Collections

• About the Collections
• Drawings, Prints, & Graphic Design
• Product Design & Decorative Arts
• Textiles
• Wallcoverings
• Library

The Doris and Henry Dreyfuss Study Center Library and Archive

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum’s library is a branch of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries and contains more than 70,000 volumes, including books, periodicals, catalogs, and trade literature dating from the fifteenth through the twentieth centuries.

Volumes cover American and European design and decorative arts with concentrations in architecture, graphic design, interior design, ornamental patterns, furniture, wallcoverings, textiles, metalwork, glass, ceramics, and jewelry.

Special strengths:

• a rare book collection containing more than 8,000 volumes
• a World’s Fair collection containing over 1,000 items (books, journals, guides, ephemera)
• a pop-up and movable books collection with more than 1,200 titles
• the M. Therese Bonney collection of 4,300 black and white photographs of architecture and design in Paris, 1925-39

The Doris and Henry Dreyfuss Study Center Library and Archive, in the Carnegie Mansion, is open to visitors by advance appointment.

Phone: 212.849.8330
Fax: 212.849.8339

For additional information about Library services and collections: http://www.sil.si.edu/libraries/chm/

For the SIL online catalog: http://siris-libraries.si.edu

Archives

Edward F. Caldwell Lighting Collection

13,000 drawings and more than 50,000 photographs contained in the Edward F. Caldwell Lighting Collection clearly document taste and style in the United States in the affluent 1890s. During this period, when European models defined what was beautiful or tasteful, Edward F. Caldwell and Victor F. von Lossberg founded Caldwell & Company, designers of custom lighting fixtures in New York. The company created lighting and decorative ironwork for many private homes and prominent buildings in New York City, including Saint Patrick's Cathedral and the Waldorf-Astoria. With his friend Stanford White, who helped him establish his successful career, Caldwell catered to the most privileged people, creating lighting for the Andrew Carnegie mansion (now the home of the National Design Museum) and the 1902 Taft White House. The company became the foundry for Tiffany & Company.

Shedding Light on New York: Edward F. Caldwell & Company

Thérèse M. Bonney Collection

A collection of 4,300 rare and unique photographs that document architecture and design in Paris, 1925-39. The collection includes images of window display and design marketing, industrial design -lighting & furniture, architecture, and interior design. It also includes other applied arts such as porcelain, textiles, costumes, and wallpaper.

The Library and Archives are open to the public by appointment. For information, call 212.849.8330.

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