Overview
Autograph letters and typescript transcripts of letters from American essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, to his brother, William Emerson.
Dates
- Creation: 1825-1868
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.
Extent
2.5 linear feet (8 boxes)Autograph manuscript (signed) letters from Ralph Waldo Emerson to his brother William Emerson, 1825-1868, accompanied by typescript (carbon copy) transcripts of the letters for the years 1825-1848. Also includes a few letters from Ralph Waldo Emerson to Susan Haven Emerson, William Emerson's wife.
Biographical / Historical
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) was an American philosopher, essayist, poet, lecturer, Transcendentalist, and prominent citizen of Concord, Massachusetts.
William Emerson (1801-1868) was Ralph's brother and was two years older. He became a lawyer and judge in New York City, married Susan Woodward Haven Emerson in 1833, and lived on Staten Island. William Emerson retired to Concord, Massachusetts, returning to New York City after his wife's death. He died September 13, 1868.
Arrangement
Organized into the following two series:
- I. Autograph manuscript letters from Ralph Waldo Emerson to William Emerson, 1825-1868.
- II. Typescript carbon copy transcript letters from Ralph Waldo Emerson to William Emerson, 1825-1848, and other miscellany.
Physical Location
b
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Series I: No accession number. Gift of Waldo E. Forbes; received: 1920 June.
Series II: No accession number. Gift of Edward Waldo Forbes; received: 1927 March 24.
Formerly this material was in call-numbers: bMS Am 778-778.5. It was combined during full cataloging in September 2013.
Processing Information
Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt
- Title
- Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882. Ralph Waldo Emerson letters to William Emerson, 1825-1868: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou02392
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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