Oral history interview with Harry N. Abrams
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 1 hr.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Abrams, Harry N.
label: Interviewer
content: Cummings, Paul
topic: label: Topic
content: Art publishing -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Art -- Collectors and collecting -- New York (State) -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Publishers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Abrams, Harry N.
label: Interviewer
content: Cummings, Paul
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Harry N. Abrams (1905-1979) was a publisher from New York, New York.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Sound tape reel (Sound recording, 5 in.)
label: Extent
content: 29 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1972 March 14
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.abrams72
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Sound tape reels
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Harry N. Abrams conducted 1972 March 14, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art. Abrams speaks of his educational background including classes at the National Academy of Design, the Art Students League, and New York University. He recalls his book designs, advertising and mail orders for Schwab and Beatty (1928-1936) and the Book-of-the-Month Club (1936-1950) and his association with Illustrated Modern Library and Illustrated Junior Library.
label: Scope and Contents
content: He discusses the organization and early problems of the Abrams Publishing Company, paperback reprints, translations, foreign publications and successful titles. Abrams speaks of the Abradale Press, the Norman Rockwell series, the Contemporary Painters series; and the characteristics of book club and bookstore customers. The interview concludes with a description of his art collection.