The Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections is the repository for a number of documents associated with White’s trip to Troyes and his purchase of the corbel that had for centuries resided in the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Troyes, France. References to the event exist in his diaries, correspondence and in the margins of his personal guide books. Together, they give a wonderful snapshot of his experiences in Troyes on September 29 and 30, 1886.

Dr. White noted in his diary on Thursday, September 30, 1886:

Troyes.

In morning visiting the churches & monuments of Troyes—wonderful development of Gothic art in stone, wood & glass. . . made acquaintance of M. ————, Rue Thiers, & bought photos & a corbel from choir in Cathedral taken out by the restorer (for 200 fr.).

The next stop on his journey was Paris, where on October 4, 1886, White wrote about his exciting find to Willard Fiske, Cornell University’s first librarian:

My dear friend,

Four big trunks have just started for Cherbourg. We start tomorrow morn. for London and it looks like homeward-bound at last.

Paris has been charming and my architectural trip thro’ Champagne & Burgundy delightful. Went to Laon, Soissons, Chalons—N. D. de l'Épine, Rheims, Troyes & Sens. Got lots of books and large Photos for my various collections & for the new Architectural Museum. Got for 200 Fr. a superb stone corbel—large mass of exquisitely carved foliage with caricatured monk peering out below. I saw spot from wh. it was taken in the recent rearrangement & “restoration” of the choir near the high altar by the architect who gave it to the amateur from whom I got it.

This beautiful stone . . . undoubtedly saw the espousal of Henry of England & the daughter of Isabelle of Bavaria before the high altar in that Cathedral early in the 15th century.