Rufus W. Griswold Papers, 1834-1857 | Boston Public Library Archival and Manuscript Finding Aid Database

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Collection Overview

Title: Rufus W. Griswold Papers, 1834-1857

Collection Identifier: MS Gris.

Primary Creator: Griswold, Rufus, W., 1815-1857

Extent: 1285.0 Items

Arrangement: Arranged alphabetically.

Date Acquired: 00/00/1900

Subjects: American Literature — 19th Century — History and Criticism, Authors, American — 19th Century — Correspondence, Authors and publishers -- Correspondence, Carey, Alice, 1820-1871, Fields, James Thomas, 1817-1881, Graham's Magazine, Griswold, Rufus, 1815-1897, Hoffman, Charles Fenno, 1806-1884, Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849., Poets, American — 19th Century — Correspondence, Poets and Poetry of America, Tucker, Beverley, 1784-1851, Whittier, John Greenleaf, 1807-1892

Languages: English

Abstract

This collection contains the letters of Rufus Griswold (1815-1857), editor of Graham’s Magazine and publisher of American literature and poetry in the mid 19^th century. The letters document his relationships – both professional and personal – with his contemporaries. Most notable is the correspondence between Griswold and Edgar Allan Poe.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

This collection contains the near entirety of Rufus Griswold’s correspondence between the years 1834 and 1857. In particular, it reflects his business dealings as editor of Graham’s Magazine, and publisher of The Poets and Poetry of America. Correspondence is primarily letters to Griswold from poets, authors, and other editors regarding publications and reviews.

The majority of the letters are related to either Graham’s Magazine or The Poets of America and include requests for publication or critical review. While the correspondence is business in nature, the letters also discuss the personal lives of such people as Rufus Griswold, Edgar Allen Poe, Elizabeth Ellet, and Frances Sargent Osgood.

Griswold’s publication, The Poets and Poetry of America, was the first anthology of American poetry and was published in 1842. From this publication stemmed others that are mentioned in the letters, among them The Female Poets of America, Prose Writers of America, Poets and Poetry of England.

Many of the letters in the collection have been printed in Passages from the Correspondence and Other Papers of Rufus W. Griswold, published by W. M. Griswold at Cambridge in 1898, and The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe, New York, 1902.

Subject/Index Terms

American Literature — 19th Century — History and Criticism
Authors, American — 19th Century — Correspondence
Authors and publishers -- Correspondence
Carey, Alice, 1820-1871
Fields, James Thomas, 1817-1881
Graham's Magazine
Griswold, Rufus, 1815-1897
Hoffman, Charles Fenno, 1806-1884
Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849.
Poets, American — 19th Century — Correspondence
Poets and Poetry of America
Tucker, Beverley, 1784-1851
Whittier, John Greenleaf, 1807-1892

Administrative Information

Repository: Boston Public Library Archival and Manuscript Finding Aid Database

Access Restrictions: Collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions:

Items in this collection may be subject to copyright restrictions. The Boston Public Library does not hold copyright on the material in this collection. Researchers are responsible for identifying and contacting the persons or organizations that hold copyright.

When reproducing material from this collection please include the credit line "Courtesy of the Trustees of the Boston Public Library/ Rare Books."

Acquisition Method: Donated to the Boston Public Library by Mrs. Rufus Griswold in 1900.

Preferred Citation: Rufus W. Griswold Collection, MS Gris. Courtesy of the Trustees of the Boston Public Library. Courtesy of the Trustees of the Boston Public Library/Rare Books.

Processing Information: Finding aid prepared by Honor McCusker, c. 1963.

Finding Aid Revision History: Updated by Bethany Hirsch, November 2011.

Box and Folder Listing

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Box 16

Folder 990: Stebbins, Mary Elizabeth (Moore) Hewitt, 1818-? Ms. poem, n.d.: "The Lady to her Glove."
Folder 991: Stein, John Andrew, 1832-1886. Ms. poem., n.d.: "The Scourge of Asia."
Folder 992: Stephens, Ann Sophia (Winterbotham), 1813-1886. A.L.S. to George R. Graham, 3 June 1842: New York. Explains her delay in sending him a sketch. Complains bitterly of a false rumor that she has become the editor of the Sunday News, "a situation proper only for the other sex."
Folder 993: Stephens, Ann Sophia (Winterbotham)1813-1886. A.L.S. to George R. Graham, 24 April [184-?]: New York. Sends a manuscript with instructions for its arrangement.
Folder 994: Stirling-Maxwell, Caroline Elizabeth Sarah (Sheridan) Norton, Lady, 1808-1877. Ms. poem, 25 June 1836: New York. "I do not love thee..." Writer unknown.
Folder 995: Stoddard, Elizabeth Drew (Barstow), 1823-1902. A.L.S. to R. W. Griswold, 21 January 1856: New York. Thanks Griswold for his kind notices in Poets of America.
Folder 996: Stoddard, Richard Henry, 1825-1903. A.N.S. to R. W. Griswold, 5 July 1850: New York. Promises to revise the writer's book [not named] if Griswold knows a publisher who will "sell it to pay."
Folder 997: Stoddard, Richard Henry, 1825-1903. A.N.S. to R. W. Griswold, 29 July 1856: N.p. Sends poems and a "scribbled" notice.
Folder 998: Stoddard, Richard Henry, 1825-1903. A.N.S. to R. W. Griswold, 21 January 1856: New York. Thanks Griswold for a notice in Poets of America.
Folder 999: Stoddard, Richard Henry, 1825-1903. Ms. poems, n.d.: Nine autographed poems. "At Rest," "At the Window," "The Helmet," "I sympathize with all your grief," "In a volume of early verses," "Invocation to sleep," "Roses and thorns," "Summer," " There are gains for all our losses."
Folder 1000: Stone, William Leete, 1792-1844. A.L.S. to R. W. Griswold, 19 April 1841: New York. A chronological account of the writer's publications, 1811-1841.
Folder 1001: Stoughton, E. H. A.N.S. to ----, n.d.: N.p. Thursday evening. Note of regret at not having kept an appointment.
Folder 1002: Street, Alfred Billings, 1811-1881. A.L.S. to R. W. Griswold, 1 December 1841: Albany, (N.Y.) Corrects erroneous biographical data, previously given on his paternal ancestor, the Reverend Nicholas Street.
Folder 1003: Street, Alfred Billings, 1811-1881. A.L.S. to R. W. Griswold, 8 August 1842: Albany, (N.Y.) Submits a poem, "The Burning of Schenectady," to Graham's Magazine.
Folder 1004: Street, Alfred Billings, 1811-1881. A.L.S. to R. W. Griswold, 15 June 1846: Albany, (N.Y.). Asks about a revision of a biographical and critical notice of the writer, written at his request by [Henry T.] Tuckerman for Graham's Magazine.
Folder 1005: Street, Alfred Billings, 1811-1881. A.L.S. to Charles Scribner, 22 July 1852: Albany, (N.Y.). Requests Scribner to let Griswold have "the pasted book" containing the writer's prose sketches.
Folder 1006: Sullivan, John Turner Sargent, 1813-1838. Ms. poem, 18 May 1841: N.p. "Solitary Musings."
Folder 1007: Sullivan, John Turner Sargent, 1813-1838. A.L.S. to R. W. Griswold, 10 June 1842: 103 Walnut St. Asks for a copy of the writer's verses "I think of thee" which have been set to music.
Folder 1008: Sutliffe, William Albert. Ms. poem, n.d.: "Fragment of a Poem."
Folder 1009: Swain, Charles, 1803-1874. A.L.S. to R. W. Griswold, n.d.: Manchester, (Eng.) Consents to republication of the writer's poems in America under Griswold's editorship. Sends some volumes of his works, including the 1841 edition of The Mind.
Folder 1010: Tappan, William Bingham, 1794-2849. A.L.S. to R. W. Griswold, 6 April 1849: Boston, M.A. Sends biographical data and copies of two poems: "In this Fair Sabbath Sun," and "The Publican."
Folder 1011: Tasistro, Louis Fitzgerald. c. 1808-1868. A.L.S. to R. W. Griswold, 18 June 1842: United States Hotel, New York. Sends Griswold two articles for Graham's Magazine. Complains that he has requested, but not received, copies of Graham's containing his poem and an article on Wilkie.
Folder 1012: Tasistro, Louis Fitzgerald. c. 1808-1868. A.L.S. to George Graham, 2 June 1843: United States Hotel, (New York). Establishing the rates the writer expects for his article [in Graham's]. The Harper's fire has made it impossible for them to pay him, and he is hard pressed. Asks $25 for his article on "The Ancient Customs for France."
Folder 1013: Taylor, James Bayard, 1825-1878. AN.S. to R. W. Griswold, n.d.: N.p. Sends his revised poem at Griswold's request. Would like to publish it in the Democratic Review.
Folder 1014: Taylor, James L. A.L.S. to R. W. Griswold, 31 August 1839: Grand Isle Co. Encloses an original parody on George Pope Morris's "Woodman, Spare That Tree" for the Evening Tatler.
Folder 1015: Tenney, J. E. A.L.S. to R. W. Griswold, 28 June 1838: Middlebury College, (V.T.). Asks Griswold to write an ode for the commencement exercises at Middlebury College.
Folder 1016: Tenney, J. E. A.L.S. to R. W. Griswold, 26 November 1855: Marshall, M.I. Requests copy of the Republican Court. Mentions his relationship (second cousin) to Griswold.
Folder 1017: Tenney, A. G. A.L.S. to R. W. Griswold, 15 September 1841: Boston, M.A. Asks for information about any position in New York which the writer might satisfactorily hold.
Folder 1018: Thayer, R. W. A.L.S. to ----, 15 November n.y.: N.p. Expects to see the addressee "tomorrow night" with Mrs. Lewis and Miss Lynch.
Folder 1019: Thomas, Edward J. A.L.S. to Frances Sargent (Locke) Osgood, 15 March 1847: New York. Comments on Poe's victory in the libel suit brought by Poe against Fuller and Clason [of the Mirror].
Folder 1020: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Allan Poe, 24 August 1840: Washington, D.C. Asks for the return of a manuscript in Poe's hands; describes the shipwreck and death of his sister on her way home from India.
Folder 1021: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Allan Poe, 7 December 1840: St. Louis, M.O. Sends extracts from his "Adventures of a Poet" for the Penn Magazine. Partly agrees with Poe in preferring Clinton Bradshaw to Howard Pinckney. Suggests Fowzer and Woodward as agents of the Penn Magazine in St. Louis. Gives their terms. Describes St. Louis newspapers.
Folder 1022: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Allan Poe, 7 March 1841: Washington City (D.C.). Describes a novel he would write for some magazine such as Graham's, to be written and paid for in monthly installments. Mentions Fowzer and Woodward's quarrel.
Folder 1023: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Allan Poe, 11 April 1841: Washington City (D.C.). Regrets Graham's rejection of the writer's novel. Encloses a contribution. Has been lecturing on "Oratory." Asks Poe to review Howard Pinckney. Thinks "Murders in the Rue Morgue" most ingenious. Praises Poe's criticism in general. Urges him to write an editorial on the copyright law. [Jesse E.] Dow has been removed from office.
Folder 1024: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Alla Poe, 20 May 1841: Washington, D.C. Requests a remittance from Graham. Describes [Jesse E.] Dow's position as postmaster's agent. Suggests a government post for Poe.
Folder 1025: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Allan Poe, 29 May 1841: Washington, D.C. Describes difficulty in cashing [George R.] Graham's draft. Thanks Poe for his good opinion. Commends him for "rapping [W.D.] Gallagher over the knuckles." Praises Poe's "Island of the Fay." Describes G[eorge] G. Foster.
Folder 1026: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to R. W. Griswold, 8 June 1841: Washington, D.C. Offers to write biographical sketches of [Edward C.] Pinkney, Amelia [Welby], "Moina" [Mrs. Anna Peyre Dinnies] and [George D.] Prentice for Poets of America.
Folder 1027: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Allan Poe, 14 June 1841: Washington, D.C. Has added material in place of a lost page of his manuscript. Offers his services for notices in Washington newspapers. Criticizes "A Descent into the Maelstrom." Urges Poe to edit his own magazine.
Folder 1028: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Allan Poe, 1 July 1841: Washington, D.C. Advises Poe on methods of application for a government position. Encloses a cryptograph.
Folder 1029: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Allan Poe, 7 July 1841: Washington, D.C. Promises to help Poe in his application for a government clerkship.
Folder 1030: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Allan Poe, 19 July 1841: Washington, D.C. Mentions President Tyler's opposition to removals from office. Sends a cryptograph of Mr. P. Ewing.
Folder 1031: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Allan Poe, 19 July 1841: Washington, D.C. Copies M. P. Ewing's cryptogram. Mr. Ewing desires to test Poe's skill in deciphering.
Folder 1032: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to R. W. Griswold, 28 July 1841: Washington, D.C. Agrees to write some biographical sketches [for Poets of America?] Refers Griswold to Poe or Ingraham for the writer's own work. Support the international copyright law. Expresses unfavorable opinion of W. D. Gallagher; considers George D. Prentice "the first poet of the West."
Folder 1033: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Allan Poe, 3 August 1841: Washington, D.C. Biographical data sent at Poe's request.
Folder 1034: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Allan Poe, 30 August 1841: Washington, D.C. Describes the writer's efforts with the President [Tyler] and his sons to get Poe a government position. Sends a cryptograph.
Folder 1035: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Allan Poe, 22 September 1841: Washington, D.C. Comments on Poe's skill at cryptography and the success of Graham's Magazine. Would like Poe to arrange for the publication of the writer's song. Is disappointed at the resignation of Mr. [Thomas] Ewing [Secretary of the Treasury].
Folder 1036: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to R. W. Griswold, 23 September 1841: Washington, D.C. Has written for information about Dr. [John M.] Harney. Discusses [George D.] Prentice, [Micah P.] Flint, [James Handasyd] Perkins and Robert Tyler for inclusion in Griswold's book. Gives some biographical information about himself.
Folder 1037: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Allan Poe, 14 October 1841: Washington, D.C. Wants to submit a review of two speeches of President Tyler to Graham's Magazine. Suggests that Poe write a poetic drama in the vein of "Menfred" or "The Mask of Comus." News of [Jesse E.] Dow. Thinks Judge [Abel Parker] Upshur, the new Secretary of the Navy, might help Poe to secure an appointment. Asks if Judge Upshur or Judge [Nathaniel Beverley] Tucker is the author of The Partizan Leader.
Folder 1038: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Allan Poe, 6 November 1841: Washington, D.C. Recommends H[enry] M[arie] Brackenridge's biography of his father, Judge H[ugh] H[enry] Brackenridge, for publication in Graham's Magazine. If Graham's does not want it, he will offer it to some other periodical.
Folder 1039: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Allan Poe, 10 November 1841: Washington, D.C. Gives directions for the return of Judge [Henry M.] Brackenridge's manuscript, which will be sent to the [Southern Literary] Messenger. Regrets that Virginia Poe did not like the writer's song. Mentions Poe's high reputation in Washington.
Folder 1040: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Allan Poe, 23 November 1841: Washington, D.C. Wants copies of his song. Will obtain [G. D.] Prentice's autograph. Asks for advice about studying French. Regrets his inability to leave Washington in order to visit Poe in Philadelphia.
Folder 1041: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to R. W. Griswold, 15 December 1841: Washington, D.C. Has written friends for information about Dr. [John M.] Harney, [George D.] Prentice, and Amelia [Welby] but has had no replies. Encloses a poem "Retrospections" for publication in the Notion.
Folder 1042: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Allan Poe, 13 January 1842: Washington, D.C. Describes the writer's study of French. Says that [J. N.] Ingraham actually wrote the novel Lafitte, which he has been accused of stealing, since the writer was with him daily during the writing. Gives family news.
Folder 1043: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to R. W. Griswold, 17 January 1842: Washington, D.C. Sends biographical data on George D. Prentice and Amelia Welby [for Poets of America.] Suggests that Robert Tyler be included in Griswold's "poetic book." Calls attention to misprints in the writer's poem in the Notion. Sends two poems, both entitled "Impromptu."
Folder 1044: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Allan Poe, 26 Fenruary 1842: Washington, D.C. Suggests that Poe edit his own magazine. Comments on Dickens's works. Regrets the illness of Virginia Poe. Gives news of mutual friends.
Folder 1045: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Allan Poe, 21 May 1842: Washington, D.C. Describes his efforts to obtain Rebort Tyler's aid in finding a government position for Poe. Is hopeful of success. Has met Dickens briefly. Thinks Poe's review of Barnaby Rudge exhibits "great sagacity."
Folder 1046: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Allan Poe, 21 May 1843: Washington, D.C. Admits the impossibility of this writing a biography of Poe, due to lack of time and his partiality for Poe, and returns the latter's notes.
Folder 1047: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Robert Tyler, 1 February 1843: Washington, D.C. Presents Poe to Tyler.
Folder 1048: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Allan Poe, 27 March 1843: Washington, D.C. Laughs at [Jesse E.] Dow's letter to [J. C.] Clarke, [14 March 1843?]. Describes John Tyler's interest in Poe.
Folder 1049: Thomas, Frederick William, 1806-1866. A.L.S. to Edgar Allan Poe, 2 September 1844: Washington, D.C. Mentions the publication of the writer's poem, "The Beechen Tree," and an unfavorable review of it by Thomas Dunn English in the Aurora.