Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 705

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

3 boxes

Preferred Citation:

Marion Dexter Learned papers, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

circa 1885-1913 (inclusive)

Creator:

Learned, Marion Dexter

Form:

Manuscripts, American -- 20th century, Manuscripts, American -- 19th century, and Poetry

Abstract:

Miscellaneous papers of Marion Dexter Learned related to his scholarly work and academic career. Most of the items, including manuscript fragments, notes, and research materials, pertain to an unfinished scholarly project in which Learned sought to illuminate the literary evolution of the Wilhelm Tell legend and ballad, from its beginnings to the publication of a version of the ballad in Philadelphia in 1768 by the German-born printer Heinrich Miller. Other items in the collection include miscellaneous correspondence; two personal documents of Learned from graduate study in Leipzig, Germany; print copies of two speeches by him; and miscellaneous research materials and publications collected by him.

Marion Dexter Learned was born near Dover, Delaware, of parents of English and Welsh heritage. After graduating from Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, he served for four years as the chair of ancient and modern languages at Dickinson Seminary in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He went on to pursue graduate work in German at Johns Hopkins University, and in the course of his studies visited Germany for the first time in 1885, when he studied for several months at the University of Leipzig. He received a Ph.D. in German from Johns Hopkins in 1887, and subsequently taught there, eventually reaching the rank of associate professor of German. In 1895, Learned moved to the University of Pennsylvania, where he became professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures and also served as the department's first chair. German-American cultural intersections were a major area of Learned's scholarly interest. His publications included, for example, The Pennsylvania German Dialect (1889), "Anfänge der deutschen Kultur in Amerika" (1893), The German American Turner Lyric (1897), and The Life of Francis Daniel Pastorius (1908). He gave academic addresses on such topics such as "German Influence in America" (Baltimore, 1892-1893), "German as a Culture Element in American Education" (Cincinnati, 1898) and "The Turner as Champions of American Liberty" (Allegheny, PA, ca. 1900). Learned was the founder, in 1897, of the monograph series Americana Germanica, and later, of the related German American Annals, both devoted to the comparative study of the historical, literary, linguistic, and other cultural relations of Germany and America. Among his many other accomplishments and honors, Learned was the organizer of the Association of Teachers of German in Pennsylvania; served as president of the National German-American Teachers Alliance (Nationaler Deutsch-Amerikanischer Lehrerbund), from 1899 to 1901; and helped to found the German-American Historical Society, in 1901.

The collection comprises mainly correspondence, writings, and research notes and materials of Marion Dexter Learned. The great majority of the items are related to an unfinished scholarly project of Learned that took its focus from a Wilhelm Tell ballad that was published in Philadelphia in 1768, by the German-born printer Heinrich Miller (Ein schön Lied von dem schweizerischen Erz-Freyheitssohn Wilhelm Thellen, dem Urheber der Löbl. Eydgenossenschaft, samt einem andern Liede von dem Ursprung und Herkommen der Schweizer). In order to illuminate the background of this publication of the Tell ballad in the colonial American context, Professor Learned set about tracing the evolution of the ballad from its earliest beginnings to 1768, through examination of manuscripts and publications in Europe. The result of his research took shape in an outline and preliminary draft on small note paper (folder 23); a fragmentary manuscript consisting mostly of notes on versions of the ballads (folder 17); and a later manuscript of over a hundred leaves (folders 18-21).

In addition, the collection includes related correspondence to Learned from libraries and archives in Germany, Switzerland, France, and the United States, dated 1903 to 1906 (folders 11-13); photographic reproductions and handwritten transcriptions of different versions of the Tell ballad and associated works, many of them with annotations by Learned (folders 34-50); and loose notes by Learned, including charts and analyses of song variations (folders 23-33). Among these materials is what appears to be a prototype of the journal Americana Germanica, which was founded by Learned and began publication in 1897. Dated 1896, it offers a transcription of the 1768 Wilhelm Tell publication in Philadelphia (folder 44).

Aside from the materials related to the Wilhelm Tell project, the collection includes a sparse assembly of general correspondence to Learned from 11 correspondents (folders 1-11) on a variety of matters, mostly related to his scholarly work or academic responsibilities; two personal documents related to his studies at the University of Leipzig during his graduate-student years (folder 15 and oversize item in map drawer); printed copies of two speeches by him (folder 22); miscellaneous research materials collected by him, including some copies from German archives that seem to concern German immigration to America (folders 52 and 53); and some miscellaneous publications collected by him, a few of which relate to German-American concerns from around the turn of the century (folders 55 and 56).