Q.David Bowers
His wife, Alice Garrett, became a patron of the arts. At the family home, Evergreen, she established a theatre where visiting troupes from New York and other locations often played. Ballet was another interest, as was the world of art. During the early part of the century Louis Comfort Tiffany was employed to design lighting fixtures and to provide decorative art objects for the mansion. Mrs. Garrett became a friend of several French painters during the early part of the 20th century. The works of Dufy in particular were admired, and Evergreen eventually housed the largest collection of these in America outside of museums.
Robert Garrett, the youngest son of T. Harrison, graduated from Princeton in 1897. Deeply interested in athletics, Robert entered the discus-throw competition at the Olympics, held in Athens in 1896, following a suspension of nearly 1,200 years. In spite of having no previous competitive experience, he won the discuss -throw and became the first American to capture a gold medal in the Olympics. He also took first honors in the shot put, placed second in the broad jump, and tied for second in the high jump.
In 1899 Robert Garrett was a member of the American Archaeological Expedition to Syria, a group which engaged in the first systematic exploration ever made of the area. Following the two-year study, findings of the archaeologists were recorded in four reference books, including one written by Robert Garrett. Returning to Baltimore, he studied history and economics at The Johns Hopkins University. A Republican newspaper, The Baltimore County News, was published by Robert Garrett and several friends in nearby Towson. He entered numerous political contests, but as a Republican in an overwhelming Democratic area, he was never elected.
Robert Garrett took Katharine Barker Johnson as his wife in May 1907. A mansion was purchased and renamed Attica. The couple had 10 children.
Robert Garrett Adds to the Collection
The coin collection passed to Robert Garrett. For safekeeping it was housed in vaults on the premises of Robert Garrett & Sons. In 1902 the firm moved from South Street to new quarters in the Continental Building, a 16-story structure which was the tallest in Baltimore at the time. On February 7, 1904, a conflagration level led much of the business section of downtown Baltimore. The imposing Continental Building "burned like a torch," in the words of one observer. Destroyed were many family records, correspondence, and other items. A few weeks earlier Robert Garrett, pleased with the reception of his loan exhibit of art objects and artifacts at Princeton, moved the coin collection there. Left behind was a collection of English 17th century tokens as well as a number of early medals, all of which were subsequently reduced to molten blobs.
Around the same time Robert Garrett took a renewed interest in the collection. He drew up a want list of pieces needed for the collection and sent it to the Chapman brothers in Philadelphia. Soon thereafter the Chapmans were enlisted to prepare a catalogue of the numismatic properties.
While the collection remained at Princeton, Robert Garrett made year l7 (additions of Proof sets and incidental items. Included over a period of time were complete sets of Matte Proof gold coins of the years 1908-1915, examples of the rare 1907 Saint-Gaudens coinage, and other pieces. Despite many solicitations from various dealers, Robert Garrett was a careful and cautious buyer and made only a limited number of additions.
John Work Garrett, Collector
In 1919 the collection went to John Work Garrett, who was then active in his diplomatic service career. For the next decade' Evergreen House was a mecca for leading figures in the arts. In 1921 Leon Bakst, a Russian painter and ballet designer, stayed at Evergreen and decorated the theater which AliceGarrett maintained on the premises. Concerts, recitals, and stage productions were givenwith regularity. Later the Musical Art Quartet, organized by Alma Gluck, played there.
John Work Garrett was a collector with many interests, following the predilections of his father, T. Harrison Garrett. Ornithology formed an absorbing area of study. Garrett learned the Latin names of many different species. At Evergreen House books on birds included works by leading authors in the field. Audubon books comprised four volumes, elephant folio in size, with a total of 435 plates. Two original Audubon drawings, Morton's finch, 1841, and Bell's vireo, 1844, were prized possessions. Accompanying the Audubon books were 35 folio volumes by John Gould, which included 3,000 color prints painted from 1832 to 1888, birds of the Himalayan Mountains, birds of Europe and Australia, five books concerning hummingbirds, partridges in America, birds of Asia, birds of Great Britain, and birds of New Guinea. Over 30 other authors were represented in the ornithological section. Audubon's mammoth reference, The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, an elephant folio set of prints describing mammals, was also part of the library.
The library at Evergreen House, which after 1921 contained the rare coin collection housed in a special vault, grew to comprise about 35,000 volumes, of which about 8,000 were considered to be especially choice or important. Books included a first folio of Shakespeare published in 1623, seven years after his death; a second folio printed in 1632; a third folio, 1664, third impression; and a fourth folio, 1685, ranking the holdings in this area as among the most important in the world.
Other Garrett favorites included such diverse items as the first edition, 1620, of Novum Organum; Hakluyt's Voiages (1589, first edition); Capt. John Smith's 1612 Map of Virginia and the first edition of his Generall Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles. From the age of incunabula, items from the first years of printing, were many imprints from Germany, France, Italy, and Britain. The famous British press of Caxton was represented by several pieces.
Autographs were an important interest of John Work Garrett, just as they had been for his father. The collection included a complete set of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, a group started by T. Harrison Garrett and completed by his son. Included was a letter of Thomas McKean of Delaware, dated 1813, and stating that the Declaration of Independence was not signed on July 4, 1776, or for many days thereafter. One of the signers actually signed against it, McKean wrote.
The library at Evergreen House included an extensive collection of early imprints published in or referring to Maryland. Included were two of the three known copies of the first printing of the "Charter" in 1632, which contained the first printed use of the word "Maryland."