Charles Roberts Anderson papers, 1806-1993 and undated

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Summary

Creator:
Anderson, Charles Roberts, 1902-1999
Abstract:
Author and professor of American literature at Duke University and Johns Hopkins University. The Charles Roberts Anderson Papers span the dates 1806-1993 and document his active career as professor of American literature at Duke University and Johns Hopkins University. Included are research materials on the intellectual life of Charleston, S.C., and on American literary figures such as Paul Hamilton Hayne, Emily Dickinson, Henry James, Sidney Lanier (to whom Anderson was related), Herman Melville, Henry David Thoreau, and others. Additional material includes correspondence and files on Anderson's publications; lectures and files related to teaching; travel diaries and keepsakes; and other papers related to his family history and academic career. Copies of correspondence and other documents by Anderson's research subjects, particularly Hayne, detail elements of life in the South in the nineteenth century. In addition, material in this collection chronicles the academic life of Anderson and provides insight into the state of literary scholarship and publishing in the mid-twentieth century. Early dates usually reflect the dates of the content of original material photocopied by Anderson in the course of his research. Acquired as part of the Jay B. Hubbell Center for American Literary Historiography.
Extent:
15.9 Linear Feet
Approximately 10,200 Items
Language:
Material in English
Collection ID:
RL.00040

Background

Scope and content:

The Charles Roberts Anderson Papers span the dates 1806-1993 and document the active literary career of Anderson, who was professor of American literature at Duke University and Johns Hopkins University and a reknowned international lecturer. Included are research materials on Paul Hamilton Hayne and other Southern literary figures. Also contains writings and research files on the subjects of Anderson's books and edited volumes, especially Emily Dickinson, Henry James, Sidney Lanier (to whom Anderson was related), Herman Melville, Henry David Thoreau, and other American literary figures, including Walt Whitman, William Faulkner, and Mark Twain. Additional material includes files on his research and publications on the intellectual life of Charleston, S.C.; correspondence and files on other publications; lectures and files related to teaching, including two audiotapes of Anderson's lectures on Dickinson; travel journals, keepsakes, and two films on Charleston, S.C. and Stratford, England; and other papers related to the Anderson family history and his academic career. Copies of correspondence and other documents by Anderson's research subjects, particularly Hayne, detail social conditions and life in the South in the nineteenth century. In addition, material in this collection chronicles the academic life of Anderson and provides insights into the state of American literary scholarship and publishing in the mid-twentieth century. Early dates usually reflect original material photocopied by Anderson in the course of his research. Acquired as part of the Jay B. Hubbell Center for American Literary Historiography.

Biographical / historical:
Chronology
Date Event
1902
Charles Roberts Anderson born in Macon, Georgia
1930
Joined faculty of the English Department at Duke University
1936
Received doctorate from Columbia University; thesis was on Herman Melville's naval career
1939
Published Melville in the South Seas
1941
Appointed to faculty of Johns Hopkins University, in part to serve as general editor of the centennial edition of the collected works of Sydney Lanier, published in 1946
1949-1970s
Became sought-after as an international lecturer on American literature, traveling to Heidelberg University (1949), the University of Rome (1952-1953), Japan (1954), and the University of Torino (1960); during the 1960s and 1970s the U.S. Department of State engaged him for a lecture tour of Japan, Southeast Asia, the Balkans, and other countries
1960
Published Emily Dickinson's Poetry: Stairway of Surprise, which received the Christian Gauss Book Award from Phi Beta Kappa in 1962
1965
Edited the two-volume anthology, American Literary Masters
1968
Publication of The Magic Circle of Walden
1976
Memorial to Henry James unveiled at Westminster Abbey
1977
Published Person, Place, and Thing in Henry James's Novels, for which he won a second Christian Gauss award
1999
Died in Charleston, S.C.
Acquisition information:
The Charles Roberts Anderson Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as gifts in December 1984, January 1986, and May 2000.
Processing information:

Processed by Christian Ferney, April 2009

Encoded by Christian Ferney, April 2009

Accessions from 1985, 1986, and 2000-0261 were merged into one collection, described in this finding aid.

Arrangement:

Arranged into the following series: Henry James Memorial Series; Personal Files; Teaching; Travel; Writings and Research; and Oversize Material.

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

In addition, original audiovisual materials are closed to patron use. Technical Services staff need to produce use copies before contents can be accessed.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. The library may require up to 48 hours to retrieve these materials for research use.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

[Original audiovisual materials are closed to use. Viewing or listening copies must be made before contents can be accessed.]

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Charles Roberts Anderson Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University