Making of Virginia Architecture Collection

Access and use

Location of collection:
Virginia Commonwealth University, Cabell Library
James Branch Cabell Library
Virginia Commonwealth University
P.O. Box 842003
901 Park Avenue
Richmond, VA 23284-2003
Contact for questions and access:
POC: SCA Staff
Phone: (804) 828-1108
Fax: (804) 828-0151
Restrictions:

Collection is open to research.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Making of Virginia Architecture Collection, Collection Number M 383 , Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va.

Summary

Extent:
4 Linear Feet
Creator:
Brownell, Charles E.
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Making of Virginia Architecture Collection, Collection Number M 383 , Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va.

Background

Scope and content:

Records were collected from 1988 to 1994 by Dr. Brownell in the course of researching and writing the book, and preparing for the exhibition. The bulk of the material consists of notes and correspondence related to chapter 6 of the book, "The Survey: A Selection of Virginia Architectural Drawings, Studies, Models 1719-1990". This chapter contains detailed histories and architectural plans of Virginia buildings and monuments. Folder names beginning with "catalogue entry" refer to entries in chapter 6, and correspond either to the buildings themselves or to their designers.

The collection includes drafts of Dr. Brownell's Chapter 2, "Laying the Groundwork: The Classical Tradition and Virginia Architecture, 1770-1870", and his contribution to Chapter 4 (Part 2, "Architectural Drawings and Design, 1770-1870"). There are chapter drafts by William M. S. Rasmussen and Richard Guy Wilson as well.

The collection contains correspondence among the authors and institutional curators regarding loan requests for the VMFA exhibition. Museum and repository sources used for both the book and exhibition are also included.

Biographical / historical:

The book, or catalogue, "The Making of Virginia Architecture", was published in 1992 and co-authored by Charles E. Brownell, Calder Loth, William M. S. Rasmussen, and Richard Guy Wilson. The genesis of the project occurred years earlier, when the authors concluded that Virginia's principal artistic achievement was architecture, and decided to write a catalogue that documented the range and variety of architecture in Virginia.

The book was a companion to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts exhibition entitled The Making of Virginia Architecture: Drawings and Models, 1719-1990, which ran November 10, 1992 to January 3, 1993. The original VMFA exhibition name was alternatively referred to as "Architectural Drawing in Virginia" and "Virginia's Architectural Drawing" (VAD), and the exhibition was postponed in 1988 and 1990; hence references in the collection to these different names, abbreviations, and dates.

For their publication, the authors were presented with the Architectural Exhibition Catalogue Award in 1993 by The Society of Architectural Historians "in recognition of its excellence, having been judged the outstanding catalogue of an architectural history exhibition published in 1992".

Acquisition information:
The collection was donated to Special Collections and Archives in December 2009 by Dr. Charles Brownell.
Arrangement:

Materials in the collection are arranged according to their original order.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard