Tucked away on the second floor of the Museum, the Walter & Leonore Annenberg Research Center is a treasure trove of scholarship, books, and special collections. The collection includes unique resources related to a variety of American art and artists, with special emphasis on illustration, the Wyeth family, and the Brandywine School. The Research Center’s Archives and Special Collections contain materials such as manuscripts, photographs, scrapbooks, and audiovisual materials pertaining to the Museum’s collection of fine art. Special Collections also preserve rare, illustrated books and periodicals that provide evidence of the historical record of illustrators’ published works.

To make these holdings more accessible to the public, the Research Center recently launched two new online databases for its collections: a library-centric catalog for books and other monographs; as well as ArchivesSpace for its archival collections and finding aids.

The library catalog, known as Koha, functions in the same way many other public-access library databases do, offering researchers the ability to search the Research Center’s collection of art books, exhibition catalogues, and rare books. This database is web-based, enabling anyone to search from anywhere in the world. ArchivesSpace is also a web-based information management system, but it focuses on archival material within the Research Center’s Special Collections. These archives are cataloged with detailed finding aids to help researchers locate information more readily. Both databases are a stepping-stone in our strategic goal of raising the profile of Brandywine’s Research Center and increasing the discoverability of the truly unique items we steward.

This is the first time that Brandywine has published online catalogs of its library collections or its finding aids to the public. These resources greatly increase the opportunities for scholars to utilize the collections in the advancement of research—from Maxfield Parrish’s home “The Oaks,” to the card file collection of Charles Scribner’s Sons Manhattan offices, to Carolyn Wyeth’s childhood drawings—all of these and more are topics that the databases help to unlock for study. While the physical collection does not circulate to outside patrons, all materials are available to view by appointment. Researchers can make an appointment by either filling out an appointment scheduling form through Brandywine’s website or by contacting the Research Center Manager. Both catalogs are still “works in progress," so keep an eye on them as we continue to upload more rare book collections, process archival backlog, and add new acquisitions.

For more information, please contact the Research Center Manager at [email protected].