Stoddard (Charles Warren) Collection of Papers, 1867-1918

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Summary

Title:
Collection of Charles Warren Stoddard papers
Dates:
1867-1918
Creators:
Stoddard, Charles Warren, 1843-1909
Abstract:
Contains correspondence, writings, scrapbooks and clippings. Correspondents include Japanese author Yoné Noguchi and editor Frank Putnam, as well a letter or two from his many fellow authors. Writings include journals and notebooks, poems, autobiography entitled "Confessions of a Reformed Poet" and collection of poems by Stoddard put together by Ina Coolbrith following his death.
Extent:
Number of containers: 4 boxes and 1 carton Linear feet: 2.85
Language:
Collection materials are in English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Collection of Charles Warren Stoddard Papers, BANC MSS C-H 53, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Background

Scope and content:

Contains correspondence, writings, scrapbooks and clippings. Correspondents include Japanese author Yoné Noguchi and editor Frank Putnam, as well a letter or two from his many fellow authors. Writings include journals and notebooks, poems, autobiography entitled "Confessions of a Reformed Poet" and collection of poems by Stoddard put together by Ina Coolbrith following his death.

Biographical / historical:

Charles Warren Stoddard was born on August 7, 1843, in Rochester, New York. In 1855, his family moved to San Francisco. Two years later, Stoddard went back to New York with his older invalid brother. After his return to San Francisco in 1859, he attended school for a time but soon left his schooling to clerk in a bookstore. It was there that he first began writing verses, contributing them to the local newspapers. After the establishment of the Overland Monthly, Stoddard became one of its main standbys, and his poetry appeared in almost every number.

He became better known, however, as a writer of prose, particularly for his sketches picturing the beauty of the South Seas. In 1864, he made the first of his several voyages there, and this resulted in the publication of South Sea Idyls in 1873. In 1873 also, he went abroad as special correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle, traveling in Europe, Asia and Africa.

He became a Roman Catholic in 1867 and in 1884 began a teaching career as professor of English literature at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. In 1889 he took the chair of English literature at the newly founded Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and taught there until 1902.

He then moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, intending to devote himself to creative work. An almost fatal illness sent him back to California, however, and he settled in Monterey in 1905. It was there that he died in April 1909.

Among his better known works, in addition to the South Sea Idyls, are The Lepers of Molokai, (1885); A Cruise Under the Crescent, (1898); In the Footprints of the Padres, (1902); For the Pleasure of His Company, (1903); and The Island of Tranquil Delights, (1904).

Acquisition information:
The Collection of Charles Warren Stoddard Papers were given to and/or purchased by The Bancroft Library at various times with the most recent being in 2007. Some folders are annotated with information with respect to provenance. Most of the original materials were acquired in the T.W. Norris Collection in 1954.
Processing information:

Re-processed by Alison E. Bridger in 2006.

Accruals:

No additions are expected.

Physical location:
Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding Aid written by Alison E. Bridger
Date Prepared:
© 2007
Date Encoded:
Machine-readable finding aid generated by Finding Aid author(s) via EAD XPress; markup validated by Bancroft Library staff using OAC validation tools; Date of source: April 2007

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94270-6000. Consent is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library 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. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.

Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Collection of Charles Warren Stoddard Papers, BANC MSS C-H 53, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Location of this collection:
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
Contact:
510-642-6481
bancref-library@berkeley.edu
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