Samuel Putnam Avery Papers
Born in New York City, Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904) was an art dealer, rare book and print collector, and wood engraver. He was a founder and lifelong trustee of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Avery’s work as an art dealer included the commissioning and collecting of American paintings, the sale of engravings, and the management of an art gallery that imported modern European art. In 1867, Avery moved to Paris to assist with the Universal Exhibition and was thus put into contact with various French and German artists, including Ludwig Knaus, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Jules Breton, Jean-Léon Gérôme, and Ernest Meissonier. In the 1870s, Avery took annual trips to Europe during which time he commissioned art for clients such as William Henry Vanderbilt, James Jerome Hill, William Wilson Corcoran, and Edwin Denison Morgan. Avery was a keen collector of rare books, fine bindings, and nineteenth-century prints. He was seminal in the establishment of a separate print room at the New York Public Library in 1900. Avery also founded the Avery Architectural Library at Columbia University in 1890. The Samuel Putnam Avery Papers consist of several collections, listed below.
Above: Autograph Letters in Memory of S.P. Avery, 1904.