Bettmann, Otto, 1862-1945

Bettmann was born in Leipzig 1903. After earning degrees from the University of Leipzig and University of Freiburg, he served as curator of rare books in the Staatliche Kunstbibliothek (state library) in Berlin. With the rise of the Nazis, Bettmann was dismissed from his library post and in 1935 emigrated to the United States. He arrived in New York City with two trunks crammed of 25,000 images. In order to make a living, he began to rent material from his picture files to publishing firms for use as illustrations. The Bettman Archive was incorporated in 1941.

From the description of Otto L. Bettmann letter to Jean Trebbie [i.e. Trebbi], 1985 December 17. (Manatee County Public Library System). WorldCat record id: 216817666