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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Am 1251.1-1251.3

William Dean Howells Correspondence and compositions

Overview

Primarily letters from American novelist William Dean Howells to his wife.

Dates

  • Creation: 1894-1917

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)

Contains correspondence between the Howells family on such topics as travels in New York City, finding apartments in New York, church and religion, sickness and paralysis, and extensive communication about William Dean Howells' father who was ill. Collection also contains one birthday telegram from Woodrow Wilson to William Dean Howells. Also includes two manuscripts: Masque of Disease written by Howells in collaboration with Edmund Gosse and notes on Court Martial at Fort P.

Biographical / Historical

William Dean Howells was a novelist and man of letters. He served as United States consul in Venice (1861-1865), editor of The Atlantic Monthly (1871-1881) and of Cosmopolitan (1891-1892). He was a champion of realism in literature.

Arrangement

Organized into the following series:

  1. I. MS Am 1251.1: Letters to Elinor Howells
  2. II. MS Am 1251.2: Letters to William Dean Howells
  3. III. MS Am 1251.3: Compositions

Physical Location

b

Immediate Source of Acquisition

51M-242-246. Gift of Miss Mildred Howells, 63 Pine Street, Peterborough, New Hampshire and Mr. John Mead Howells, 580 Park Avenue, New York 21, New York; received: 1952 May 29.

Title
Howells, William Dean, 1837-1920. William Dean Howells Correspondence and compositions, 1894-1917: Guide.
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou01168

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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