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W. J. Linton Collection
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Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
William James Linton was born on December 7, 1812 in London, England. Educated in Stratford, Linton moved back to London and became a wood engraver. In addition to his artistic pursuits, Linton was also a political activist in favor of free press, free speech, universal suffrage, and women's rights. After encountering political and financial troubles in England, he moved to New York and spent the rest of his life in the United States. Here he found artistic and political acceptance. He worked at the Ladies' School of Design at the Cooper Institute, designed illustrations for a number of prominent American book publishers, and made illustrations for Scribner's Monthly, Century Magazine, and Aldine. Politically, he joined the Universal Republican Alliance. In 1870 he moved to Connecticut where he established his own press and continued to produce engravings for publishers. He passed away in New Haven on December 29, 1897.
Consists chiefly of correspondence (approximately 200 items), in large part by the Anglo-American wood engraver, author, and political reformer W. J. Linton to the art historian and editor Sylvester Rosa Koehler. Included are 108 letters from Linton to Koehler, one with an original drawing, discussing in detail illustrations and engravings for some of Koehler's books, including the never-to-be-completed "History of the Art of Color-printing." Linton specifically writes about engraving portraits from photographs that are being sent to him of authors and poets such as William Cullen Bryant, Charles Anderson Dana, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He also discusses different engraving techniques and other engravers and publishers, including Scribner's, Harper's, and Appleton. Other correspondents include Leigh Hunt, Charles Samuel Jovett, Jeremiah Wells, and Henry Benjamin Wheatley. In addition, the collection includes some correspondence written by Eliza Lynn Linton.
The collection further includes a 238-page typescript of a novel, In Exile, credited to Elizabeth Fitzgerald; three manuscripts of poems, presumably by Linton: "The Commonwealth" (n.d.), "Freedom's Triumph" (1884), and "Sir Richard Grenville" (1852); and several photographs of Linton at different stages of his life, at his home and his engraving studio, and of his mother and other family members. Also present are photographs of the Italian philosopher and politician Giuseppe Mazzini, including one by Domenico Lama and two by Elliott Fry; two autograph biographies of Linton; some wood engravings, and clippings with wood engravings of and by Linton from The Illustrated London News and The People's Journal.
The following sources were consulted during preparation of biographical note: American National Biography.
Purchased from Howard S. Mott.
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Biography written by Alyxandra Cullen, '09.
No appraisal information is available.
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- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Date
- 2002
- Access Restrictions
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Collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
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Collection Inventory
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Included are 2 letters to J. Styles and Dr. Giglidi, 1846-1848
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Glued on pages, booklet form (2).
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