Guide to the Melville Best Anderson Papers, 1926-1930

Processed by Megan Bradley; machine-readable finding aid created by Sean Quimby.
Department of Special Collections
Green Library
Stanford University Libraries
Stanford, CA 94305-6004
Phone: (650) 725-1022
Email: specialcollections@stanford.edu
URL: http://library.stanford.edu/spc
© 2002
The Board of Trustees of Stanford University. All rights reserved.

Guide to the Melville Best Anderson Papers, 1926-1930

Collection number: M0731

Department of Special Collections and University Archives

Stanford University Libraries

Stanford, California

Contact Information

  • Department of Special Collections
  • Green Library
  • Stanford University Libraries
  • Stanford, CA 94305-6004
  • Phone: (650) 725-1022
  • Email: specialcollections@stanford.edu
  • URL: http://library.stanford.edu/spc
Processed by:
Megan Bradley
Date Completed:
1995 March
Encoded by:
Sean Quimby
© 2002 The Board of Trustees of Stanford University. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Anderson, Melville Best Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1926-1930
Collection number: M0731
Creator: Anderson, Melville Best, 1851-1933
Extent: 1 linear ft.
Repository: Stanford University. Libraries. Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives.
Abstract: Primarily incoming correspondence to Melville Best Anderson from former students Anna Strunsky Walling and Agnes Smith Manucci Capponi, from colleagues E.O. James, David Starr Jordan, Thomas H. MacBride, Charles Eliot Norton, and Paget Toynbee (fellow Dante scholar), as well as less detailed correspondence from Fremont Older and former students Samuel S. McClure and John Huston Finley, as well as various other academic and literary figures of the early twentieth century, including many affiliated with Stanford.
Language: English.

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

None.

Publication Rights

Property rights reside with the repository. Literary rights reside with the creators of the documents or their heirs. To obtain permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Public Services Librarian of the Dept. of Special Collections.

Provenance

Gift of Patricia Sage Liedtke, 1985.

Preferred Citation:

Melville Best Anderson Papers. M0731. Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Biography

Melville Best Anderson was born in Kalamazoo Michigan in 1851, the son of Helen Best Anderson and Edward Coffin Anderson. His father's career as a teacher and minister caused the family to move several times during Melville's childhood. At eighteen he entered Cornell University, where he began life-long friendships with other young scholars, including David Starr Jordan. In 1872 Anderson began his career as a literary scholar, and in the next decades he taught at Butler University, Knox College, Purdue University and the University of Iowa. In 1891 Anderson came to Stanford at the request of David Starr Jordan to serve as head of the English Department. Professor Anderson remained at Stanford until 1910, when he retired emeritus to devote himself to Dante scholarship. His most celebrated literary achievement was his translation of the Divina Comedia (final edition, Oxford University Press: 1932). Anderson died on June 22, 1933 at his brother's home in La Jolla, California.

Scope and Content

The Melville Best Anderson Collection of primarily incoming correspondence was donated to the Stanford Libraries by Patricia Sage Liedtke in 1985. The collection measures 1.0 linear foot in two regular-sized manuscript boxes, and consists of letters to Professor Anderson from family, friends, students and colleagues.
The collection includes extensive correspondence from former students Agnes Smith Manucci Capponi and Anna Strunsky Walling (poet and socialist), and from colleagues E. O. James, David Starr Jordan, Thomas H. MacBride, Charles Eliot Norton and Paget Toynbee (fellow Dante scholar). Also included is less detailed correspondence from Fremont Older (writer) and former students Samuel S. Mc Clure and John Huston Finley, as well as various other academic and literary figures, including many affiliated with Stanford. More materials on Melville Best Anderson are available in the Anderson Family Papers collection (M051).

Access Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Anderson, Melville Best, 1851-1933.
Capponi, Agnes Smith Mannucci.
Capponi, Agnes Smith Manucci.
Finley, John H. (John Huston), 1863-1940.
James, E.O.
Jordan, David Starr, 1851-1931.
MacBride, Thomas H.
McClure, S.S. (Samuel Sidney), 1857-1949.
Norton, Charles Eliot, 1827-1931.
Older, Fremont.
Toynbee, Paget Jackson, 1855-1932.
Walling, Anna Strunsky, 1879-
American literature--20th century.


Box 1, Folder 1

Last Name Unknown (including several relatives)n.d.

Box 1, Folder 2

A-American (including Raymond Alden, Evelyn Wight Allan)n.d.

Box 1, Folder 3

Anderson; Anderson, Edward P.1930

Box 1, Folder 4

Anderson, Melville Best1929

Scope and Content Note

(outgoing correspondence including letters to Agnes Capponi and Livingston Farrand)
Box 1, Folder 5

Anderson, Rachel and Anderson, Robert Van Vleck1922-1929

Box 1, Folder 6

Andrews-Calkins (including Anna Cox Brinton)n.d.

Box 1, Folder 7

Capponi, Agnes(n.d., 1929)

Box 1, Folder 8

Carter-D (including Arthur Cathcart)n.d.

Box 1, Folder 9

E-Fn.d.

Scope and Content Note

(including Homer Earle, Livingston Farrand, John Finley)
Box 1, Folder 10

Gn.d.

Box 1, Folder 11

H-Heygard (including Howard Hanson)n.d.

Box 1, Folder 12

Hodges-Hope (including Herbert C. and Lou Henry Hoover)1913-1929

Box 1, Folder 13

James, E.0.(n.d., 1924-1930)

Box 1, Folder 14

Jordan, David Starr and Jessie Knight(1922-1929)

Box 1, Folder 15

K-L (including Mrs. Thomas [Elizabeth Gurnee Anderson] Lossing)1929-1930

Box 1, Folder 16

MacBride, Thomas H.(1914-1931)

Box 1, Folder 17

Markham-Morsen.d.

Box 1, Folder 18

N-Nonesuchn.d.

Box 2, Folder 1

Norton, Charles Eliot(1894-1908)

Scope and Content Note

(including Dante translation by Anderson, notes by Norton)
Box 2, Folder 2

Older, Fremont(1928)

Box 2, Folder 3

P-Qn.d.

Box 2, Folder 4

R-Slatteryn.d.

Box 2, Folder 5

Smith-Tnorpn.d.

Box 2, Folder 6

Toynbee, Paget(1922-1930)

Box 2, Folder 7

Walling, Anna S.(n.d., 1924-1927)

Box 2, Folder 8

Walling, Anna S.(1929)

Box 2, Folder 9

Walling, Anna S.(Jan.-June, 1930)

Box 2, Folder 10

Walling, Anna S.(July-Dec., 1930)

Box 2, Folder 11

Wick-Yale (including Ray Lyman Wilbur)1922

Box 2, Folder 12

Pamphletsn.d.