Collections : [Rare Book & Manuscript Library]

Correspondence, manuscripts, documents, photographs, and printed materials of and relating to Woodberry. Included are letters from Woodberry to Melville H. Cane, John Erskine, John S. Harrison, Robert Underwood Johnson, and Joel E. Spingarn. There are 330 letters from Woodberry to Harry Harkness Flagler telling of Woodberry's daily life in Beverly, Mass. and of his travels in Europe and Africa. Additional correspondence, notes, and printed materials relate to Woodberry's life, writings, teaching career, retirement, the controversy in 1902 that led to his resignation from the Columbia University faculty in 1904, the bequest of his books to Harvard University and Phillips Exeter Academy, the Poetry Room dedicated in his honor at Harvard University, an exhibit of Woodberriana at the New York Public Library and the Woodberry Society. There are more than fifty manuscripts of his essays and poems. Among the printed materials are his poems, essays, and book reviews, most of which have been cut from THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY. Other printed materials are about Woodberry, reviews of his books, obituaries, memorials, and books, many inscribed.

A collection of diaries and journals relating to Robinson's years at the University of Freiburg, where he took his doctorate, and to his subsequent European travels before his return to America. Also, several volumes bearing Robinson's marginal notes.

This collection is primarily concerned with Prof. James Renwick and his professional correspondence and papers, both as Professor of Natural Philosophy (Physics) at Columbia College and as a leading engineer. Many certificates of membership in honorary societies are included. There are letters from Washington Irving (1783-1859) to Prof. Renwick and to his mother, Jane Jeffrey Renwick, pertaining to contemporary events and Irving's own activities. The letters to Mrs. Renwick are about the travels and experiences of Irving and Renwick abroad. The collection also covers the affairs of the Prof. Renwick's grandfather, including documents concerning his land grants in New York State, and those of James Armstrong Renwick, including his valedictory address at Columbia College in 1876 and his class reunion in 1916. There are many legal documents, letters, and manuscripts of various members of the Renwick and Brevoort families; among these are Prof. Renwick's notes on his family genealogy and a memoir of Jane Jeffrey Renwick. Correspondents include Clement Clarke Moore, John A. Dix, Martin Van Buren, Secretary of State John Forsyth, and Secretary of the Navy James K. Paulding. There is one letter from Sir Edward Sabine (1788-1883), President of the Royal Society, giving his views on the American Civil War.