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Philip Morin Freneau 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

Freneau

Philip Morin Freneau is usually referred to as the "poet of the American Revolution." Born in New York, he graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1771. Although Freneau had produced several poems before college, it was the experience of pre-Revolutionary War Princeton that turned his interest to public writing. Political concerns led Freneau, James Madison, and their friends Hugh Henry Brackenridge and William Bradford, Jr., to revive the defunct Plain Dealing Club as the American Whig Society. Charged with literary and political enthusiasm, Freneau and Brackenridge collaborated on a picaresque narrative, Father Bambo's Pilgrimage to Mecca in Arabia, which presents comic glimpses of life in eighteenth-century America. In later years, Freneau was the editor of several newspapers, the most important of which was The National Gazette, Jefferson and Madison's Republican response to Alexander Hamilton's Federalist paper, Gazette of the United States.

The collection consists of selected correspondence (both original and copies), receipts, and manuscripts of Freneau. Correspondents include Peter Freneau, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. Included is one manuscript sheet of a play by Freneau titled The Spy.

Arranged by accession number.

The collection was formed as a result of a Departmental practice of combining into one collection material of various accessions relating to a particular person, family, or subject.

Various AM.

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Finding aid written by James Flannery on February 17, 2006. Folder Inventory added by Hilde Creager (2015) in 2012.

No appraisal information is available.

Publisher
Manuscripts Division
Finding Aid Date
2006
Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Collection Inventory

"The Spy" 1 sheet of manuscript. End of Act 3, Scene 3 and beginning of Scene 4, undated. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

"Winter" poem (photostat), undated. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Copies of Letters to and from Jefferson and Madison, 1791-1815. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Photocopy of a letter from Philip Morin Freneau to Francis Childs and envelope, 1795 January 11. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Promissory note, 1808 October 19. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Receipt, 1792 August 16. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Receipt to John Ross for subscription to the National Gazette, 1793 October 26. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Receipt for subscription to the National Gazette, 1793. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

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