Deering wanted Vizcaya to be a place of hospitality and thoughtful conversation, but he also wanted guests to have restful experiences. By having a central library and a few books in the bedrooms at Vizcaya, he gave his visitors a choice. What does his correspondence tell you about the way he used books to stage the guest experience?
Deering describes a simple vision for making books accessible to guests at Vizcaya that is much different than his Chicago home.
“… HOLD THEM TOGETHER WITH TWO OF THE WEIGHTY STRUCTURES THAT ARE SO COMMONLY USED FOR THIS PURPOSE.”
Letter: January 5th, 1916
From: James Deering, Vizcaya’s Owner, Miami
To: Paul Chalfin, Vizcaya’s Artistic Director
Reveal Transcript
Brickell Point, Miami, Florida,
January 5th, 1916
Mr. Chalfin;-
You know that in my Chicago House I have felt that I should like to have a bookcase in each bedroom. I do not believe that we need that in Florida, that is to say, where you already have pieces of furniture containing books in Florida, it would be all right, but where you have not, I think you can perfectly well put a supply of books on a table or mantelpiece and hold them together by two of the weighty structures that are so commonly used for this purpose.
Before you buy any wicker chairs for me, I hope you see the chairs that Mr. Sykes ordered for my brother and give them careful consideration as a horrible example!
Yours truly,
[signed] JD
Paul Chalfin, Esq.
Six months later, Deering describes his purchase of 299 books to fill out Vizcaya’s library.
“I HAVE BOUGHT THE FOLLOWING BOOKS FOR OUR LIBRARY IN FLORIDA…”
Letter: July 12, 1916
From: James Deering, Vizcaya’s Owner, Chicago
To: Paul Chalfin, Vizcaya’s Artistic Director, New York
Reveal Transcript
Dear Mr. Chalfin: —
It may interest you to know that I have bought the following books for our library in Florida, all of which are to be rebound:
186 English
87 French
10 Spanish
9 Italian
7 German
Making a total of 299, plus quite a number of books from my library in Chicago, as, for example, Encyclopedia Britannica. Later, as promised, I will let you know how much space they will occupy.
Yours sincerely,
[signed] JD
Mr. Paul Chalfin,
432 Fourth Avenue,
New York, N.Y.
Download original letters from Wikimedia Commons
Reveal a 360 Image of the Library
Reveal an interactive 3D model of one of the weighty structures originally bought for one of Vizcaya's rooms.
Click the link below and explore a 3D model of one of the “weighty structures” originally bought for one of Vizcaya’s rooms.
Seahorse Bookend by Vizcaya Museum and Gardenson Sketchfab
