For the Love of Books: Celebrating the New Kitty King Powell Library and Study Center at Bayou Bend November 11, 2010–March 13, 2011
Thomas Sheraton, A Cylinder Desk and Bookcase. Plate 47 in The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book (London: Printed for the author by T. Bensley, 1793-94). Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert D. Jameson.
![George Smith, Bookcase for a Study, 1826, hand-colored lithograph[?]. Plate 47 in The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide, by George Smith (London: Jones and Co., 1826). Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert D. Jameson. B.73.9.](https://static.mfah.com/images/the-cabinet-maker-and-upholsterers-drawing-book.9046634056693114951.jpg?width=1680){kind=link}
George Smith, Bookcase for a Study, 1826, hand-colored lithograph[?]. Plate 47 in The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide, by George Smith (London: Jones and Co., 1826). Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert D. Jameson. B.73.9.
A Library, 1813, hand-colored aquatint. Published in the Repository of Arts, Literature, Fashions, Manufactures, etc. (London: Rudolph Ackermann, 1809-1828). Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Fred T. Couper, Jr., Mr. & Mrs. William T. Keenan, Mr. & Mrs. Gregg Ring, and Mr. & Mrs. Robert D. Jameson.
This exhibition of rare 18th- and 19th-century publications with designs for bookcases celebrates Bayou Bend's Kitty King Powell Library. Two exquisite secretary-bookcases of the 18th and the early 19th centuries from the Bayou Bend Collection also are on display, providing tangible evidence of the craftsmanship, materials, and design that were dedicated to the storage and display of books during this period.
When Ima Hogg and her brothers Will and Mike built their home, Bayou Bend, in 1927 and 1928, they situated a library prominently on the first floor to display their extensive and varied collection of books. In the years since Miss Hogg donated their book collection to the MFAH in 1965, it has continued to grow. Today, the Bayou Bend book collection is the most significant research collection in the Southwest for American decorative arts of the 17th through 19th century.
In 2010, the Bayou Bend book collection moved from the Hirsch Library at the MFAH to the Kitty King Powell Library and Study Center at Bayou Bend. For the Love of Books celebrates the collection's new home, as well as the love of books that led to its creation and continued growth.