Correspondence and journals of Henry James Jr. and other family papers
Overview
Correspondence of the American writer Henry James Jr. and that of his sister, the American diarist, Alice James. Also includes his diaries, appointment books, and James family photograph albums.
Dates
- Creation: 1855-1916
Creator
- James, Henry, 1843-1916 (Person)
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.
Conditions Governing Use
Images linked to the finding aid describing this collection are intended for public access and educational use. This material is owned and/or held by the Houghton Library, and is provided solely for the purpose of teaching or individual research. Any other use, including commercial reuse, mounting on other systems, or other forms of redistribution requires the permission of the curator.
Extent
8 linear feet (25 boxes and 16 volumes)Includes letters to James from various literary and social friends and acquaintances, including Paul Bourget, George Du Maurier, William Dean Howells, James Russell Lowell, Robert Louis Stevenson, and many others. There are several long runs of letters by James, including letters to Elizabeth [Lizzie] Boott, Mary Cadwalader Jones, Grace Norton, Henrietta Reubell, and Howard Overing Sturgis. Also includes many letters by James to his parents, his brother William, his nephew Henry James II, his sister Alice, and his sister-in-law Alice Howe Gibbens James. The collection also contains letters to and from his sister, Alice James (1848-1892).
With 16 volumes of Henry James Jr.'s diaries and appointment books, 1878-1915 (also known as his "journals"), and James family photograph albums.
Biographical / Historical
James was an American novelist, short story writer, critic and dramatist. Alice James (1848-1892), the American diarist, was his sister.
Arrangement
Arranged into the following series:
- I. Letters to Henry James Jr.
- II. Letters from Henry James Jr.
- III. Letters of Henry James Jr. to Henry James II.
- IV. Letters to and from Alice James
- V. Letters of Henry James Jr. to Alice James
- VI. Letters of Henry James Jr. to Alice Howe Gibbens James
- VII. Letters of Henry James Jr. to his parents
- VIII. Letters of Henry James Jr. to William James
- IX. Diaries and appointment books of Henry James Jr.
- X. James family photograph albums
Please note that item numbers 670-699 and 972 were inadvertently omitted from this finding aid.
Physical Location
b, pf
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Some: 44M-31. Gifts of the James family and Henry James; received: 1944.
Items (222)-(2228), (2230)-(2241), (2243)-(2245) and (2247): 50M-362. Gift of Mrs. Henry James; received: 1951. Recataloged from bMS Am 1095.2.
Item (2244), copy 2: no accession number. Transferred from Fogg Art Museum; received: 1966.Recataloged from bMS Am 1095.2.
Items (2229), (2242), (2245) f.58, (2246): 44M-4F-44M-17F; 44M19F-44M-35F.Gift of Henry James III; received: 1944. Recataloged from bMS Am 1095.2.
Item (2247) f.43 recataloged from fMS Am 1092.9 (4598).
Creator
- James, Henry, 1843-1916 (Person)
- Title
- James, Henry, 1843-1916. Correspondence and journals of Henry James Jr. and other family papers, 1855-1916: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou00300
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
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