Collection Summary
Information for Researchers
Administrative Information
Biography
Scope and Content of Collection
Collection Summary
Collection Title: James Westfall Thompson Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1892-1943
Collection Number: BANC MSS C-B 971
Creator:
Thompson, James Westfall, 1869-1941
Extent:
Number of containers: 6 boxes
Linear feet: 2.2
Repository: The
Bancroft Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Abstract: Correspondence and manuscripts of articles, books, poems and plays, relating to his career as professor of medieval history,
University of California, and to the publication of his works. Some biographical and genealogical material included.
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Languages Represented:
English
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft
Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which
must also be obtained by the reader.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], James Westfall Thompson papers, BANC MSS C-B 971, The Bancroft Library, University of California,
Berkeley.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
University of California (1868-1952). Dept. of History.
Genealogies.
Administrative Information
Provenance
The James Westfall Thompson papers were given to the Main Library in May 1964 by Miss Cornelia Beall, were transferred to
the Bancroft Library in March 1965.
Biography
James Westfall Thompson, professor of medieval history at the University of California, was born in Iowa, attended Rutgers
and graduated in 1892. He took his doctoral work at the University of Chicago, where he later became a full professor. He
came to Berkeley as Sidney Hellman Ehrman professor of European history in 1932, and retired in 1939. He wrote
The Living Past,
Economic and Social History of the Latter Middle Ages,
The Medieval Library,
Feudal Germany,
The Last Pagan, as well as various text books, and was also author of poems and plays.
Scope and Content of Collection
Included is correspondence concerning Thompson's career as professor and the publication of his writings; manuscripts of books,
poems, plays and articles; notes; letters of condolence to Mrs. Thompson; and some biographical and genealogical information.
A key to arrangement follows, and a partial list of correspondents may be found at the end.