Finding Aid for the Charles G. Bell Collection (MUM00030)

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Finding Aid for the Charles G. Bell Collection

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Descriptive Summary
PURL:	http://purl.oclc.org/umarchives/MUM00030/
Title:	Charles G. Bell Collection
Dates:	1981 and undated
Collector:	Bell, Charles G. (Charles Greenleaf), 1916-2010
Physical Extent:	4 slide boxes
Repository:	University of Mississippi. Department of Archives and Special Collections. University, MS 38677, USA
Identification:	MUM00030
Location:	General Special Collections
Language of Material:	English
Abstract:	The collection chiefly contains slides depicting works of art. The slides were collected by Bell as part of his Symbolic History research.

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Administrative Information

Processing Information

Collection processed by Pamela Williamson, 2012. Finding aid encoded by Kathryn Michaelis, May 2012.

Additions

No further additions are expected to this collection.

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Subject Terms

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Formats

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Biographical Note

Charles Greenleaf Bell was born on Halloween 1916 in Greenville, Miss., the son of Judge Percy and Nona Bell. His lifelong passion for astronomy, geology, poetry, and the heights of tall trees began in childhood.

He attended the University of Virginia in 1933 and was a Rhodes Scholar as his focus expanded from physics to the humanities. He returned to the states in 1940 to begin his professional calling as an educator and writer. He taught at many universities and published two novels, three books of poetry, and an autobiography. The culmination of his vision was in his multimedia Symbolic History shows, which trace the evolution of Western Civilization through sight and sound.

Bell began collecting examples of symbolic history as early as 1939, but in Santa Fe, N.M. he created a series of lectures on the subject. His "shows," as he called them, used thousands of photographic slides and audio recordings to illustrate the works of artists as diverse as Pablo Picasso, Jelly Roll Morton, Rembrandt, Beethoven, Dylan Thomas, Gustave Flaubert, Igor Stravinsky, Walt Whitman, Edward Hopper, Marc Chagall and Joan Miró. This collection contains two of these slide-tape dramas, O Western Star (Whitman’s America) and Bach: Fort of post-Baroque.

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Scope and Content Note

The collection chiefly contains slides depicting works of art. The slides were collected by Bell as part of his Symbolic History research. Slide descriptions include the artist's name, date and title of the work, and (in most cases) location where the work is housed. Also included are two cassette tapes of Bell's multimedia Symbolic History presentations.

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User Information

Preferred Citation

Charles G. Bell Collection, Archives and Special Collections, J.D. Williams Library, The University of Mississippi

Access Restrictions

The Charles G. Bell Collection is open for research. This collection is stored at an off-site facility. Researchers interested in using this collection must contact Archives and Special Collections at least two business days in advance of their planned visit.

Copyright Restrictions

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

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Container List

Slide box 1

Symbolic History: A Study of the Western Arts. #24, Bach: Fort of post-Baroque

Scope: Items 1-57

Slide box 2

Symbolic History: A Study of the Western Arts. #24, Bach: Fort of post-Baroque

Scope: Items 58-80

Cassette 1

Symbolic History: A Study of the Western Arts. #24, Bach: Fort of post-Baroque, March 1981

Scope: Run time: 65 minutes

CPB 34.16

Script for Symbolic History: A Study of the Western Arts. #31: O Western Star (Whitman’s America)

Scope: 20 pages

Slide box 3	Symbolic History: A Study of the Western Arts. #31: O Western Star (Whitman’s America)
		Scope: 40 items
	3.1		Brady? Called 1849-50, Photograph of Whitman (Black cost 7 holding hat)
	3.2		Mathew Brady, c. 1862, Photograph of Whitman (white shirt, open collar)
	3.3		Thos. Cole 1833-6, The Savage State, N.Y. Historical Soc., NYC
	3.4		Robert Feke 1745, Rev. Thomas Hixcox, The Breakers, Newport, R.I.
	3.5		English c. 1670, portrait of John Clarke
	3.6		John Greenwood, c. 1757-8, Yankee Captains carouse in Surinam, St. Louis Art Mus.
	3.7		Colonial c. 1770-90?, State House, Annapolis, Md. (CGB ’60)
	3.8		John Copley, 1764, Nathaniel Sparhawk, Fine Arts Mus., Boston
	3.9		Copley, 1765-70, Paul Revere, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
	3.10		J. S. Copley, 1785, Youngest daughters of George III, det., Royal Col.
	3.11		Claude Lorrain, 1636, Seaport, detail, Uffizi, Florence
	3.12		William Hodges, 1775, Tahiti Revisited, National Mus., Greenwich, England
	3.13		Copley, 1778, Watson and the Shark, Nat. Gal., Wash. D.C.
	3.14		Middle Rhine c. 1410, Paradise Garden, det. left, Stad. Inst., Frankfurt
	3.15		Thomas Birch, c. 1830?, The Delaware near Philadelphia, Corcoran, Washington D.C.
	3.16		C.D. Friedrich, 1821, The Wreck of the Hope, Kunsthalle, Hamburg
	3.17		T. Gericault, 1818, Raft of the Medusa, study, Louvre, Paris
	3.18		Giovanni di Paolo c. 1440, Creation and Expulsion, Lehmann, Met., N.Y.
	3.19		Thos. Cole, 1828, Expulsion from Eden, Priv. Col., Boston
	3.20		Jean Fouquet c. 1453-5, St. Margaret, Hours of Etienne Chevalier, Louvre, Paris
	3.21		El Greco, c. 1610, Laocoon, det. Center, Nat. Gal., Wash., DC (CGB ’60)
	3.22		Jan Both c 1645, Rocky Landscape, Nat. Gal., London
	3.23		Magnasco c. 1720-30, Storm with fleeing monks, detail, Brera, Milan
	3.24		Constable 1802, The Vale of Dedham, National Gallery, Edinburgh
	3.25		Durand, 1849, Kindred Spirits, det., Public Library, NYC
	3.26		Washington Allston, before 1837, Ship in a squall, Fogg, Cambridge
	3.27		John Quidor, 1832, The Money Diggers, Brooklyn Museum, N.Y.
	3.28		Geo. Bingham 1851, Dan Boone leads pioneers through the Cumberland Gap, City Mus., St. Louis, Mo.
	3.29		G.C. Bingham, c. 1851, The County Election, City Art Mus., St. Louis
	3.30		Hogarth, c. 1754, Election Series, Chairing the Member, Soane Mus., London
	3.31		George Catlin, 1832, Pigeon’s Egg Head, Smithsonian, Washington, D.C.
	3.32		H.F. Darby, 1845, Rev. John Atwood and Family, Mus. Fine Arts, Boston
	3.33		Thomas Cole, 1840, The Architect’s Dream, Mus. Of Art, Toledo, Canada
	3.34		W.S. Mount, 1838, The Painter’s Triumph, Penn. Acad. Fine Arts, Phila.
	3.35		G.C. Bingham c. 1845, Fur Traders descending the Missouri, Met., NYC
	3.36		Thos. Eakins, 1871, Max Schmitt in a Single Scull, Met. Mus., NYC
	3.37		Altdorfer, 1510, Forest with St. George and Dragon, Alte Pinak., Munich
	3.38		A.B. Durand, 1855, In the Woods, Met. Mus., NYC
	3.39		A.J. Miller, 1850-60 (sketched 1837) Indian girl swinging, Walters, Balto.
	3.40		Wm. Page, 1843, Cupid and Psyche, J.D. Rockefeller III, N.Y.

Slide box 4	Symbolic History: A Study of the Western Arts. #31: O Western Star (Whitman’s America)
		Scope: Items 41-80
	4.41		Julia M. Cameron, c. 1870, Photo of herself
	4.42		Fred. Church, 1860, Twilight in the Wilderness, Mus. of Art, Cleveland
	4.43		Horation Greenough c. 1840?, Washington, det., Smithsonian, Washington D.C.
	4.44		Wm. Rimmer, c. 1869, The Fall of Day, Mus. Of Fine Arts, Boston
	4.45		Emanuel Leutze 1851, Washington Crossing the Delaware, Met. Mus. N.Y.
	4.46		Winslow Homer, 1866, Prisoners from the Front, Net. Mus., N.Y.C.
	4.47		D.G. Blythe, 1863, Libby Prison, Mus. of Fine Arts, Boston
	4.48		Alex. Gardner, Ap. 9, 1865 Photograph of Lincoln, Kunhardt Collection
	4.49		Greek Doric, late 5th c.B.C.?, Temple of Poseidon, Cape Sounion, Attica
	4.50		Ante Bellum, 1861, ruins of ‘Windsor” near Port Gibson, Miss.
	4.51		E. Johnson, 1859, Old Kentucky Home, N.Y. Histor. Society, N.Y.C.
	4.52		Winslow Homer, 1877, The Carnival, Met. Mus., N.Y.C.
	4.53		Currier and Ives, 1868, “Westward the course of Empire…”. Roy King Col’n, N.Y.
	4.54		American, 1870’ Reckless Driving (where?)
	4.55		Frank B. Meyer, 1858, Independence (Squire Jack Porter), Smithsonian, Wash. D.C.
	4.56		Winslow Homer c. 1872, The Nooning, det., Wadworth Atheneum, Hartford, Conn.
	4.57		G.C. Bingham c. 1845, Fur Traders descending the Missouri, det.; Met., N.Y.C.
	4.58		Wm. Blake, c. 1806-9, Great Red Dragon and Woman, Museum, Brooklyn, N.Y.
	4.59		Goya, 1791, The Little Giants, Tapestry Cartoon, Prado, Madrid
	4.60		Goya, 1820-3, Pilgrims of San Isidro, detail, Prado, Madrid
	4.61		Goya, 1824-28, “Aun prendo”, black chalk drawing, Prado, Madrid
	4.62		Winslow Homer, 1864, Croquet Scene, Art Institute, Chicago
	4.63		Winslow Homer, 1899, The Gulf Stream, Art Institute , Chicago
	4.64		J.M.W. Turner, 1840, Slave Ship, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
	4.65		Turner, 1836-7, Avalance, Valley of Aosta, Art Inst., Chicago
	4.66		A.P. Ryder, 1890, Jonah, Smithsonian, Washington, D.C.
	4.67		Winslow Homer, 1896, The Lookout – All’s Well, Mus. Fine Arts, Boston
	4.68		J.M. Whistler, 1864, Symphony in White No.2, det., Tate Gal., London
	4.69		Raphael Peale, 1823, After the Bath, Nelson-Atkins Gal., Kansas City, Mo.
	4.70		G. Courbet, 1866, Laziness and Sensuality, Petit Palais, Paris
	4.71		Thomas Eakins, 1883, Swimming Hole, Art Center, Fort Worth, Texas
	4.72		T. Eakins, 1908, William Rush and his Model, Acad. Of Arts, Honolulu
	4.73		J.F. Millet, 1850, The Sower, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
	4.74		Edouard Manet, 1877, The Suicide, Emil Buehrle Collection, Zurich
	4.75		I. Repin, 1885, Ivan the Terrible and his Son, Tretyakov Gal., Moscow
	4.76		Cezanne, c. 1890?, Coat on a Chair, Private Collection
	4.77		V. Van Gogh, 1888, The Sower, det. Of son, Kröller-Müller, Otterlo
	4.78		F.E. Church c.1860?, Morning in the Tropics, Nat. Gal., Wash., D.C.
	4.79		Blakelock, c. 1885, Moonlight, Brooklyn Museum, N.Y.
	4.80		Walt Whitman, phot c. 1887 by Cox, “The Laughing Philosopher”, Rutgers Univ.

Cassette 2

Symbolic History: A Study of the Western Arts. #31: O Western Star (Whitman’s America), 1981

Scope: Run time: 90 minutes