Literary Pursuits

    Entries drawn from collection & document descriptions

Letter from Edwin Abbey to George Boughton
August 13, 1879

Edwin Austin Abbey writes to George Henry Boughton apologizing for not having said goodbye before leaving. Abbey further seeks forgiveness for having disliked Moncure Conway prior to formally meeting him with Boughton. Abbey describes the time he has spent traveling with Conway and reflects on...

Location: I-Purchase-1954-2

Subject: Literary Pursuits, Personal and Family Life

Format: Letters/Correspondence

Time Period: 1860-1879

Letter from Samuel Barlow to George Curtis
October 17, 1881

Samuel Barlow writes to George Ticknor Curtis about Curtis' James Buchanan manuscript that contains material on Buchanan's engagement to Miss Anna Coleman. Barlow argues that Curtis "should not print any considerable portion of what you have written, on the subject of his engagement to Miss...

Hugh Brackenridge's Memoir of Charles Nisbet
January 22, 1883

Hugh Henry Brackenridge's memoir of Charles Nisbet, received in "The Historical Society" on January 22, 1883. This transcript was copied by Professor Joshua Allen Lippincott (class of 1858).

Location: I-Original-1883-1

Subject: Dickinson College Administration, Literary Pursuits

Format: Essays and Dissertations

Time Period: 1880-1899

Letter from Jeremiah Black to Alexander McClure
August 7, 1883

Jeremiah Sullivan Black writes Alexander Kelly McClure and criticizes George Ticknor Curtis' 2 volume biography of President James Buchanan, Life of Buchanan (1883). Black, who served as Attorney General and Secretary of State during President James Buchanan's administration, writes...

Location: I-BeachW-2003-1

Subject: Literary Pursuits, Politics and Government

Format: Letters/Correspondence

Time Period: 1880-1899

Letter from Horatio King to John Cunningham
April 4, 1885

Horatio King writes John Cunningham telling him he put the sketches he received in his scrapbook. King gives corrections on Secretary of the Interior Jacob Thompson's resignation in January 1861 over the sailing of the Star of the West to supply Fort Sumter, on Jefferson Davis's age, on...

Letter from Moncure Conway to Unknown Recipient
May 15, 1890

Moncure D. Conway (class of 1849) thanks a friend for the "encouraging letter" regarding Conway's deliberation on whether "to print the discourse" or to wait and publish "a more complete statement" at a later date.

Location: I-Friends-2001-1

Subject: Literary Pursuits, Personal and Family Life

Format: Letters/Correspondence

Time Period: 1880-1899

Letter from Annie Besant to Mrs. Mawsou
March 20, 1891

Annie Besant thanks a Mrs. [Mawsou?] from Ashfield, Gateshead-on-Tyne in England for sending a pamphlet. "I am so busy [that] I am afraid I cannot find time to read the larger work of which you speak," as Besant explains.

Location: I-Friends-2001-4

Subject: Literary Pursuits, Religion and Spirituality

Format: Letters/Correspondence

Time Period: 1880-1899

Letter from Charles Stille to George Ellis
June 7, 1891

Scholar Charles Janeway Stille writes to clergyman George Edward Ellis about Stille's biography of John Dickinson. Stille is having difficulty getting access to sources held by private collectors.

Location: I-Original-1891-3

Subject: Dickinson College Administration, Literary Pursuits

Format: Letters/Correspondence

Time Period: 1880-1899

Letter from Charles Deems to Mr. Miller
May 13, 1892

Charles Force Deems , writes Mr. Miller to discuss Miller's lecture, "Love, Courtship, and Marriage" as well as Deem's lecture, "Before Marriage and After." Deems, a member of the Class of 1839, also notes that "the book has arrived" and has "been written in."

Location: I-Purchase-1954-18

Subject: Literary Pursuits

Format: Letters/Correspondence

Time Period: 1880-1899

"The Rise of the Modern Short Story," by Robert E. MacAlarney
June 14, 1893

Robert Emmet MacAlarney prepared this oration, entitled “The Rise of the Modern Short Story," for the commencement ceremonies held June 14, 1893. Authoring an original speech was among the graduation requirements for Dickinson College seniors at that time. Transcript included.

Location: Orations-1893-M114r

Subject: Literary Pursuits

Format: Speeches and Sermons

Time Period: 1880-1899

“The Emancipation of Literature in New England,” by Emma L. Vandewater
June 7, 1899

Emma L. Vandewater prepared this oration, entitled "The Emancipation of Literature in New England," for the commencement ceremonies held June 7, 1899. Authoring an original speech was among the graduation requirements for Dickinson College seniors at that time. 

Location: Orations-1899-v244e

Subject: Literary Pursuits

Format: Speeches and Sermons

Time Period: 1880-1899

"Poem," by Horatio Collins King
1905

Medal of Honor Recipient Horatio Collins King (Class of 1858) writes this "Poem" on the history of Dickinson College.

"Poets in Embryo," by Laura Benét
circa 1905

Laura Benét writes this essay, titled "Poets in Embryo," on growing up in a literary household and how it influenced her and her brothers' interests in writing.

Location: I-Friends-1982-1

Subject: Literary Pursuits, Personal and Family Life

Format: Essays and Dissertations

Time Period: 1900-1919

Letter from Andrew Carnegie to Funk & Wagnalls Company
October 31, 1913

Andrew Carnegie writes to Funk & Wagnalls Company, a publishing company in New York City, thanking them for their gift of their new standard dictionary. "I placed the new Standard Dictionary at my side-a sure refuge in the day of trouble with our exceedingly rich but most irregular language...

Location: I-AsbellY-1976-4

Subject: Literary Pursuits

Format: Letters/Correspondence

Time Period: 1900-1919

Esther Popel Shaw (Class of 1919) Diary
June 10, 1914 - April 30, 1915

Esther Popel Shaw, Class of 1919, was the first African American woman to graduate from Dickinson College.  This diary from Esther's senior year of high school documents her daily activities, particularly her interactions with family, friends, and neighbors. Esther routinely listed the names of...

Location: MC 2013.4, B1, F1 (Diary) ; MC 2013.4, B1, F3 (Transcript of Diary)

Subject: Education, Literary Pursuits, Personal and Family Life

Format: Diaries and Journals

Time Period: 1900-1919

Letter from William Benét to Lawton Mackall
February 4, 1916

Writer and poet William Rose Benét writes to Lawton Mackall, asking him to contribute to a one-off literary magazine called The Chimaera.

Location: I-Friends-1982-3

Subject: Literary Pursuits, Personal and Family Life

Format: Letters/Correspondence

Time Period: 1900-1919

Two Letters from William Benét to Lawton Mackall
August 15, 1917

William Rose Benét writes two letters to Lawton Mackall: the first promises poems and includes a drawing; the second explains Benét's plans to travel for ten days.

Letter from William Rose Benet to "Albert"
February 3, 1932

William Rose Benet writes to an unspecified "Albert" concerning the publication details of a book of poems by an unspecified "Sara." Benet also discusses details of payment.

Location: I-Friends-1979 -2

Subject: Business and Industry, Literary Pursuits

Format: Letters/Correspondence

Time Period: 1920-1939

"A Forest Pool," by Esther Popel
1934

Publisher: Washington, DC: Privately Printed

A selection of Esther Popel's poetry.

Location: DC 1919 S534fo

Subject: Literary Pursuits, Personal and Family Life

Format: Poetry and Lyrics

Time Period: 1920-1939

"Rain After a Vaudeville Show," by Stephen Vincent Benet
circa 1935

"Rain After a Vaudeville Show," a 30 line poem by Stephen Vincent Benet.

Location: I-Friends-1991-13

Subject: Literary Pursuits

Format: Poetry and Lyrics

Time Period: 1920-1939

Introduction to Florence Locke’s Pageant Recital of "John Brown’s Body," by Stephen Benet
January 10, 1935

Stephen Vincent Benet's introduction of Florence Locke before her pageant recital in New York City of Benet's "John Brown's Body" on January 10, 1935. Benet states the need for poetry to be a living thing, spoken aloud and lauds Locke as an interpreter. The recital program as well as a clipping...

Location: O-Friends-1975-1

Subject: Literary Pursuits, Visual and Performing Arts

Format: Miscellaneous

Time Period: 1920-1939

Letter from Marianne Moore to Miss McGlade
December 14, 1936

Marianne Moore responds to Miss McGlade's request for copies of Moore's published work. While Moore states that she will request copies of The Egoist for McGlade and a friend, Moore dissuades McGlade from purchasing a copy of her most recent book, The Pangolin. "Our high duty...

Location: I-AsbellY-2002-55

Subject: Literary Pursuits

Format: Letters/Correspondence

Time Period: 1920-1939

Letter from Marianne Moore to James Watson
March 12, 1937

Marianne Moore writes James S. Watson about his review of "Nightwood" by Djuna Barnes. "I read your review with great interest, heartily approving until I came to the part where you make 'Nightwood' a companion piece to 'The Waste Land,'" as Moore explains. In addition, Moore mentions Watson's...

Location: I-Friends-2002-2

Subject: Literary Pursuits

Format: Letters/Correspondence

Time Period: 1920-1939

"An Open Letter to the Chinese People" by Pearl Buck
1938

This is a working manuscript by Nobel Prizewinning author Pearl S. Buck, including ink and pencil corrections, written during the Japanese invasion of China and the war that ensued.

Letter from William Benet to Mr. Roberts
circa 1940

William Rose Benet, the contributing editor of The Saturday Review of Literature, asks Mr. Roberts to "send the book."

Location: I-Friends-1974-1

Subject: Literary Pursuits

Format: Letters/Correspondence

Time Period: 1940-1959

Pages

Subscribe to Literary Pursuits