Large, important manuscript archive of essays, presentations, class notes, book and lesson plan drafts, and illustrations by the artist-educator Conrad Rossi-Diehl (1842-1933).

N.p.: N.p., [1880-1925]. This impressive and important archive consists of over 1,500 manuscript pages and more than 850 hand-drawn illustrations, by Rossi-Diehl between the 1880s and 1925. Included are complete manuscripts, drafts of manuscripts, lesson plans and notes, designs, teachers’ aids, and miscellaneous papers relating to art education, especially what Rossi-Diehl called Form – Language, along with geometric designs, the art of Nature (for instance, the Acanthus leaf), and other rather esoteric art-related subjects. Rossi-Diehl often quotes Goethe and other philosophers, and cites biblical references, as he attempts to explain his concept of art and its meaningfulness to mankind and his belief that Nature is art’s pure form. Also included in the collection are four writings by Rossi-Diehl regarding social issues, war and politics, and two interesting “letters” addressed to Samuel L. Clemens and the director of the Leopold Schepp Foundation (both listed below under Miscellaneous). Contents;Conrad Rossi-Diehl (1842-1933) was born in Bavaria but came to the United States as a young boy with his parents in 1848 where the family settled in Philadelphia. His artistic talents were recognized early and resulted in his studying art in Germany and Paris, where he concentrated on fresco painting and elements of design. Returning to the United States around 1868, Rossi-Diehl taught at the Chicago Academy of Design and later at the St. Louis Art School. From 1879 to 1885 he taught art at the Missouri State University. He relocated to New York in 1886 where he taught at the Hebrew Technical Institute and perfected his course in freehand work. He and John Ward Stimson established the Artist Artisan Institute (New-York Institute for Artist-Artisans), where Rossi-Diehl directed the drawing and design classes and taught craft as an artform. He was a strong believer in the notion that manufactured products should contain an artistic nature. He prepared drafts for numerous books, manuals, and articles on design, ornament and anatomy for artists and how to teach art. However, no copies of his published work were located. Perhaps they were intended to be used at the various institutions where he taught. He also found time to obtain two patents on devices for teaching drawing. His own artwork seemed to be focused on allegorical and literary subjects, such as scenes from Shakespeare. [See the on-line article on Rossi-Diehl by the Graphic Arts Collection of Princeton and a biography under his name on WorthPoint.]The illustrations included in the collection were drawn or cut-out for illustrating Rossi-Diehl’s various drafts of art education texts. They consist primarily of designs (floral and geometric), diagrams and charts. Several sketches are also included.Incidentally, the only records for Conrad Rossi-Deihl to be found on OCLC are 18 original works of art. Sadly this means that all of his real contributions to art and art history and education were lost to history until this archive reared its interesting head. Perhaps there are publishable manuscripts among all of the many to be found in this archive but at the very least this archive would provide students a much clearer picture of art education and thought in the 19th century. The following is a brief listing of the various manuscripts in the Rossi-Diehl collection being offered here.ART & ART EDUCATIONAdvisement, Obsolete (Dic). Seven-page manuscript relating, in part, to “the only teachable Form-System thus far known… Geometry, or that part of the Science of Learning, called Mathematics…” Written on 7 x 9 inch lined paper..Art – Its Mission and its Missionaries. Twenty-seven (27) page manuscript written in ink on 5 x 8 inch pager tied together with string through two punched holes on the left side. The manuscripts ends abruptly in mid-sentence at the end of page 27. Rossi-Diehl begins this essay, “The first Art – Effort was made by man to satisfy an innate demand, which the conscious mind sums up in the sense of the Beautiful. The Beautiful may be defined as the ever-recurring manifestation of that inscrutable law ‘the eternal fitness of things’, or Harmony.”Art – Industry and Manual Training. Eight-page manuscript written on 7 x 9 inch paper, tied together with string. “Art – Industry is either a misleading denomination, or it is an entirely meaningless compound term… Manual Training is the natural concomitant of Art – Education, where discipine in the Acquirement of Skill must go hand in hand with firm grounding in Art – Knowledge.”Art Exercises w/Drawings. Two separate multi-page art exercises with geometric drawings. totaling (15 + 8 pp) twenty-three (23) pages.Design, or Form Composition. Thirty-two (32) page manuscript, including illustrations. Text written in ink on 5.5 x 9 inch paper. The manuscript starts out, “All the forms of the Universe, known to man, enter into Design: sun, moon and star; cloud, wave and cristal [sic]; leaf, flower and fruit; fish, fowl and beast; and last – but not least – the human form divine. All these subjects must be studied from nature – not from Text-Books; unless this be done in order to learn what man has recorded about them. The Text-Book must be a reliable guide to the student, for the study of nature… A Design is an arrangement of Forms; or of Colors; or of both Forms and Colors. It is made to be executed in hard substances, such as wood, stone, metal, &c; in pliable materials such as leather, linen silk, &c; or to be applied to a fabric or a surface, for its embellishment.”Divine Art, as Reflected by Human Art; or Universal Form – Utterance and Human Languages, Contrasted / An Appeal to the American People on behalf of their Material and Educational Interests. One-hundred-twenty-six (126) page manuscript written in Rossi-Diehl’s hand but with “By Philo Rackstone… 1911” on a cover board. We find no reference to a Philo Rackstone, so this may be a non de plume? Written on 7 x 9 inch paper stock.Elementary Course in the Art of Perspective – Drawing or Space – Construction without the use of Vanishing – Points. One hundred (100) page manuscript (including over 30 pages with illustrations) signed by Conrad Rossi-Diehl and datelined Hoboken [N.J.] August 8, 1903. The title page has a note, “This booklet is the property of Mignon / Hoboken September 7, 1903”. Written on 6 x 9 inch sheets of paper. The loose pages are inserted into an envelope titled, “Elementary Course in Perspective / Original Text. (46 Cuts to be inserted)”.  A Few Words of Interest, Encouragement, and Assurance. Forty-one (41) page manuscript, with additional writing on the back of several pages. Written on lined paper measuring approximately 8 x 10 inches, tied together with string. The manuscript begins, “Free-Hand Construction develops skill in the practice of those processes that are the carriers of all free handiwork, whilst imparting that particular knowledge which underlies the practical performance of any useful task whatever.” Form – Construction and Geometry, Compared. An Epitomized General Form – Treatise. A three-page (plus title sheet) treatise on 8 x 10.5 inch paper, held together with string and a brass fastener.Form Language. Grammar of Design / Form – Composition [1888]. Seventy-one (71) page manuscript of text and many original illustrations. Signed by Rossi-Diehl and datelined New York City, October 3rd, 1888. Written in ink on 8 x 9.75 inch paper with the illustrations cut out and laid down. His Introduction begins, “Ornamentation is the most primitive as well as the most exalted expression of the innate sense of the Beautiful. It is that branch of the Fine Arts in which man is purely creative.”Form Language [1895]. Fifty-five (55) page manuscript, with additional writing on the backs of several pages, written on 8 x 12.5 inch paper, tied together with string. Signed by Rossi-Diehl and date-lined New York City, July 16, 1895, with a note: “The drawings should be greatly enlarged”. The drawings referenced are not included within the tied bundle. The document contains eight parts, following a one-page Introduction: Form – Study (pp 2-15); The Germ – Element (pp 16-21); Secondary Ellipses (pp 22-24); Focal Activity in Living Mechanics – The Movement of the Arm (pp 24-28); The Volute, or Vital Form – Element (pp 28-30); Constructive Geometry – The Circle and Hexagony (pp 31-40); Geometric Facts and Operations (pp 41-53); and Warped Surfaces (pp 54-55).Form Language [1908]. Thirty-three (33) page manuscript written in pencil on 7 x 9 inch lined paper. Signed by Rossi-Diehl and datelined Glen Ridge, N.J., July 21, 1908. Contains an introduction [X pp]; a section titled The Structural Sphere (6 pp); and Chapters 1 & 2 (17 pp). This version begins, “Form – Language is the Universal Utterance of Nature in whose vocabulary Man – single or collective; physically, mentally, and spiritually stands recorded in a single Form – Word.”[Form Language] Synopsis of Contents. Ten-page table of contents for one edition of Rossi-Diehl’s Form – Language. The title sheet states, “Synopsis of Contents, presenting an Epitomized Generalization in the Particular, of what is Comprehended by Form – Language as applied to the Arts useful and refining.” Written on 7 x 9 inch ruled paper, tied at the top through two punched holes with ribbon.“Geometry”. Twenty-five (25) page manuscript, plus four various drafts of portions of the text, for a total of 47 pages. With original titled envelope.Grammar of Form – Language. For the use of Teachers and for Self-Instruction. Manuscript draft of approximately 100 pages, signed by “Conrad Diehl. Columbia, Mo.”, held together with thread through holes on the left side margin. Rossi-Diehl states, “It is the design of this work to formulate and clearly to define a system by which the Language of Form may be made comprehensible to the mind of the child, so that it may learn to interpret Nature and Art for itself, and thereby attain to the power of consciously performing tasks, till now unconscious, by performed by many who labor in the domains of Industry and Art.” Includes four additional pages (pp 47-50) that differ slightly from those same pages in the draft.Illustrated Design Booklet. Twenty-four pages, measuring 12 x 8.75 inches, of which 13 have design illustrations laid down. The pages are numbered 1 through 24. Most likely these illustrations relate to Rossi-Diehl’s various versions of Form – Language or other writings that call for figures.Illustrated Design Booklets, # [4], 5, 6, 7 & 8 (pp 21-119, + [1]. Total of 100 pages. Arranged by Conrad Rossi-Deihl. Each booklet measures 7.75 x 10.5 inches; stiff, brown paper wraps, except for # [4], pages 21-40, which has no covers. Designs laid down on each page. Most likely these illustrations relate to Rossi-Diehl’s various versions of Form – Language or other writings that call for figures.Normals – Tangency. Six pages of manuscript notes written in pencil on 6 x 9 inch paper held together with a straight pin. Concerns notes on angles, reflections, and the like.Notes, Designs & Partial Documents. Over one-hundred-twenty (120+) pages of manuscript notes, drawings and partial documents written and drawn by Rossi-Diehl. Some appear to be draft portions of his writings for art education, classroom, and art teacher use.The Portent of Human Art and Art-Forms. Supplemented by a Treatise of The Single Acanthus Leaf. Nineteen-page manuscript written on 8 x 12.5 inch lined paper, tied together with string. The essay begins, “Human Art-Activity is a reflex of Divine Creative Power. Thus, human Art is the sum total of man’s productiveness in all that is useful and refining; or true and good, beautiful and elevating.”Refining Art: Its Nature and Essentials. One hundred-eleven pages, plus [8], signed by Rossi-Diehl and datelined Glen Ridge, N.J. 1914. A note on the top of an old folder cover sheet states, Outgrowth of the so-called “Single Acanthus – Leaf”. Written on 8.25 x 12.5 inch sheets of paper. Illustrations laid down throughout.The Refining Arts: Their Scope and Limitations. Eleven-page manuscript written on 7 x 9 inch paper, held together with string through two holes at the top. Partial defense of manual arts as part of the whole of Art.Revised Course in Manual Training, New York City Schools. Four pages outlining six years of course work, including free-hand drawing, imaginative drawing, design, constructive and cut work, figure sketching, modeling, color shop work, and drafting.The Single Acanthus Leaf in Particular, and Art – Foliation in General, with Due Regard to Generic Art – Forms and the All-Governing Law of Harmony. Seventy-nine (79) pages, some with illustrations laid down, signed by Rossi-Diehl and datelined Glen Ridge, N.J., 1913. Written on 8.25 x 12.5 inch sheets of paper.The Single so-called Acanthus Leaf in Particular, and Art – Foliage in General, with Due Regard to the All-Governing Law of Harmony. Ninety-eight (98) pages, several with illustrations laid down, signed by Conrad Rossi-Diehl and datelined Glen Ridge, N.J., 1913. A cover sheet has a note above the title, “Translated from the German”. Written on 8 x 12.5 inch sheets of paper.[Skeletal drawings[ Figures 5 & 6. Two 9.25 x 22 inch printed renditions of the human skeleton originally hand-drawn by Conrad Rossi-Diehl in 1887 and printed in 1888. Figure 5 has a split along the middle horizontal fold; Figure 6 has been separated along that middle horizontal fold.  “Syllabus”. Form – Study, Art, Drawing: Primary Schools – Grades 1A to 8B. Forty-five (45) cursive + 8 typed pages outlining Rossi-Diehl’s course of art and drawing study for young folks. With original titled envelope.Text to Course in Free-Hand Construction / A Few Words of Encouragement and Assurance. Fifty-two (52) page manuscript that was in an envelope with the penciled note on the outside, “Course – Free Hand Construction / Original (Text) VOID”. This draft most likely was updated by the 101-page manuscript in the following entry.Text to Course in Free Hand Form – Construction / A Few Words of Encouragement and Assurance. One-hundred-one (101) page manuscript with illustrations laid down throughout. Written on one side of 8 x 10 inch sheets of paper. This manuscript was housed in a brown envelope with a penciled “Text to Course in Free-Hand Form Construction (101 Pages. Complete.)” written on the outside.“Treaties on Form Construction”. Thirty-five (35) page handwritten manuscript, with a few drawings, by Rossi-Diehl datelined “X-Mas Day, Glen Ridge, N.J.”. Page 1 is titled Part II Practical Requirements, and starts out, “Anyone who can make a lineal drawing fairly well – Freehand, is in position to do the same accurately with the aid of instruments; and in this connection, Mechanical Drawing is barely worthy of mention.” With original titled envelope.[Untitled re Form – Study and Art]. Eight handwritten pages written on 5.5 x 9 inch paper, signed by Conrad Rossi-Diehl at the end with this note, “These pages are dedicated to the Teacher and Student of Form-Study and Art. July 29 – 1901”. This document is numbered IV through XI, so apparently the first three pages are missing, although page IV starts up with the beginning of a premise.SOCIAL ISSUES, WAR & POLITICSAmerican Preparedness: Its Essential Ways and Means. Four-page manuscript written on lined, 8.5 x 14 inch. paper. This essay explores the notion that “a sane mind in a sound body” is the answer to efficient preparedness and promotes the need for a properly educated populous. The Greatest of Social Evils, Whose Clear Unfolding Implies its Own Remedy. Twenty-three (23) page manuscript written on 7 x 9 inch sheets of paper, held together with string. The essay starts out, “Self-constituted authority to Rule or Ruin, based upon arbitrary standards of valuation, and where hereditary nobility, or titular sublimated respectability, primarily rest with the power to destroy life and property, and a total disregard for all that is sacred, is at the bottom of all Social affliction.” The Lay of the Land. Two-page manuscript [incomplete] written in ink on both sides of a single 8 x 9.75 inch sheet. It begins, “In the present hour of dire need, where after the most fiendish, atrocious and devastating war that has ever been waged by Man’s inhumanity to Man: on land and under the soil, on the waters and in their depths – and even in the very air we breathe; - and where Treachery, Fraud and utter Irresponsibility have fairly run riot…”[Untitled] re Critical of John D. Rockefeller. Written in pencil on both sides of a 6.25 x 26 inch sample ballot for the 1916 Democratic Primary Ticket for the Borough of Glen Ridge, N.J.MISCELLANY[Partial Letter] Addressed to the American humorist “Mr. Samuel L. Clemens”, the undated “letter” consists of two handwritten pages, on 8 x 12.5 inch lined paper, of content that seemingly end prior to completion, without any closing salutation or signature. It appears that it may never have been meant as a real letter, but only Rossi-Diehl’s attempt at satire. The text refers to a youthful Stephen Crane; woman’s wile; rich men who with money made on the backs of others become benefactors; reference to “Innocents at Home”; and other rather scathing remarks. The second page ends with the following, “To throw our lady into a conniption fit one needs but to mention a broom, a wash-dish, or tub, and a clothes-line; all of which in her buxom days she handled”. [Letter to Philip Ritter, Leopold Schepp Foundation] Long, handwritten letter written on both sides of thin paper, pasted together to form an 8 x 18.5 inch single sheet, addressed to “Mr. Philip Ritter, Director of the Leopold Schepp Foundation, 185 Madison Av., New York City”, datelined “42 Hawthorne Av., Glen Ridge, N.J. July 30, 1925”, and signed, “Most Cordial, Yours, Conrad Rossi-Diehl”. The letter is in response to a newspaper article announcing that Schepp, the uneducated son of German immigrants who became the “Coconut King” and one of the wealthiest men in New York City, had just created a multi-million-dollar foundation to assist young students with their education, based, in part, on the students’ life goals to benefit mankind. Rossi-Diehl’s response is one based on his own interest in education, philosophy, religious beliefs, and art-logic.Overall, the archive is in VG to VG+ condition.