Books and Printed Material
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Cornell, Joseph
setName: label: See more items in
content: Joseph Cornell papers
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.5 Linear Feet (Boxes 19, 23)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1806-1968
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.cornjose, Series 8
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement note
content: Books and printed material are arranged chronologically. For descriptive purposes, books are treated as one file with a list of titles (provided below).
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: This series is partially scanned. Books have not been digitized and only covers, title pages and/or relevant pages of other printed materials have been scanned.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: Series consists of several books, and various publications and clippings collected by Cornell apart from that which he accumulated as source material.

The books found here most likely comprise the remainder of Cornell's library, which was transferred to the Joseph Cornell Study Center, Smithsonian American Art Museum. They reflect some of Cornell's wide-ranging interests, including Christian Science, astronomy, and literature. Notable ones include a copy of Nevertheless, inscribed to Cornell and signed by the author, Marianne Moore; a copy of New Testament - Psalms, which appears to have been a gift to Cornell from his mother; and a copy of Sylvie - Recollections of Valois by the French author, Gerard de Nerval, whose writing had a tremendous influence on Cornell. Some of the books actually seem to have belonged to Cornell's sister, Betty Cornell Benton, including one of the copies of Christian Science and Its Discoverer, and Christina Rossetti's Poems, which appears to have been a gift from Cornell.

Printed material includes booklets and publications that likewise reflect Cornell's interest in Christian Science, as well as his interest in art and ballet. Found are magazines with articles on other artists and a copy of Allison Delarue's privately-printed monograph on Henry Wikoff, the impressario who brought the Austrian dancer, Fanny Elssler, to America in the 1840s. Printed material also includes clippings and press releases relating to exhibitions of Cornell's art work at New York University (1963) and the Guggenheim Museum (1967), as well as a copy of the December 1957 issue of Art News, which featured an article on Cornell and which includes his annotations indicating his negative reaction to how he was portrayed.