Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)
A Register of His Papers in the Library of Congress
Prepared by Michael McElderry
Revised by Patrick
Kerwin
Manuscript Division,
Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
2007
Contact information:
http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html
Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Manuscript Division,
2007
Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms007047
Title: Papers of Oliver Wendell
Holmes
Span Dates: 1837-1931
ID No.: MSS26377
Creator:
Holmes, Oliver Wendell,
1809-1894
Extent: 700 items;
11 containers plus 1 oversize;
2.5 linear feet;
3 microfilm reels
Language: Collection material in
English
Repository:
Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress,
Washington, D.C.
Abstract: Poet, essayist,
physician, and educator. Correspondence and literary manuscripts in bound
volumes.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person
or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed
alphabetically therein.
Personal Names
Agassiz,
Louis, 1807-1873--Correspondence.
Aldrich,
Thomas Bailey, 1836-1907--Correspondence.
Browning,
Robert, 1812-1889--Correspondence.
Collins,
Wilkie, 1824-1889--Correspondence.
Curtis,
George William, 1824-1892--Correspondence.
Dana,
Richard Henry, 1815-1882--Correspondence.
Emerson,
Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882.
Gosse,
Edmund, 1849-1928--Correspondence.
Holmes,
Oliver Wendell, 1809-1894.
Howe,
Julia Ward, 1819-1910--Correspondence.
Howells,
William Dean, 1837-1920--Correspondence.
Lowell,
James Russell, 1819-1891--Correspondence.
Motley,
John Lothrop, 1814-1877.
O'Reilly,
John Boyle, 1844-1890--Correspondence.
Phillips,
Wendell, 1811-1884--Correspondence.
Stedman,
Edmund Clarence, 1833-1908--Correspondence.
Whittier,
John Greenleaf, 1807-1892--Correspondence.
Subjects
American
literature.
Related Names
Holmes, Oliver Wendell,
1809-1894. A moral antipathy.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell,
1809-1894. John Lothrop Motley: A memoir (1879)
Holmes, Oliver Wendell,
1809-1894. Over the teacups (1891)
Holmes, Oliver Wendell,
1809-1894. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1885)
Holmes, Oliver Wendell,
1809-1894. The poet at the breakfast-table: His talks with his fellow-boarders
and the reader (1874)
Holmes, Oliver Wendell.
1809-1894. Our hundred days in Europe (1887)
Occupations
Authors.
Educators.
Physicians.
Provenance:The papers of Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894), poet, essayist,
physician, educator, and dean of the Harvard Medical School, were given to the
Library of Congress in 1921 by his son, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. The
Library has supplemented the collection with periodic gifts and purchases,
1915-1974.
Processing History:The papers of Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894) were arranged and
described in 1975. The collection was revised in 1994 and the finding aid
updated in 2007.
Copyright Status:The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Oliver Wendell
Holmes (1809-1894) is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title
17, U.S.C.).
Microfilm:A microfilm edition of part of these papers is available on three
reels. Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division concerning
availability for purchase or interlibrary loan.
Preferred Citation:Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the
following information: Container number, Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)
Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
| Date |
Event |
| 1809, Aug. 29 |
Born, Cambridge, Mass. |
| 1829 |
Graduated, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. |
| 1830 |
Wrote poem "Old Ironsides," generating interest in the
preservation of the Constitution (Ship)
|
| 1836 |
M.D. degree, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge,
Mass.
Published first volume of verse,
Poems (Boston: Otis, Broaders and Co.)
|
| 1839-1840 |
Professor of anatomy and physiology, Dartmouth College,
Hanover, N.H.
|
| 1840 |
Married Amelia Lee Jackson |
| 1843 |
Read and published medical paper,
Contagiousness of Puerperal Fever (republished in
1936, [Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins])
|
| 1847-1853 |
Dean, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Mass. |
| 1847-1882 |
Professor of anatomy and physiology, Harvard Medical School,
Cambridge, Mass.; professor emeritus, 1882-1894
|
| 1857 |
Helped establish the
Atlantic Monthly |
| 1858 |
Published
The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table (Boston:
Phillips, Sampson and Co.)
|
| 1894, Oct. 7 |
Died, Boston, Mass. |
The papers of Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894), 1837-1931, consist
largely of bound volumes of correspondence and literary manuscripts. Much of
the correspondence contained in the bound volumes consists of incoming letters
alphabetically arranged with an incomplete index provided at the beginning of
volume one. Approximately six hundred letters, largely written between 1869 to
1894, are contained in these volumes, and, although the letters are occasional,
they provide insight into Holmes's interests. Correspondents include Louis
Agassiz, Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Robert Browning, Wilkie Collins, George William
Curtis, Richard Henry Dana, Edmund Gosse, Julia Ward Howe, William Dean
Howells, James Russell Lowell, John Boyle O'Reilly, Wendell Phillips, Edmund
Clarence Stedman, and John Greenleaf Whittier. A folder of unbound
correspondence includes letters written by Holmes, some expressing his views on
the topics of the day such as capital punishment (6 Feb. 1868).
Six bound volumes contain manuscripts and published works, and one
volume includes notes related to Ralph Waldo Emerson. Several short poems are
among the Miscellany, including autographed manuscripts of "My Aunt" and
"Corinna."
The main group of papers of Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894) is in
the
Houghton Library at Harvard University. Additional
collections are in the
Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, the
Boston Medical Library, and the
Alderman Library of the University of Virginia.
This collection is arranged alphabetically by type of material
Available on microfilm. Shelf no. 15,671
| Container |
Contents |
|
|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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BOX 1
REEL 1
|
General correspondence,
1837-1894
|
|
BOX 1
REEL 1
|
A-G |
|
BOX 2
REEL 2
|
H-O |
|
BOX 3
REEL 3
|
P-Y |
|
BOX 4
not filmed
|
Literary manuscripts |
|
| BOX 4
|
"The Chambered Nautilus,"
1892
|
|
| BOX 5
|
Ralph Waldo Emerson,
1885
|
|
| BOX 6
|
"Emerson Notes,"
n.d.
|
|
| BOX 7
|
A Moral Antipathy,
1885
|
|
| BOX 7
|
Our Hundred Days in Europe,
1887
|
|
| BOX 8
|
John Lothrop Motley,
1879
|
|
| BOX 8
|
Poems,
1861-1893
|
|
| BOX 9
|
The Poet at the Breakfast Table,
1872
|
|
| BOX 10
|
Over the Teacups,
1891
|
|
| BOX 11
|
Two mounted poems, "A Birthday
Tribute," and "The Darkened Skies Alas..."
See Oversize |
|
| BOX 11
|
Addition |
|
| BOX 11
|
Correspondence,
1852-1891, n.d.
|
|
| BOX 11
|
Miscellany |
|
| BOX 11
|
Articles on the great
international walking match,
29 Feb. 1868
See Oversize |
|
| BOX 11
|
Autograph,
n.d.
|
|
| BOX 11
|
Engravings,
n.d.
|
|
| BOX 11
|
Envelopes,
1888, n.d.
|
|
| BOX 11
|
Invitations,
1879
|
|
| BOX 11
|
Poems,
1862-1886, 1931, n.d.
|
|
| BOX 11
|
Subscribers list for charity
fund of Edward W. Kinsley,
1892
|
|
| BOX OV 1
|
Oversize |
|
| BOX OV 1
|
Literary manuscripts |
|
| BOX OV 1
|
Two mounted poems,
"A Birthday Tribute," and "The Darkened Skies Alas..."
|
|
| BOX OV 1
|
Addition |
|
| BOX OV 1
|
Miscellany |
|
| BOX OV 1
|
Articles on the
great international walking match,
29 Feb. 1868
|
|
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