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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Am 1089

Andrews Norton papers

Overview

Correspondence, compositions, and miscellaneous writings of American religious scholar and librarian Andrews Norton. Also some town documents of Hingham, Mass.

Dates

  • Creation: 1768-1890
  • Creation: Majority of material found in 1795-1852

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Extent

6 linear feet (17 boxes)

Correspondence and letter books of Andrews Norton, including family correspondence and letters reflecting Norton's scholarly interests and his work as librarian and professor at Harvard; together with some manuscripts of writings by Norton; undergraduate diary from Norton's student days at Harvard; daguerreotype of Norton; diary, 1818-1819; notebooks; notes on reading and catalogue of Norton's books; and clippings. Also includes documents, 1768-1782, relating to the committee of correspondence and town militia of Hingham, Mass., where Norton's father Samuel lived.

Biographical / Historical

Andrews Norton (1786-1853) theological controversialist, biblical scholar and man of letters, was born in Hingham, Mass., the son of Samuel Norton, a shopkeeper, and Jane Andrews Norton. He graduated from Harvard College in 1804 and spent the next 15 years as a graduate student, tutor, and lecturer at Harvard and at Bowdoin College in Maine. In 1813 Harvard appointed him Dexter Lecturer on Biblical Criticism and in 1819 he was appointed the first Dexter Professor of Sacred Literature. He also acted as the College Librarian from 1813 to 1821. In 1821 he married Catharine Eliot who brought him wealth and a Cambridge estate called "Shady Hill". Norton, known as the "Unitarian Pope," was Emerson's leading foe in the Unitarian-Transcendentalist controversy. He spent his last years in deteriorating health and died in Newport, Rhode Island in 1853. Andrews and Catharine Norton had four children who survived infancy; one was scholar, critic, and Harvard professor, Charles Eliot Norton.

Arrangement

Organized into the following series:

  1. I. Letters of Andrews Norton to others
  2. II. Letters to Andrews Norton from others
  3. III. Correspondence of Andrews Norton and others
  4. IV. Letter books of Andrews Norton
  5. V. Notebooks of Andrews Norton
  6. VI. Compositions of Andrews Norton
  7. VII. Other materials
  8. ___A. Clippings
  9. ___B. Compositions of others
  10. ___C. Hingham (Mass.) papers of Samuel Norton
  11. ___D. Photographs
  12. ___E. Tax-related papers

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of the Norton family, date unknown.

bMS Am 1089 (1321a): Silhouette of Andrews Norton found among the C.E.Norton papers, put into the Portrait file, then later moved here.

Related Materials

There are additional Norton family materials in the following printed books:

  1. Aspinwall, Thomas. A.L.s. to Andrews Norton, London, 5 Mar 1852. 1s.(2p.). Inserted in Nor 2117.8*.
  2. Baille, Joanna. A.L.s. to Andrews Norton, Hampstead, 27 Oct [1844?] 1s.(4p.) wrapper. Inserted in: Nor 2104.6*.
  3. Cleveland, Henry Russell, d.1843. A.L.s. to Andrews Norton, [n.p.] 1 Jan 1835. 1s.(2p.) Inserted in: *fEC75.G7948.753de (A)
  4. Lawrence, Rose. A.L.s. to Andrews Norton, Liverpool, 6 Mar 1836. 1s.(3p.). Inserted in Nor 2280*.
  5. Lawrence, Rose. A.L.s. to Andrews Norton, Liverpool, 31 Mar 1836. 1s.(1p.). Making over copyright in America to Andrews Norton. Inserted in Nor 2280*.
  6. Maroucelli, Piero. A.L.s. to Andrews Norton, New York, 9 Sep 1836. 1s.(2p.). Inserted in: *IC8.P3658.Eg836n.
  7. Norton, Andrews. A.L.s. (copy) to Thomas Aspinwall, Newport, 6 Aug 1852. 1s. (3p.). Inserted in Nor 2117.8*.
  8. Norton, Grace, 1834-. A.L.s. to Annie Adams Fields, Cambridge, Christmas 1911. 1s.(2p.). Inserted in: *fEC9.M5775.903c.

Processing Information

Much of this collection is not fully processed.

Re-cataloged from MS Am 9029.

Title
Norton, Andrews, 1786-1853. Andrews Norton papers, 1768-1890: Guide.
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou01492

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.

Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.

Contact:
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