ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION    

Title
Valenti Angelo Collection

Collection Number
SC 215

OCLC Number
946936372

Creator 
Valenti Angelo, 1897-1982

Provenance 
Purchased from Valdine Angelo Plasmati (daughter) in 1989.

Extent,Scope, and Content Note 
The collection is comprised of four linear ft. of original drawings, prints, proofs, sketches, trial pages created for his "Private Press of Valenti Angelo" and trade publishers; includes children's books (1935-1979).

Arrangement and Processing Note
Processing completed by Kristen J. Nyitray, Alison Huftalen, and F. Jason Torre in January 2002.  Updated April 2019.

Language
English

Restrictions on Access
The collection is open to researchers without restriction.

Rights and Permissions 
Stony Brook University Libraries' consent to access as the physical owner of the collection does not address copyright issues that may affect publication rights. It is the sole responsibility of the user of Special Collections and University Archives materials to investigate the copyright status of any given work and to seek and obtain permission where needed prior to publication.  

Citation 
[Item], [Box], Valenti Angelo Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, Stony Brook University Libraries.

Historical Note
"Valenti Angelo (1897-1982) (variant name Valenti Michael Angelo) was an Italian-American printmaker, illustrator and author, born June 23, 1897 in Massarosa, Italy. He immigrated to the United States with his family in 1905, living first in New York City then settling in Antioch, California. At the age of nineteen, Angelo moved to San Francisco, working by day as a labourer and spending his evenings and weekends at libraries and museums. He soon became a versatile artist and an especially skilled engraver and printer. Angelo's favoured medium was the linocut, and his prints depicting urban nocturnes and desert scenes of the American Southwest are particularly coveted by collectors and dealers. In 1926, Angelo made his first book illustrations for the well-known, San Francisco-based Grabhorn Press.

In a period of 34 years, Angelo decorated and illustrated roughly 250 books. Among these were folio editions of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass, The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, and numerous books of the Bible. Many of these books have been included in the annual American Institute of Graphic Arts exhibitions since 1927. Under the tutelage of May Massee of Viking Press, Angelo began writing children's stories in 1937. In 1939, Angelo won the Newbery Honor for Nino. After a mid-life relocation to New York State, he returned to San Francisco in 1974 and continued his life's work. Angelo died in San Francisco on September 3, 1982." (Source: Wikipedia)

Subjects
Illustration of books
Italian American authors
American literature -- Italian American authors
Angelo, Valenti, 1897-1982
Angelo, Valenti, 1897-1982. -- Correspondence

INVENTORY

Box 1 
1. Angelino and the Barefoot Saint. NY: Viking Press, 1961.
2-3. Original drawings for book, Angelino and the Barefoot Saint (13 items)
4. Reviews and news clippings of Angelino and the Barefoot Saint
5. El Triunfo de la Cruz: mock up of book; decorations by Angelo
6. El Triunfo de la Cruz: trial title page and proof pages
7. El Triunfo de la Cruz: original tracings and mock ups
8. Hittel, Theodore Henry. El Triunfo de la Cruz. Decorations by Valenti Angelo. San Francisco: Book Club of California 1977. 
9-11. Angelo, Valenti. Paradise Valley. NY: Viking, 1940. 3 original illustrations, lithographs on zinc.
12. Materials related to The Acorn Tree 
13-16. Golden Gate: original drawings and illustrations
17. Map illustration

Box 2
1. Drawings of the artist (3 items)
2. Catalogs of Angelo press publications
3. Assorted illustrations and images
4-5. Original bookplates and decorations
6. Original pencil sketches and tracings; correspondence
7. Announcements and invitations
8. Valenti Angelo: 80th Birthday invitation, 1977
9-11. Christmas and greeting cards
12. Letter to Norman Forgue (Black Cat Press) from V.A (Valenti Angelo), 6/26/1937
13-14. Letters to Eugene Ettenberg (of Gallery Press) from V.A. 9/14/1952 and 9/20/1952
15. Letter to John from Max and Val (Maxine and Valenti Angelo) 11/16/1952
16. Original greeting card by Angelo to John from Max and Val, undated
17-21. Letters to Herman Cohen from V.A., 4/8/1953, 7/28/1954, 4/30/1956, 1/16/1974, 1/21/1974 (on Chiswick Bookshop stationary)
22. Letter to “Val” (Valenti Angelo) from Herman Cohen, 11/17/1974
23. Letter to “Val” from Viv Cohen, 1/5/1975 – Contains list of Valenti Angelo and John Fass books
24. Letter to Herman Cohen from V.A. 1/10/1975
25. Letter to “Val” from Herman Cohen, 3/2/1975
26. Letter to Herman Cohen from V.A. w/ envelope, 3/29/1975
27. Addressed envelope to Mr. and Mrs. Herman Cohen, 12/1975
28. Letter to Mrs. Jacob Foster from V.A w/ envelope, 6/8/1979
29. Letter to Dr. Jacob Foster from V.A w/ envelope, 6/23/1975
30. Letter to Mrs. Jacob Foster from V.A. w/envelope, 7/11/1979
31. Note to Helen Foster from V.A. which accompanied a print, w/envelope, 7/17/1979
32. Letter from Jacob J. Foster M.D., 8/11/1979
33. Letter from V.A. to Jacob Foster, with envelope 8/20/1979
34. Letter from Jacob J. Foster M.D., 10/7/1979
35. Christmas card to Mr. & Mrs. Jacob Foster, with envelope, 12/1979
36. Greeting card from V.A. to? 12/1978
37. Postcard announcing the exhibition of Valenti Angelo’s work at the Book Club of California in honor of V.A.’s 85th birthday. Sent to Jacob. J. Foster M.D., 8/26/1982
Separation note: oversized items in Box 4

Box 3
1-2. Original and trial broadsides, prayers, poems, etc.
3. Original drawings for books
4. Frontispieces from various books
5-8. Trial pages from various hand printed books
Separation note: oversized items in Box 4

Box 4
1. American Institute of Graphic Arts membership certificate, 1935
2. Limited Editions Club 25th Anniversary Citation, May 11, 1954, black velvet display case
3. San Francisco Mayor Moscone’s Proclamation for Angelo’s 80th Birthday, June 23, 1977, in red case
4. Trial pages from various and printed books
Separation note: oversized items in boxes 2 and 3
5. Oversized broadsides; letter from Angelo; book announcement

Box 5
Design for The Acorn Tree
1. Collection description
2-3. Transparent acetate sheets with decorations in black
4. Opaque acetate sheets, used as color separation guides
5-7. Photographic paper with illustrations in white on black
8-9. Cardboard sheets with printed labels taped on
10. Paper
11-32. Opaque acetate

Box 6
Design for The Animals’ Christmas: Poems, Carols, and Stories. Eaton, Anne Thaxter, and Valenti Angelo. NY: Viking Press, 1944.
1. Book
2. End page: illustration
3. Title page: illustration
4. “So Hallowed and So Gracious is the Time”: illustrations 
5. “The Barn”: illustrations 
6. “The Splendid Gift”: illustrations 
7. “The Friendly Beasts”: illustrations 
8. “The Beautiful Lady”: illustrations 
9. “Words from an Old Spanish Carol”: illustrations 
10. “The Holy Night” : illustrations 
11. “A Christmas Folk Song”: illustrations 
12. “The Christmas Spider”: illustrations 
13. “The Oxen” : illustrations 
14. “The Little Pagan Faun”: illustrations 
15. “Carol”: illustrations
16. “The Three Magi”: illustrations 
17. “Twelfth Night”: illustrations 
18. “About a Noble Camel”: illustrations 
19. “Eerily Sweet”: illustrations 
20. “Dulce Domum”: illustrations 
21. “Bethlehem”: illustrations 
22. “Acknowledgements”: illustrations 
23. dust jacket illustration: color guides

Box 7
Design for The Animals’ Christmas
Original sketch of dust jacket 
Original layout design of dust jacket
Poster announcing San Francisco Public Library exhibition, 1975. 

Box 8
Large red slip case: Angelo, Valenti: author, illustrator, printer [Bronxville: Press of Valenti Angelo]. Contents: more than 100 trial pages, book plates, designs, etc. in Boxes 2 and 3.
Small blue slip case: Angelo, Valenti. Golden Gate. [NY: Viking, 1939]. Contents: 53 original drawings found in Box 1.