Scope and Content Note
The Mannes-Damrosch Collection comprises correspondence and other materials from the Mannes family—David and Clara Damrosch Mannes and their children Leopold and Marya Mannes—and members of the Damrosch family including Leopold Damrosch and his sons, Frank and Walter Damrosch. The collection spans 1848-1986, with the majority of the materials dating from 1900-1950. It includes biographical materials, correspondence, writings, music, programs, clippings, artwork, photographs, awards, and other materials.
The Biographical materials include a copy of "The Autobiography of Leopold Damrosch," written when he was eighteen and living in Posen, and "Tante's Story," written by Marie von Heimburg, the aunt of Clara, Frank, and Walter Damrosch who helped raise them and the Mannes' children. These two documents exist also in the other two Damrosch collections in the Music Division. The remaining items include an incomplete biography of Clara Damrosch Mannes and an album and an article written by Leopold Mannes about his trips to Europe.
The Correspondence consists of letters written between members of the Mannes and Damrosch families and by others to both families. This series contains correspondence between Leopold Mannes and Evelyn Sabin in the five years leading up to their wedding in 1940. Some important correspondents include Percy Goetschius, Franz Liszt (only a translation from the original), Daniel Gregory Mason, Sergei Rachmaninoff, John D. Rockefeller, Artur Schnabel, Johannes Schreyer, Randall Thompson, and James Thurber.
The Writings contain primarily stories, poems, and essays by Marya Mannes. A large number of the poems are signed "Sec," which was her pen name she used at The Reporter. Also, included are articles by Leopold Damrosch, Clara Damrosch Mannes, Leopold Mannes, and an untitled speech by David Mannes.
The Music consists chiefly of holograph scores, parts, and sketches of compositions by Leopold Damrosch and of arrangements or transcriptions by him. Included are many songs, violin and vocal works, a music sketch of the Vorspiel that Leopold composed on Johann Crüger's chorale, Ich singe dir mit Herz und Mund and which he presented to his wife for their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, the holograph full score of National Ode, also known as the Centennial Ode, and of his opera Romeo und Julie. Also included are manuscript copies of works by Heinrich Gottwald, holograph scores of Edmund Singer, and songs by Leopold Mannes.
The Photographs consist of photoprints and twenty-eight albums of photoprints. Possibly, the quantity of the photographic materials is directly related to Leopold Mannes' early interest in photography. He and Leopold Godowsky conducted experiments for many years to develop a color process which eventually resulted in the co-invention of the Kodachrome process at the Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, New York. The photoprints extend primarily to David and Clara Mannes and their children and the first and second generations of the Damrosch family. The photographic albums primarily center on the Mannes family, especially family vacations including Mannesden, the Mannes' summer home on Lake Champlain, and travels in the United States, Cuba and Europe. Two albums contain photoprints by Leopold Mannes in 1938 of his father conducting an orchestra at the free Museum Concerts which David Mannes presented at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for twenty-eight years until 1947.
The Artwork in the collection includes portraits of various members of the Mannes and Damrosch families and numerous miscellaneous subjects. The engraving plate of a portrait of Leopold Damrosch and two photogravure plates of portraits of David Mannes with his violin are included. Many sketches by Clara Damrosch Mannes, who displayed a talent for art as well as music, are represented. Most likely, a significant number of the unidentified works are by her also. Among the pencil sketches are drawings of Alfred Cortot, with whom Leopold Mannes studied piano in Paris. The sculptures of Mayra Mannes are represented by photographic reproductions, one of which is of her uncle, Walter Damrosch.
Other materials included are: some financial and legal documents; programs from performances by Clara and David Mannes, David Mannes, and Leopold Mannes; clippings pertaining to Leopold and Walter Damrosch, David and Clara Mannes and their children, Leopold and Marya; scrapbook of clippings documenting Leopold Mannes and the development of Kodachrome; another scrapbook for David Mannes' 90th birthday; awards primarily given to Marya Mannes; subject files, one of which pertains to David Mannes' involvement in the Music School Settlement for Colored People which he founded; and a few other miscellaneous items.
Margaret Collins, January 1995
Wilda M. Heiss, revised March 1997