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Robert H. Davis 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
Robert H. Davis was an American novelist and poet. He joined the Frank A Munsey Company in New York City, and was fiction editor of Munsey's Magazine (1903-1904).
Thomas Baskerville was a lawyer. He was a member of the New York law firm of Bowers and Sands, and later he joined the firm of Middlebrook & Sincerbeaux.
The collection consists primarily of correspondence of Robert H. Davis with his friend, the lawyer Thomas Baskerville, who was amassing a collection of autographs of famous individuals. Several of Davis's letters to Baskerville include poems by Davis or discuss and criticize literary works. Included are a short poem titled "Lines to Autumn by a Nature Faker" and another poem that is untitled but starts with "Them nifty little Brownsville crackers . . . ." There is another autograph poem by Davis (with typewritten copy) titled "You've an Elephant off Your Hands" and addressed "To Tom." Of significance is the group of letters from famous American and British authors, poets, and other celebrities that were sent to Davis during the course of his job as editor for Munsey's and which he passed on to Baskerville for his autograph collection. The correspondents include Robert Bartlett; Arnold Bennett; Don Bryne; Emmett Dalton, train robber and member of the Dalton Gang in the American Old West and author of The Death of Several Roughnecks; American humorist and playwright Montague Glass; Francis Grierson; Fannie Hurst; Wallace Irwin; William Loeb, secretary to President Woodrow Wilson; Francis Patton; Elihu Root; Edwin Milton Royle; Arthur Train; and author Ben Ames Williams.
Purchased in December 1946 (AM13257).
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.
This collection was processed by Dina Britain on April 24, 2009. Finding aid written by Lauren Kustner on April 28, 2009. Folder Inventory added by Hilde Creager (2015) in 2012.
No appraisal information is available.
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- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Date
- 2009
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
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Collection Inventory
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