Early Research Initiative
Graduate Center/Morgan Library & Museum Graduate Archival Fellowships
(Summer 2018)
The Early Research Initiative invites applications for two Morgan Library & Museum graduate archival fellowships (Summer 2018). These $4,000 fellowships will be offered to Graduate Center Ph.D. students from any program with primary research interests related to the collections at the Morgan Library & Museum. The primary responsibilities of the award winners will be to collaborate with curators and librarians from the Morgan in order to process uncatalogued collections, improve public access to documents and related materials, and to gain experience in creating and organizing collections.
While the rich and diverse collections of the Morgan Library & Museum span the medieval period to the contemporary moment and embrace the global as well as the local, it is offering CUNY Fellows projects in select areas ranging from 18th and 19th extra-illustrated books to the archives of the Pierre Matisse Gallery, letters and poems of Robert Burns, Walt Whitman, Anne Sexton and others to manuscripts related to the royal house of Tudor. Please see the attached list of potential projects below; applications are welcomed for specific projects.
Fellowship recipients will be required to be in residence for 120 hours over the summer of 2018 at the Morgan working for scheduled times from 9:30 to 4pm on Monday through Friday. In addition, recipients will be required to do a brief public presentation on their work and write a blog post about their experiences at the end of the relevant before the end of the Fall 2018 semester. Additional opportunities for social media contributions to the Morgan’s accounts are also possible.
To apply please send a letter of interest describing your research interests and related experience with specific reference to one of the projects described below, a c.v., a current Graduate Center transcript (Students may submit the unofficial student copy that can be printed from banner), and a letter of support from your primary advisor.
Instructions for submitting your application:
1) Please combine the above materials (except for the letter of recommendation) into a SINGLE file (either as a pdf document or a word document).
Use the following format when naming your document: Last Name, First Name, Program
2) Email your file directly to fellowshipapps@gc.cuny.edu
Please use your graduate center email address when sending the file.
Instructions for Faculty Recommenders
1) Prepare your reference letter as a regular word or pdf document.
2) Please use the following format when naming your document:
Student Last Name, First Name
3) Email your file directly to fellowshipapps@gc.cuny.edu
Application Deadline: April 10th, 2018 by 3:00 PM
CUNY Graduate Center / Morgan Library & Museum PhD Student Fellowships
Available projects, Summer 2018
Extra-illustrated volumes
A common practice in the nineteenth century was to create so-called “extra-illustrated” books. A biography or general text on a single author, artist, or historical figure would be expanded with the addition of letters, manuscripts, prints/drawings, and ephemera related to that person or time period. What was a small, single volume book became a large multi-volume set. This project would include choosing one or more works to survey the additional material in the volumes. The books to select from include:
- Roxburghe revels, and other relative papers, Edinburgh, 1837 (PML 8556)
- Alex Henri Brialmont, History of the Life of Arthur, Duke of Wellington, London, 1858-60 (PML 7901-16)
- James Boswell, Life of Samuel Johnson, London, 1791 (PML 9812-15)
- Collection of Poems in the Autograph of Lord Byron once in the Possession of Countess Guiccioli (PML 16505-10)
- Thomas Campbell, The Life of Mrs. Siddons, London, 1834 (PML 34397-98)
- Edward Hyde Clarendon, The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Oxford, 1807 (PML 6106-19)
- John W. Francis, Reminiscences of Old New York, New York, 1865–70 (PML 4377-79)
- R. Leslie, Memoirs of the Life of John Constable, London, 1843, 3 vols.
- R. Leslie and Tom Taylor, Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds, London, 1865, 11 vols.
- Thomas Medwin, The Life of Percy Bysshe Shelley, London, 1847 (PML 17238-40)
- Alexander Pope, The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Esq. Glasgow, 1785 (PML 4236-40 and 4863)
- William Makepeace Thackeray, The Famous History of Lord Bateman, 19th century (PML 16133)
- William Makepeace Thackeray, The Four Georges, London, 1861
The project would also include identifying items within these collections for possible display in the Morgan’s historic 1906 library and, if desired, drafting the text to accompany one to two items.
Literary manuscripts and correspondence
English-language literary manuscripts and correspondence represent one of the strongest areas of the Morgan’s holdings. This project would involve individually cataloging and/or performing in-depth research on several collections including, among others: the letters and poems of Robert Burns; the letters of Richard, Henry and Charles Doyle to their father, John Doyle; the letters and poems of Walt Whitman; and the letters of Anne Sexton. The project would also include identifying items within these collections for possible display in the Morgan’s historic 1906 library and, if desired, drafting the text to accompany one to two items.
Artist letters in the Pierre Matisse Gallery Archive
The Pierre Matisse Gallery Archives chronicles the emergence of modern art in twentieth century New York and Europe. Pierre Matisse, gallerist and son of painter Henri Matisse, traveled between Europe and the United States throughout his career. The collection contains the complete records of the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York from 1931 to 1990. This project would catalog original letters (primarily in French) by artists such as Balthus, Calder, Chagall, Dubuffet, Giacometti, Miró, and Tanguy. The project would also include identifying items within this collection for possible display in the Morgan’s historic 1906 library and, if desired, drafting the text to accompany one to two items.
Personal photographs in the Pierre Matisse Gallery Archive
The Pierre Matisse Gallery Archives chronicles the emergence of modern art in twentieth century New York and Europe. Pierre Matisse, gallerist and son of painter Henri Matisse, traveled between Europe and the United States throughout his career. The collection contains the complete records of the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York from 1931 to 1990. This project would survey and catalog the photographs of Henri Matisse or his work that are found in the collection.
Letters and manuscripts related to the royal house of Tudor
The Morgan holds a collection of ca. 200 letters and documents of English royalty and their families and subjects from the accession of Henry VII in 1485 to the death of Elizabeth in 1603. This project would involve rehousing and individually cataloging the items within the collection. The project would also include identifying items within this collection for possible display in the Morgan’s historic 1906 library and, if desired, drafting the text to accompany one to two items. The ideal candidate for this fellowship will have some previous experience or training in English secretary hand and with manuscripts of the period.
