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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Am 2293

Gay family papers

Overview

Documents and photographs concerning the Gay family of Massachusetts, and printed materials on English writer John Gay.

Dates

  • Creation: 1718-1916

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.

Extent

.5 linear feet (2 volumes)

Materials from the Gay family spanning 4 centuries including: photograph album of Ernest Lewis Gay (1874-1916) including photographs of his mother, Elizabeth Lewis Gay, printed materials relating to John Gay (1685-1732), and documents from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, especially financial documents and tax assesment records from Walpole, Mass.

Biographical / Historical

Ernest Lewis Gay was an American librarian and book collector in Boston, Mass. His ancester, John Gay (1685-1732) was an English writer, dramatist, and poet during the neoclassical period.

Physical Location

f, gen

Immediate Source of Acquisition

*50M-581 and *50M-582. Gift of Ernest Lewis Gay; received: 1916 June 1.

Processing Information

Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt

Title
Gay family. Gay family papers: Guide.
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou00181

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