Claude Fayette Bragdon - Revision history

SysopJ: /* Archival records */

2026-03-10T19:48:29Z

Archival records

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	* '''[https://www.nypl.org/research/research-catalog/bib/b18930176 Claude Bragdon Scenic Designs]''' at the New York Public Library, in Performing Arts Research Collections - Theater. Call numbers CT-Vim 2010-047 Box 1 and 2, and T-Vim 2010-047 Oversized Folder 1.		* '''[https://www.nypl.org/research/research-catalog/bib/b18930176 Claude Bragdon Scenic Designs]''' at the New York Public Library, in Performing Arts Research Collections - Theater. Call numbers CT-Vim 2010-047 Box 1 and 2, and T-Vim 2010-047 Oversized Folder 1.
	* '''[https://www.libraryweb.org/rochimag/architecture/Architects/Bragdon/stone.htm Rochester Chamber of Commerce: Pictures from the Albert R. Stone Negative Collection]'''. Monroe County Library System. Photographs of Chamber of Commerce Building.		* '''[https://www.libraryweb.org/rochimag/architecture/Architects/Bragdon/stone.htm Rochester Chamber of Commerce: Pictures from the Albert R. Stone Negative Collection]'''. Monroe County Library System. Photographs of Chamber of Commerce Building.

			=== Websites ===

			* '''[https://socks-studio.com/?s=Bragdon Sock Studio]''' has Bragdon drawings.

	== Notes ==		== Notes ==

SysopJ at 17:59, 6 February 2026

2026-02-06T17:59:03Z

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	[[File:Claude Bragdon.jpg\|right\|250px\|thumb\|Claude Bragdon]]		[[File:Claude Bragdon.jpg\|right\|250px\|thumb\|Claude Bragdon]]
	'''Claude Fayette Bragdon''' was an American architect, artist, writer, and publisher who was active in the [[Theosophical Society in America]]. He operated the [[Manas Press]] in Rochester, New York, and was the first publisher of [[P. D. Ouspensky\|P. D. Ouspensky's]] work, '''''Tertium Organum'''''.		'''Claude Fayette Bragdon''' (1866-1946) was an American architect, artist, writer, and publisher who was active in the [[Theosophical Society in America]]. He operated the [[Manas Press]] in Rochester, New York, and was the first publisher of [[P. D. Ouspensky\|P. D. Ouspensky's]] work, '''''Tertium Organum'''''.

	[[James Cousins\|Dr. James Cousins]] referred to him as "Claude Bragdon of America to whom Architecture is Theosophy in stone."<ref>James H. Cousins, "The Life and Work of Jean Delville, Theosophist Painter-Poet." ''The Theosophist'' 47 no. 3 (December 1925): 396.</ref>		[[James Cousins\|Dr. James Cousins]] referred to him as "Claude Bragdon of America to whom Architecture is Theosophy in stone."<ref>James H. Cousins, "The Life and Work of Jean Delville, Theosophist Painter-Poet." ''The Theosophist'' 47 no. 3 (December 1925): 396.</ref>

SysopJ: /* Design work */

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Design work

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	=== Examples of design work ===		=== Examples of design work ===
			[[File:Borzoi Books advertisement, 1928.jpg\|right\|360px\|thumb\|Advertisement showing projective ornament]]
	Here are some examples of his designs:		Here are some examples of his designs:

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	File:Chicago Womens Club book plate, 1902.jpg\|<center>Book plate, 1902</center>		File:Chicago Womens Club book plate, 1902.jpg\|<center>Book plate, 1902</center>
	File:Claude Bragdon Theosophical Library book plate.jpg\|<center>Book plate</center>		File:Claude Bragdon Theosophical Library book plate.jpg\|<center>Book plate</center>
	~~File:Borzoi Books advertisement, 1928.jpg\|<center>Advertisement</center>~~
	File:Grueby Pottery circular.jpg\|<center>Circular</center>		File:Grueby Pottery circular.jpg\|<center>Circular</center>
	</gallery>		</gallery>

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Examples of design work

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	File:Claude Bragdon Theosophical Library book plate.jpg\|<center>Book plate</center>		File:Claude Bragdon Theosophical Library book plate.jpg\|<center>Book plate</center>
	File:Borzoi Books advertisement, 1928.jpg\|<center>Advertisement</center>		File:Borzoi Books advertisement, 1928.jpg\|<center>Advertisement</center>
			File:Grueby Pottery circular.jpg\|<center>Circular</center>
	</gallery>		</gallery>

SysopJ: /* Examples of design work */

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Examples of design work

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	File:Chicago Womens Club book plate, 1902.jpg\|<center>Book plate, 1902</center>		File:Chicago Womens Club book plate, 1902.jpg\|<center>Book plate, 1902</center>
	File:Claude Bragdon Theosophical Library book plate.jpg\|<center>Book plate</center>		File:Claude Bragdon Theosophical Library book plate.jpg\|<center>Book plate</center>
			File:Borzoi Books advertisement, 1928.jpg\|<center>Advertisement</center>
	</gallery>		</gallery>

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Examples of design work

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	File:Chap Book poster, 1896.jpg\|<center>Poster for ''Chap Book'', 1896</center>		File:Chap Book poster, 1896.jpg\|<center>Poster for ''Chap Book'', 1896</center>
	File:Chicago Womens Club book plate, 1902.jpg\|<center>Book plate, 1902</center>		File:Chicago Womens Club book plate, 1902.jpg\|<center>Book plate, 1902</center>
			File:Claude Bragdon Theosophical Library book plate.jpg\|<center>Book plate</center>
	</gallery>		</gallery>

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Design work

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	== Design work ==		== Design work ==
	~~'''THIS SECTION UNDER CONSTRUCTION'''<br>~~
	~~'''THIS SECTION UNDER CONSTRUCTION'''<br>~~
	Throughout his life, Bragdon engaged in thousands of design projects. He drew cartoons and illustrations; worked on lanterns for his festivals; designed book plates, book jackets, costumes, stained glass windows, gravestones, and innumerable other objects.		Throughout his life, Bragdon engaged in thousands of design projects. He drew cartoons and illustrations; worked on lanterns for his festivals; designed book plates, book jackets, costumes, stained glass windows, gravestones, and innumerable other objects.

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	=== Examples of design work ===		=== Examples of design work ===

			Here are some examples of his designs:

	~~Here are some examples of his projective ornamentation~~:		<gallery widths="160px" perrow="5">
			File:Chap Book poster, 1896.jpg\|<center>Poster for ''Chap Book'', 1896</center>
			File:Chicago Womens Club book plate, 1902.jpg\|<center>Book plate, 1902</center>

	~~<gallery widths="160px" perrow="5">~~
	~~File:Otis Arch.JPG\|<center>Otis Arch, 1900</center>~~
	~~File:Rochester First Universalist Church.jpg\|<center>Rochester First Universalist Church, 1907</center>~~
	~~File:Rochester-NYCentral-Railroad-Union-Depot-Bragdon.jpg\|<center>NY Central RR Station, 1914</center>~~
	</gallery>		</gallery>

SysopJ: /* Architectural career */

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Architectural career

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	Architectural forms are usually the outgrowth of some structural necessity, but the same is not true of ornament, which develops not from the power and need to ''build'', but from the need to ''beautify.'' Arising thus from a psychological need rather than from a physical necessity, ornament is in some sort a ''mirror'' of consciousness, closely related to the psychological mood. Consciousness is now preoccupied with the '''fourth dimension''', and geometry being the field in which I had decided to search for a new ornamental mode expressive of modernity, it was in the geometry of four dimensions that I planted my metaphysical spade.		Architectural forms are usually the outgrowth of some structural necessity, but the same is not true of ornament, which develops not from the power and need to ''build'', but from the need to ''beautify.'' Arising thus from a psychological need rather than from a physical necessity, ornament is in some sort a ''mirror'' of consciousness, closely related to the psychological mood. Consciousness is now preoccupied with the '''fourth dimension''', and geometry being the field in which I had decided to search for a new ornamental mode expressive of modernity, it was in the geometry of four dimensions that I planted my metaphysical spade.
	</blockquote>		</blockquote>

	~~Here are some examples of his projective ornamentation:~~

	~~<gallery widths="160px" perrow="5">~~
	~~File:Otis Arch.JPG\|<center>Otis Arch, 1900</center>~~
	~~File:Rochester First Universalist Church.jpg\|<center>Rochester First Universalist Church, 1907</center>~~
	~~File:Rochester-NYCentral-Railroad-Union-Depot-Bragdon.jpg\|<center>NY Central RR Station, 1914</center>~~
	~~</gallery>~~

	His philosophy of architecture, as expressed in the '''Scammon Lectures''' of 1915 at the Art Institute of Chicago, is that there are '''two orders of architecture - ''arranged'' and ''organic'''''.<ref>Bragdon, ''Secret Springs'', 176.</ref>		His philosophy of architecture, as expressed in the '''Scammon Lectures''' of 1915 at the Art Institute of Chicago, is that there are '''two orders of architecture - ''arranged'' and ''organic'''''.<ref>Bragdon, ''Secret Springs'', 176.</ref>

SysopJ: /* Architectural career */

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Architectural career

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	File:Bevier Memorial Building doorway.jpeg\|<center>Bevier Memorial Building doorway, 1903</center>		File:Bevier Memorial Building doorway.jpeg\|<center>Bevier Memorial Building doorway, 1903</center>
	File:Rochester-NYCentral-Railroad-Union-Depot-Bragdon.jpg\|<center>NY Central RR Station, 1914</center>		File:Rochester-NYCentral-Railroad-Union-Depot-Bragdon.jpg\|<center>NY Central RR Station, 1914</center>
			File:NYC RR Station doorway.jpg\|<center>NY Central RR Station doorway, 1914</center.
	File:Chamber of Commerce interior.jpg\|<center>Chamber of Commerce, 1917</center>		File:Chamber of Commerce interior.jpg\|<center>Chamber of Commerce, 1917</center>
	File:Hunter Street Bridge in Peterborough.png\|<center>Hunter Street Bridge, 1918</center>		File:Hunter Street Bridge in Peterborough.png\|<center>Hunter Street Bridge, 1918</center>

SysopJ: /* Architectural career */

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Architectural career

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	== Architectural career ==		== Architectural career ==

	''Claude Bragdon and the Beautiful Necessity '', a collection of essays edited by Eugenia Victoria Ellis, and ''Crystal and Arabesque'' by Jonathan Massey provide a wealth of information and imagery from Bragdon's important architectural career, which is too broad a topic to cover here. He designed several major buildings in and around Rochester; bridges in Canada; and dozens of houses. Many were classically inspired and symmetrical, with influence from Bragdon's European tour. The First Universalist Church, the Bevier Memorial Building, and the Rochester Athletic Association feature patterned brock work, colored terra-cotta, and decorative cornices and arches.		''Claude Bragdon and the Beautiful Necessity '', a collection of essays edited by Eugenia Victoria Ellis, and ''Crystal and Arabesque'', a Bragdon biography by Jonathan Massey, provide a wealth of information and imagery from Bragdon's important architectural career, which is too broad a topic to cover here. He designed several major buildings in and around Rochester; bridges in Canada; and dozens of houses. Many were classically inspired and symmetrical, with influence from Bragdon's European tour. The First Universalist Church, the Bevier Memorial Building, and the Rochester Athletic Association feature patterned brock work, colored terra-cotta, and decorative cornices and arches.

	Some of the structures for which he is best known include:		Some of the structures for which he is best known include:
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	File:Rochester Athletic Association, 1903.jpg\|<center>Rochester Athletic Association, 1903</center>		File:Rochester Athletic Association, 1903.jpg\|<center>Rochester Athletic Association, 1903</center>
	File:Rochester First Universalist Church.jpg\|<center>Rochester First Universalist Church, 1907</center>		File:Rochester First Universalist Church.jpg\|<center>Rochester First Universalist Church, 1907</center>
	File:Bevier Memorial Building.jpg<center>Bevier Memorial Building, 1903</center>		File:Bevier Memorial Building.jpg\|<center>Bevier Memorial Building, 1903</center>
	File:Bevier Memorial Building doorway.jpeg<center>Bevier Memorial Building doorway, 1903</center>		File:Bevier Memorial Building doorway.jpeg\|<center>Bevier Memorial Building doorway, 1903</center>
	File:Rochester-NYCentral-Railroad-Union-Depot-Bragdon.jpg\|<center>NY Central RR Station, 1914</center>		File:Rochester-NYCentral-Railroad-Union-Depot-Bragdon.jpg\|<center>NY Central RR Station, 1914</center>
	File:Chamber of Commerce interior.jpg\|<center>Chamber of Commerce, 1917</center>		File:Chamber of Commerce interior.jpg\|<center>Chamber of Commerce, 1917</center>

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:59, 6 February 2026
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	[[File:Claude Bragdon.jpg\|right\|250px\|thumb\|Claude Bragdon]]		[[File:Claude Bragdon.jpg\|right\|250px\|thumb\|Claude Bragdon]]
	'''Claude Fayette Bragdon''' was an American architect, artist, writer, and publisher who was active in the [[Theosophical Society in America]]. He operated the [[Manas Press]] in Rochester, New York, and was the first publisher of [[P. D. Ouspensky\|P. D. Ouspensky's]] work, '''''Tertium Organum'''''.		'''Claude Fayette Bragdon''' (1866-1946) was an American architect, artist, writer, and publisher who was active in the [[Theosophical Society in America]]. He operated the [[Manas Press]] in Rochester, New York, and was the first publisher of [[P. D. Ouspensky\|P. D. Ouspensky's]] work, '''''Tertium Organum'''''.

	[[James Cousins\|Dr. James Cousins]] referred to him as "Claude Bragdon of America to whom Architecture is Theosophy in stone."<ref>James H. Cousins, "The Life and Work of Jean Delville, Theosophist Painter-Poet." ''The Theosophist'' 47 no. 3 (December 1925): 396.</ref>		[[James Cousins\|Dr. James Cousins]] referred to him as "Claude Bragdon of America to whom Architecture is Theosophy in stone."<ref>James H. Cousins, "The Life and Work of Jean Delville, Theosophist Painter-Poet." ''The Theosophist'' 47 no. 3 (December 1925): 396.</ref>

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:17, 23 September 2025
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	File:Bevier Memorial Building doorway.jpeg\|<center>Bevier Memorial Building doorway, 1903</center>		File:Bevier Memorial Building doorway.jpeg\|<center>Bevier Memorial Building doorway, 1903</center>
	File:Rochester-NYCentral-Railroad-Union-Depot-Bragdon.jpg\|<center>NY Central RR Station, 1914</center>		File:Rochester-NYCentral-Railroad-Union-Depot-Bragdon.jpg\|<center>NY Central RR Station, 1914</center>
			File:NYC RR Station doorway.jpg\|<center>NY Central RR Station doorway, 1914</center.
	File:Chamber of Commerce interior.jpg\|<center>Chamber of Commerce, 1917</center>		File:Chamber of Commerce interior.jpg\|<center>Chamber of Commerce, 1917</center>
	File:Hunter Street Bridge in Peterborough.png\|<center>Hunter Street Bridge, 1918</center>		File:Hunter Street Bridge in Peterborough.png\|<center>Hunter Street Bridge, 1918</center>