Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Provenance
Biographical Note
Scope and Content
Arrangement
General
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: John Fiske papers
Creator:
Fiske, John, 1842-1901.
Identifier/Call Number: mssFK
Physical Description:
22.5 Linear Feet
(16 boxes, 26 volumes)
Date (inclusive): 1850-1901
Abstract: The papers and correspondence of American philosopher and historian John Fiske (1842-1902).
Language of Material: English.
Access
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
Publication Rights
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item]. John Fiske papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Provenance
Purchased from Godspeed in the 1920s and from Mrs Otis D. Fisk, 1955.
Biographical Note
John Fiske (1842-1901) was an American philosopher and historian. He was born Edmund Fiske Greene in Connecticut in 1842.
He later assumed his maternal great-grandfather's surname Fiske. He graduated from Harvard College in 1863 and Harvard Law
School in 1865. He began his career as author by publishing his first article in 1861 in the National Quarterly Review. After
that he was a frequent contributor to American and British periodicals. He was a lecturer at Harvard University, Washington
University and other schools. He also taught history. Fiske also became a supporter of Charles Darwin and the doctrine of
evolution. Fiske published several books including The discovery of America, 1892. He died in Massachusetts in 1901. He was
married to Abby Morgan and they had six children: Maud, Ralph, Ethel, Harold, Clarence, and Herbert. Fiske's mother Mary Greene
married Edwin W. Stoughton in 1852 after the death of John's father Edmund Brewster Green. Edwin W. Stoughton was a lawyer
in New York and U.S. minister to Russia from 1878 to 1879.
Scope and Content
The collection contains papers and correspondence of John Fiske. Included are manuscripts and proof sheets of his books, articles,
lectures and other works on history, theology, and education, his literary works, musical compositions, and some documents.
The professional and personal correspondence includes letters from Fiske to his wife Abby Morgan Fiske, mother Mary Fiske
Bound Green Stoughton, Henry Holt, Henry A. Richmond, James Grant Wilson, and others. There are also letters to Fiske's step-father
E. W. Stoughton.
Arrangement
Organized in two series: 1. Bound volumes; 2. Boxed and cased materials.
General
Individual call numbers in the collection: mssFK 1-1661, mssHM 7227-7231, mssHM 18866-18895, mssHM 24739-24877.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Historians -- United States -- Archives
Lecturers -- United States -- Archives
Philosophers -- United States -- Archives
United States -- History
United States -- Intellectual life -- 19th century -- Sources
Lectures -- United States -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- 19th century
Manuscripts -- United States -- 19th century
Proofs (derivative objects) -- United States.
Personal papers -- United States -- 19th century
Professional papers -- United States -- 19th century
Bixby, William K. (William Keeney), 1857-1931
Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882
Fiske, Abby Morgan, recipient.
Gable, William F., 1856-1921
Holt, Henry, 1840-1926, recipient.
Huxley, Thomas Henry, 1825-1895
Richmond, Henry Augustus, 1840-1913, recipient.
Spencer, Herbert, 1820-1903
Stoughton, E. W. (Edwin Wallace), 1818-1882, recipient.
Stoughton, Mary Fiske Bound Green, recipient.
Wilson, James Grant, 1832-1914, recipient.