Jayne Wrightsman: Bibliophile Extraordinaire
Kenneth Soehner, Arthur K. Watson Chief Librarian
Mrs. Wrightsman was a generous donor of books to Watson Library for many years. Her support of the library is without doubt the least heralded aspect of her exceptional generosity to the Museum, but its impact is significant and her beneficence is equally appreciated. Mrs. Wrightsman surrounded herself with important works of art, but she also lived among books ranging from suites of prints, illustrated books, and extraordinary bindings, to current publications in history and art. She must have received multiple parcels of books each day, sent by her many friends. Every month or so for a number of years, the library would receive a call to expect a delivery of books. Most often her gifts were a selection of contemporary publications and exhibition catalogues received from many sources; some contained inscriptions expressing admiration and gratitude to her, and all contained her bookplate.
Mrs. Wrightsman's bookplate
In addition to a steady flow of current publications, Mrs. Wrightsman would often send notice that she would be donating a copy of an especially costly book so that we could direct our funds elsewhere. This was the case just last year when she called to say she was sending a copy of Giles Barber's two-volume catalogue, Catalogue of Printed Books and Bookbindings: The James A. de Rothschild Bequest at Waddeson Manor (2013). This catalogue is the most lavish, scholarly, and detailed work on the subject, and the gift expresses Mrs. Wrightsman's attentiveness to new publications, her great interest in French bindings, and her insight into the needs of the library.
I was especially pleased when Mrs. Wrightsman placed orders for the important volumes that fell within the library's collection scope from the Roxburghe Club, of which she was a member; it is the oldest society of bibliophiles in the world, with a membership limited to forty. Horace Walpole's A Description of the Villa at Strawberry-Hill (2010) is an essential publication for the library, as is The Lumley Inventory and Pedigree (2010), both of which are costly and not the easiest to obtain.
The boxes from Mrs. Wrightsman offered many happy surprises. She knew Saint Petersburg, its museums, and neighboring palaces very well, and her gifts included numerous books on this subject. A few years ago one of the boxes contained Souvenir de St. Pétersbourg (1880). Compiled in the early 1880s, it consists of twenty-four albumen prints mounted on twelve leaves of stiff card, all hinged with blocked and gilded blue cloth, with white moiré-silk endpapers. One can understand that both the subject and the presentation of the photographs appealed to her.
More than twenty years ago one of her unanticipated gifts contained Thomas Chippendale's The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director (1762). It is the third and most important edition of this landmark publication of the cabinetmaker's book of his designs, and a highly appropriate gift from her. About eight years ago a well-packed and weighty folio accompanied the regular batch of recently published books. We were delighted to receive Le sacre de Louis XV, roy de France & de Navarre, dans l'église de Reims, le dimanche XXV octobre MDCCXXII (1723). The engravings, mainly after drawings by P. Dulin, were made by Cochin, Larmessin, and a number of other distinguished engravers. Mrs Wrightsman's copy—in a contemporary gold-tooled binding with marbled endpapers—was far superior to the copy we already owned. It was an especially fortuitous gift because our former director, Tom Campbell, then a curator of European decorative arts, was planning the installation of his landmark exhibition Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor (2007). He wanted to include two double-page illustrations from this publication, which demonstrates the use of tapestries in ceremonial occasions. Of course it is impossible to display two openings from one book, but with Mrs. Wrightsman's gift he could show the impressive plate "Le couronnement du roy," along with another illustration from Watson's first copy.
More recently, we received a book on a subject that is generally out of scope for the library, Méthode de nomenclature chimique: proposée par MM. de Morveau, Lavoisier, Bertholet, & de Fourcroy (1787). Mrs. Wrightsman recognized this book as one of the key publications of Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, the subject, along with his wife, of David's great portrait given to the Museum by the Wrightsmans in 1977. One of the principal books in the history of modern chemistry, Mrs. Wrightsman felt that the library should have a copy because of its association with the father of modern chemistry, and because it clearly added another dimension to the research and understanding of this extraordinary portrait.
Many of Mrs. Wrightman's gifts have exceptional bindings, but it was not until 2008 that she gave a significant number of books with finely decorated bindings. This donation originated in a conversation that took place nearly a decade before. The beloved curator James Parker, who organized the first installation of the Museum's Wrightsman Rooms, invited me to lunch with Mrs. Wrightsman and a few other friends and colleagues. During our conversation I asked about her interest in fine bindings, and it was clear that I touched a subject about which she was both passionate and knowledgeable. We had a brief exchange and then the conversation turned elsewhere. Nearly ten years later I received a call from her. She remembered the discussion and my interest in bindings and asked if the library would like to receive a selection from her collection. She was closing up her apartment in London and it was an opportunity for her to donate some of the works of art she had there. In the early summer of 2008, forty-eight books arrived with a great variety of decorated bindings from the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries, many with royal and magistrate arms, and all in the finest condition.
Chez Marcilly. L'ami des voyageurs, ou, Etrennes instructives, curieuses et nécessaires à toutes les personnes qui voyagent, soit à pied, à cheval, en voiture, ou par eau : soit par les voitures publiques, etc. etc., ca. 1820. Paris, France. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Jayne Wrightsman, 2009 (G150 .A45 1820)
All of us in the library were pleased and uplifted by this generous gift. Philippe de Montebello, then director, and Ian Wardropper, then chairman of the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, both knew that the Museum lacked significant decorated bindings and that this contribution was an important step in building a representative collection. About six weeks after the first gift, Mrs. Wrightsman called to thank me for my acknowledgment of her kindness. I recall vividly her comment, "You wrote such a nice letter to me. Would you like some more bindings for the library?" I was a bit stunned, but of course replied in the affirmative and thanked her once again for her outstanding generosity. A few days later seventeen books arrived with a similarly remarkable range of decorated bindings, all with distinguished provenance.
In addition to her many other exceptional collecting interests, Mrs. Wrightsman was a great bibliophile and understood very well the role of the library in the intellectual and scholarly life of the Museum. She was informed and passionate about her illustrated books and bindings. Her long-term interest in the library was a source of inspiration, her telephone calls and notes were always heartening and often wonderfully humorous, and her beneficence enriched our collection immeasurably.