Virtual Discoveries: The Frick Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America

Midsummer Greetings! Once again, I write from a cluttered desk, with hopes of achieving a sense of tidyness, if not order. Today's intended task was cleaning up the avalanche of electronic bookmarks with which I have deluged my "Del.ic.ious" account--a handy tool for stashing bookmarks for websites.

I set out with good, good intentions. I log into Del.ic.ious, which fortunately saved my passwords and set right out to do some editing, tagging, refining.

I am immediately distracted. The first item on my list of unsorted bookmarks is for CRSA, the Catalogue Raisonné Scholars Association. (That fluttering sound you detect is my librarian heart--an association for that most valuable of genres? The Catalogue Raisonne!) I take a moment to skim the latest issue of their forum, and must explore, at once, the topic of a major article in the issue, The Frick Collection: Archives Directory for the History of Collecting.

What is the Archives Directory for the History of Collecting? As described on the site, it is a "resource created to help researchers locate primary source material about American collectors, dealers, agents and advisors, and the repositories that hold these records."

Besides being able to search and browse this database, another valuable feature is the timeline. Have a look here: http://research.frick.org/directoryweb/timeline.php

I'm quite interested in the possible uses of this resource--it seems very flexible in terms of helping a novice quickly understand major figures in American art collecting as well as the expert in rapidly determining which archives to consult.

Nicely done! A bibliographic salute to Frick!

Now, let's see what other gems are waiting for me in my del.ic.ious account!

Rebecca