Photography Collections at NYPL

Library for the Performing Arts
Billy Rose Theater Division • Jerome Robbins Dance Division • Music Division

Local Libraries
Jefferson Market Library • Mid-Manhattan Picture Collection • St. George Library Center

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Prints & Photographs

Science, Industry and Business Library
General Collection Division

Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Arents Collection • Art & Architecture Division • Asian and Middle Eastern • Berg Collection of English and American Literature • Dorot Jewish Division • Manuscripts and Archives • Map Division • Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy • Pforzheimer Collection of Shelly and His Circle • Photography Collection • Print Collection • Rare Books Division • Slavic & Baltic Division • Spencer Collection

	Arents Collection - Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
	The photographs in the George Arents Collection relate to, and augment, the overall subject strength of the department—that is, the history, literature, and lore of tobacco.
	Access	Request Access
	Volume	approximately 300 photographs
	Dates	ca. 1870 - present
	Formats	cigarette cards, albumen prints, gelatin silver prints, counter cards, ambrotypes, tintypes
	Arrangement
	Finding Aids	NYPL Catalog
	Further Resources	Arents Photographs 96-23 : Photographs depicting smoking [graphic] Arents Photographs 02-604 : Photographs documenting tobacco farming in the U.S. [graphic]. Arents Photographs 97-76 : Photographic portraits depicting smoking [graphic] Arents Photographs 97-85 : Photographic tobacco advertising counter cards [graphic] [Cigarette cards.] > British Beauties : a series of 76 hand coloured real photographs. (ca. 1911-1918)

	Art & Architecture Collection - Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
	The Art and Architecture Collection contains photographically illustrated books, photographs and scrapbooks documenting the scope of the history of art, architecture and design, primarily in Western languages. The division also contains many early photographic publications.
	Access	Register through Rare Books Division
	Volume	approximately 2000 photographs
	Dates	ca. 1880s to 1970s
	Formats and Processes	albums, scrapbooks, gelatin silver prints, albumen prints, platinum prints, photomechanical reproductions
	Arrangement
	Finding Aids
	Further Resources	The Photographic Times Der Photo-Markt Photographische Chronik

	Asian & Middle Eastern - Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

	Access	Register through Rare Books Division
	Volume	approximately 300 photographs
	Dates	ca. 1880s to 1950s
	Formats and Processes	albums, photographically illustrated books, albumen prints, photographic postcards, gelatin silver prints, hand-colored albumen photographs, color slides
	Arrangement
	Finding Aids
	Further Resources	Pictures of former Korean Palaces Asia and the Pacific Rim in Early Prints and Photographs The Bronze Ornaments of the Palace Gates of Balawat

	Berg Collection of English and American Literature - Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
	The photographs in Berg are primarily portraits and snapshots of the authors whose works, in manuscript and printed form, are represented in the collection: American and British authors of the 19th to 21st century.
	Access	Request Access
	Volume	approximately 2500 photographs
	Dates	ca. 1860s to 1970s
	Formats and Processes	cabinet cards, albumen prints, gelatin silver prints, platinum prints
	Arrangement	Printed and manuscript shelved separately; arranged alphabetically.
	Finding Aids	Search
	Further Resources	Authors: Photographs from the Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature Photographs of Athens, London, Morocco, and of William S. Burroughs's friends and acquaintances Gertrude Stein: Part of a Life in Pictures by Carl Van Vechten

	Billy Rose Theatre Division - Library for the Performing Arts
	The collection of photographs in the Billy Rose Theatre Division is an invaluable resource to researchers and scholars of theatre, Vaudeville, burlesque, silent film, television, radio, circus, magic, puppetry and other performance art recorded from the advent of photography to the present. Important collections include early photos of Broadway and off-broadway stage productions/musicals and notable performers, the leading NY-based stage photography studios, (Sarony, White Studios, Vandamm, Friedman/Abeles, Alfredo Valente), rare photos of Houdini, early Vaudeville photos of W. C. Fields, Chaplin, Louise Brooks, Theda Bara, Marx Brothers, Josephine Baker, Booth Family (incl John Wilkes), Buffalo Bill, Lillian Gish, Gypsy Rose Lee, and David Belasco's scrapbooks of production photos.
	Access	Request Access
	Volume	approximately 2 million photographs
	Dates	ca. 1860 to present
	Formats	cabinet cards, cartes-de-visite, albumen prints, gelatin silver prints, negatives, contact sheets, chromogenic photographs
	Arrangement	Arranged by size and subject.
	Finding Aids	Search
	Further Resources	On Stage and Screen: Photograph File of the Billy Rose Theatre Collection "Queen of Off-Broadway:" Lucille Lortel Collection Photographs 1902-1998 Theatre Productions and Players, 1920s-1957: Vandamm Studio Photographs Marquees, 1997-2001: New York City Theatre Photographs by Christopher Frith

	Dorot Jewish Division - Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
	The photograph collection of the Dorot Jewish Division includes early photography of Palestine by Bonfils, Saltzman and others, 19th century stereoviews, cartes-de-visit, cabinet cards, stereo views and portraits of New York Yiddish theater personalities.
	Access	Request Access
	Volume	approximately 10,000 photographs
	Dates	ca.1860s-present
	Formats and Processes	Albums, stereo views, cartes-de-visite, cabinet cards, negatives, salted paper prints, gelatin silver prints, albumen prints
	Arrangement	By subject
	Finding Aids
	Further Resources	The Middle East in Early Prints and Photographs

	General Collection Division - Science, Industry and Business Library
	The photograph collections at SIBL contain images relating to science, industry and business - particularly engineering and transportation. Of special note are the William Barclay Parsons collection of photographs documenting the fields of engineering, transportation and military science and the Henry George collection of scrapbooks documenting the career of the 19th century politician and economist.
	Access
	Volume	approximately 1500 photographs
	Dates	1860s to 1950s
	Formats and Processes	Albums, scrapbooks, gelatin silver photographs, albumen photographs
	Arrangement
	Finding Aids
	Further Resources	Henry George Collection: Illustrations and Photographs Illustrated Classics of Engineering from the William Barclay Parsons Collection and Others Metropolis: New York City Water and Transit Infrastructure in Photographs Photographs of General Motors Cars and Trucks, 1902-1938 World War I Photograph Albums and Postcards

	Jefferson Market Library
	The photograph collection at the Jefferson Market Library primarily covers the history of the conversion of the library from a courthouse, the general history of the building and the surrounding Greenwich Village neighborhood.
	Access	By appointment
	Volume	approximately 300 photographs
	Dates	primarily 1959-present
	Formats	gelatin silver prints, color slides, postcards, ephemera
	Arrangement
	Finding Aids
	Further Resources

	Jerome Robbins Dance Division - Library for the Performing Arts
	The photographs in the Jerome Robbins Dance Division are a resource for both scholarly and personal research and have been used in exhibitions, publications, books, lectures, documentaries as well as source material for reconstructions of choreography and new work. Notable photograpers in the collection include Arnold Genthe and Carl van Vecheten.
	Access	Request Access
	Volume	approximately 350,000 photographs
	Dates	1860 - present
	Formats and processes	gelatin silver prints, chromogenic prints, slides, slides, negatives, postcards, cabinet cards, cartes de visite, scrapbooks
	Arrangement	The Dance Division Photo Archive is arranged by subject: Dance type; Dancer; Dance work; Dance Company; Choreographer.
	Finding Aids	NYPL catalog.
	Further Resources	Claire Holt Collection of Indonesian Dance and Related Arts Dance in Photographs and Prints Collection of Cartes de visite and Cabinet Card Photographs Denishawn Collection Joffrey Ballet Slides Variety, Vaudeville & Burlesque

	Manuscripts and Archives - Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
	Photographs in The Manuscripts and Archives Division are included in the papers and records of individuals, families, and organizations, primarily from the New York region and support research in the political, economic, social, and cultural history of New York and the United States.
	Access	Request Access
	Volume	approximately 250,000 photographs
	Dates	1840s to present
	Formats and Processes	Albums, scrapbooks, cabinet cards, cartes de visite, gelatin silver photographs, albumen photographs, salted paper prints, daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, color slides, chromogenic photographs, lantern slides
	Arrangement
	Finding Aids
	Further Resources	Woman Suffrage and Feminism Photographs in the Schwimmer-Lloyd Collection Cabinet Card Portraits in the Collection of Radical Publisher Benjamin R. Tucker Civil War Medical Care: Photographs from the United States Sanitary Commission Collection, 1861-1872 Ellis Island Photographs from the Collection of William Williams, Commissioner of Immigration, 1902-1913 LGBT and HIV/AIDS Activist Collections Mountjoy Prison Portraits of Irish Independence: Photograph Albums in the Thomas A. Larcom Collection Presenting The New York Public Library: Drawings, Photographs and Prints

	Map Division - Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
	Photographs in the Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division include a large number of photostatic reproductions of sheet maps, aerial photography, salted paper print maps and mid-19th century salted paper print maps and photomechanical reproductions.
	Access	Request Access
	Volume	approximately 8000 photographs
	Dates	ca. 1860 to
	Formats and Processes	albumen photographs, salted paper prints, gelatin silver prints, cyantoypes/blueprints, photostat reproductions
	Arrangement
	Finding Aids
	Further Resources	Area District Map, City of New York, Board of Estimate and Apportionment Height District Map, City of New York, Board of Estimate and Apportionment Sectional Aerial Maps of the City of New York

	Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy - Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
	The photograph collections of the Milstein Division include unique images of New York City and its environs from the mid 19th century to the present time and provide primary study materials for the cultural, social, and religious history of New York City and the United States.
	Access	Request Access
	Volume	approximately 57,000 photographs
	Dates	ca. 1870-present
	Formats and Processes	gelatin silver prints, albumen prints, platinum prints, cyanotypes; glass plate negatives, color negatives, 35 mm color slides, scrapbooks, albums
	Arrangement
	Finding Aids
	Further Resources	Photographic Views of New York City, 1870s-1970s Streetscape and Townscape of Metropolitan New York City, 1860-1942 Collection of Photographs of New York City, 1931-1942 Photographic Views of the United States Lloyd Acker Real Estate Photographs

	Music Division - Library for the Performing Arts
	Photographs in the Music Division document the full range of Individuals and institutions allied with the performing arts, specifically music. The collection includes portraits of musicians and their contexts, images of opera houses, opera scenes, musical instruments, and studio and candid photographs including many behind the scenes photographs of jazz and rock musicians. Important documentation of minority performers at all levels, popular and rock groups from the 1940s-1970s shed light on evolving cultural taste.
	Access	Request Access
	Volume	approximately 600,000 photographs
	Dates	ca. 1870s to present
	Formats and Processes	Gelatin silver photographs, cabinet cards, cartes de visite, albumen photographs, lantern slides, 35 mm color slides, glass negatives, digital ink jet prints.
	Arrangement
	Finding Aids
	Further Resources	Otto Hess Collection

	Pforzheimer Collection of Shelly and His Circle - Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
	The Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle is one of the world's leading repositories for the study of English Romanticism. The Collection was the creation of the financier Carl H. Pforzheimer, Sr. (1879-1957), who took a special interest in the lives and works of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and his contemporaries, including his second wife, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and her family. The photographic holdings of the include Pforzheimer's own research images documenting the life of Shelly in Italy and the family photographs of Claire Clairmont, stepsister of Mary Shelly.
	Access	By appointment; Request Access
	Volume	approximately 200 photographs
	Dates	ca. 1850s to 1970s
	Formats and Processes	Salted paper prints, albumen photographs, collodion photographs, gelatin silver photographs, framed photographs, silver dye bleach photographs.
	Arrangement
	Finding Aids
	Further Resources

	Photography Collection - Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
	The Photography Collection was developed in 1980 when images culled from other NYPL departments and branches were brought together to form a new division based solely on the medium of photography. While the historically stated focus of the collection has been "documentary photography," the collection actually encompasses a much broader range of the medium, including images made for commercial, industrial, and scientific application as well as images for the press and other print media, the vernacular of amateur snapshot photography and original works intended for exhibition and the art market. Future collection activity and development will focus on fulfilling the department's role as the most accessible public resource in New York City for the study of photographs and the history of photography.
	Access	By appointment; Request Access
	Volume	approximately 500,000 photographs
	Dates	1840s-present
	Formats and Processes	Mounted and unmounted photographs, albums, scrapbooks and photographically illustrated volumes, cabinet cards, cartes de visite, stereoviews, ambrotypes, daguerreotypes, tintypes, digital inkjet, albumen, salted paper prints, gelatin silver photographs, chromogenic photographs, silver dye bleach photographs, dye diffusion photographs.
	Arrangement	Primarily by photographer. By geographic or other subject grouping where the creator is unknown.
	Finding Aids
	Further Resources	World War I Photograph Albums and Postcards America's National Game: The Albert G. Spalding Collection of Early Baseball Photographs Asia and the Pacific Rim in Early Prints and Photographs At Home in Brooklyn: The Nooney Brooklyn Photographs, 1978-1979 Changing New York: Photographs by Berenice Abbott, 1935-1938 "Drugstore Photographs, Or, A Trip Along the Yangtze River, 1999;" Lower Manhattan Block-by-Block by Dylan Stone Early Landscape Photography of the American West Lewis Wickes Hine: Documentary Photographs, 1905-1938 The Luso-Hispanic New World in Early Prints and Photographs The Middle East in Early Prints and Photographs "The Pageant of America" Photograph Archive Photographic Views of New York City, 1870s-1970s Russia and Eastern Europe in Rare Photographs, 1860- 1945 Streetscape and Townscape of Metropolitan New York City, 1860-1942 United States in Stereo: In the Robert N. Dennis Collection of Stereoscopic Views World War I Photograph Albums and Postcards

	Picture Collection - Mid-Manhattan Library
	An unparalleled visual resource for creative people in any medium, the Picture Collection contains original prints, photographs, posters, postcards and illustrations from books, magazines and newspapers, classified into 12,000 subject headings.
	Access	Users may borrow up to 60 pictures at a time on any subject with a library card.
	Volume	approximately 25,000 photographs
	Dates	ca. 1860s to 1990s
	Formats and Processes	Cabinet cards, cartes-de-visite, gelatin silver photographs, albumen photographs, chromogenic photographs
	Arrangement	By subject
	Finding Aids
	Further Resources

	Print Collection - Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
	Description
	Access	By Appointment; Request Access
	Volume	approximately 2,000 photographs
	Dates	ca. 1850s to present
	Formats and Processes	Mounted and unmounted photographs, albumen photographs, salted paper prints, gelatin silver prints, cabinet cards, artist's books
	Arrangement
	Finding Aids
	Further Resources	Cliches Verre by Jean Baptiste Camille Corot Photograph of Whistler's Mother [the painting]. Whistler, James McNeill, 1834-1903

	Prints and Photographs - Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
	The Photographs and Prints Division at the Schomburg Center contains both documentary and fine art photographs which reflect the African diasporan history and culture with an emphasis on the work of photographers of African descent.
	Access	By appointment
	Volume	approximately 500,000 photographs
	Dates	ca. 1840s-present
	Formats and Processes	Albums, scrapbooks, postcards, negatives, daguerreotypes, tintypes, ambrotypes, lantern slides, cabinet cards, cartes de visite, stereoviews.
	Arrangement	Most collections arranged by AMC format.
	Finding Aids	Available upon request
	Further Resources	Buffalo Soldiers: Photographs from the Collections of Anthony L. Powell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Cabinet Card Collection Cartes-de-visite Collection Farm Security Administration Collection

	Rare Books Division - Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
	The photographs in the Rare Book Division's collections relate to, and augment, the overall strengths of the department, especially in the way of Americana and English and American literature. The department holds iconic and rare photographic works including William Henry Fox Talbot's The Pencil of Nature, Alexander Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the Civil War and Victor Prevost's photographs of the building of Central Park in 1862.
	Access	By permission; advance notice required.
	Volume	approximately 300 photographs
	Dates	1844 to present
	Formats and Processes	photogravure, daguerreotypes, albumen photographs, salted paper prints, glass negatives, gelatin silver prints
	Arrangement
	Finding Aids
	Further Resources	The Pencil of Nature. WH Fox Talbot Oscar Lion Collection: Portraits of Walt Whitman Photographs of Hopi, Zuni and Navaho Indians. JK Hillers Central Park in 1862. V. Prevost Books by Alvin Langdon Coburn Streetscape and Townscape of Metropolitan New York City, 1860-1942

	Slavic & Baltic - Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
	In addition to numerous individual photographs the Slavic & Baltic collection contains more than 140 unique, presentation photograph albums from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
	Access	Register through Rare Books Division; advance notice required
	Volume	approximately 6,500 photographs
	Dates	19th century and early 20th century
	Formats and Processes	Albums, scrapbooks, salted paper prints, albumen photographs, gelatin silver photographs, cartes-de-visites, postcards, lantern slides
	Arrangement
	Finding Aids	Supplementary checklist at Rm. 315.
	Further Resources	Slavic, Baltic and East European Visual Materials in the Collections of the New York Public Library Russia and Eastern Europe in Rare Photographs, 1860-1945

	Spencer Collection - Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
	Description
	Access	Spencer Collection materials are available through the Prints and Photographs Study Room (308) with 24 hours notice and a card of admission obtained from the Print Collection
	Volume	approximately 2,000 photographs
	Dates	1843 to present
	Formats and Processes	albums, scrapbooks, artist's books, portfolios, cyanotypes, gelatin silver photographs
	Arrangement
	Finding Aids	NYPL Catalog
	Further Resources	Ocean Flowers: Anna Atkins's Cyanotypes of British Algae Die Puppe. Hans Belmer Photographs by Bernd and Hilda Becher

	St. George Library Center
	The collection documents local historical structures on Staten Island, aerial photos of SI, photos of St. George and other branch libraries and their surrounding neighborhoods over the past 100 years.
	Access	NYPL library card, or other ID
	Volume	approximately 175 photographs
	Dates	early 20th century to present
	Formats and Processes	albums, scrapbooks, gelatin silver photographs, postcards
	Arrangement	By subject
	Finding Aids	References to photos integrated into staff-created bibliographies
	Further Resources