The Makino Collection has now been fully arranged.
This archive started with one book by Charlie Chaplin, discovered at a secondhand bookstore. This provoked a passion for cinema in the young man who found it, inspiring him to become a filmmaker. Over the course of fifty years, the archive grew and his passion was realized, as he was established as a filmmaker and scholar, wishing to form a center for film studies. During this time, a number of students of film studies from Japan, as well as internationally, visited his house, which became a maze of archives – many of these students have since become accomplished film scholars.
Now all materials in the collection are open to the public at Columbia, finding a new place to welcome scholars. The broad range of materials in this collection will offer new scholarly perspectives on film studies of the pre- and post-war years for researchers.
The finding aid, a consolidated information list of the collection, is now accessible online, through Columbia University Libraries’ Archival Collections Portal. Please browse through the finding aid, and enjoy the collection that has taken over seven years of processing.
The Makino Mamoru Collection on the History of East Asian Film, 1863-2015 [Bulk Dates: 1920s-1990s]
The Finding Aid URL: http://findingaids.cul.columbia.edu/ead/nnc-ea/ldpd_7755896
Arrangement:
The Makino Collection is arranged in twenty two series and several subseries as well as sub-subseries. The physical organization reflects the original order; the finding aid reflects its intellectual arrangement by topic.
• Series I: Director Files, 1932-2005
• Series II: Critic Files, 1929-1998
• Series III: Film-related Individuals’ Files, 1863-2002 [Bulk Dates: 1900s-1950s]
• Series IV: Film Production Company Files (Studio Files), 1920-1995
• Series V: Scenarios, 1923-1990
• Series VI: Subject Files, 1908-2006
• Series VII: East Asian (Pre- and Post-War), 1923-2006
• Series VIII: Okinawan Cinema, 1999-2004
• Series IX: Western Cinema (Pre- and Post-War), 1918-2003
• Series X: Pre-War and Wartime Magazines, 1913-1981 [Bulk Dates:1930s]
• Series XI: Post-War Magazines, 1945-2004
• Series XII: Movie Theater Handbills/ Chirashi (Meiji, Taishō and early Shōwa periods), circa 1870-1968
• Series XIII: Handbills/ Chirashi for Vaudeville Shows and Revues, 1915-1976
• Series XIV: Post-War Ephemera, 1949-2007 [Bulk Dates: 1970s-1990s]
• Series XV: Museums, Exhibitions and Film Catalogs, 1920-2005 [Bulk Dates: 1980s-1990s]
• Series XVI: Film Festival Materials, 1955-2006 [Bulk Dates:1990s-2000s]
• Series XVII: Photos and Posters, 1911-1987 [Bulk Dates:1920-1940]
• Series XVIII: Newspapers, 1926-1988 [Bulk Dates:1940s-1950s]
• Series XIX: Silent Film Materials, 1967-2002
• Series XX: Audio-Visual Materials, circa 1980s-2000s
• Series XXI: Other Film Related Materials and Books, 1891-1996
• Series XXII: Makino Mamoru Papers, circa 1970s-2015
Related Material:
Most monographs were separated from the collection and individually catalogued. They are accessible via Columbia University Libraries online catalog. A simple search in the catalog with the keywords “makino mamoru collection” will list all monographs from this collection, as well as the archive.
Access:
This collection is available for users in the Rare Book and Special Collections Reading Room, C.V. Starr East Asian Library at Columbia University, for a limited number of hours each week. For opening hours, please check the Special Collections Reading Room’s webpage prior to your visit.
Much of this collection is maintained in off-site storage. This may be retrieved with advance notification only; for further details, please consult the C.V. Starr East Asian Library at starr@library.columbia.edu .
Lastly, I would like to thank a graduate assistant, Shuran Chen at GSAPP, for her excellent work in supporting this project to bring it to a successful completion, in addition to all the aspiring and amazing scholars and students who visited the Makino Collection for their research during my processing.
Thank you for reading this blog; I hope you will visit this amazing collection someday. Neatly processed materials await the light of day in the archival storage at Starr Library, offering new perspectives on film studies and beyond.