Edmund Clarence Stedman collection, 1863-1901

Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Summary

Creators:
Stedman, Edmund Clarence, 1833-1908
Abstract:
A collection of correspondence, manuscripts, and ephemera related to Edmund Clarence Stedman, American poet, editor, and scientist.
Extent:
1.2 Linear Feet (1 box)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Edmund Clarence Stedman collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

Collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, poems and ephemera related to Edmund Clarence Stedman. The manuscripts include a review of Rudyard Kipling's The Seven Seas (1896); the poems include "Madrigal," "Souvenir de Jeunesse," and "Custer." The correspondence includes letters from, among others, France Allitsen, William Henry Babcock, Ambrose Bierce, James Gowdy Clark, Albert Stanburrough Cook, Robert Lowell, John Williamson Palmer, Whitelaw Reid, James Ryder Randall, John Jerome Rooney, and Frank Dempster Sherman; some of the letters are addressed to Laura Hyde Woodworth Stedman. The ephemera includes a group of dinner place cards with the signatures of the guests on the versos and a photographic print of Richard Grant White.

Biographical / historical:

Edmund Clarence Stedman (1833-1908) was an American poet, critic, essayist, banker, and scientist. Stedman was born in Hartford, Connecticut and in 1849 enrolled at Yale University at age 16; after two years of study, he was suspended and never returned to college. In later years he became a journalist, lawyer, and a member of the New York Stock Exchange. Stedman published volumes of poetry from 1860 to 1897 and edited important anthologies of American literature (1888 to 1890), Victorian literature (1900), and the works of Edgar Allan Poe (1895). Stedman also pursued scientific and technical endeavors, including the proposal of a rigid airship in 1879. Stedman married Laura Hyde Woodworth on November 2, 1853, together they had two sons. After developing heart disease, Stedman died on January 18, 1908, in New York City, New York.

Acquisition information:
mssFAC 12, mssFAC 12853, mssFAC 24019-24028, purchased from George D. Smith sale, lot 45, August 1915; mssHM 2967, provenance unknown, in library as of 1938; mssHM 2968, mssHM 6886, mssHM 12855, mssHM 20569, purchased from William K. Bixby sale, 1918; mssHM 6892, provenance unknown, in library as of 1920; mssHM 11050, gift of Charles F. Heartman, approximately 1960; mssHM 11606, gift of Judd Stewart, approximately 1960; mssHM 12852, purchased from Anderson sale, 1919; mssHM 12854, provenance unknown, in library as of approximately 1950; mssHM 16514, gift of Edgar F. Vance, August 1950; mssHM 19742, gift of Mary W. F. Dickinson, 1953; mssHM 24733, gift of Ruth A. Child, approximately 1960; mssHM 30997, removed from rare book 13142, December 1968; mssHM 13264-13291, mssHM 13376-13378, purchased from American Art Association in Conant Sale, lot 25, November 1923.
Processing information:

Processed by Huntington Library staff from approximately 1919 to approximately 1970; in May 2025, Gayle M. Richardson created the finding aid. This collection includes multiple acquisitions acquired and assembled by Huntington Library Staff over many years.

Arrangement:

Arranged chronologically.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Terms of access:

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]. Edmund Clarence Stedman collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Website