Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. 2.6 linear ft. (ca. 80 items)

Summary

1. The Berg Collection's manuscript holdings by Henry David Thoreau include approximately thirty-five manuscripts and manuscript fragments, journals and a commonplace book. In addition, there are thirty-two letters to numerous recipients as well as in-coming pieces from over fifty correspondents. Highlights of the collection include an important portion of the "Ktaadn" section of The Maine Woods; "Nature and Bird Notes," a journal kept by Henry, Johnand Sophia Thoreau with leaves, grass and wild flowers laid in; and Thoreau's famous letter to his brother addressed to Sachem Hopeful of Hopewell and signed Tahatawan. The Berg also has a daguerreotypeof Thoreau ("my friends think [it] is pretty good though better looking than I"), a pencil made by him (his father's company manufactured them), and an original pencil map of Walden Pond.

Subject

1. Thoreau, Henry David
2. Transcendentalism (New England)
3. Nature study
4. Correspondence, personal
5. Diaries
6. Manuscripts

Genre/Form

1. Diaries.
2. Correspondence, personal.
3. Manuscripts.

Call number

1. Berg Coll MSS Thoreau

Access (note)

1. Restricted access;

Indexed in (note)

1. Manuscripts included in Howarth, William. The Literary Manuscripts of Henry David Thoreau. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 1974. Guide to the Papers references Howarth numbers.
2. Thoreau materials are described in the published version of the Colleciton's catalog, the Dictionary Catalog of the Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1969, 5 vols. Plus 2 supplements published in 1975 and 1983. See Vol 4, pp 231-235.

Source (note)

1. Various

Indexes/finding aids (note)

1. Guide to the Henry David Thoreau Papers is available in repository and on internet.

Provenance (note)

1. This is a synthetic collection created from a number of sources. Most of the manuscripts and letters arrived in the Berg Collection in 1941 when the W. T. H. Howe and Owen D. Young collections were acquired. Most of Howe's collection appears to have been bought at the Wakeman (1924) and Bixby (1931) sales, as well as from Houghton Mifflin (1927). A significant acquisition was also made by the Berg when Warren H. Colson's collection was sold in the 1958.

Publications (note)

1. published in: Dean, Bradley P. Faith in a seed: The dispersion of seeds and other late natural history writings by Henry D. Thoreau. Washington DC and Covelo, CA: Island Press/Shearwater Books, 1993.
2. published in: Dean, Bradley P. Wild fruits by Henry David Thoreau. New York: Norton, 2000

Processing action (note)

1. Cataloged

Author

1. Thoreau, Henry David, 1817-1862.

Title

1. Henry David Thoreau Papers, 1837-1917 bulk (1837-1860).

Indexed in:

1. Manuscripts included in Howarth, William. The Literary Manuscripts of Henry David Thoreau. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 1974. Guide to the Papers references Howarth numbers.
2. Thoreau materials are described in the published version of the Colleciton's catalog, the Dictionary Catalog of the Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1969, 5 vols. Plus 2 supplements published in 1975 and 1983. See Vol 4, pp 231-235.

Restricted access

1. Restricted access; Berg Collection; Permit must be requested at the division indicated.

Provenance

1. This is a synthetic collection created from a number of sources. Most of the manuscripts and letters arrived in the Berg Collection in 1941 when the W. T. H. Howe and Owen D. Young collections were acquired. Most of Howe's collection appears to have been bought at the Wakeman (1924) and Bixby (1931) sales, as well as from Houghton Mifflin (1927). A significant acquisition was also made by the Berg when Warren H. Colson's collection was sold in the 1958.

Publications

1. Manuscript published in: Dean, Bradley P. Faith in a seed: The dispersion of seeds and other late natural history writings by Henry D. Thoreau. Washington DC and Covelo, CA: Island Press/Shearwater Books, 1993.
2. Notes on Fruits manuscript published in: Dean, Bradley P. Wild fruits by Henry David Thoreau. New York: Norton, 2000

Indexes

1. Guide to the Henry David Thoreau Papers is available in repository and on internet.

Processing action

1. Cataloged 20020409

Source

1. BRG
2. 1.1\a Various Various ca. 80 items

Connect to:

1. NYPL Digital Collections
2. Request access to this item in the Berg Collection
3. Finding Aid

Research call number

1. Berg Coll MSS Thoreau