Overview
Correspondence, business papers, and compositions by members of the Wendell family, a prominent merchant family from Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Dates
- Creation: 1620-1921
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.
Conditions Governing Use
Images linked to the finding aid describing this collection are intended for public access and educational use. This material is owned and/or held by the Houghton Library, and is provided solely for the purpose of teaching or individual research. Any other use, including commercial reuse, mounting on other systems, or other forms of redistribution requires the permission of the curator.
Extent
46 linear feet (93 boxes and 1 folder)Correspondence, journals, diaries, writings, and other papers of Barrett Wendell and his wife Edith Greenough Wendell, together with papers of other members of the Wendell family. Includes correspondence, writings, legal and business papers of John Wendell; diaries and some correspondence of Jacob Wendell; correspondence of Caroline Quincy Wendell; and letters to Daniel Rindge and other Rindge family papers. There are several volumes of journals of Barrett Wendell, including accounts of travel in Europe; and a long run of diaries, 1881-1938 (1905 lacking), of Edith Greenough Wendell. Also included are business papers of Barrett Wendell, material related to his courses at Harvard, genealogical notes, photographs, and printed ephemera. Barrett Wendell's correspondents include William R. Castle, Horace Meyer Kallen, Henry Cabot Lodge, John A. Lomax, Abbott Lawrence Lowell, Percival Lowell, Frederic J. Simson, and Robert Thomas White-Thomson.
Also contains manuscripts thought to be written by others, including "The Battle of Lexington" and "Liberty further extended..." both by Lemuel Haynes.
Biographical / Historical
Barrett Wendell was a literary critic and professor of English at Harvard. His great-grandfather John Wendell (1731-1808) of Portsmouth, N.H. was engaged in land development in New Hampshire. His grandfather Jacob Wendell (1788-1865) was involved in shipping and manufacturing ventures.
Arrangement
Arranged into the following series:
- I. MS Am 1907: Early Wendell family papers, circa 1670-1750
- ___A. Correspondence
- ___B. Legal and business papers
- ___C. Miscellaneous and unidentified papers
- II. MS Am 1907: John Wendell papers, circa 1750-1810
- ___A. Letters by various correspondents to John Wendell
- ___B. Letters by John Wendell
- ___C. Other letters
- ___D. Compositions by John Wendell
- ___E. Compositions by others
- ___F. Legal and business papers
- ______1. Papers of John Wendell
- ______2. Other papers
- III. MS Am 1907: Other Wendell family papers
- ___A. Jacob Wendell papers
- ______1. Correspondence
- ______2. Diaries and other compositions
- ___B. Caroline Quincy Wendell papers
- ______1. Letters from various correspondents
- ______2. Letters by Caroline Q. Wendell
- ______3. Other letters
- ______4. Compositions and miscellanea
- ___C. Rindge family papers
- ______1. Letters from various correspondents to Daniel Rindge
- ______2. Other letters and compositions
- ______3. Legal and business papers
- IV. MS Am 1907.1: Barrett Wendell papers
- ___A. Letters from various correspondents
- ___B. Letters by Barrett Wendell
- ___C. Letters from various correspondents to Edith (Greenough) Wendell
- ___D. Letters by Edith (Greenough) Wendell
- ___E. Other letters
- ___F. Compositions by Barrett Wendell
- ___G. Other compositions
- ___H. Legal and business papers
- ___I. Miscellaneous
- ___J. Bound manuscripts
Physical Location
b
Immediate Source of Acquisition
73M-91. Deposited by William Greenough Wendell, Jacob Wendell House, 222 Pleasant Street, Portsmouth, New Hampshire; received: 1942 August. Placed on permanent deposit by Francis A. Wendell, Appleton, Rice & Perrin, 63 Wall St., New York, New York 10005; received 1972 October 6; Gift, J. J. Higginson, 1989 October 24.
Digitization Funding
Collections and items have been digitized with the generous support of The Polonsky Foundation.
- Title
- Wendell family. Wendell family papers, circa 1620-1921: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou01421
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.
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