Overview
Drawings and letters of artist, May Alcott, compositions of writer Louisa May Alcott, as well as family papers of the Alcott family of Concord, Massachusetts.
Dates
- Creation: 1724-1927
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
Access to May Alcott drawings (items (1) - (37)) requires the permission of the John Pratt family. There are no restrictions on physical access to the rest of the material.
Extent
2 linear feet (5 boxes)Extensive drawings by May Alcott and her letters sent home while abroad. Also includes Louisa May Alcott letters and compositions as well as items of other Alcott family members including, Abba May Alcott, Anna Bronson Alcott Pratt, Amos Bronson Alcott and others. Also includes a few early prints and some later
Most items are stamped in ink: F. ALCOTT PRATT.
Biographical / Historical
Part of the family papers of the Alcott family of Concord (Mass.). Parents were Amos Bronson Alcott (1799-1888), the New England transcendentalist, and Abigail [Abba] May Alcott (1800-1877). Their four daughters were: Anna Bronson Alcott Pratt (1831-1893) [who married John Bridge Pratt (1833-1870)], the writer Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), Elizabeth Sewall [Lizzie] Alcott (1835-1858), and Abigail May Alcott Nieriker (1840-1879), an American artist [who married Ernest Nieriker (1856-1935)]. Children from these sisters were: John Sewall Pratt [Alcott] (1865-1923) and Frederic Alcott Pratt (1862-1910) [children of Anna and John Pratt]; and Louisa May Nieriker Rasiam (b1879) [child of May and Ernest Nieriker].
Arrangement
Arranged into the following series:
- I. May Alcott drawings
- ___A. Sketches abroad green album
- ___B. Loose images from green album
- ___C. Large black and red album
- II. May Alcott letters sent from abroad
- III. Papers from Anna Bronson Alcott's leather notebook
- ___A. Alcott family correspondence
- ___B. Compositions by Louisa May Alcott and others
- IV. Other material
Immediate Source of Acquisition
59M-314. Deposited by Mrs. F. Wolsey Pratt; received: 1960.
Processing Information
Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt
- Title
- Alcott family. Alcott family additional papers, 1724-1927: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou02191
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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