Guide to the Raymond Macdonald Alden Papers
Daniel Hartwig
Stanford University. Libraries & Academic Information
Resources.
Dept. of Special Collections & University Archives
October 2010
Copyright © 2012 The Board of Trustees of
the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
Note
This encoded finding aid is compliant with Stanford EAD Best Practice Guidelines,
Version 1.0.
Overview
Call Number: SC0134
Creator:
Alden, Raymond Macdonald, 1873-1924.
Title: Raymond Macdonald Alden papers
Dates: 1891-1924
Physical Description:
5.5 Linear feet
Summary: Includes personal correspondence, speeches, essays, articles,
lectures, notes, manuscripts, manuscript materials for some of Alden's works, and 34
pocket journals (1891-1924). Correspondents include James and Parker Hall, Cheesman A.
Herrick, Frank Hill, Will David Howe, William Jaggard, Edmund James, Harry Stuart Veddar
Jones, W. A. Neilson, A. G. Newcomer, S. A. Tannenbaum, Ashley H. Thorndike, and Henry
Van Dyke.
Language(s): The materials are in English.
Repository:
Dept. of Special Collections & University Archives
Stanford University. Libraries & Academic Information Resources
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-6064
Email: speccollref@stanford.edu
Phone: (650) 725-1022
URL: http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/spc/spc.html
Administrative Information
Provenance
Gift of Donald H. Alden, 1975, 1985.
Information about Access
This collection is open for research.
Ownership & Copyright
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections and University
Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California 94304-6064. Consent is
given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not
intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission
must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s) or assigns. See:
http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/pubserv/permissions.html.
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of
digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.
Cite As
Raymond Macdonald Alden Papers (SC0134). Department of Special Collections and
University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Biographical/Historical Sketch
R.M. Alden, born in New Hartford, New York in 1873, was the only child of the Reverend
Gustavus R. Alden and Isabella Macdonald Alden (editor of a juvenile publication and
author of numerous Sunday school books and fiction for adult readers). He began his
college career at Rollins College in Florida, a school which would award him an honorary
doctorate in 1910. Alden eventually completed his A.B. in English at the University of
Pennsylvania, graduating in 1894.
Alden earned his A.M. from Harvard (1896) and finished his Ph.D. at Penn (1898). During
his student and immediately post-doctoral years, he was an instructor at Columbian (now
George Washington) University, an assistant at Harvard, and a Senior Fellow-instructor
at Penn. He came to Stanford in 1901 as Assistant Professor of English and Rhetoric.
Promoted to Associate Professor in 1909, Alden left for the University of Illinois in
1911, having been offered a full professorship and the chairmanship of the Illinois
English Department. He retraced his steps four years later when Stanford offered him a
duplicate situation. Alden continued as chairman at Stanford until his death in
1924.
Alden's major professional works include: The Rise of Formal Satire in England (1899),
The Art of Debate (1900), On Seeing an Elizabethan Play (1903), English Verse (1903), An
Introduction to Poetry (1909), Tennyson--How to Know Him (1917), Shakespeare (Master
Spirits of Literature Series, 1917).
In addition, Alden served as editor for numerous editions of Shakespeare (Julius Caesar
and Sonnets) and other authors, as well as for several anthologies of essays, poems, and
other readings. He was a frequent contributor to professional journals and
publications.
Alden also achieved a certain amount of recognition as a writer of fiction and poetry.
His Knights of the Silver Shield (1906), Why the Chimes Rang (1909), and The Boy Who
Found the King (1922) were joined on the verse side by Consolatio--an Ode. A short story
won third prize ($1,000) in the Collier's contest of 1905.
Alden served as President of the Drama League of America from its founding in 1914 until
his death in 1924. He was also a member of the Modern Language Association, American
Philological Association, American Association of University Professors, Phi Beta Kappa,
and Beta Theta Pi.
Married to Barbara G. Hitt in 1904, Alden had a daughter and four sons. He was active in
the Palo Alto Presbyterian Church.
[Information obtained from the Who Was Who in America, Vol I, 1897-1942, and from the
Stanford Illustrated Review, October 1924.]
Description of the Collection
Raymond Macdonald Alden (1873-1924) was an Assistant and later Associate Professor of
English at Stanford from 1901 to 1911. He returned to Stanford as a full Professor and
as department chairperson in 1915, maintaining this position until his death.
This collection contains a relatively small portion of Alden's personal and professional
papers. There are four boxes of incoming correspondence (with a few copies of outgoing
letters interfiled), most of which came from English teachers with whom Alden was
acquainted at other institutions. There are four boxes of manuscripts and manuscript
materials for some of Alden's minor works: essays, articles, lectures, notes for
lectures, speeches (including the valedictory address that Alden delivered at the
University of Pennsylvania commencement of 1894), several poems, and a number of short
stories (including all of those from the collection The Ends of the Earth, publication
unknown).
In addition, the collection contains thirty-four pocket journals in which Alden
chronicled the days of the years 1891 through 1924. These diaries note weather
conditions, general activities, reading done and writing completed. There are also brief
comments on major historical events (San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, outbreak of World
War I, etc.), although the journals' purpose appears to have been primarily one of
objectively recording factual data.
This collection also contains 5 issues of the Carbondale Firefly, a privately printed
and distributed journal which Alden produced in his childhood.
Access Terms
Alden, Raymond Macdonald, 1873-1924.
Hall, James Parker.
Herrick, Cheesman A.
Hill, Frank Ernest, 1888-1969.
Howe, Will David, 1873-1946.
Jaggard, William, 1868-1947.
James, Edmund.
Jones, Harry Stuart Vedder.
Jordan, David Starr, 1851-1931
Neilson, William A. W.
Newcomer, A. G.
Stanford University. Dept. of
English--Faculty.
Tannenbaum, S. A.
Thorndike, Ashley Horace, 1871-1933.
Wilbur, Ray L., (Ray Lyman), 1875-1949
Authors.
College teachers.
English language--Study and teaching.
Essays.
Journals (notebooks).
Manuscripts (for publication).
Notes.
Speeches.
Index of Major Correspondents
| Name |
| Adams, Reverend Charles Ryan |
| Adams, Joseph Q. |
| American Book Company |
| American Magazine |
| Baker, George P. |
| Barstow, C.L. |
| Basset, L.E. |
| Bernays, Albin |
| Birmingham Library |
| Blodgett, B.G. |
| Boston Public Library |
| Bovard, George F. |
| Boyer, C.V. |
| Briggs, L.B.R. |
| Burnight, T.S. |
| Carruth, W.H. |
| Christian Endeavor World |
| Clark, F.H. |
| Clark, G.A. |
| Coolbrith, Ina |
| Cooper, Lane |
| Cranston, William |
| Croll, Morris W. |
| The Dial |
| Douglas, Lloyd F. |
| Duffield & Co. Publishers |
| Duniway, Clyde A. |
| Earle, Homer P. |
| Paul Elder & Co. |
| Ensminger, F.P. |
| The Evangelist |
| Fenning, Frederick A. |
| Flugel, Ewald |
| Folger, H.C. |
| Forbis, John F. |
| Ford, J.H. |
| Furness, Horace Howard |
| Gaw, Allison |
| Gayley, C.M. |
| Good Housekeeping Magazine |
| Gosse, Edmund |
| Gray, H.D. |
| Greenlaw, Edwin |
| Hall, James Parker |
| Harper and Brothers Publishers |
| Hart, Walter Morris |
| Harvard Graduates Magazine |
| Hempl, George |
| Herrick, Cheesman A. |
| Hill, Frank |
| Henry Holt & Co. |
| Howe, Julia Ward |
| Howe, Thomas C. |
| Howe, W.D. |
| Huston, C.A. |
| Illinois, University of |
| Jaggard, William |
| James, Edmund |
| Jessup, Alexander |
| Jones, H.S.V. |
| Jones, Llewellyn |
| Jordan, David Starr |
| Kellogg, V.L. |
| Kelly, W.H. |
| Kemp, D.C. |
| Kittredge, G.L. |
| Liddell, Mark H. |
| The MacMillan Co. |
| Manly, John M. |
| Markham, Edwin |
| McClatchy, V.S. |
| Modern Language Reviews |
| Monaghan, James |
| Montague, A.P. |
| Morris, A.R. |
| Morrow, William |
| Morton, Edward P. |
| The Nation |
| Neihardt, J.G. |
| Neilson, W.A. |
| Nevin, Allan |
| Newcomer, A.G. |
| Nolen, John |
| Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. |
| Noyes, Alfred |
| Noyes, George R. |
| Omond, T.S. |
| Padelford, Frederick M. |
| Peers, E. Allison |
| Pennsylvania, Associated Clubs |
| Pennsylvania, University of |
| Pepper, George W. |
| Perriman, J.W. |
| Perry, Bliss |
| Pittman, E.K. |
| Presbyterian Publication House |
| Remington Typewriter Co. |
| Riley, Alice |
| Robinson, Fred N. |
| Rollins College |
| Benjamin H. Sanborn & Co. |
| Schelling, Felix E. |
| Scott, Foresman, & Co. |
| Searles, Colbert |
| Seward, S.S., Jr. |
| Sherman, Stuart P. |
| Skinner, Ada M. |
| Smith, Kate E. |
| Stoll, Elmer E. |
| Tannenbaum, Dr. S.A. |
| Tatlock, John S.P. |
| The Texas Review |
| Thayer, William R. |
| Thompson, Karl O. |
| Thorndike, Ashley H. |
| Tolman, A.H. |
| Trumbull, C.G. |
| Trumbull, H. Clay |
| Van Dyke, Henry |
| Villard, Oswald Garrison |
| Vincent, John H. |
| Weygandt, Charles |
| Wilbur, Ray Lyman |
| Winans, J.A. |
| Woodbridge, Homer |
| Woolbert, Charles S. |
| Wright, C.F. Tucker |
Collection Contents
Box 1, Folder 1
Correspondence, Allin, C.D.
Box 1, Folder 2
_______, Automobile Association
Box 1, Folder 5
_______, Basset, Lee Emerson
Box 1, Folder 6
_______, Bobbs-Merrill Co.
Box 2, Folder 4
_______, Houghton Mifflin Co.
Box 3, Folder 6
_______, Scribners, Charles
Box 4, Folder 3
_______, Fragementary and Unidentified
Box 4, Folder 4
_______, R. M. Alden to his family
Box 4, Folder 6
Alden, Barbara Hitt : letters received on the death of R.M.
Alden
Box 4, Folder 7
Alden, Barbara Hitt : Correspondence re: Carnegie Foundation
Pension
Box 4, Folder 8
Alden, Barbara Hitt : Correspondence, General
Box 5
Daily Journals, 1891 - 1907
Note
[Professor Alden kept a diary from 1891 to 1924, a period which encompassed his
adult life from age 18 until six months prior to his death. The pocket journals
include brief entries for each day of the year, recording the weather, the
day's primary activities (often citing particular restaurants and nearly always
mentioning what the author had read) and occasional notes on historical events
(the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the outbreak of World War I, etc.)]
Box 6
Daily Journals, 1908 - 1924
Box 7, Folder 1
Articles: "Studies in Modern Tragedy, I & II"
Box 7, Folder 2
_______: "Studies in Modern Tragedy, III & IV"
Box 7, Folder 3
_______: "Literature and Morality"
Box 7, Folder 4
_______: "Art and Morality", "Types of Modern Tragedy", and "Theory of
Poetry".
Box 7, Folder 5
Essays: "Some Thoughts on Victorianism", "The American Professor" (2
versions)
Box 7, Folder 6
_______: "The Late Victorians", "The Punctuation of Shakespeare's
Printers", and "The Relation of Verse to the Drama"
Box 7, Folder 7
_______: "Some Notes on So-called Trochaic Meters in
English"
Box 7, Folder 8
Lectures: "Hyper-class Consciousness: A Study in Morbid Social
Psychology", "Imagination and Reality", "The Pilgrim Consciousness and the
Commonwealth", and "The Young Man's Christ"
Box 7, Folder 9
_______: "The Meaning of Christmas", "The Dark Ages and Modern
Literature", "Notes on the History of the Doctrine of Divine Justice", and
"Palo Alto Presbyterian Church: an Historical Sketch"
Box 7, Folder 10
_______: "The Non-Vocational Student", "Personality and Modern
Tragedy", "Literature and Nationalism", and "The Historical Novel"
Box 7, Folder 11
Notes for Assorted Lectures: Shelley, Poetry and Drama, Poetry and
Life, Poetry and Music, Poetry and Tragedy, and the Non-Vocational Element in
Education
Box 8, Folder 1
Notes for Lectures on Tragedy
Box 8, Folder 2
Notes and Assorted Materials for Lectures on Tragedy
Box 8, Folder 3
Reading Lists and Bibliographies
Box 8, Folder 4
Reminiscence of The University of Pennsylvania Zelosophic Club of 1894
(written in the form of a letter, 1909).
Box 8, Folder 4
Speeches: "Myself, My Work, and My Neighbor" and "The Utilities of
Culture" (the letter being the Valedictory Oration for the Penn Class of
1894)
Box 8, Folder 5
"Know Thyself" (A Farce) and Assorted Poems
Box 8, Folder 6
Novel: The Turkish Balloon
Box 8, Folder 7
Short Stories: "The Ills That Tom Was Heir To", and "The Tongue of
Sapphira"
Box 8, Folder 8
_______: "Two Balloons and a Girl", "The Encyclopedist", "The
Agitator", and "Mr. Wetherbee's Good Time"
Box 8, Folder 9
_______: "The Eligibility of Pilkington", "The Vindication of Uncle
Silas", and "A Sprig of Holly"
Box 8, Folder 10
_______: Ends of the Earth - collection's introduction and the title
story
Box 8, Folder 11
_______: Ends of the Earth - "Promised Land", "Lake of the Sky", and
"Marantha"
Box 9, Folder 1
Short Stories: Ends of the Earth - "Her Other Self", "Filippo", and
"San Felice"
Box 9, Folder 2
_______: Ends of the Earth - "The Race for Home", "According to Lucy",
and "The Flight"
Box 9, Folder 3
_______: "The Seven Kingdoms and the Hidden Spring", "The Adventures of
Pscyhe", and "The Halowe'en School"
Box 9, Folder 4
_______: "An Hour in ST. Batholomew's", "In St.
Bartholomew's"
Box 9, Folder 5
_______: "Jo-John and the Ogre", "In a Quaker Library", "Monte
Potiri"
Box 9, Folder 6
_______: "The New Rose in the Old Garden", "Mr. Funk's Collision", "The
Ideal Man", and "Ad Astra"
Box 9, Folder 7
"Why the Chimes Rang" and Related Ephemera
Box 9, Folder 8
Publishing Agreements, 1900 - 1932
Box 9, Folder 10
Bibliography of R.M. Alden's Writings
Box 10, Folder 2
University of Pennsylvania, Alumni Register
November 1924
Box 10, Folder 3
_______, "The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle"
January 1942
Box 10, Folder 4
_______, "The Record of '94"
Box 10, Folder 5
_______, "Ninety-four : Five Years After"
Box 10, Folder 6
_______, "Ninety-four : Twenty-five Years After"
Box 10, Folder 7
_______, "Ninety-four : Fifty Years After"
Box 10, Folder 9
"Ajax et Cassandra" Mss. and drawings
Box 10, Folder 10
Anderson, Melville B. The Great Refusal : A War-Poem
Box 10, Folder 11
Alden, Barbara Hitt. Chapparal, Vol. 3 no. 10 (1902) - Annotated
Copy
