Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Mary Margaret Sittig research material on Louis Prang, 1860-1978, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.sittmary
Creators:
Sittig, Mary Margaret
Dates:
1860-1978
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
3.5 Linear feet
Repository:
Art historian Mary Margaret Sittig's research material on Louis Prang dates from 1860 to 1978 and measures 3.5 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical material for Louis Prang and for Mary Margaret Sittig, collected letters from various members of the Prang family, and scattered letters to Sittig from friends. Additional collected research materials include scattered personal business records for Louis Prang and his wife, notes and writings, art work, printed material, and photographs.

Scope and Content Note

Scope and Content Note
Art historian Mary Margaret Sittig's research material on Louis Prang dates from 1860 to 1978 and measures 3.5 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical material for Louis Prang and for Mary Margaret Sittig, collected letters from various members of the Prang family, and scattered letters to Sittig from friends. Additional collected research materials include scattered personal business records for Louis Prang and his wife, notes and writings, art work, printed material, and photographs.
Biographical material concerning Louis Prang includes a record book and genealogy listing Prang family members, ephemera, and scattered family papers. Biographical material concerning Mary Margaret Sittig includes resumes, a photograph of Sitting, and scattered ephemera. Letters primarily consist of scattered communications between miscellaneous Prang family members, and a few business-related letters. Letters to Mary Margaret Sittig are primarily from friends and discuss her research activities. Personal business records consist of an account book for Louis Prang's wife, Rosa, and miscellaneous receipts for Louis Prang.
Notes and writings primarily consist of photocopies of research material on Louis Prang collected by Mary Margaret Sittig and include a typescript of her thesis L. Prang and Company, Fine Art Publishers. Art work consists of ink drawings, watercolor sketches, an etching, a block print, and an oil painting on fabric.
Printed material concerning Louis Prang includes clippings, commercial lithographs of book illustrations, chromolithographs of ceramics from the Walters Collection, and printed reproductions of work by others.
Photographs are of Louis Prang, his wives Rosa Prang and Mary Dana Hicks Prang, miscellaneous Prang family members, and of scattered art work. There is also the Prang Family Photograph Album that contains annotations, but no photographs.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged as 7 series:
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: Biographical Material, 1881-1973 (Box 1; 10 folders)
  • Series 2: Letters, 1864-1974 (Box 1; 23 folders)
  • Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1875-1917 (Box 1; 2 folders)
  • Series 4: Notes and Writings, 1890-1978 (Box 1; 16 folders)
  • Series 5: Art Work, circa 1880 (Box 1; 9 folders)
  • Series 6: Printed Material, 1866-1972 (Box 1-8; 2.5 linear feet)
  • Series 7: Photographs, 1860-1957 (Box 3, 7; 6 folders)

Biographical Note

Biographical Note
Mary Margaret Sittig was a doctoral student at George Washington University in Washington D.C. working on a dissertation about the life and work of Boston lithographer Louis Prang (1824-1909), often referred to as the "father of the American Christmas card." Sittig completed her Master's theses L. Prang and Company, Fine Art Publishers in 1970, but died before completing her doctoral dissertation.
In 1864, Prang visited Europe to study the latest techniques in German lithography. He returned to Boston to create high quality reproductions of major works of art using a lithographic process he called "chromos." In 1874, he began producing greeting cards for the popular market in England and began selling the Christmas card in the United States the next year. Also in 1874, Prang began publishing books for drawing and elementary art study for public schools. This latter activity proved so successful that he formed the Prang Educational Company in 1882.

Administration

Author
Jean Fitzgerald
Provenance
The papers were donated by Mary Margaret Sittig's brother James C. Sittig in 2001, in memory of Charlotte, Edgar, and Mary Sittig.
Processing Information
The collection was processed by Jean Fitzgerald in December 2010.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Mary Margaret Sittig research material on Louis Prang, 1860-1978. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Restrictions on Access
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Terms of Use
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.

Related Material
The Archives also holds the Louis Prang papers, 1848-1932.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Watercolors Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Prints Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lithographers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Greeting cards industry Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Chromolithography Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art historians -- Pennsylvania Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Etchings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lithography Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Paintings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Drawings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Prang, Louis, 1824-1909 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
L. Prang & Co. Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Heinzen, Rosa Prang Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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