Dowd Harpsichord Collection
Object Details
- Creator
- Dowd, William R.
- Topic
- Musical instrument makers
- Musical instruments
- Harpsichord
- Harpsichord makers
- Provenance
- The collection was donated by William R. Dowd and Pegram Dowd on June 12, 1997.
- Creator
- Dowd, William R.
- See more items in
- Dowd Harpsichord Collection
- Biographical / Historical
- William Richmond Dowd (1922–2008) was an American harpsichord maker. Dowd graduated from Harvard University (1948) and apprenticed with John Challis, a harpsichord maker in Detroit. In 1949, Dowd partnered with Frank Hubbard (1920-1976), a fellow Harvard classmate and harpsichord maker to form Hubbard and Dowd in Boston, operating the Boston School of Harpsichord from 1949-1958. Dowd and Hubbard built harpsichords based on historical principles and dedicated themselves to research and restoration techniques of historical keyboard instruments. The first harpsichords built by Dowd were based on the 1637 Johannes Ruckers single harpsichord. In 1956, Charles Fisher joined the firm as a third partner. Dowd formed Dowd Harpsichord Shop in 1959, building the Pascal Taskin model of harpsichord. Taskin (1723-1793) was a French harpsichord and piano maker. In 1972, Dowd established an office in Paris in association with Reinhard von Nagel. The Paris office closed in 1985. Dowd closed his workshop in Boston on September 1, 1988 and died in November 1988.
- Extent
- 33 Cubic feet (81 boxes, 7 map folders)
- Date
- 1949-1997
- Archival Repository
- Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Identifier
- NMAH.AC.0593
- Type
- Collection descriptions
- Archival materials
- Business records
- Design drawings
- Citation
- Dowd Harpsichord Collection, 1949-1997, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
- Arrangement
- The collection is arranged into ten series. Series 1: William Dowd (Boston Office), 1958-1993 Subseries 1.1: Background Matreials, 1965-1993 Subseries 1.2: Desk Calendars, 1982-1989 Subseries 1.3: Wall Calendars, 1964-1985 Subseries 1.4: Address Books, undated Subseries 1.5: Telephone Logs, 1985-1988 Subseries 1.6: Catalogs, 1962-1988 Subseries 1.7: Shop Books, 1949-1986 Subseries 1.8: Maintenance, 1981-1993 Series 2: General Files, 1949-1993 Series 3: Design Notes and Drawings, 1952-1990 Subseries 3.1: Drawings, 1952-1990 Subseries 3.2: Design Notes, 1959-1987 Series 4: Suppliers/Services, 1958-1988 Series 5: Owner's Files, 1960s-1980s Subseries 5.1: Owners Files (alphabetical) Subseries 5.2: Former Owners (alphabetical) Series 6: Antique Files, 1949-1979 Series 7: Financial Records, 1961-1987 Series 8: Photographs, 1949-1988 Series 9: Publications, 1969-1994 Series 10: William Dowd (Paris Office), 1971-1985 Series 11: Newspaper Clippings, 1949-1993
- Processing Information
- Portions of the collection processed by Grace Angle, volunteer and Sony Prosper, intern (2012) and Alison Oswald, archivist, 2016. Finding aid authored and encoded by Alison Oswald. One cubic foot of material containing personally identifiable information and personally identifiable health information was disposed of in December 2016.
- Rights
- Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
- Genre/Form
- Business records
- Design drawings
- Scope and Contents
- The collection documents Dowd's career as a maker and scholar of harpsichords through correspondence, photographs, drawings, notes, and financial materials. The collection contains templates and drawings for harpsichords built or restored by Dowd. The collection also documents the activities of small business and its owner in Boston from 1959-1988.
- Restrictions
- Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
- Separated Materials
- The Division of Culture and the Arts (now Division of Cultural and Community Life) contains two harpsichords built by William Dowd. See accessions 1980.0274.1 (Compass: FF-f3. Copy of 1730 Blanchet instrument) and 2009.0229.01 (double manual, serial number 336-75).
- Record ID
- ebl-1562730431475-1562730431504-0
- Metadata Usage
- CC0
In the Collection
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