Overview
Papers of New Testament theologian, Caspar René Gregory, including writings, sermons, correspondence, diaries, scrapbooks, artwork, photographs, and artifacts. The papers span 1864-1917.
Dates
- Creation: 1864-1917
Access
There are no restrictions on access to this collection.
Extent
141 boxesThis varied collection consists of correspondence, writings and research, much of which is in German, photographs, drawings, and artifacts. The collection is arranged into sixteen series that includes sermons, lectures, and notes, as well as artwork by Gregory and his son, Greenough. In addition, there is material related to Gregory's military career and artifacts and memoribilia from Gregory's extensive travels and archeological trips. Finally, the collection also contains the records of Gregory's wife, Lucy Thayer Gregory, including correspondence, diaries, and financial records.
Biographical / Historical
Casper René Gregory (1846-1917) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and studied theology at the University of Pennsylvania (1865-1867) and at Princeton Theological Seminary (1867–1873). In 1873, he decided to continue his studies at the University of Leipzig under Constantin von Tischendorf, to whose work on textual criticism of the New Testament he had been referred by his teacher, Ezra Abbot. In 1876, he obtained his PhD with a dissertation on Gregorè the priest and the revolutionist. He completed his post-doctoral work in Leipzig in 1884, and became an associate professor in 1889 and a full honorary professor in 1891. In 1886 Gregory married Lucy Watson Thayer, the daughter of Joseph Henry Thayer, Professor of NewTestament at Harvard Divinity School. They had several children: Lucy, Greenough, Elinor, and Agnes. In August 1914, Gregory, who had been a citizen of Saxony since 1881, enlisted in the German Army. He became a second lieutenant in 1916 and fell in 1917 on the western front. He died on April 9, 1917 in a field hospital in Neufchâtel-sur-Aisne, France.
Gregory specialized in New Testament textual criticism. He organized biblical manuscripts into a classification system (Die griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testaments, 1908) which is the system in use throughout the scholarly world today.
Arrangement
Organized into the following series:
- Series I. Books and pamphlets
- Series II. Articles and reviews
- Series III. Sermons
- Series IV. Lectures
- Series V. Notes
- Series VI. Diaries
- Series VII. Scrapbooks
- Series VIII. Notebooks
- Series IX. Business and family
- Series X. Artwork and photographs
- Series XI. Military
- Series XII. Personal
- Series XIII. Artifacts and memorabilia
- Series XIV. Articles and clippings
- Series XV. Correspondence
- Series XVI. Lucy Thayer Gregory records
Acquisition Information
The collection was donated to Harvard Divinity School in 1985 by Lucy G. Henderson, Gregory's daughter, and her two children Gregory Henderson and Martha Henderson Coolidge.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Eugene McAfee, Joseph Florez and Fran O'Donnell.
- Title
- Gregory, Caspar René. Papers, c. 1864-1917: A Finding Aid.
- Author
- Andover-Harvard Theological Library
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- div00560
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard Divinity School Library, Harvard University Repository
Special Collections at Harvard Divinity School Library preserves and makes accessible primary source materials documenting the history of religion and theology, with particular historical emphasis on American liberal religious traditions. Though the historical strengths of the collections have been in the field of Christianity, other religious traditions are increasingly reflected, in step with Harvard Divinity School's evolving focus on global religious studies. Known as Andover-Harvard Theological Library since 1911, it was renamed the Harvard Divinity School Library in 2021.
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