Collection inventory

Special Collections home page

Arents Grand Tour Collection

An inventory of the collection at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: MRC
Date: 8 Nov 2010

Biographical History

George Arents, Jr. (1875-1960) was an American businessman. He studied at Columbia University and received his master's degree from Syracuse University at the age of 57. His father and great-uncle were founders of the Allen & Ginter Tobacco Company, which later became the American Tobacco Company. In 1922 Arents became a director of the American Tobacco Company and from 1924 he was the treasurer of both the American Machine and Foundry and International Cigar Machinery. He was also a collector of books and other published material relating to tobacco. He and his wife Lena made substantial gifts to Syracuse University; in recognition of their generosity, the department of rare books and special collections at Bird Library was for many years known as the George Arents Research Library.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Arents Grand Tour Collection consists of dozens of photograph albums of cities and sites of interest in countries around the world. Countries represented include Algeria, Australia, Cambodia, the U.K., most of Europe, Iceland, Malta, several Scandinavian countries, Tunisia, Turkey, Yugoslavia, and more.

All but two of the albums are commercially produced and printed; some of the smaller booklets are perforated and intended to be used as postcards. The two volumes of "Wanderings in Spain and Portugal" appear to contain original photographs taken by the Arentses during their travels through those two countries, with handwritten captions.

Arrangement of the Collection

Alphabetical by country and within that by city.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

See also the Arents Postcard Collection and the Arents Christmas Card Collection.

Subject Headings

Persons

Arents, George, 1875-1960.
Arents, Lena.

Subjects

Voyages and travels.

Places

Africa -- Description and travel.
Asia -- Description and travel.
Australia -- Description and travel.
Europe -- Description and travel.
North America -- Description and travel.

Genres and Forms

Photograph albums.
Photographs.
Postcards.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Arents Grand Tour Collection,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of George and Lena Arents.

Table of Contents

Photoalbums

Inventory