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William Vans Murray 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 Vans Murray was a lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He served in the Maryland House of Delegates (1788-1790) and in the United States House of Representatives (1791-1797), and as U.S. Minister to the Netherlands (1797-1801).
MurrayWilliam Vans Murray was a lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He served in the Maryland House of Delegates (1788-1790) and in the United States House of Representatives (1791-1797), and as U.S. Minister to the Netherlands (1797-1801).
The collection consists of four commonplace books kept by Murray, an American diplomat and minister to the Netherlands, during the years 1786 to July of 1800. The first volume (1786-1798) begins in London, England, and continues in Cambridge, Maryland (Murray's birthplace), and Philadelphia, and includes notes on public speaking, trade, politics, Shakespeare, etc., and also mentions his future wife, Charlotte [Hughes?]. The second volume (1787-1795) includes Murray's impressions of the "political face of the moment," notes and copies of articles he had published in local newspapers, notes on treaties, land taxes, treasury reports, and distinguished foreigners; copies of letters to Thomas Jefferson; and a lengthy discussion of the Indians in Maryland, including a vocabulary, with English translations, of Nanticoke words. The third and forth volumes (1799-1800) include copies of letters to Talleyrand, George Washington, and Col. T. Pickering, home remedies for bone-setting and frozen limbs, plus recipes for glue, dye, butter, and coffee. Murray also discusses his observations of Paris and Washington (D.C), impressions of Charles Bonaparte and Robespierre, and the XYZ Affair. In addition to the commonplace books, there are letters to Robert Gilmore, Elbridge Gerry, and Sylvanus Bourne, a poem, and a few manuscript fragments.
Acquired in 1940 from unknown source. Remainder purchased from Alfred Terry in 1979 and from Heritage Book Shop in 1995 (AM1995-118, 12800, 79-187).
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Folder Inventory added by Hilde Creager (2015) in 2012.
No appraisal information is available.
Subject
- Diplomats -- 18th century -- Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc
- Nanticoke Indians -- Maryland. -- 18th century
- Nanticoke language. -- Dictionaries
- XYZ Affair, 1797-1798
Place
- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Date
- 2008
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
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Collection Inventory
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
to Robert Gilmore, 1793, Elbridge Gerry, 1798, Sylvanus Bourne, 1799.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder