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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Hyde 84

John Nicholas papers

Overview

Correspondence of printer and writer John Nichols concerning his publishing career, and his accounts for the printing of Samuel Johnson's Lives of the English Poets.

Dates

  • Creation: 1777-1822

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.

Extent

.5 linear feet (1 box)

This collection consists of three letters by Nichols, ten letters addressed to him, and two accounts relating to his printing of Samuel Johnson's Lives of the English Poets, item (11). Prominent correspondents include George Steevens, item (8) and Thomas Warton, item (9). All of the letters relate to Nichols's publishing career.

Biographical / Historical

John Nichols (1745-1826) apprenticed as a printer in London with William Bowyer, and then entered into a partnership with Bowyer from 1767 until Bowyer's death in 1777. He served as printer, editor, and part-owner of the Gentleman's Magazine from 1778 until his death, and was a prolific editor and author of scholarly works.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically.

Physical Location

b (shelved with MS Hyde 83)

Immediate Source of Acquisition

2003JM-57, 2003JM-58 (part) and 2003JM-64 (part). All items are 2003JM-58 unless noted. Bequest of Mary Hyde Eccles, Four Oaks Farm, Somerville, New Jersey; received: 2004.

Related Materials

Several related items are also part of the Hyde Collection, including a letter from Samuel Johnson to Nichols in MS Hyde 1, item (80); a letter from James Boswell to Nichols in MS Hyde 2, item (30); two related Samuel Johnson manuscripts in MS Hyde 50, items (4) and (35); four letters to Nichols and an account in MS Hyde 57, pages 8, 18, 19, 21, and 23; and a promissory note from Thomas Cadell to Nichols, MS Hyde 69, item (26).

Bibliography

John Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the Eighteenth Century (London, 1817-1858)

Processing Information

Processed by: Rick Stattler

Title
Nichols, John, 1745-1826. John Nicholas papers, 1777-1822: Guide.
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou01739

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.

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