James Reuel Smith springs and wells photographs and papers
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Abstract
The collection holds 23 boxes (seven of glass and acetate negatives) of visual and written material pertaining to James Reuel Smith's book Springs and Wells of Manhattan and the Bronx, New York City, at the End of the Nineteenth Century, published by the New-York Historical Society in 1938.
The photographs are digitized and available in the Shelby White and Leon Levy Digital Library.
Historical Note
James Reuel Smith was born in 1852 in Skaneateles, New York. After the early death of his mother, his father having remarried, Smith went to live in the household of a cousin. In 1882 Smith married Elizabeth Thompson; they had no children. Family money enabled Smith to actively pursue his hobby of photographing and investigating springs and wells. This interest led him to travel around Europe, looking for springs and wells mentioned in literature. In 1922, he published Springs and Wells in Greek and Roman Literature, Their Legends and Locations.
Smith's interest was also local: He spent much of the years 1897 to 1901 bicycling around northern Manhattan and the Bronx looking for and photographing springs and wells. Smith's enthusiasm for springs and wells was well-matched with his photographic eye and his meticulous note-taking on the locations and conditions of the springs and wells he saw. James Reuel Smith died in 1935. In his will he left a bequest to the New-York Historical Society to publish his manuscript notes and photographs of springs and wells of northern Manhattan and the Bronx. Librarian Dorothy Barck worked with Smith's research papers and notes, and edited his manuscript material, leading to N-YHS's publication of Springs and Wells of Manhattan and the Bronx, New York City, at the End of the Nineteenth Century, in 1938. In the introduction to the volume, Smith wrote: "A city spring frequently possesses all the beautiful surroundings of a rural one, and besides exciting that pathetic interest aroused by something pleasureable which will shortly cease to exist, it is, for the meditative, a link which connects the thoughts with the past."
Arrangement
The collection is organized in five series:
Series I. Manhattan Photographs
Series II. Bronx Photographs
Series III. Brooklyn Photographs
Series IV. Springs and Wells Manuscript Material
Series V. Glass Negatives
Scope and Content Note
The collection holds the original photographic prints and glass plate negatives; manuscript drafts; indexes, classifications, and other descriptions; and research files and notes underlying James Reuel Smith's Springs and Wells of Manhattan and the Bronx, New York City, at the End of the Nineteenth Century.
The photographs date from 1897-1901 and are primarily of springs and wells in Northern Manhattan and the Bronx. There are about 350 prints, organized into 10 boxes. In addition, 260 glass negatives (247 4x5s; 13 5x7s) and 38 acetate negatives are housed in 7 boxes. Though Smith did take photographs of pumps and cisterns, the natural springs he found during his travels seemed to pique his interest the most, and these views are what make up most of the photos.
Manuscript material in the collection relates to both New York springs and wells and to Smith's research for his book on springs and wells in Greek and Roman literature. This material extends into the 1930s, reflecting Smith's research and writing subsequent to his photographing, and to some uncertain degree, N-YHS's interventions during the editing and publication process.
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Access Restrictions
Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.
Use Restrictions
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.
Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.
Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions
Preferred Citation
This collection should be cited as: James Reuel Smith springs and wells photographs and papers, PR 62, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, New-York Historical Society.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Bequest of James Reuel Smith, 1937.
Existence and Location of Copies
Digital copies of the photographs are available in the Shelby White and Leon Levy Digital Library.
About this Guide
Processing Information
The photographs in the collection and some manuscript material was processed in the early 2000s by Miranda Schwartz. Either at that time or earlier, much of the manuscript and research material in the original collection was separated and not included in the processing and collection description. This additional material, which now comprises much of subseries IV.A, was returned to the collection and processed by Larry Weimer in December 2021.