Architects' Libraries

Tulane University Libraries have benefited from donations made by the region's architects and their estates. Many of these historic gifts bear the signatures of their owners or their personally designed bookplates.

Architect Frank G. Churchill (Natchez, MS 1876- New Orleans, LA 1924) created his own ex libris (shown above). After attending Tulane University during the mid-1890s, Churchill studied painting in Cincinnati, Ohio.(1) He was briefly a principal in the DeBuys, Churchill & Labouisse firm before entering private practice.

His library included a copy of George Louis Adams' L'architecture moderne; élécations, coupe plans d'ensembles, et de détails de maisons de ville et de campagne (Paris, 1847). The book is incredibly scarce, and Churchill's copy bears the stamp of the Mayor of Saint-Quentin (Aisne, Picardy, France).

James Gallier, Sr. (1798-1866) also owned a copy of L'architecture moderne. He pasted the plates from both volumes into a large scrapbook that he had purchased from H.G. Stetson & Company, 54 Camp Street.


(1)"Orleans Artist, Architect, Dies in Life's Prime." The Times-Picayune 7 March 1924.

Images above:  Frank G. Churchill. Ex Libris, Undated. As it appears in George Louis Adams. L'architecture moderne; élécations, coupe plans d'ensembles, et de détails de maisons de ville et de campagne, Vol. 2 (Paris, 1847). Rare Books Unit, Tulane University Libraries.  Jones Hall Rare Books (large) NA7346 .C5

James Gallier, Sr. Scrapbook.  Plate from George Louis Adams. L'architecture moderne; élécations, coupe plans d'ensembles, et de détails de maisons de ville et de campagne, Vol. 1 (Paris, 1847). Sylvester Labrot Collection, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.