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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Am 1815.2

Matthew Calbraith Perry additional correspondence

Overview

Letters of American naval officer Matthew Calbraith Perry to friends and family as well as materials about Perry.

Dates

  • Creation: 1799-1945

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

.5 linear feet (1 box)

Letters written by Perry discuss personal finance issues, duties at home, and naval news. Collection contains a letter of appointment to Perry written by John Adams, a book called "Presentation of the Relics of Matthew Perry" from Japan, letter to John Rockefeller from the US Naval Academy about Matthew Perry, a biography of Matthew Perry, a personal account written about Perry's visit to Japan by a native, and a printed booklet summarizing the Japan trip. Also contained in the collection is a book of illustrations of Newport, newspaper clippings about Matthew Perry and his family, genealogical material, and a deed of sale to Matthew Perry of Peel Island for $50.00. There is also a letter containing information of the Perry family coat of arms.

Biographical / Historical

Perry was an American naval officer, best known for negotiating the treaty that opened Japan to trade with the West.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically

Physical Location

b

Immediate Source of Acquisition

69M-137. Deposited by Mrs. Gouverneur M. Phelps, Orchard Farm South Ashfield, Massachusetts; received: 1965 September 9; gift: 1967 December.

Formerly 65M-40.

Title
Perry, Matthew Calbraith, 1794-1858. Matthew Calbraith Perry additional correspondence, 1799-1945: Guide.
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou01037

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:
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