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Correspondence, 1933-1940, between Kirkor Gumuchian and George Alexander Ball at the Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana

Electronic finding aid encoded by Magia Ghetu

Summary Information

Repository
Lilly Library (Indiana University, Bloomington)
Indiana University
1200 E. Seventh St.
Bloomington, IN 47405-5500
Phone: 812-855-2452
Fax: 812-855-3143
Email: liblilly@indiana.edu
http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly

Creator
Gumuchian, Kirkor.

Title
Gumuchian mss., 1933-1940

Collection No.
LMC 1488

Extent
79 items

Language
Materials are in English.

Abstract
Consists of correspondence between Kirkor Gumuchian, 1887-1949, and George Alexander Ball, 1862-1955, manufacturer of Muncie, Indiana, recording Ball's purchases from Gumuchian during the period 1933-1940. The letters also discuss the Charles Todd Owen and Roland Knaster collections of children's books as points of comparison with that of Gumuchian; political and economic conditions in Paris; events in Spain; and the problems of a bookseller in such a climate. Other materials include duplicate copies of the invoices for the Gumuchian purchase and a numerical inventory by George Ball of the purchase.

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Biographical Note

Bookseller of the firm Gumuchian & Cie in Paris, France.

Arrangement/Organization

Collection organized in two series: I. Correspondence and II. Purchase Inventories.

Scope and Content Note

Consists of correspondence between Kirkor Gumuchian, 1887-1949, and George Alexander Ball, 1862-1955, manufacturer of Muncie, Indiana, recording Ball's purchases from Gumuchian during the period 1933-1940. The letters also discuss the Charles Todd Owen and Roland Knaster collections of children's books as points of comparison with that of Gumuchian; political and economic conditions in Paris; events in Spain; and the problems of a bookseller in such a climate. Other materials include duplicate copies of the invoices for the Gumuchian purchase and a numerical inventory by George Ball of the purchase.

A collector of many things, Ball purchased a large number of children's books from Gumuchian during the period 1933-1940 and this collection records those purchases. In 1930, Gumuchian had published a two volume catalog Les Livres de L'Enfance du XV au XIX Siècle (Lilly PN1037 .Z9 G9) of about 6200 items he had in his collection, and during the course of 1935 Ball managed to purchase almost the entire catalog "en bloc."

In 1936 Gumuchian began to express his concern about the Léon Blum government in France, events in Spain, economic conditions in Paris, and the problems of a bookseller in such a climate. By 1939 he felt compelled to move his book stock and selling operation to New York City.

A brief description of the Gumuchian collection may be found in Barton Wood Currie's Fishers of Books, p. 334-336 (Lilly Z992 .C976 F3). A biographical sketch of Gumuchian appears in The American Scholar , vol. 10, no. 3, Summer 1941 (Lilly PN1009 .A1 G97 1941) for which he wrote the article "From Piety to Entertainment in Children's Books."

• Indexing Terms

• The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in IUCAT, the IU Libraries' online catalog. Materials about related topics, persons or places can be found by searching the catalog using these terms.

• • Names
  • Gumuchian & Cie.
  • Gumuchian & Cie.
  • Gumuchian, Kirkor.
  • Ball, George A.
• • Topics
  • Booksellers and bookselling --Correspondence.
  • Children's literature --Collectors and collecting.
  • Illustrated children's books.
  • Booksellers and bookselling --France.

Administrative Information

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