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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Am 1914

George Lyman Kittredge notebooks

Overview

Autograph manuscript notebooks kept by American scholar George Lyman Kittredge from 1878-1886.

Dates

  • Creation: 1878-1886

Creator

Language of Materials

The material transcribed is in German, French, and Latin, Greek, as well as English.

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Extent

.25 linear feet (1 box)

Includes four notebooks kept by Kittredge while an undergraduate at Harvard, and in the years following his graduation of 1882, prior to beginning his graduate studies at Harvard in 1888. Volumes contain: transcripts of poems by various poets, mostly English before 1700 and notes; tales, legends, myths, and romances reflecting various European customs and superstitions; and miscellaneous notes, ballad texts, and quotes.

Volume covers are in poor condition.

Biographical / Historical

George Lyman Kittredge (1860-1941; Harvard AB 1882) was a medievalist, author, editor, and professor of English literature at Harvard University (1888-1936). One of his areas of study was medieval superstitions, particularly witchcraft. He was also of great importance in American folklore studies, and was instrumental in encouraging American folk song and folklore collecting among all ethnic groups in all regions of the country.

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically, in volume number order.

Physical Location

b

Immediate Source of Acquisition

74M-58. Gift of Bartlett J. Whiting, from the Kittredge estate; received: 1975 May 1.

Processing Information

Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt

Title
Kittredge, George Lyman, 1860-1941. George Lyman Kittredge notebooks, 1878-1886: Guide.
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou02379

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:
Harvard Yard
Harvard University
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2440