Call Number:

M9

Repository:

Bryn Mawr College

Extent:

0.5 linear ft.

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton collection, Special Collections Department, Bryn Mawr College Library.

Date:

1907-1945 (inclusive) and 1908-1923 (bulk)

Creator:

Atherton, Gertrude Franklin Horn, 1857-1948

Abstract:

Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton was an American novelist who wrote both novels and nonfiction books. The collection mainly consists of letters from Atherton to Clifford Smyth and responses to fan letters, along with several miscellaneous items.

The American novelist Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton was born in San Francisco on 30 October 1857, where she was raised by her father after her parents divorced when she was two. In 1876, she married George H.B. Atherton and had two children. She began writing articles and novels, and after her husband's death in 1887, pursued a writing career. Atherton's writings include novels (many of them historical, such as The Conqueror, based on the life of Alexander Hamilton), as well as nonfiction books, including an autobiography, Adventures of a Novelist. She died on 14 June 1948 in San Francisco.

The Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton collection houses various personal letters, writings, and other material of Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton. Atherton was an American novelist and nonfiction writer in the late nineteenth century, and the collection provides a unique look into her personal life.

The collection is organized into outgoing letters from Atherton, incoming letters, Atherton's writings, and other material.

The outgoing letters are largely to Clifford Smyth, the editor of the New York Times Saturday Review of Books and Art, in which she discussed her own work and that of other writers, and responses to fan letters, in which Atherton discusses her writing. There is one letter to Atherton from Clarence Louis Cullen. The collection also contains a corrected and signed copy of "Marie Haye, Intellectual Romantic," by Atherton. There is also a questionnaire from The Manuscript Club, which has been filled out and signed by Atherton, as well as a studio portrait of Atherton by Arnold Genthe, which is inscribed to Clifford Smyth.

Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton was a respected American author of novels, essays, short stories, and articles. She wrote on a variety of subjects, ranging from feminism to politics. The Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton collection provides insight into her relationship with Clifford Smith and with her fans, and would be of value to researchers hoping to gain a more nuanced view of Atherton beyond her published writings.