Frances Power Cobbe Correspondence: Finding Aid
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Overview of the Collection
Title: Frances Power Cobbe
Correspondence
Dates (inclusive): 1855-1904
Collection Number: mssCB 1-854
Creator:
Cobbe, Frances Power,
1822-1904, addressee.
Extent:
854 pieces in 12 boxes
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: Letters addressed to Irish philanthropist and activist
Frances Power Cobbe (1822-1904) covering women's suffrage and rights; antivivisection,
her work in Bristol and her moral and religious writings; comments on her books and
articles. Correspondents include Mary Carpenter, Anthony Ashley Cooper, Charles
Darwin, Earl of Shaftesbury, James Anthony Froude, Keshub Chunder Sen, James
Martineau, Theodore Parker, Felix Pecaut, and others.
Language: English.
Access
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Administrative Information
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one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item]. Frances Power Cobbe Correspondence, The Huntington
Library, San Marino, California.
Provenance
Source of Acquisition
Biographical Note
Frances Power Cobbe (1822-1904), Irish philanthropist and religious writer, commenced
her social work at Bristol with Mary Carpenter at Red Lodge reformatory and the
ragged schools. Her social work and work house philanthropy led to the writing of
numerous books and articles on subjects in those fields. Through travel abroad and a
widening circle of friends, she became acquainted with many of the prominent persons
of her time. She lectured on the duties of women, promoted the Matrimonial Causes
Act of 1878, and worked hard on the anti-vivisection movement. A number of her books
were devoted to expressions of her religious feelings.
In 1884 Miss Cobbe retired from the busy life of London to live at Hengwrt, Wales.
In 1894 she wrote here Life, published in two volumes, in which some of the letters
in the present collection were printed.
Scope and Content
Letters addressed to Frances Power Cobbe cover women's suffrage and rights;
antivivisection, her social work in Bristol, and her moral and religious writings;
comments on her books and articles. Correspondents include Mary Carpenter, Anthony
Ashley Cooper, Charles Darwin, Earl of Shaftesbury, James Anthony Froude, Keshub
Chunder Sen, James Martineau, Theodore Parker, Felix Pecaut, and others.
Some important or interesting items
- Bray, Caroline (Hennell). 1895, May 21. Re: George Eliot.
- Cobbe, Charles, Abp. of Dublin. To his son, Charles Cobbe. 1750, Mar. 17.
Letter of advice on going abroad.
- Dodgson, Charles Lutwidge. 1875, May 7. Re: vivisection.
- Froude, James Anthony. Interesting series of letters.
- Galton, Sir Francis. 1877, Aug. 27. Re: motives for murder.
- Kesavachandra Sena. 1878, Apr. 26. Re: the marriage of his young
daughter.
- Montefiore, Claude G. 1882, Dec. 4. On inter-racial marriage with
Jews.
- Parker, Theodore. 1848, May 5. On religion.
- Russell, John, styled Viscount Amberly. 1874, Nov. 10 & 25. Letter
about Frances Power Cobbe's essay on Mill.
- Sidgwick, Eleanor Mildred (Balfour). 1890, Jan. 10. On premonitions,
telepathy, and hallucinations.
- Spencer, Herbert. 1872. Criticism of Miss Cobbe's Darwinism in
Morals.
- Stevenson, Robert Louis. 1884, Mar. 9. Re: his friendliness toward dogs
and his views on vivisection.
Persons represented by 3 or more pieces
- Amos, Sheldon (3 pieces, 1879-83)
- Bonheur, Rosa (4 pieces, 1869-98)
- Boyle, Eleanor Vere (Gordon) ((3 pieces, c.1890?)
- Brown, Edward Harold, Bp. of Winchester (8 pieces,
1878-89)
- Butler, Frances Anne (Kemble) (5 pieces, c. 1865-90)
- Carpenter, Mary (23 pieces, 1858-77)
- Carpenter, William Benjamin (4 pieces, 1867-73)
- Channing, William Henry (5 pieces, 1860-83)
- Colenso, John William, Bp. of Natal (11 pieces, 1863-74)
- Collins, William Wilkie (3 pieces, 1882-83)
- Cooper, Anthony Ashley (7th Earl of Shaftesbury, 238 pieces,
1877-85)
- Darwin, Charles Robert (5 pieces, c.1870-75)
- Darwin, Emma (Wedgewood) (4 pieces, c.1870-90)
- Eastlake, Elizabeth (Rigby) , Lady (3 pieces, 1885-89)
- Edwards, Amelia Ann Blandford (3 pieces, 1888-89)
- Fawcett, Millicent (Garrett) (3 pieces, c.1885-90)
- Froude, James Anthony (34 pieces, 1861-92)
- Greg, William Rathbone (3 pieces, c.1870-80)
- Herbert, George Robert Charles (13th Earl of Pembroke, 4 pieces,
1888)
- Hoare, John N (4 pieces, 1894)
- How, William Walsham, Bp. of Wakefield (5 pieces, 1889-94)
- Hutton, Richard Holt (8 pieces, 1875-92)
- James, Henry (3 pieces, 1893)
- Jowett, Benjamin (4 pieces, 1860-65)
- Kesavachandra Sena (14 pieces, 1863-78)
- Lecky, William Edward Hartpole (5 pieces, 1865-90)
- Lilly, William Samuel (3 pieces, 1885-86)
- Manning, Henry Edward, Cardinal (5 pieces, 1882-89)
- Martineau, James (26 pieces, 1865-97)
- Morley, John (1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, 5 pieces, 1880)
- Morris, Sir Lewis (3 pieces, 1881-c.1887)
- Newman, Francis William (3 pieces, 1859-76)
- Paget Walpurga Ehrengarde... (4 pieces, 1891)
- Parker, Theodore (17 pieces, 1848-60)
- Pécaut, Félix (12 pieces, 1863-71)
- Pécaut, J Elie (5 pieces, 1898)
- Ponsonby, Sir Henry Frederick (4 pieces, 1884-87)
- Rhys, Sir John (3 pieces, 1891-93)
- Ritchie, Anne Isabella ... (3 pieces, c.1875-82)
- Roberts, William Page (3 pieces, 1886-87)
- Spencer, Herbert (5 pieces, 1866-c.1875)
- Stanley, Arthur Penrhyn (10 pieces, 1871-79)
- Taylor, Helen (3 pieces, 1868-74)
- Taylor, Sir Henry (3 pieces, 1879-82)
- Tennyson, Hallam (2d Baron Tennyson, 4 pieces, 1882-94)
- Tyndall, John (4 pieces, 1865-c.1875)
- Upton, Charles Barnes (3 pieces, 1883-86)
- Ward, Mary Augusta (Arnold) (10 pieces, 1888-94)
- Watson, Sir William (3 pieces, c.1890-1900)
- Webster, Augusta (3 pieces, 1878-81)
- Welldon, James Edward Cowell (4 pieces, 1886-92)
- Wilberforce, Albert Basil Orme (7 pieces, c.1890-92)
Related
Materials in the Huntington Library
Arrangement
Letters arranged chronologically in twelve boxes, with a watercolor drawing and 9 miscellaneous ephemeral pieces, documents,
and fragments at the end of Box 12.
Indexing Terms
Subjects
Cobbe, Frances Power, 1822-1904 -- Correspondence.
Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882 -- Correspondence.
Animal welfare -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century.
Feminists -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century -- Correspondence.
Social work with children -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century.
Women authors, English -- 19th century -- Correspondence.
Women social workers -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century -- Correspondence.
Great Britain -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Great Britain -- Intellectual life -- 19th century.
Forms/Genres
Letters (correspondence) -- Great Britain -- 19th century.
Alternate Authors
Carpenter, Mary, 1807-1877.
Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882.
Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of, 1801-1885.
Froude, James Anthony, 1818-1894.
Martineau, James, 1805-1900.
Sen, Keshub Chunder, 1838-1884.
Parker, Theodore, 1810-1860.
Pécaut, Félix, 1828-1898.
Box 1
Correspondence, 1750-1864
Box 2
Correspondence, 1865-1869
Box 3
Correspondence, 1870-1873 June
Box 4
Correspondence, 1873 July-1877 February
Box 5
Correspondence, 1877 March-1879 August
Box 6
Correspondence, 1879 September-1881 June
Box 7
Correspondence, 1881 July-1882 May
Box 8
Correspondence, 1882 June-1883 July
Box 9
Correspondence, 1883 August-1885
Box 10
Correspondence, 1886-1890 January
Box 11
Correspondence, 1890 February-1893 March
Box 12
Correspondence, 1893 April-1922; watercolor drawing; and ephemera
Includes watercolor-pencil drawing of coast [possibly Devon] and 9 miscellaneous items, chiefly notes,
fragments, and typescript transcriptions, manuscripts.