Sylvester Rosa Koehler papers
name: label: Creator
content: Koehler, S. R. (Sylvester Rosa), 1837-1900
label: Names
content: Anderson, Alexander, 1775-1870
label: Names
content: Falconer, John Mackie, 1820-1903
label: Names
content: Harfin, Jean F.
label: Names
content: Juengling, Frederick, 1846-1889
label: Names
content: Smillie, James David, 1833-1909
title: label: Topic
content: American Art Review
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art historians -- Massachusetts -- Boston
label: Topic
content: Prints -- 19th century
label: Topic
content: Art literature
label: Topic
content: Museum curators -- Massachusetts -- Boston
label: Topic
content: Artists -- United States
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was purchased from Argosy Book Stores, Inc, in 1959. A letter from John Sartain and eleven letters from William Merritt Chase were donated by Charles E. Feinberg, 1955-1962. Two postcards were donated in 2009 by William A. Turnbaugh, an autograph collector. In 2017, John F. McGuigan Jr. and Mary K. McGuigan donated 
sixty-nine letters from A. Barry, Truman Howe Bartlett, William Merritt Chase, Timothy Cole, Edward Henry Clement, Cyrus Edwin Dallin, Robert Swain Gifford, George Inness, Anna Lea Merritt, Stephen Parrish, John Sartain, Francis Hopkinson Smith, and Frederic Porter Vinton.
creator: label: Creator
content: Koehler, S. R. (Sylvester Rosa), 1837-1900
setName: label: See more items in
content: Sylvester Rosa Koehler papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Sylvester Rosa Koehler papers measure 5.4 linear feet and date from 1833 to 1904, with the bulk of the material dating from 1870 to 1890. The collection consists primarily of Koehler's extensive correspondence to and from many notable artists and printmakers such as Jean F. Harfin, John M. Falconer, Frederick Juengling, and James D. Smillie, as well as friends, and family members and professional correspondence concerning Koehler's activities as a writer, curator, and editor of the American Art Review. The collection also contains financial records and other miscellaneous items.
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: Art historian and curator Sylvester Rosa Koehler was born in Leipsic, Germany in 1837. He came to the United States with his family in 1849 and settled in Roxbury, Massachusetts. In 1868 he became the Technical Manager of Louis Prang and Company, a lithograph publisher. Koehler was the founding editor of the American Art Review, which commissioned artists for original etchings, and ran from 1879-1881. Through this publication, as well as his work as writer and exhibition curator, Koehler encouraged an American etching revival in the 1880s. Koehler also published many books on American art and was the first Curator of Prints at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. From 1886 to 1900 he served as the first Curator of Graphic Arts at the United States National Museum, part of the Smithsonian Institution. While there, he created a permanent and traveling exhibition of graphic arts. His knowlege of the art world and his extensive personal contacts brought many important collections to the museum. Koehler died in Littleton, New Hampshire in 1900.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 5.4 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1833-1904
label: Date
content: bulk 1870-1890
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.koehsylv
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into 3 series:

Series 1: Correspondence, circa 1833- circa 1904 (Box 1-6; 5.1 linear feet)

Series 2: Financial Records, circa 1870-circa 1890 (Box 6; 14 folders)

Series 3: Miscellany, circa 1859-circa 1896 (Box 6; 11 folders)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Upon receipt at the archives, the collection was microfilmed on reels D182-191, 3533-3534, and D30. The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Erin Corley in 2005 as part of the Terra Foundation for American Art Digitization Project. An addition was merged into the existing arrangement in 2017. The collection was updated and prepared for digitization by Rihoko Ueno in 2017 with funding provided by The Walton Family Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
altformavail: label: Alternative Forms Available
content: This collection was digitized in 2017 and is available on the Archives of American Art website.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Content Note
content: The Sylvester Rosa Koehler papers measure 5.4 linear feet and date from 1833 to 1904, with the bulk of the material dating from 1870 to 1890. The collection consists primarily of Koehler's extensive correspondence to and from many notable artists and printmakers such as Jean F. Harfin, John M. Falconer, Frederick Juengling, and James D. Smillie, as well as friends, and family members and professional correspondence concerning Koehler's activities as a writer, curator, and editor of the American Art Review. The collection also contains financial records and other miscellaneous items. 

Correspondence includes hundreds of letters to and from Koehler. Correspondents include many prominent artists, engravers, architects, art critics, curators, historians, journalists, authors, educators, publishers, and others during the late 1800s. Also found is correspondence with family, most of which is in German. Much of the correspondence concerns Koehler's role as editor of the publication American Art Review, and his work promoting American graphic arts.

Financial Records include Koehler's receipts, primarily from 1885, and a handwritten estimate of costs for publishing the American Art Review.

Miscellany includes biographical information on the wood engraver, Alexander Anderson, various notes by unidentified authors, news clippings, programs and handwritten song texts for music performances.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Material
content: Additional correspondence can be found at the Library of Congress, which houses the Papers of S. R. Koehler, 1868-1904, and includes approximately 3,500 letters. Syracuse University Library houses S. R. Koehler Correspondence, 1879-1896, and includes 107 items.