Overview of the Collection
Access
Administrative Information
Related Materials in the Huntington Library
Biographical Note
Scope and Content
Indexing: Subjects
Arrangement
Indexing Terms
Overview of the Collection
Title: John Fiske Addenda
Dates (inclusive): 1851-1901
Collection Number: mssFiske addenda
Creator:
Fiske, John, 1842-1901.
Extent: 119 items in 1 box
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 chiefly contains correspondence of American philosopher and historian John Fiske (1842-1902) and his family.
Subjects include: Fiske and his work and writings, Ignatius Donnelly, Miguel de Cervantes' novel Don Quixote, Prince Kropotkin,
and the assassination of Alexander II in 1881.
Language: English.
Access
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services
Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
Administrative Information
Publication Rights
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]. John Fiske Addenda, The Huntington Library, San Marino,
California.
Provenance
Gift of Mrs. John Fiske, October 18, 1991.
Related Materials in the Huntington Library
-
John Fiske Papers
(Call number: mssFK 1-1661)
- Letters to Fiske from Charles Robert
Darwin, Thomas Henry Huxley, and Herbert Spencer (In the Literary File)
Biographical Note
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.
Scope and Content
The majority of the collection is made of up correspondence by John Fiske and his family.
It includes letters by his mother Mary Fiske Bound Green Stoughton. There are
several letters written to Fiske's step-father E. W. Stoughton. Prominent
participants in the collection include: editor George S. Hellman, writer and
literary critic William Dean Howells, U.S. Senator and Secretary of State Daniel
Webster, Charles Francis Adams, artist James E. Taylor, Reverend Samuel Longfellow,
artist Carl L. Brandt, and artist Albert Bierstadt. There are letters by Secretary
of State William M. Evarts appointing Edwin Stoughton as minister to Russia (1877)
and the letter accepting Stoughton's resignation from that position (1879). Subjects
include: Fiske and his work and writings, Ignatius Donnelly, Miguel de Cervantes'
novel Don Quixote, Prince Kropotkin, and the assassination of Alexander II in 1881.
Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by author.
There are several folders of ephemera relating to both E. W. Stoughton and John
Fiske. Stoughton’s ephemera relates to his time as minister to Russia including his
passport and invitations to events. The “Photographs” folder contains five
photographic items related to Russia as well. Fiske’s ephemera includes copies of
publications with articles by Fiske in them (including
Appleton’s Journal).
Indexing: Subjects
Alexander II, Emperor of Russia, 1818-1881.
-
Subject in John Fiske, 1842-1901, letter to Mary Fiske Bound Green Stoughton. Folder 11.
-
Subject in W----- Werbitsky(?) letter to Mary Fiske Bound Green Stoughton. Folder 29.
Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de, 1547-1616.
-
Subject in Philadelphia Press telegram to John Fiske, 1842-1901. Folder 21.
Donnelly, Ignatius, 1831-1901.
- Subject in Philadelphia Press telegram to John Fiske, 1842-1901. Folder 21.
Kropotkin, Petr Alekseevich, kni︠ a︡ zʹ, 1842-1921.
- Subject in Sophia Penn Page Shaler letter to Abby Morgan Fiske. Folder 22.
Arrangement
Correspondence arranged alphabetically by author, followed by ephemera, photographs, and publications.
Indexing Terms
Subjects
Alexander II, Emperor
of Russia, 1818-1881.
Cervantes Saavedra,
Miguel de, 1547-1616.
Donnelly, Ignatius,
1831-1901.
Fiske, John, 1842-1901
-- Archives.
Kropotkin, Petr
Alekseevich, kn︠i︡azʹ, 1842-1921.
Stoughton, E. W.
(Edwin Wallace), 1818-1882.
Historians -- United States --
Archives.
Lecturers -- United States --
Archives.
Philosophers -- United States --
Archives.
Russia -- History --
1801-1917 -- Sources.
United States --
History -- 19th century -- Sources.
United States --
Intellectual life -- 19th century -- Sources.
United States --
Politics and government -- 19th century -- Sources.
Forms/Genres
Ephemera -- United States -- 19th
century.
Letters (correspondence) -- United
States -- 19th century.
Letters (correspondence) -- United
States -- 20th century.
Additional Contributors
Adams, Charles Francis, 1835-1915.
Bierstadt, Albert, 1830-1902.
Brandt, Carl Ludwig, 1831-1905.
Evarts, William Maxwell, 1818-1901.
Fiske, Abby Morgan, recipient.
Hellman, George S. (George Sidney),
1878-1958.
Howells, William Dean, 1837-1920.
Longfellow, Samuel, 1819-1892.
Stoughton, E. W. (Edwin Wallace),
1818-1882, recipient.
Stoughton, Mary Fiske Bound Green.
Taylor, James E., 1839-1901.
Webster, Daniel, 1782-1852.