Guide to the Susan Dwight Bliss Collection, 1906-1990, undated
Susan Dwight Bliss Papers, George J. Mitchell Dept. of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine
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Shortly after the death of her father, banker George T. Bliss, in 1901, Susan Dwight Bliss and her mother had a library constructed in the Bliss residence in New York City which housed the family book collection, assembled largely by her father. The library, designed by C. Grant LaFarge, had black walnut woodwork and an antique ceiling and mantelpiece, examples of sixteenth-century Italian Renaissance art. In 1945 Bliss anonymously donated the ceiling, fireplace, and woodwork to Bowdoin College. The College, working with the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, had the gift installed on the second floor of Hubbard Hall. In the 1950s Bliss anonymously donated furniture and books from her private library to Bowdoin. The books relate primarily to the fine arts, French and English history and literature, and travel, and are noted for their fine bindings. After her death in 1966, the College named the second floor Hubbard Hall room the Susan Dwight Bliss Room, in honor of the donor of the room and the approximately 1200 fine volumes it houses.
Articles, Bowdoin College librarians' reports, and other printed material concerning Susan Dwight Bliss's gifts to Bowdoin College, as well as material concerning the extended Bliss family. Also includes images of the interior and exterior of the Bliss residence at 9 East 68th Street in New York City and a putti that was part of the decorative frieze molding in Susan Dwight Bliss's library.
For additional material in the Bowdoin College Archives regarding Susan Dwight Bliss' donation see Library Office Files, catalog #5.1.4, boxes 10 and 11, and James Stacy Coles, Subject Files, catalog #1.2.9.4, box 3.
Visit Special Collections' resource page for further information about Susan Dwight Bliss, and the Bliss book collection and Bliss Room at Bowdoin College.
Articles and news release, 1946, 1987, 1989
Bowdoin College librarians' reports, 1945, 1957, 1963, 1968
Family material - extended Bliss family, 1913-1914, 1986-1990
Information concerning fine bookbinding and bookbinders, 1977, n.d.
Notes for Museum Studies presentation re: Bliss Room by Sandra Rice, 1984
Images: "9 East 68th Street, New York, 1906-1943," photoprints of the Bliss residence, interior and exterior (search Archives Image Gallery for digital versions)
Bliss residence library, black and white photographs, 1940s?: Ceiling
Bliss residence library, black and white photographs, 1940s?: Desk
Bliss residence library, black and white photographs, 1940s?: Doorway
Bliss residence library, black and white photographs, 1940s?: Entryway
Bliss residence library, black and white photographs, 1940s?: Fireplace
Negatives for black and white photographs, 1940s?
Exterior of 5 East 68th Street, New York City, color prints, 1980
Exterior of 9 East 68th Street, New York City, color prints, 1980
Negatives for color prints, 1980
Putti (horsehair and plaster) formerly part of decorative frieze molding in Susan Dwight Bliss's library