1758-1935
Guide to the Collection
Restrictions on Access
The original autographs in this collection have been removed to Special Collections. Photocopies are available for use by researchers.
Abstract
This collection consists of autograph letters and cutslips written by prominent American and British authors and statesmen, collected by Benjamin Whitwell.
Collection Description
This collection consists of autograph letters and cutslips written by prominent American and British authors and statesmen, collected by Benjamin Whitwell. All items are individually described in the MHS manuscript catalog.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Miss Gertrude Townsend, Oct. 1962.
Restrictions on Access
The original autographs in this collection have been removed to Special Collections. Photocopies are available for use by researchers.
Detailed Description of the Collection
I. Autograph letters
Arranged alphabetically.
Box 1
Unidentified autograph, 12 Nov. 1932
Box 1
Unidentified author, 12 Dec. 1932
Box 1
Abbott, Ezra (1819-1894), undated
Box 1
Adams, John (1735-1826), 19 Feb. 1818
Box 1
Agassiz, Alexander (1835-1889), 19 Sep. 1877
Box 1
Agassiz, Louis (1807-1873), 16 Aug. 1871
Box 1
Allingham, William (1824-1889), undated
Box 1
Anagnos, Michael (1837-1906), 26 Mar. 1885
Box 1
Andrew, John Albion (1818-1867), 12 Sep. 1861 (photograph removed)
Box 1
Andrews, Sidney (1835-1880), Jan. 1872
Box 1
Bancroft, George (1800-1891), undated
Box 1
Banks, Sir Joseph (1744-1820), 3 Aug. 1815
Box 1
Bellows, Henry Whitney (1814-1882), 17 May 1865
Box 1
Bennet, George, 10 Oct. 1830
Box 1
Bigelow, Jacob (1787-1879), 24 July
Box 1
Bowles, Samuel (1851-1915), 21 Aug. [1868]
Box 1
Boyd, A. H., 24 May 1862
Box 1
Bright, John (1811-1889), 3 Aug. 1869 (photograph removed)
Box 1
Brooks, Charles Timothy (1813-1883), 27 May 1862
Box 1
Brown, J. W., 25 Feb. 1884
Box 1
Brown, John, undated
Box 1
Burnett, Frances Hodgson (1849-1924), July 1884
Box 1
Bushnell, Horace (1802-1871), Feb. 1872 (photograph removed)
Box 1
Byles, Catharine (1753-1837), 6 Apr. [1790]
Box 1
Byles, Mather (1707-1788), 6 June 1785
Box 1
Byrd, Richard Evelyn (1888-1957), 15 Dec. 1932
Box 1
Byron, 5 June 1839
Box 1
Candolle, Augustin Pyramis de (1778-1841), 13 Mar. 1828
Box 1
Cary, Alice (1820-1871), 5 Apr. 1862
Box 1
Chandler, Peleg Whitman (1816-1889), 5 Mar. 1872
Box 1
Child, Lydia Maria Francis (1802-1880), 14 July 1862
Box 1
Choate, Rufus (1799-1859), undated
Box 1
Clarke, James Freeman (1810-1888), Mar. 1871
Box 1
Clay, Henry (1777-1852), 28 May 1827
Box 1
Cobb, Harriet, undated
Box 1
Collyer, Robert (1823-1912), Mar. 1872
Box 1
Conant, James Bryant (1893-1978), 18 Feb. 1935
Box 1
Conder, Josiah, 24 Apr.
Box 1
Crane, Walter (1845-1950), 6 Nov. 1891
Box 1
Cropsey, Jaspar Francis (1823-1900), undated (photograph removed)
Box 1
Curtis, George William (1824-1892), 15 July 1861 (photograph removed)
Box 1
Cushman, Charlotte Saunders (1816-1876), 13 Oct. (two photographs removed)
Box 1
Dana, Richard Henry (1787-1879), undated
Box 1
Dana, Richard Henry (1815-1882), 1859
Box 1
Darnley, Earl, 1829
Box 1
Depew, Chauncy M., 5 May 1824
Box 1
Dickens, Charles (1812-1870) (no letter; photograph with signature removed)
Box 1
Eliot, Charles William (1834-1926), 15 July 1913
Box 1
Elwes, Robert, June 1866 (sketch)
Box 1
Emerson, Ralph Waldo (1803-1882), 16 June (photograph removed)
Box 1
Everett, Edward (1794-1865), 1 June 1825 (photograph removed)
Box 1
Felton, Cornelius Conway (1807-1862), 22 Oct. 1860
Box 1
Forbes, Sir John, 21 Oct. 1840
Box 1
French, Daniel Chester (1850-1931), 8 Feb. 1917
Box 1
Gallaudet, Thomas Hopkins (1787-1851), 7 Apr. 1818
Box 1
Gannett, Ezra Stiles (1801-1871), undated (photograph removed); July 1826
Box 1
Garrison, William Lloyd (1805-1879), 31 Dec. 1862; 8 Feb. 1877 (photograph attached)
Box 1
Gilbert, Ann, 18 June 1818
Box 1
Gilman, Caroline Howland (1794-1888), 1844
Box 1
Gladstone, William Ewart (1809-1898), 1 Nov. 1870 (with clipping)
Box 1
Gould, Hannah Flagg (1789-1865), undated
Box 1
Grafton, Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of (1735-1811), 23 Mar.
Box 1
Grant, Ulysses Simpson (1822-1885), 1 Jan. 1865 (photograph removed)
Box 1
Granville, George Leveson-Gower, Earl (1815-1891), 29 Aug. 1870
Box 1
Griswold, Roger (1762-1812), 22 Feb. 1812
Box 1
Griswold, Rufus Wilmot (1815-1857), 20 Dec.
Box 1
Hale, Edward Everett (1863-1932), undated; 19 July 1814
Box 1
Hall, Anna Maria, undated
Box 1
Hall, Samuel, 20 June
Box 1
Hamlin, Cyrus (1811-1900), 29 Feb. 1872
Box 1
Hawthorne, Nathaniel (1804-1864), 16 May (photograph removed)
Box 1
Hawthorne, Sophia (1809-1871), 13 Mar. 1870
Box 1
Hay, John (1838-1905), 7 Mar. 1903
Box 1
Hayes, Isaac Israel (1832-1881), 17 Sep. 1873
Box 1
Hilliard, George Stillman (1808-1879), 5 Dec. 1829
Box 1
Hoar, Elizabeth, Nov.-Dec. 1844
Box 1
Holmes, Oliver Wendell (1809-1894), 26 Jan. 1871
Box 1
Hoover, Herbert Clark (1874-1964), 6 Feb. 1934
Box 1
Hosmer, Harriet Goodhue (1830-1908), [1858] (one photograph removed, one attached)
Box 1
Howe, Robert, 17 Mar. 1779
Box 1
Howe, Samuel Gridley (1801-1876), undated; 3 June 1875
Box 1
Howitt, M., undated
Box 1
Hyslop, James Hervy (1854-1920), 13 Sep. 1912
Box 1
Jackson, T. J., 13 Apr. 1862
Box 1
Jesse, Edward, 6 May 1860
Box 1
Johnson, Reverdy (1796-1876), 18 Jan. 1864
Box 1
Judd, Sylvester (1813-1853), 15 Nov. 1844
Box 1
Keith, Alex, undated
Box 1
Keith, Thomas, 20 Mar. 1876
Box 1
Kemble, Fanny [Francis Anne] (1809-1893), undated
Box 1
Kirkland, John Thornton (1770-1840), 26 June 1826
Box 1
Laurens, Henry (1724-1792), 18 Apr. 1788
Box 1
Lawrence, William, 14 Mar.
Box 1
Leland, Charles Godfrey (1824-1903), 1870
Box 1
Lester, Charles Edwards (1815-1890), 8 Apr. 1862
Box 1
Lieber, Francis (1800-1872), 11 July 1867
Box 1
Lodge, Henry Cabot (1850-1924), 7 Apr. 1924
Box 1
Long, John Davis (1838-1915), 2 Jan. 1881
Box 1
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth (1807-1882), 7 Mar. 1862 (photograph removed)
Box 1
Longfellow, Samuel (1819-1892), 4 Apr. 1884
Box 1
Lowell, James Russell (1819-1891), 4 Sep. 1870
Box 1
Lyell, Sir Charles (1797-1875), 15 May 1866
Box 1
Lynch, Anne, 1843
Box 2
Macauley, Thomas Babington, 1st Baron (1800-1859), 15 June 1844
Box 2
MacKay, Charles (1814-1889), 16 May 1860
Box 2
Mann, Horace (1796-1859), 5 Apr. 1848
Box 2
Martineau, Harriet (1802-1876), 18 Feb. 1836
Box 2
Masquera, Tomas de, 24 Jan. 1865 (photograph removed)
Box 2
Massey, Gerald (1828-1907), undated
Box 2
Meade, George Gordon (1815-1872), 9 Sep. 1863; 11 Sep. 1865; 26 Dec. 1867 (photograph removed)
Box 2
Morrison, Robert, 12 Sep.
Box 2
Morse, Samuel Finley Breese (1791-1872), 29 Feb. 1864 (photograph removed)
Box 2
Mulock, [Mrs. Craik] Dinah Marie (1826-1887), 7 July 1859
Box 2
Norton, Carl, 10 Mar.
Box 2
Otis, E. Henderson, undated
Box 2
Parker, Euphemia, 1 Feb. 1934
Box 2
Parker, Theodore (1810-1860), 25 Sep. 1858
Box 2
Parker, William Harwar (1826-1896), 14 Aug. 1862
Box 2
Peabody, Andrew Preston (1811-1893), 22 Oct. 1861
Box 2
Phillips, Sir Benjamin, 9 Feb. 1841
Box 2
Phillips, Wendell (1811-1884), undated
Box 2
Powers, Hiram (1805-1873), 27 Nov. 1843
Box 2
Prescott, Harriet, 9 June
Box 2
Prescott, William Hickling (1796-1859), 20 Sep. 1850; 17 Nov.
Box 2
Quincy, Josiah (1772-1864), 17 Dec. 1862
Box 2
Rammohun Roy [Raja] (1774-1833), 24 May 1831 (sketch)
Box 2
Ranke, Leopold von (1795-1886), 19 Sep. 1834
Box 2
Read, Thomas Buchanan (1822-1945), 11 Mar. 1862
Box 2
Reade, Charles (1814-1884), [1859]
Box 2
Reid, Thomas Mayne, 10 July
Box 2
Roberts, Henry, 19 May 1866
Box 2
Rogers, James Edwin Thorald (1825-1890), 1 Feb.
Box 2
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano (1882-1945), 13 Mar. 1918
Box 2
Root, Elihu (1845-1937), 21 Jan. 1908
Box 2
Russell, W., undated
Box 2
Schurz, Carl (1829-1906), 11 June 1874 (photograph removed)
Box 2
Sedgwick, Catharine Maria (1789-1867), undated
Box 2
Sewell, Elizabeth, 7 Jan. 1866
Box 2
Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of (1801-1885), 19 Apr. 1859; 17 May 1866
Box 2
Shillaber, Benjamin Penhallow (1814-1890), 23 May 1873 (photograph removed)
Box 2
Sigourney, Lydia Howard Huntley (1791-1865), undated; 8 Dec. 1863
Box 2
Smith, James, 30 May 1821
Box 2
Sparks, Jared (1789-1866), 20 Feb. 1837 (photograph removed)
Box 2
Spencer, John C. (?-1855), 23 Apr. 1840
Box 2
Sprague, Charles (1791-1875), undated
Box 2
Stanton, Edwin McMasters (1814-1869), 12 June 1862
Box 2
Stiles, Ezra (1727-1795), 18 June 1784
Box 2
Story, Joseph (1779-1845), 29 Dec. 1836
Box 2
Stowe, Harriet Beecher (1811-1896), 28 Aug.
Box 2
Sturge, Joseph (1794-1859), 15 Feb. 1847
Box 2
Sumner, Charles (1811-1874), 27 July 1861 (photograph removed)
Box 2
Swain, Charles, 5 Apr. 1860
Box 2
Taylor, Bayard (1825-1878), 20 Mar. 1862
Box 2
Taylor, Isaac (1829-1901), 2 May 1837
Box 2
Taylor, Jane, undated
Box 2
Tennyson, Emily, 30 June 1859
Box 2
Thoreau, Henry David (1817-1862), 17 Oct. 1855
Box 2
Trollope, Anthony (1815-1882), undated
Box 2
Trumbull, Jonathan (1710-1785), 10 May 1758
Box 2
Trumbull, Jonathan (1740-1809), 14 May 1798
Box 2
Tuckerman, Henry Theodore (1813-1871), 23 July 1862
Box 2
Tupper, Martin F., undated
Box 2
Wardlaw, Ralph, 8 June 1826
Box 2
Warren, Jonathan Mason (1811-1867), 14 Apr. 1864
Box 2
Warren, Oliver, undated
Box 2
Washington, Booker Taliaferro (1856-1915), 8 Jan. 1915
Box 2
Webster, Daniel (1782-1852), 27 Dec. 1842
Box 2
Webster, John White (1793-1850), 24 May 1849
Box 2
Weiss, John (1818-1879), 19 June 1874
Box 2
Wheatley, Phillis (1753-1784), July 1769
Box 2
Whittier, John Greenleaf (1807-1892), undated (photograph removed)
Box 2
Wolcott, Oliver (1760-1833), 16 Nov. 1787
II. Cutslip autographs
Arranged alphabetically.
Box 2
Alcott, Louisa May (1832-1888), undated
Box 2
Bremer, Frederika (1801-1865), undated
Box 2
Browning, Robert (1812-1889) and Elizabeth Barrett (1806-1861), undated
Box 2
Combe, George A., undated
Box 2
Curtis, Charles Pelham (1891-1959), undated (two signatures)
Box 2
Dewey, Orville (1794-1882), undated
Box 2
Dore, Gustave, undated
Box 2
Everett, Edward (1794-1865), undated
Box 2
Farrar, Edgar Howard (1849-1922), undated
Box 2
Graham, James Duncan (1799-1865), undated
Box 2
Grant, Anne (1755-1838), undated
Box 2
Griswold, Matthew (1714-1799), 1799
Box 2
Hayes, Everis A., 17 July 1914; 6 Oct. 1914
Box 2
Higginson, Thomas Wentworth (1823-1911), undated
Box 2
Howitt, Mary and William, undated
Box 2
Knox, Henry (1750-1806), undated
Box 2
Knox, Philander Chase (1853-1921), 10 June 1910
Box 2
Liverpool, undated
Box 2
MacDonald, George, undated
Box 2
May, Samuel Joseph (1797-1871), undated
Box 2
Naito, Saitaro, undated
Box 2
Otis, Mrs. Harrison Gray, undated
Box 2
Proctor, B. W., 1839
Box 2
Russell, undated
Box 2
Saint-Gaudens, Augustus (1848-1907), undated
Box 2
Shaw, Lemuel (1781-1861), undated
Box 2
Stebbins, Emma, 16 Dec. 1878
Box 2
Thackeray, William Makepeace (1811-1863), undated
Box 2
Wales, Albert Edward, Prince of (1819-1861), 19 Oct. 1860
Box 2
Washington, Booker Taliaferro (1856-1915), undated
Box 2
Webster, Daniel (1782-1852), undated
Box 2
Webster, Noah (1758-1843), undated
Box 2
Wickersham, George W., undated
III. Photocopies of autographs
Included are photocopies of autograph letters (Series I) and cutslip autographs (Series II).
Box 3
Stored at Ms. N-507.IV. Miscellaneous clippings and printed material
Box 3
Stored at Ms. N-507.Preferred Citation
Benjamin Whitwell autograph collection, Massachusetts Historical Society.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.
Subjects:
Autographs--Collections.
Materials Removed from the Collection
Photographs from this collection have been removed to the Benjamin Whitwell photograph collection (Photo. Coll. 115). Collection guide available at: http://bug.sdtlsw.com/collection-guides/view/fap052.