Archive: SDK Sydney Decimus Kitson Archive
Date: 5 Jun 1926-3 Jun 1937
Reference Number: SDK/1/2/1
Extent
12 volumes
Description
The name Kitson gave to his research on Cotman was 'Cotmania'. The title stems from a poem written in 1803 by Harriet Cholmeley of Brandsbury Hall, North Yorkshire, in which she praises the young Cotman, her then drawing teacher. All but the last volume are bound in 'Cotman blue' and tooled in gold.
The twelve volumes of 'Cotmania' that Sydney kept from 1926 contain a wide selection of papers regarding John Sell Cotman, including daily journal entries regarding his research, newspaper and magazine cuttings, correspondence, details of sales, transcriptions, sketches, pedigrees, reports, telegrams, photographs and other ephemera. The correspondence comprises material from the descendants and patrons of John Sell Cotman whose collections Sydney discovered, visited, and listed. This is again augmented by Sydney's correspondence with watercolour dealers in Norwich (Boswell), Bradford (Matthews and Brook of whose attributions he was dubious), Birmingham (Thomson), London (P. M. Turner of Sotheby's, Paterson, Meatyard and Palser); as well as with art historians and curators such as Laurence Binyon, Solomon Kaines-Smith, Paul Oppé and James Reeve.
The 'Cotmania' volumes also contain information about Sydney's other professional activities, chiefly his association with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). Throughout much of his quest for Cotman, Sydney also served as the Honorary Secretary of the RIBA from 1928. With two annual extensions to this role, until 1934 when illness forced him to relinquish such duties in London and Leeds although he continued his task of sorting out the collections deposited in the RIBA library. He was much in demand as an after-dinner speaker, as the Institute's representative at provincial meetings, and he provided useful and experienced support for successive Presidents Sir Banister Fletcher, Sir Raymond Unwin and Sir Gilbert Scott and the permanent Secretary, Sir Ian MacAlister.
Kitson's first notebook begins with news reviews on John Sell Cotman, including of the Kaines-Smith biography of Cotman. Newspaper articles that appeared in the Norfolk press reveal Arthur Bachelor's quest ... continue reading
Reference: SDK/1/2/1/1
Volume II describes Kitson’s many visits to galleries, salesrooms and private collections in search of works by Cotman. There are detailed descriptions of these works and also numerous sketches ma... continue reading
Reference: SDK/1/2/1/2
Volume III is largely a collection of letters Kitson received from art dealers and the descendants of families Cotman taught or painted for. There is also a series of accounts ... continue reading
Reference: SDK/1/2/1/3
Volume IV is a collection of letters from Kitson to various people of the gentry and upper classes asking them about their collections of Cotmans and trying to organise visits ... continue reading
Reference: SDK/1/2/1/4
Volume V contains Kitson’s transcriptions of documents related to John Sell Cotman, including: the auction of the contents of his house in Norwich, 1834; nineteenth- and twentieth-century catalogues of art sa... continue reading
Reference: SDK/1/2/1/5
The volume content is a mixture of subjects including Cotman family trees, letters and portraits of the Cotmans, and lists/sales of said portraits. There are some references to the ... continue reading
Reference: SDK/1/2/1/6
Volume VII is dominated by Kitson’s diary notes on his visits to art galleries and collectors in connection with his researches on John Sell Cotman, between June 1931 and August 1932. Am... continue reading
Reference: SDK/1/2/1/7
Volume VIII contains many diary entries, together with some correspondence and cuttings from newspapers and other sources. Among the events recorded by Kitson are his visits to see the Russell ... continue reading
Reference: SDK/1/2/1/8
Volume IX is composed primarily of article clippings, correspondence, records of sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s auction houses, and short journal entries detailing visits to see works by or a... continue reading
Reference: SDK/1/2/1/9
The volume is composed of a mixture of press cuttings, ranging from the centenary of the Royal Institute of British Architect (RIBA) in 1934, to articles on arts news generally. There ... continue reading
Reference: SDK/1/2/1/10
Volume XI contains newspaper and journal cuttings, personal correspondence, entries from auction and exhibition catalogues, and just two diary entries. These items concern Kitson's work on Cotman during the last ... continue reading
Reference: SDK/1/2/1/11
The final ‘Cotmania’ volume. Volume XII was created in 1937, the year of Sydney Kitson's death, so remains unfinished, i.e. it is not bound in Cotman blue or tooled in g... continue reading
Reference: SDK/1/2/1/12