Huntington Library general correspondence collection HIA 31.1

Finding aid prepared by Valree M. Weythman.

The Huntington Library

2014

1151 Oxford Road

San Marino, California 91108

Business Number: (626) 405-2191

reference@huntington.org

URL: http://www.huntington.org

Note

Finding aid last updated on March 29, 2024, by Renee Tabizon.

Contributing Institution: The Huntington Library

Title: Huntington Library general correspondence collection

Identifier/Call Number: HIA 31.1

Physical Description: 24.4 Linear Feet (59 boxes)

Date (inclusive): 1878-1985

Date (bulk): 1900-1979

Abstract: The collection contains the general correspondence to and from the Huntington Library up to 1980.

Language of Material: The records are in English, French, German, Greek, and Spanish.

Access

Collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, please go to following "http://www.huntington.org/">web site

Publication Rights

In order to quote from, publish, or reproduce any of the manuscripts or visual materials, researchers must obtain formal permission from the office of the Library Director. In most instances, permission is given by the Huntington as owner of the physical property rights only, and researchers must also obtain permission from the holder of the literary rights. In some instances, the Huntington owns the literary rights, as well as the physical property rights. Researchers may contact the appropriate curator for further information.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Library General Correspondence, Huntington Insitutional Archives, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Historical Note

The Huntington Library began as Henry E. Huntington's private collection of rare books and manuscripts. In 1908-1909, Mr. Huntington obtained a quarter of the Henry W. Poor library and in 1911 acquired the entirety of the E. Dwight Church library. Over the following years, Mr. Huntington purchased a number of distinguished collections, including a Gutenberg bible and the small Beverly Chew library which contained first editions of seventeenth century English poetry. Mr. Huntington accumulated an extensive collection of English drama, including the Kemble-Devonshire plays. Mr. Huntington's collection attracted the attention of many notable scholars and influential people of the period.

The Huntington Library was established as a research library in 1919 and was relocated from New York to California in 1920. Having established the library, the board selected the various staff. In 1926, Dr. Max Farrand was chosen as the director. He retired in 1943 and was succeeded by Edwin F. Gay. The board retained George Watson Cole, who had served as Henry E. Huntington's librarian since 1915, as the librarian for the institution until his retirement in 1924. Chester Cate succeeded Cole for a brief period before Leslie E. Bliss became librarian in 1926. Mr. Bliss retired in 1958 and was succeed by Robert O. Dougan. After his retirement, Bliss remained with the library as a consultant. The library continues to expand upon Mr. Huntington's collections and attracts scholars from around the world.

Scope and Content

The collection contains over three hundred folders of correspondence that are arranged alphabetically by correspondent in fifty-eight boxes. The collection ranges from 1878 to 1972, with the bulk of the correspondence being from the years 1900 to 1979. The correspondence includes letters, telegrams, postcards, photographs and one record disc (box 26). The correspondence is mainly related to the library collection itself or to the library as an institution. The letters include commentary on the collection, the acquisition and transfer of items, inquiries about the holdings of the library, letters of thanks and congratulations from visitors, financial transactions, and letters between members of the staff. Box 52 contains miscellaneous files labeled as crank files which are often unsolicited.

Correspondence from the years before the late 1920s are addressed to or written by either Henry E. Huntington or George Watson Cole. The bulk of the later correspondence is to and from Leslie E. Bliss, with the remainder being to or from the rest of the staff. Other correspondents include Dr. Max Farrand, Robert O. Schad, early curator of rare books, and William A. Parish,the curator of prints.

The collection also includes correspondence between people associated with the Huntington Library and influential people of the early to mid-twentieth century. Box 38 contains letters written in the 1920s between Theodore Roosevelt and Henry E. Huntington about Huntington's library collection. Box 51 contains correspondence from John Leighton Stuart while he served as the President of the Yenching University to Leslie E. Bliss as a member of the university's advisory board. Stuart served as the United States ambassador to China from 1946 to 1949 when relations between the two countries were closed. The letters contain Stuart's commentary on the state of China during the 1930's.

Arrangement

The correspondence is divided into two series, chronological periods: 1900-1960 and 1961-1979. Within these periods, the collection is arranged alphabetically by author.

General

Former call number: HIA 31.1.1-2.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Letters (correspondence)

Postcards

Telegrams

Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery.

General correspondence, 1900-1960

Physical Description: 53 boxes

A & B Booksellers-American Library Association, 1912-1960

Box 1, Folder 1

A & B Booksellers-Adler, 1914-1959

Box 1, Folder 2

Adams, Edward E., 1919-1926

Box 1, Folder 3

Adams, Randolph G., 1924-1949

Box 1, Folder 4

Aeronautic Library-Aly, 1917-1960

Box 1, Folder 5

American Academy of Letters-American Antiquarian Society, 1912-1955

Box 1, Folder 6

American Art Association-American Documentation Institute, 1920-1960

Box 1, Folder 7

Allmond, Allen E., 1955-1958

Box 1, Folder 8

American Library Association, 1920-1957

American Library Institute-Association of Colleges and Universities, 1911-1960

Box 2, Folder 1

American Library Institute, 1937-1950

Box 2, Folder 2

American Federation of Arts-Anderson, 1916-1960

Box 2, Folder 3

Anderson Galleries, 1911-1925

Box 2, Folder 4

Andrews-Angus, 1911-1960

Box 2, Folder 5

Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, 1947-1958

Box 2, Folder 6

Arizona State Library-Association Transportation Libraries, 1918-1960

Box 2, Folder 7

Arnold, Ralph, 1951-1960

Box 2, Folder 8

Association of Colleges and Universities, 1931-1940

Atkinson-Bayley, 1901-1960

Box 3, Folder 1

Atkinson-Azusa Chamber of Commerce, 1916-1951

Box 3, Folder 2

Ayer, Edward E., 1921-1927

Box 3, Folder 3

Babb-Ballinger, 1901-1960

Box 3, Folder 4

Joseph Baer & Co., 1926-1933

Box 3, Folder 5

Bancroft Library-Barnes, 1919-1960

Box 3, Folder 6

Bartlett, Henrietta C., 1915-1940

Box 3, Folder 7

Barnett-Bayley, 1911-1960

Baughman-Biddle 1911-1968

Box 4, Folder 1

Baughman, Roland, 1919-1960

Box 4, Folder 2

Beckworth, T.D., 1933-1941

Box 4, Folder 3

Beal-Beinecke, Frederick, 1914-1960

Box 4, Folder 4

Beinecke, Edwin J., 1932-1958

Box 4, Folder 5

Bekeart-Bennion 1911-1958

Box 4, Folder 6

Bendez, Albert M., 1923-1941

Box 4, Folder 7

Bennett-Biddle, 1917-1968

Biever-Brady, 1910-1968

Box 5, Folder 1

Biever-Bishop, 1922-1959

Box 5, Folder 2

Bishop, William, 1918-1939

Box 5, Folder 3

Bishop-Bliss, 1918-1955

Box 5, Folder 4

Bliss, Leslie E. to Henry Edwards Huntington, 1916-1924

Box 5, Folder 5

Block-Boss, 1918-1968

Box 5, Folder 6

Bodleian Library, 1925-1959

Box 5, Folder 7

Boston (City of)-Brady, 1910-1958

Bragin-Bryant, 1906-1960

Box 6, Folder 1

Bragin-Briggs, 1906-1927

Box 6, Folder 2

Brigham, Clarence G., 1917-1932, 1958

Scope and Contents