Finding Aid for the Charles Lanman Papers LSC.0728
Finding aid prepared by James V. Mink; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé and edited by Josh Fiala.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Online finding aid last updated 2024 February 6.
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
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Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Charles Lanman papers
Creator:
Lanman, Charles
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.0728
Physical Description:
2.0 linear feet
(4 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1840-1892
Abstract: Charles Lanman (1819-1895) was an editor, librarian, and author. He also wrote travel accounts of his explorations in wilderness
areas of the eastern United States, and is best known as the publisher of the
Dictionary of Congress, first issued in 1859. The collection consists of holograph manuscripts of Lanman's published works, portions of two unpublished
manuscript autobiographies, manuscripts of his works on travel in the U.S., and his biographical sketches.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Restrictions on Access
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Purchased from W.H. Lowdermilk, 1960.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Charles Lanman Papers (Collection 728). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Processing Information
Processed by James V. Mink.
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Biography
Lanman was born on June 14, 1819 in Monroe, Michigan; worked ten years at a business in New York City before returning to
Michigan to edit the
Monroe gazette in 1845; the next year was the associate editor of the
Cincinnati chronicle, and in 1847 was an assistant on the New York express; in 1849 he became librarian of the War Department in Washington, D.C.;
in 1850 he became librarian of copyrights and private secretary of Daniel Webster, and in 1853 examiner of depositories for
the southern states; from 1855-57 he served as librarian and head of the returns office in the Interior Department, in 1866
the librarian of the House of Representatives, and from 1871-82, secretary to the Japanese legation; wrote travel accounts
of his explorations of wilderness areas of the eastern United States; best known as the publisher of the
Dictionary of Congress, first issued in 1859; he died in 1895.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of holograph manuscripts of Charles Lanman's published works, all with revisions for editions that were
never published. Also includes portions of two unpublished manuscript autobiographies. Contains manuscripts of his works on
travel in the U.S. and his biographical sketches.
Expanded Scope and Content
The letters, papers and manuscripts of Charles Lanman (1819-1895) are scattered in a number of repositories throughout the
United States. This small collection of Lanman's writings was purchased in 1960 from W.H. Lowdermilk & Company, booksellers,
Washington, D.C., with the assistance of Dr. E. Maurice Bloch of the Department of Art, UCLA.
Lowdermilk & Company purchased the Charles Lanman Library, and apparently this collection of manuscripts was among the books
in the library. The library has long since been dispersed, however, the manuscripts were retained and were discovered in 1960
by Dr. Bloch in the basement of Lowdermilk & Company, Washington, D.C.
The collection contains some of Lanman's published and unpublished works. Two Lanman letters, purchased by the Library in
1940, have been added to the collection. The following is a register with description of the items in the collection.
James V. Mink
Organization and Arrangement
Arranged in the following series:
-
Eventide recollections,
My ships of thought, or, A booklover's monologue (Box 1).
-
Haphazard personalities, Curious characters and pleasant places (Box 2). "Presidential recollections," "Recollections of Michigan," "Octavius Perinchief," "Letters from a motley crew,"
"Literary ladies," "An quixotic Yankee," "The old Connecticut Academy," "Narrow escaper," untitled manuscript (Box 3).
- "Adventures of an angler in Canada," Letters from the Alleghany Mountains and the source of the Potomac, "A summer in the
wilderness," "A tour to the River Restigouche," "A winter in the South," "From the River Potomac to Mount Desert," "In the
evening twilight" (Box 4).
- Correspondence (Boxes 3-4).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Travelers' writings, American.
Librarians -- United States -- Archives.
Authors, American -- 19th century -- Archives.
Manuscripts for publication
Lanman, Charles, 1819-1895--Archives.
Autobiography and Reminiscences of Charles Lanman
Scope and Contents note
Contained in two manuscripts written in his later life and apparently unpublished:
Eventide Recollections and
My Ships of Thought; or a Booklover's Monologue.
box 1, folder 1-6
Eventide Recollections. Washington, D.C.
ca. 1890
box 1, folder 2
"Lamaniana" [and Charles James Lanman].
box 1, folder 3
"Recollections of New York."
General note
Missing, March 2003 (JF).
box 1, folder 4
"Newspaper Recollections."
General note
Missing, March 2003 (JF).
box 1, folder 5
"Artistic Recollections."
General note
Missing, March 2003 (JF).
box 1, folder 6
"Literary Recollections."
General note
Missing, March 2003 (JF).
box 1, folder 7
My Ships of Thought; or a Booklover's Monologue. Washington, D.C.
circa. 1892
Scope and Contents note
Includes recollections concerning the publication of his
Dictionary of congress.
General note
A copy in Negative microfilm collection, no.04721.
Manuscripts
Scope and Contents note
Containing biographies of various persons, chiefly Americans, with whom Lanman was acquainted. Many of these were written
for newspapers and were later collected and published in his
Haphazard Personalities; Chiefly of Noted Americans (Boston: Lee and Shephard; New York: C.T. Trillingham, 1886). Each biography is paginated separately; many are corrected
drafts, with additions, of articles published at an earlier date.
box 2, folder 1-3
Haphazard Personalities.... Washington, D.C.
ca. 1885
box 2, folder 4
Curious Characters and Pleasant Places. Published: Edinburgh.
1881
box 3, folder 1
"Presidential Recollections." Washington, D.C.
ca. 1890
Scope and Contents note
Revisions, with additions, of a newspaper article published earlier.
[Contains 2 letters from James A. Garfield, March 28, 1874 and January 24, 1871 and one from Chester A. Arthur, April 28, 1881]
box 3, folder 2
"Recollections of Michigan." Washington, D.C.
Scope and Contents note
Revisions, with a few additions, of an article published earlier.
box 3, folder 3
Octavius Perinchief. Washington, D.C. [published].
1879
box 3, folder 4
"Letters from a Motley Crew." Washington, D.C.
ca. 1889
General note
Published as part of his
Riverside Essays[?].
box 3, folder 5
"Literary Ladies." Washington, D.C.
Scope and Contents note
Revision, with additions, of an earlier newspaper article.
box 3, folder 6
"An Quixotic Yankee." Washington, D.C.
box 3, folder 7
"The Old Connecticut Acadaemy." Washington, D.C.
Scope and Contents note
Revision, with a few corrections, of an earlier work.
box 3, folder 8
"Narrow Escapes." Washington, D.C.
Scope and Contents note
Revision, with corrections and additions, of an earlier article.
box 3, folder 9
[Untitled (first page missing) manuscript] Washington, D.C.
Scope and Contents note
[Recollections of Washington, D.C. in the post Civil War years.]
box 4, folder 1
["Adventures of an Angler in Canada,. . ."]
[1848]
Scope and Contents note
A revision, with additions and corrections, of his earlier work on angling for inclusion in his
Adventures in the Wilds of the United States and British American Provinces (Philadelphia: J.W. Moore, 1856).
box 4, folder 2
"Letters from the Alleghany Mountains and the Sources of the Potomac." Washington, D.C.
ca. 1856
Scope and Contents note
Revised draft, with additions and corrections, for inclusion in his
Adventures in the Wilds of the United States..., 1856.
box 4, folder 3
"A Summer in the Wilderness...." Washington, D.C.
1856
Scope and Contents note
Revised draft of an earlier work ("A Summer in the Wilderness; Embracing a Canoe Voyage on the Upper Mississippi and Lake
Superior." New York: D. Appleton & Company; Philadelphia: G.S. Appleton, 1847) with additions and corrections for his
Adventures in the Wilds of the United States..., 1856.
box 4, folder 4
"A Tour to the River Restigouche." Washington, D.C.
Scope and Contents note
Revision, with corrections and additions, of a section of his
Adventures in the Wilds of the United States, 1856.
box 4, folder 5
"A Winter in the South." Washington, D.C.
Scope and Contents note
Revision, with corrections and additions, of a section of his
Adventures in the Wilds of the United States..., 1856.
box 4, folder 6
From the River Potomac to Mount Desert. Washington, D.C.
Scope and Contents note
A manuscript composed of earlier articles with corrections and additions [Unpublished?].
box 4, folder 7
In the Evening Twilight.
1813
Scope and Contents note
Manuscript of some poems by Lanman[?].
box 4, folder 8
Two letters from Charles Lanman.
1862 and 1875
Scope and Contents note
- To Benjamin Perley Poore (June 19, 1862).
- To John Neafie (February 20, 1875).
The letter to Benjamin P. Poore contains a reference to President Abraham Lincoln and Charles Summer.
box 4, folder 8
Letter to D. Appleton & Company.
box 4, folder 9
Two letters to Lanman.
1867 and 1875
- From Congressman R.P. Spalding (1867).
- From Congressman Scott Lord (1875).
