Philadelphia Area Archives

Start Over Subject Literature Language English Year 1890 to 1894

Princeton University Library Collection of Western Americana Photographs, 1870-1915 (bulk) 1840-1998 (inclusive)

Extent:: 144 boxes and 123 linear feet
Abstract:: Consists of a closed collection of more than 5,000 Western Americana photographs, consisting mostly of documentary photographs of the Trans-Mississippi West from the late 1860s to early 1900s, largely from the perspective of white photographers and settlers. Subjects include American Indians (especially studio portraits), natural wonders, cities, towns, buildings, and economic activities (mining, railroads, logging, and agriculture). Some photographs relate to the Indigenous populations of Mexico and Central America. The dimensions, physical formats, and photographic processes of the photographs vary widely.

Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]

Mary C. Davidow collection of research materials on the life and career of Charlotte Mew (1869-1928), 1869-1928 (inclusive)

Extent:: 2 boxes
Abstract:: Charlotte Mary Mew (15 November 1869 – 24 March 1928) was an English poet. She contributed a number of short stories to the Temple Bar as well as the Yellow Book. She is best known for her book of poems The Farmer's Bride, published by Harold Monro's Poetry Bookshop in 1916. She committed suicide while depressed. These materials were collected by Mary C. Davidow in the process of writing her Ph.D. dissertation at Brown University (1960) on the life and work of Charlotte Mew. The collection includes correspondence, miscellaneous notes, and over 100 photocopies of letters written by Mew to Hardy, Cockerell, Alida Monro, May Sinclair, and others.

Held at: Bryn Mawr College [Contact Us]

Comfort family financial records, 1803-1912 (inclusive)

Extent:: 0.13 linear ft. (2 volumes)
Abstract:: This collection is comprised of two volumes of the financial records of the Comfort family.

Held at: Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections [Contact Us]

Josiah W. Leeds account books, 1877-1894 (inclusive)

Extent:: 0.25 linear ft. (3 volumes)
Abstract:: The account books of Josiah W. Leeds record the publication account of various books written by Leeds and others. Each volume records the number of volumes purchased, who they were sold to, or how they were distributed, and the price each volume was sold for, for each title. At the back of each volume are clippings of book reviews for the titles accounted for in the volume.

Held at: Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections [Contact Us]

Robert Montgomery Bird papers, 1799-1946 (inclusive) 1822-1854 (bulk)

Extent:: 31 boxes
Abstract:: Comprises personal, business, literary, and family papers. In addition to Bird's own papers, this collection includes papers of his wife Mary E. Bird, his son Frederic Mayer Bird, and his biographer Clement Edgar Foust. The earliest papers (1822) date from Bird's school days at Germantown Academy, and the very latest papers (1946) relate to C. Seymour Thompson's publication of Mary E. Bird's biography of her husband. Correspondents include men and women from Bird's career in medicine; his literary career; his theatrical career (including correspondence with Edwin Forrest, as well as the documentation regarding their legal battle over copyrights and profits); his political career; and his career in publishing and journalism.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

E. Sculley Bradley papers, 1876-1970 (inclusive) 1944-1962 (bulk)

Extent:: 2.5 linear feet (6 boxes)
Abstract:: Edward Sculley Bradley (1897-1987) was a scholar, author, educator, and administrator at the University of Pennsylvania. He was a prolific writer and editor, serving as editor of the General Magazine and History Chronicle, Philadelphia, 1945-1956. He published biographies of literary figures George Henry Boker and Henry Charles Lea, as well as editions of works by Mark Twain, Stephen Crane, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Walt Whitman. Bradley was considered an international expert on Whitman, editing several important editions of the poet's Leaves of Grass. The Sculley Bradley papers include his personal and professional correspondence dating from 1923 to 1962, material from several literary censorship cases for which he testified, corrected drafts of his manuscripts for the Comprehensive Reader's Edition, Norton Critical Edition, and Variorum edition of Leaves of Grass, ephemera and graphics associated with Walt Whitman, and a small amount of material on other authors.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

John Louis Haney papers, 1885-1958 (inclusive) 1903-1958 (bulk)

Extent:: 8 linear feet (16 boxes )
Abstract:: This collection contains material related to the professional, academic, and personal life of John Louis Haney (1877-1960), a high school principal, scholar, and book collector. It contains correspondence; research notes on various topics; and manuscript drafts of essays, talks, and radio transcripts, as well as an inventory of his library and journals concerning his undergraduate and graduate education.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

May Sinclair papers, circa 1863-1963 (inclusive)

Extent:: 52 boxes
Abstract:: Personal papers of May Sinclair, including letters; manuscripts, typescripts, and galleys of her writings; workbooks; works by her friends; biographical information; photographs and illustrations; and miscellaneous items. The collection also includes the research correspondence and miscellaneous items of Theophilus Boll, May Sinclair's biographer.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

James M. Gibson research collection on Horace Howard Furness, 1882-1992 (inclusive) 1975-1985 (bulk)

Extent:: 6 linear feet (14 boxes)
Abstract:: This collection contains research materials collected and compiled by James M. Gibson for a biography of Horace Howard Furness, The Philadelphia Shakespeare Story: Horace Howard Furness and the Variorum Shakespeare, published in 1990. The bulk of this collection consists of photocopies of original nineteenth and early twentieth century documents made between roughly 1975 and 1985. This collection gathers hundreds of letters and articles that relate to H. H. Furness, from over fifty libraries and repositories, and illuminates Gibson's research and writing process. Furness (1833-1912) was a leading Shakespeare scholar, and thus some of the material pertains to the study of Elizabethan theater.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

Mark Twain periodical collection, 1868-1968 (inclusive)

Extent:: 129 items
Abstract:: This collection of periodicals containing articles or anecdotes by Mark Twain, advertisements for his works, and articles about the author and his works was donated by the family of Robert Nevins Birdwhistell. The periodicals from the library's collection of Mark Twain materials span a period of 100 years.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]