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George F. Kunz papers

Call Number

MS 358

Date

1862, 1880-1932, inclusive

Creator

Kunz, George Frederick, 1856-1932

Extent

2.5 Linear feet in six document boxes

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

The collection includes about 2400 letters to gemologist and mineralogist George Frederick Kunz (1856-1932), with some carbon copies of his outgoing letters and some ephemera related to his activities. The letters are from hundreds of correspondents, and date mostly from the early 1900s and into the 1920s, though there are many from earlier and later years. The subject matter ranges across Kunz's professional and personal interests, including correspondence with publishers and editors; academics and others seeking or providing information about gems and precious stones; members and fellow officers of the many committees and clubs he participated in, concerning organizational activities; and individuals and organizations seeking his financial or other support.

Biographical / Historical

George Frederick Kunz (1856-1932) was a renowned mineralogist and gemologist. He was born in New York City and raised in Hoboken, New Jersey. He attended public schools and Cooper Union, but did not earn a degree there. Rather, he was largely self-taught, and developed an expertise that led to honorary degrees from Columbia University, University of Marburg and Knox University. He also earned international recognition, including the Legion of Honor of France and an officer of the Rising Sun of Japan. At the age of 23, in 1879, he joined Tiffany & Company as a gem expert; he remained with the firm for the rest of his life.

Kunz was enormously productive. He was in charge of the mining exhibits at the Paris Exposition (1889), the Kimberley, South Africa, Exposition (1892), and the Chicago Columbian Exposition (1893) and was a special agent at the Paris Exposition (1900) and commissioner on radium at the St. Louis Exposition (1904). A gem collector and discoverer, he traveled the world in search of pearls and gemstones, which he sometimes named after his associates and patrons, calling one rare find tiffanyite, after Charles L. Tiffany, and another morganite, after J. Pierpont Morgan. Kunzite, a mineral, is named after him. He wrote prodigiously; a bibliography maintained by the Gemological Institute of America is 23 pages long. Among his books was Natal Stones, Sentiments, and Superstitions connected with Precious Stones, which was printed each year and given as gifts to customers of Tiffany & Co.

Kunz was active in a large number of social, literary, cultural, and religious organizations. Among these were the American Numismatic and Archeological Society (later the American Numismatic Society), Authors Club, Grolier Club, Century Association (also known as the Century Club), Union League Club, City History Club of New York, Church Club of New York, the Layman's Club of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, American Scenic and Historic Society for Preservation, and the New-York Historical Society. He was a founder of the Sulgrave Institution and the Museums of the Peaceful Arts in New York.

Beyond his ongoing professional and organizational work, Kunz was also active in a variety of single purpose initiatives, including the Hudson-Fulton Celebration Commission (1909), serving with Cornelius Vanderbilt on the Mayor's Committee for the Entertainment of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet (1915), president of the Joan of Arc Statue Committee (Riverside Park, 1915), and the Central Park Shakespeare Garden Committee (1915).

Kunz married Sophia Hanforth in 1879. They had two children. Sophia died in 1912. Kunz later married Opal Logan Giberson (1896?-1967); the marriage was annulled in 1929, though the couple continued to live together. Kunz maintained a country home in Mohegan Lake, Westchester County, New York, where he was Senior Warden of St. Mary's Church. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage in June 1932.

(This note was derived from various on-line sources, including Paul F. Kerr's memorial in "The American Mineralogist" of March 1933, a biographical note on the American Numismatic Society's website, Wikipedia, and others, as well as documents in the collection.)

Arrangement

The collection is organized alphabetically by correspondent, meaning the individual signing the letter, not, in the case of organizations, the name on the letterhead. It is unlikely that the arrangement precisely reflects Kunz's original order. At the close of the collection are a few dinner menus, receipts, and other printed formats.

Scope and Contents

The collection primarily includes over 2400 letters to George Frederick Kunz. The letters range across hundreds of correspondents, many of whom are represented by only one item. There are many letters from the 1880s-1890s, but most date from the early 1900s and into the 1920s, with a few from the last years of Kunz's life. The collection also holds some carbon copies of Kunz's outgoing letters. Kunz's intended replies or other disposition are noted in his hand on some of the letters; many of the letters also have shorthand notation on them, whether by Kunz or, perhaps more likely, a Tiffany secretary.

The subject matter ranges across Kunz's professional and personal interests. A sizable amount is fairly mundane, and includes acknowledgements of books received from Kunz, acceptances/regrets of invitations, courtesies, pleasantries, and letters of introduction or requests for them. Correspondence with publishers and editors comprise much of the correspondence, and this includes acceptances or rejections of proposed articles, editorial arrangements for publications, and the like. Requests of Kunz for information about gems and precious stones or providing him requested information is common. One of the most interesting documents in this regard was from the Burmese archaeologist Taw Sein Ko, who provided his paper on Burmese necromancy, with hand-drawn figures.

Much of the collection documents Kunz's involvement with an array of organizations. Letters request his financial support (including one from Helen Keller for the American Foundation for the Blind); for nomination to the Grolier, Century, or other club Kunz was affiliated with; and for invitations to events. More personal appeals to Kunz as mentor and patron are also documented here. These include women such as Laura Ivins, who in 1908 describes her work as a newspaper reporter in seeking Kunz's help in finding a position in the field in New York; and Isabelle Stone, who describes her struggles in 1906 to advance as a professor of physics. Along these lines, there is exceptional, extensive correspondence ranging from 1896 to 1924 with writer and editor Gardner C. Teall (1876-1956). In his letters, Teall describes his financial, health, and career struggles and his employment in various publishing houses (with Phelps Publishing, Robert Grier Cooke, House & Garden, and American Homes & Garden, among others); Kunz provides financial support, encouragement, job leads, and recommendations over the years.

The container list below provides a list of almost all correspondents in the collection. (Some are illegible or a few could not be fully discerned and so are in alphabetical "miscellaneous" folders.) To the extent that an individual correspondent was perceived by the processing archivist to be writing on behalf of an organization or was affiliated with an organization in some meaningful way in relation to the letter's content, an attempt was made during processing to identify that and include the organization's name in the container list as well. It is likely, however, that many such organizational references, particularly for routine invitations and the like, are not recorded in the container list.

Conditions Governing Access

Open to qualified researchers.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection is owned by the New-York Historical Society. The copyright law of the United States governs the making of photocopies and protects unpublished materials as well as published materials. Unpublished materials created before January 1, 1978 cannot be quoted in publication without permission of the copyright holder. Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to 20 exposures of stable, unbound material per day.

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as: George F. Kunz Papers, MS 358, The New-York Historical Society.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The collection was compiled from two sources: About 2100 items were purchased on November 21, 1939, at Parke-Bernet Galleries Sale 134 (lot 28). A donation of about 300 additional documents was received in August 1975 from E.L. Sampter.

Related Materials

N-YHS holds three additional George Kunz letters in its American Historical Manuscripts Collection. Call phrase for these letters is AHMC - Kunz, George F.

N-YHS also holds several books, pamphlets and other print matter authored by or related to Kunz. These can be found by searching on "Kunz" in Bobcat.

Beyond N-YHS, Kunz-related papers can be found at various institutions. A concise summary of several of these can be found at the blog "The Contributions of Frederick Kunz" though a Worldcat search will be more comprehensive.

Collection processed by

Alison Barr and Larry Weimer

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:47:50 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

At some point, likely in the 1980s, the 1975 accession of Kunz letters was interfiled with the collection purchased in 1939. All documents were refoldered and boxed, likely circa 2010.

The collection, though represented in N-YHS's card catalog and in a typed list of all correspondents in the collection that was compiled likely in the 1980s, was not included in N-YHS's on-line catalog. In early 2019, volunteer Alison Barr created an on-line inventory of correspondents, to which archivist Larry Weimer added additional details and front matter, resulting in this published finding aid. Weimer also created an on-line catalog record for the collection.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024