These materials are arranged alphabetically by city, and within cities, alphabetically by repository.
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Using the Collection
Offsite
Access Restrictions
Three folders (Box 1, folders 13 and 18, and box 2, folder 1) which contain graded,
student papers, are restricted. The folders in Box 1 are restricted until 2039; the
folder in Box 2 is restricted until 2049.
The remainder of the collection has no
restrictions.
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least
two business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and
Manuscript Library reading room.
Restrictions on Use
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material
from the collection must be requested from the Curator of Manuscripts, Rare Book and
Manuscript Library (RBML). The RBML approves permission to publish that which it
physically owns; the responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the
patron.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Robert Branner Papers; Box and
Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Finding aid in repository; folder level control.
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About the Finding Aid / Processing Information
Columbia University Libraries. Rare Book and
Manuscript Library; machine readable finding aid created by Columbia University
Libraries Digital Library Program Division
Processing Information
Papers processed 2007 Alix Ross
Machine readable finding aid generated from MARC-AMC source via XSLT
conversion December 2, 2008
Finding aid written in English.
2009-01-15
xml document instange created by Patrick Lawlor
2009-05-20
xml document instange created by Catherine N. Carson
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Subject Headings
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
All links open new windows.
Subjects
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History / Biographical Note
Biographical Note
Robert Branner (1927-1973), Columbia University professor
of art history, was an expert on French Gothic architecture, sculpture, and
illuminated manuscripts. Born and raised in New York, Branner was the son of former
vaudeville troupers, Martin Michael Branner and Edith Fabbrini. His father, Mike
Branner was also a cartoonist and creator of the comic strip, “Winnie Winkle, the
Breadwinner.”
Branner's undergraduate studies at Yale University were
interrupted when he was drafted into the United States Army in 1945. He served in
Europe and it was there that his interest was piqued in what would become his
lifelong work: the study of French Gothic art and architecture. In 1946 Branner
returned to civilian life, and to Yale from which he received both his B.A. in
Classics in 1948, and his Ph.D. in Art History in 1953. Branner's mentors and
colleagues at Yale included Sumner McKnight Crosby, Jean Bony and Louis Grodecki.
During his Yale years Branner also studied at the École des Chartres and the
Institut d'Art et Archaéologie, and led the excavation work of Bourges Cathedral
from 1950-1952. Upon graduation from Yale, Branner married Shirley Prager, a
librarian.
Branner began his teaching career at Yale, where he was an
instructor from 1952 to 1953, but the bulk of Branner's career, excepting only brief
stints at the University of Kansas (1954-1957) and Johns Hopkins University
(1969-1971), was spent at Columbia University. Branner taught Art History at
Columbia from 1957 until his death in 1973; he became a full professor in 1966 and
was the department chair from 1968-1969.
From 1964-1966 Branner served as the director and editor of
the
Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians
. Branner was also a member of
the Société Française d'Archéologie and of the Société Nationale des
Antiquaires. Over the years Branner's work was funded by Fulbright and
Marshall-Allison grants, as well as by the Guggenheim Foundation, the American
Council of Learned Societies, the American Philosophical Association and the Council
on Research in the Humanities of Columbia University.
Burgundian Gothic Architecture
, Branner's first monograph
was published in 1960. By 1969 he had authored,
Gothic Architecture
,
La
Cathedrale de Bourges et sa Place dans l'Architecture Gothique
,
Chartres
Cathedral
and his most renowned work,
St. Louis and the Court Style in Gothic
Architecture
. Although Branner's initial academic interest was the study of Gothic
architecture, he spent his final years studying 13th and 14th century illuminated
manuscripts.
Manuscript Paintings in Paris during the Reign of Saint Louis; a Study
of Styles
, published posthumously, was the culmination of that research.
Shirley Prager Branner's “A Bibliography and Index to the
Works of Robert Branner.”
Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians
, 34,
no. 3 (October 1975): 167-172 provides a comprehensive list of Branner's work. In
1973 Robert Branner died from complications following heart surgery.
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