James Bryce, Viscount Bryce, Collection, 1758-1922, bulk 1875-1922

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Summary

Creators:
Bryce, James Bryce, Viscount, 1838-1922.
Abstract:
This collection consists of papers of British politician, historian, and diplomat Viscount James Bryce (1838-1922) including correspondence dealing with personal, political and business/publishing matters from Bryce to various addressees in the political, social, and literary worlds of England and America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Extent:
120 pieces + ephemera in 2 boxes
Language:
English.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of three miscellaneous manuscripts by Bryce; the majority of the correspondence are letters written by Bryce to various addressees in the political, social, and literary worlds of England and America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The papers consist of the following series:

1. Manuscripts & Correspondence (Box 1) are arranged alphabetically by author and title (manuscripts) and by author and addressee (correspondence). This series includes three miscellaneous manuscripts by Bryce; the majority of the correspondence are letters written by Bryce to various addressees in the political, social and literary worlds of England and America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The letters deal with personal, political and business/publishing matters and the addressees include: Richard Everard Webster, (Viscount Alverstone), Sabine Baring-Gould, Anne Cobden-Sanderson, and William Gibbs McAdoo.

2. Correspondence & Ephemera (Box 2) is arranged alphabetically by author. This box continues the series of personal, political and business/publishing letters to, among others, George Foster Peabody, William H. Rideing, Harold Felix Baker Wheeler, and Lucien Wolf. This series also includes two Colonial-era documents signed by Thomas Pownall, Governor of Massachusetts (1757-1760), and one folder of ephemera containing a printed engraving and a printed photograph of Bryce.

Biographical / historical:

James Bryce, Viscount Bryce (1838-1922), British politician, historian and diplomat, was born in Belfast, on May 10, 1838; he was educated at the University of Glasgow and Trinity College, Oxford. He was called to the Bar in 1867, and first elected to Parliament as a Liberal in 1880, where he remained until 1907. Throughout his life, Bryce travelled and wrote extensively, and was active in the intellectual and literary communities of England, America and Europe.

On July 23, 1889, Bryce married Elizabeth Marion Ashton when he was fifty-one years old and she was twenty years younger; they had no children. In 1907, he was appointed British Ambassador to the United States, a post he held until 1913. Upon his return to England, Bryce was created Viscount Bryce and joined the House of Lords; he also served at the International Court at The Hague, worked in support of the League of Nations, and continued to write and travel. He was on holiday in Sidmouth, Devon, when he unexpectedly died of heart failure on Jan. 22, 1922.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Rosemary DiSalvo, Feb. 6, 2009.
Processing information:

1. The cataloging of the collection was begun by Sarah Green in 2009, and completed by Gayle M. Richardson in 2010. Regardless of the cataloger, the standard authorized form of the names has been used on the folders and in the Finding Aid.

2. A number of letters and postcards were originally pasted down or mounted into albums by previous owners. The letters and postcards have been removed from the original pages and mountings; but, some evidence of the original locations (old glue, tabs, etc.) remain on the letters. Also, some material in the collection has pencilled notes and markings of previous owners and sellers.

Arrangement:

Organized in the following manner: 1. Manuscripts and Correspondence (Box 1); 2. Correspondence and Ephemera (Box 2); arranged alphabetically.

Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

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