Box 59

Scope and Contents A collection of materials related to British academic Colin Hardie and his involvement in the Oxford Dante Society. Four letters in Hardie’s hand addressed to fellow Oxford academic Charles Alan Robson between 1954 and 1961. The contents mostly pertain to Dante and the Dante Society. Also included are an offprint of Hardie’s 1964 essay “The ‘Veltres’ in the Chanson de Roland and Dante’s ‘Veltro,’” notes apparently related to the same scribbled on the back of a blank army form, a typed...

Scope and Contents A letter in the hand of British artist Cecil Athur Hunt, dated January 3, 1929. The letter is addressed to lawyer John S. Harrington, the executor of the estate of recently-deceased stained glass artist J. Silvester Sparrow (1862-1929), regarding a window designed for Hunt by noted artist Sir Frank Brangwyn (1867-1956) and executed by Sparrow (1862-1929). There appears to have been a conflict over what Hunt perceives to be the exorbitant cost of the project, and he writes to lawyer John S....

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Five letters in the hand of British philosopher L.P. Jacks, written between 1938 and 1939 during his time at Manchester College in Oxford. The letters are addressed to a “Mr. Clennell” and largely consist of minor College business.

Scope and Contents A small black notebook, approximately one-quarter filled, containing what appears to be a ledger in Japanese written in several colors of pen and pencil. A later pencil note in English on the first page reads “said to be from Japanese internment camp” but curatorial materials compiled by Scheetz himself suggests overwise: a letter to Scheetz from noted scholar of Japanese literature Donald Keene (1922-2019) reveals that the bulk of the document is “a record of property” – perhaps in the...

Scope and Contents A collection of 6 items related to English actor Charles Kean. One complete letter in his hand, dated 1860 and addressed to a “Mr Millward” has a portrait of Kean (apparently clipped from a newspaper) glued to it, and is accompanied by two signatures (themselves removed from two other letters and glued together), a small printed photograph, and a short handwritten biography. Each of the items shows evidence of adhesive on the back, indicating that they may have once been in a scrapbook,...

Scope and Contents A typescript of “Wise After the Event: An Index to the Catalogue of the Exhibition of Books, Pamphlets, Manuscripts and Letters By and About Thomas James Wise – Held in the Manchester Cathedral Central Library During September 1964” compiled by G.E. Haslam. 23 pages plus covering title page, stapled in the upper lefthand corner. Dated 1967. A note in blue ink on the cover signs the document to D.A. Low “with compliments” from the author, and a second note below it in black ink passes it on...

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Four pieces of correspondence in the hand of American dramatist Clyde Fitch, addressed to various recipients, one with original envelope. Also included is a fifth letter in the hand of someone who is presumably Fitch’s secretary. Contents are personal. Dated between 1891 and 1902.

Scope and Contents One letter written to an anonymous recipient by Michael Field, the pseudonym of English poets Katherine Harris Bradley and Edith Emma Cooper. The contents refer to a “memorial poem” written by John Gray for Field’s friend and confidant the poet Robert Browning (1812-1889). Undated. The letter is currently housed with a single sheet containing a copy of the sonnet “Helen’s Tower” by Irish poet George Francis Savage-Armstrong (1845-1906) printed in black with a red initial and border (1892)...

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Three pieces of correspondence in the hand of American writer Hamlin Garland. Two postcards (1899 and 1917) addressed to a “Geo. P. Butt”, who appears to have some association with Macmillan publishers, and a letter to the “Tenth Grade Students of Literature” at Washburn High School in Minneapolis, MN, dated 1937. Contents are brief and personal.

Scope and Contents Six letters in the hand of acclaimed English actor and director John Gielgud. Five of the letters are written from Cowley Street, London, where Gielgud lived between 1945 and 1976, and are addressed “Dear Mrs. Buckley.” They are brief notes of thanks for a variety of gifts – roses, a piece of embroidery, a book, and a silver bowl. The sixth letter, addressed “Dear Elinor”, is written from Wotton House, in Wotton Underwood, Berkshire, where Gielgud lived at the end of his life. All...

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Correspondence and other materials related to the work of American philologist A. E. Gordon. Included are offprints of two articles (1944 and 1947) written by Gordon on a Latin inscription found in a rubbing housed by the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, alongside manuscript notes on the same and correspondence (both typed and handwritten) regarding the inscription between Gordon and his colleague in Oxford, R.H. Burrow.

Scope and Contents A small collection of items related to British artist and illustrator Kate Greenaway. A single letter addressed to English writer and horticulturalist Lady Dorothy Nevill, dated Christmas 1894. The contents are personal. Also present is a small pen-and-ink drawing of flowers, initialed by the artist and matted. This is not the “small drawing” of flowers mentioned in the Nevill letter, as according to included curatorial documents, the two items were purchased by Scheetz at different times...

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A single letter from an unknown correspondent (“Jack”) addressed to British broadcaster and literary critic Eric Gillet. The contents appear to relate to Gillet’s soliciting poetry for publication. Undated.

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A receipt signed by Françoise d'Humières (as Françoise de Contay) governess to the royal family of France in the 16th century. Dated 1553. The document is written in a cursive document hand on parchment, with modern paper tape added around the edges of the verso. Minor damage to the upper left-hand corner of the recto.

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A copy of Etienne Carjat’s famous 1875 photographic portrait of French writer and politician Victor Hugo. The portrait has been cropped into an oval showing only the head and shoulders, and pasted onto a piece of cream-colored card with a decorative frame printed in gray ink. Likely once part of a set. Undated.

Scope and Contents Two objects related to American social reformer Samuel Gridley Howe. The first is a letter in Italian, addressed to Howe and dated 1836 from Baron Pietro Pisani (1760-1837). It appears to pertain at least in part to the proceedings of the Boston Phrenological Society, of which Howe was then the secretary. Both men had an interest in social causes related to people with mental illness or developmental disability. The second is a diary for the year 1874, bound in burgundy leather, containing...

Scope and Contents A note addressed to British teacher and politician Christopher Hollis, written on a blue stationary card marked “New College Oxford” and dated “Friday October 15” – this may be the year 1937, which had such a date. The note pertains to Hollis’ talk at a dinner held at Rhodes House, Oxford, and is from a correspondent who signs themself “Peter Paul” – possibly a pseudonym. Curatorial material compiled by Scheetz contains a letter that indicates the letter was found inside a book once owned by...

Scope and Contents A brief note on lined paper dated July 3rd 1881 concerning the shooting of president James A Garfield: “The President was shot yesterday at Washington, when about taking the cars to come North. His case was hopeful at 4.06 this morning. The assassin after shooting him said ‘We are all right now! Arthur is president! I am a Stalwart of the Stalwarts.’” The paper appears to have been torn from a notebook, and has various notes and calculations on the verso. Whether the author was an eyewitness...

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Two documents recording the conveyance of land in Harrington near Liverpool between merchants Thomas Flahavan and Thomas Wilson via lease and release. The lease is dated June 17th and the release June 18th, 1796. Signed, stamped, and sealed in wax.

Scope and Contents A small collection of correspondence from American author Grace King and her sister Nina, all addressed to a “Mrs Hardesty,” apparently the spouse of a Professor John T. Hardesty of the University of California at Berkeley. Two letters in the hand of Grace King, dated 1919 and 1921, are accompanied by a card marked “The Misses King” acknowledging the Hardestys’ condolences following Grace’s death in 1932, as well as a letter in Nina’s hand accompanied by a photograph of her with her dog...