Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes (1867-1944) was an American architect and housing reformer. John Mead Howells and Stokes worked as partners in the architectural firm Howells and Stokes. In addition to his architectural work, Stokes was an organizer of...
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Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes (1867-1944) was an American architect and housing reformer. John Mead Howells and Stokes worked as partners in the architectural firm Howells and Stokes. In addition to his architectural work, Stokes was an organizer of the Tenement House Committee of the Charity Organization Society, served on the New York State Tenement House Commission, helped write the New York tenement house law of 1901, and designed several model tenements. He had a renowned collection of prints of old New York and was responsible for The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909, a six-volume pictorial history published between 1915 and 1928. He served on the Board of Trustees of the New York Public Library from 1916 until 1938. Collection consists of correspondence and research notes, drafts and proofs, photographs, and other materials for the Iconography of Manhattan Island. Correspondence, 1909-1928, is with booksellers, print dealers, librarians, collectors, and scholars regarding the purchase, exchange and copying of prints and maps of New York, research in New York history, and the preparation of the Iconography. Correspondence for 1925-1929 concerns Stokes's attempts to sell his print collection; while that for 1930-1933 documents the further development of the collection, its donation to the New York Public Library, and the creation and sale of the catalog of the collection. Materials used in the preparation of the Iconography include research notes, transcriptions and photostats of source materials, photographs of illustrations, drafts, and page proofs. Also, unsigned typescript of an article about New York City Hall.
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