Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
John Fiske Papers: Finding Aid
mssFK 1-1661, mssHM 7227-7231, mssHM 18866--18895, mssHM 24739-24877
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: John Fiske Papers
Dates (inclusive): 1850-1901
Collection Number: mssFK 1-1661, mssHM 7227-7231, mssHM 18866--18895, mssHM 24739-24877
Creator:
Fiske, John, 1842-1901.
Extent: 1,661 pieces in 15 boxes + 25 volumes and 4 cases
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: This collection contains the papers and correspondence of
American philosopher and historian John Fiske (1842-1902). Included are manuscripts and proof sheets of his books,
articles, lectures and other works on history, theology, and education, his literary works, musical compositions, and some
documents.
The professional and personal correspondence includes letters from Fiske to his wife, family, and colleagues; there are also
letters to Fiske's step-father E. W. Stoughton (1818-1882).
Language: English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services
Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
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.
[Identification of item]. John Fiske Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino,
California.
Purchased from Godspeed in the 1920s and from Mrs Otis D. Fisk, 1955.
Related Materials in the Huntington Library
- John Fiske Addenda (Call number: mssFiske addenda)
Removed or Separated Material
Some letters to Fiske were cataloged separately as part of the Huntington's Literary File, including:
- Charles Darwin letters to Fiske, 1871-1880 (HM 8260-2869)
- Holmes, Oliver Wendell. Letter to John Fiske. 1897 October 3 (HM 8270)
- J.B. Millet Co. (HM 7057-7060)
- Lowell, James Russell. Letter to John Fiske. 1888 January 3 (HM 5382)
- Herbert Spencer (HM 13718-13760) includes: Fiske, John. Herbert Spencer's request to religion : [an address at a farewell banquet to Spencer] (HM 13759) and Fiske, John. "Precisely the doctrine held and taught by Mr. Spencer," 1884 August 24. (HM 13760)
Proof sheets transferred to the Rare Book Department, August 1955
- Colonization of the New World ... (Philadelphia and New York: Lea Brothers & Company, [1902]) (Call number: 193952 v. 1-2)
- Independence of the New World ... (Philadelphia: Lea Brothers, [c1902]) (Call number: 193953 v. 1-2)
- Modern development of the new world ... (Philadelphia: Lea Brothers, [1902]) (Call number: 193954 v. 1-2)
John Fiske (1842-1901) was an American philosopher and historian. He was born Edmund
Fiske Greene in Connecticut in 1842. He later assumed his maternal
great-grandfather's surname Fiske. He graduated from Harvard College in 1863 and
Harvard Law School in 1865. He began his career as author by publishing his first
article in 1861 in the National Quarterly Review. After that he was a frequent
contributor to American and British periodicals. He was a lecturer at Harvard
University, Washington University and other schools. He also taught history. Fiske
also became a supporter of Charles Darwin and the doctrine of evolution. Fiske
published several books including
The Discovery of America
(1892). He died in Massachusetts in 1901. He was married to Abby Morgan and
they had six children: Maud, Ralph, Ethel, Harold, Clarence, and Herbert.
Fiske's mother Mary Greene married Edwin W. Stoughton in 1852 after the death of
John's father Edmund Brewster Green. Edwin W. Stoughton was a lawyer in New York and
U.S. minister to Russia from 1878 to 1879.
This collection contains papers and correspondence of John Fiske. Included are manuscripts and proof sheets
of his books, articles, lectures and other works on history, theology, and
education, his literary works, musical compositions, and some documents. The
professional and personal correspondence includes letters from Fiske to his wife
Abby Morgan Fiske, mother Mary Fiske Bound Green Stoughton, Henry Holt, Henry A.
Richmond, James Grant Wilson, and others. There are also letters to Fiske's
step-father E. W. Stoughton.
Recipients of 6 or more letters from John Fiske:
- Brooks, James Willson (14 items)
- Brooks, Martha Willson (12 items)
- Fiske, Abby Morgan (Brooks) (436 items)
- Gilbert, Shepherd D. (42 items)
- Ginn & Co. (35 items)
- Green, James (7 items)
- Holt, Henry (39 items)
- Lewis, Polly (Fisk) Bound (16 items)
- Richmond, Henry A. (41 items)
- Roberts, George Litch (26 items)
- Spencer, Hebrert (6 items)
- Stoughton, Edwin Wallace (8 items)
- Stoughton, Mary Fisk (Bound) Green (599 items)
- Wilcox, Lizzie (15 items)
- Wilson, James Grant (88 items)
HM 18874-18880, HM 18882-18883, HM 18885-18892, and HM 24781-24877 have the bookplate of William Bixby; HM 18881 has a sticker
on the inside cover: "W. T. Newton, No. 571"; HM 18884 has the bookplate of William F. Gable
Organized in the following manner: 1) Bound volumes, and 2) Boxed and cased Materials. The
correspondence is arranged chronologically. The collection includes several items with call numbers beginning with
HM.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Darwin, Charles,
1809-1882 -- Correspondence.
Fiske, John, 1842-1901
-- Archives.
Historians -- United States --
Archives.
Lecturers -- United States --
Archives.
Philosophers -- United States --
Archives.
United States --
History.
United States --
Intellectual life -- 19th century -- Sources.
Lectures -- United States -- 19th
century.
Letters (correspondence) -- United
States -- 19th century.
Manuscripts -- United States -- 19th
century.
Proofs (derivative objects) -- United
States.
Personal papers -- United States --
19th century.
Professional papers -- United States
-- 19th century.
Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882.
Fiske, Abby Morgan, recipient.
Holt, Henry, 1840-1926, recipient.
Huxley, Thomas Henry, 1825-1895.
Richmond, Henry Augustus, 1840-1913,
recipient.
Spencer, Herbert, 1820-1903.
Stoughton, E. W. (Edwin Wallace),
1818-1882, recipient.
Stoughton, Mary Fiske Bound Green,
recipient.
Wilson, James Grant, 1832-1914,
recipient.