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William G. Butler photography collection

Call Number

PR 425

Date

1875-2015, inclusive

Creator

Butler, William G., 1945-2020 (Role: Collector)

Extent

2 Linear feet in five boxes and one flat folder.

Language of Materials

The documents in the collection are in English.

Abstract

The William G. Butler photography collection, collected by William G. Butler, consists primarily of photographs of New York City from 1890-2015. The earliest document in the collection, from 1875, is a page from an Ulster County atlas.

Biographical / Historical

This photography collection was created by William G. Butler, art and photography collector. He has also donated part of his collection to the Palm Springs Art Museum, which showed a curation of his donations in a 2019 exhibit "Contemporary Sublime: The Photographic Collecting of William G. Butler".

Arrangement

In this collection each item is arranged first by date in chronological order, then by title in alphabetical order. Although oversized photographs are housed separately from the rest of the collection, they are arranged by the previously stated parameters.

Scope and Contents

The William G. Butler photography collection consists primarily of vintage photographs of New York City collected by Butler. Many of the photographs were taken for publication and originally owned by newspicture agencies or press associations. The content of the photographs is varied, however many are views of cityscapes or street scenes and city life. The majority of the photographs are silver gelatin prints. While some artists are known, the collection does not consist of a series by any particular artist. Many of the photographs seem to have been titled by a third party rather than the photographer and are bracketed in this finding aid to distinguish them as later additions. The collection also includes a small number of non-photographic pictorial works. The container list includes a complete item level inventory of the collection.

Access Restrictions

Open to qualified researchers by appointment only.

Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please contact printroom@nyhistory.org prior to your research visit to coordinate access. Keep in mind that it will take between two (2) and five (5) business days for collections to arrive, and you should plan your research accordingly.

Use Restrictions

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff. Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation

The collection should be cited as: William G. Butler photography collection, PR425, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, New-York Historical Society.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift, estate of William G. Butler, 2021.

Collection processed by

Sydney Bebon

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:47:51 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

Processed by Sydney Bebon in June 2021.

Repository

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