Charles Warren Stoddard Collection, 1868-1908 and undated, bulk 1898-1908

Collection context

Summary

Creators:
Stoddard, Charles Warren, 1843-1909
Abstract:
This collection contains 10 manuscripts and 18 letters either written by or related to American author Charles Warren Stoddard (1843-1909).
Extent:
28 items in 1 box
Language:
English.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains 10 manuscripts and 18 letters either written by or related to American author Charles Warren Stoddard. Manuscripts consist of poems by Stoddard, as well as a contemporary copy of a poem by Thomas Bailey Aldrich, and two reminiscences by poet Ina D. Coolbrith about John Greenleaf Whittier and Bret Harte and Stoddard. Includes letters to Stoddard from Samuel Clemens (contemporary copy) "Amber" (Martha Everts Holden); Grace Keeler Machin; Alice Macleod; Toby Rosenthal; Edward Rowland Sill; Thomas Walsh; and Carrie Wyatt. There are also single images of Stoddard's friends Thérèse Yelverton and David Kalakaua, King of Hawaii, as well as two envelopes and two printed articles by Stoddard.

Biographical / historical:

American author and poet Charles Warren Stoddard (1843-1909) was born in Rochester, New York, on August 7, 1843, and moved with his family to San Francisco, California, in 1855. Stoddard began writing and traveling at an early age. In 1864, Stoddard made his first trip to Hawaii and Polynesia. His poetry was first published in The Golden Era in 1862 and his first book of poems was published in 1867. In the 1860s and 1870s, Stoddard traveled widely, participated in Bohemian literary circles in San Francisco, and worked as a correspondent and journalist. In the early 1880s, Stoddard was a co-editor of the Overland Monthly magazine with Ina D. Coolbrith and Bret Harte. From 1885 to 1886, he served as chair of the English department at the University of Notre Dame, and was department chair at Catholic University from 1889 to 1902, before moving to Cambridge, Massachusetts. He returned to San Francisco in April 1903, and then later lived in Monterey, California, until his death on April 23, 1909.

Acquisition information:
Purchased from Dawson's Bookshop, October 1963.
Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in the following 3 series:

  • Manuscripts
  • Correspondence
  • Photographs and ephemera

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