Box 59

Scope and Contents Three items containing notes on Greek grammar and manuscripts, all of which appear to have some connection to the University of Cambridge. The earliest item is a program describing the Classical and Commercial School at Hagdell House, with notes on the back on Greek prepositions. A later (?) pencil notation indicates that the notes are in the hand of 19th-century Anglo-Irish priest and author Thomas Francis, November 1839. The remaining two pieces are in the same hand, undated but appear to...

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A typed letter signed by author and critic Joseph Krutch, addressed to Julie Sloane, the wife of Krutch’s publisher William Sloane, and dated November 14, 1955. Accompanied by a handwritten letter from Krutch’s wife Marcelle to William Sloane dated 1973. Contents are personal.

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An offprint of Cambridge historian David Knowles’ The Prospects of Medieval Studies accompanied by a note in his hand addressed “Dear Billy.” The note is written on letterhead from Knowles’ residence in Pimlico, London, and dated December 9, 1947.

Scope and Contents A travel diary written by British artist and amateur historian George Lovell Harrison, describing a trip to Italy he took with his friend, Conservative MP Robert Yerburgh (1953-1916) and their wives in the spring of 1910. The account, titled “A few notes on our little jaunt to ITALY via LUCERNE, Friday, 20 May - Tuesday 7 June, 1910” is full of rich color and often humorous detail. It begins on the 1st of May, 1910 with Harrison commenting on the Yerburgh’s invitation for the couple “to...

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Six sketches and a letter by a person signing themself Clifford S. Harrison. The sketches, five of which are pen-and-ink, and one of which is pencil, pertain to the character of Mrs. Camp from Charles Dickens’ 1843-1844 novel Martin Chuzzlewit. The letter appears to be addressed to a child or young person, and is humorous. Undated.

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Correspondence in the hand of English artist, critic, and author Philip Hamerton. 10 letters, all addressed to American author and journalist Horace Parker Chandler (1842-1919), are a mix of personal news and discussion of Hamerton’s publications. Dated between 1874 and 1879, and addressed, with the exception of one letter, to Chandler in Saône-et-Loire in eastern France. Also included is an illustration of Hamerton, apparently removed from a book.

Scope and Contents A letter in the hand of future Governor of Massachusetts John Brooks addressed to American Founding Father John Hancock, then Governor himself. The missive, dated June 8th 1787 from Medford, MA, appears to pertain to elections of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts, the oldest chartered military organization in America. They have always held their elections on the first Monday in June, which in 1787 would have been the 4th. Several holes and tears are present in the...

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A black and white photograph of then-first lady Jackie Kennedy, likely taken during her summer 1961 trip to Greece. She is wearing a white suit, smiling, and standing next to a black car, accompanied by a man who may be a bodyguard. A stamp on the back in Greek indicates that this is a press photo dated 1961.

Scope and Contents A collection of materials related to British historian William Finney and his interest in the Anglo-Saxon history of Kingston, London, where he himself was seven times mayor. The collection consists mainly of three letters: one in Finny’s hand to an unknown recipient (possibly George S. Dixon) discussing the Egbert stone in Lancashire, dated 1940, accompanied by two others also concerning the stone, neither of which appears to be by Finny (though they may possibly be annotated by him). An...

Scope and Contents Three items related to English poet and playwright Christopher Fry: one handwritten letter (1947) addressed to the editor of the Arts Theatre Club thanking them for a positive review of his comedy play “A Phoenix Too Frequent”, one typed, annotated, and signed letter (1951) addressed to fellow poet John Bayliss (1919-2008), and a program from a 1969 Chichester Centre of Art poetry reading signed by Fry, as well as fellow poets Laurence Lerner (1925-2016), George MacBeth (1932-1992), Leslie...

Scope and Contents Five letters addressed to US Naval Captain James T. Gerry from his nephew, E. T. Gerry between March 1850 and November 1851. Captain Gerry appears to have been stationed on board the USS Franklin, at that time a receiving ship for new recruits in Boston Harbor. The contents are descriptions of family and local life ranging from debate in the parish church about who should be the new rector to a visit to the opera and reports on what the younger Gerry is currently reading. All but one of the...

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A photograph of American artists and printers Frederic and Bertha Goudy, along with what appears to be a draft of a border or press mark on white card. One side has a printed design in black ink, while the other has an enlarged version of a portion of it in pencil.

Scope and Contents A tall thin manuscript book of 25 perforated, hole-punched pages, written in what appears to be blue ballpoint pen with illustrations in the same with added colored marker. The volume is titled Tabitha Caricatures on Big Daddy and Sunbeam Controls (1980) by Joan Patricia Abell Grubbs, a schoolteacher from Indianapolis, IN, and tells the story of Noah and his four children Peter/Sunbeam, Prudence/General Electric, John/General Motors, and Patience/Westinghouse in a surreal narrative that...

Scope and Contents Three 19th-century deeds of trust between landowners and trustees of the Georgetown Building Association, printed with handwritten additions. The first, dated October 1852, grants George W. Godey the right to a portion of lot 13 of “Holmead’s Addition to Georgetown” near Olive Street; the second, dated November 1852, grants Thomas Brown the same to lots 29-32 in “Bealty and Hawkins Addition to Georgetown fronting on Seventh Street and Frederick Street in the said town”; the third, dated...

Scope and Contents Eight letters in the hand of British novelist R.C. Hutchinson, addressed to his friend and fellow writer Eric Gillett between September of 1938, shortly following the publication of Hutchinson’s novel Testament, and March 1940. The letters are filled with literary references, discussions of his own and others’ work, and anecdotes from his working life, including a dinner at the Ivy with J.B. Priestly before the opening of their play Last Train South. Hutchinson signed up for the Officers...

Scope and Contents Six letters in the hand of British novelist A.S.M. Hutchinson, addressed to American librarian and book collector John S. Mayfield (1904-1983) between 1925 and 1960: the earliest letter is on plain paper (1925), two are on personalized letterhead (1959), and three are blue aerogrammes (1959-1960). The contents are general, and include commentary on his books and other personal matters such as their own youths and family histories: In August of 1959 he replies to Mayfield, “I would much like...

Scope and Contents A small collection of materials related to American stage magician and self-styled “Edison of magic” Burling Hull. The centerpiece of the collection is two typed and signed letters, undated, and addressed “Dear Stanley.” One is on letterhead for Hull’s 1935 publication “Stage Magic” and details his move to DeLand, Florida near Daytona Beach. “Florida is my idea of Heaven,” he writes, before discussing his new home (a “5 room cement block house”) and show style: “Took us a while to get used...

Scope and Contents A single letter with envelope dated 26 January 1897 from Massachusetts Congressman George F. Hoar to one of his constituents, Boston businessman S.S. Blanchard. The letter is typed, edited by hand, and signed by Hoar, and is a response to a request from Blanchard for him to “write something to be read to our Brethren at the Massachusetts Club concerning the Arbitration Treaty” between the United States and Great Britain, likely the failed Olney-Pauncefote Treaty argued before Congress that...

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Five half leaves of paper containing what appears to be an early draft of a portion of “London Voluntaries” by English poet William Ernest Henley. The text, written in pencil and much-edited, corresponds to what would become the second part of the poem, “Andante Con Moto.” The draft is undated, but the volume containing the finished poem, also called London Voluntaries, was published in 1893.

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A carte de visite featuring a photograph of American Catholic prelate James Augustine Healy, styled as “Rt. Rev. James A. Healey.” On the reverse is printed information about the publisher, T.P. McGowan of Portland, Maine. Undated.