John Esten Cooke papers, 1840-1941 and undated

Using These Materials Teaser

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
More about accessing and using these materials...

Summary

Creator:
Cooke, John Esten, 1830-1886
Abstract:
John Esten Cooke (1830-1886) was a novelist, historian, lawyer, and Confederate Army Officer, of Millwood (Clarke Co.), Va. Professional and personal correspondence and literary notes of John Esten Cooke and of his brother, Philip Pendleton Cook, poet and storyteller. The John E. Cooke papers include letters from boyhood friends, Civil War letters, business letters from publishers, critical letters from literary friends during the 1870s and 1880s, and notebooks of the war period. Includes manuscript copies of Cooke's Surry of Eagle's Nest, A legend of Turkey Buzzard Hollow, and On the road to despotism. The Philip P. Cooke papers include letters to his father, of interest in themselves as literary productions. Correspondents in the collection include W.H. Appleton, George W. Bagby, Alexander R. Boteler, W.H. Browne, O.B. Burie, M.B.T. Clark, W. De Hass, M. Schele De Vere, H.K. Douglas, E.A. Duyckinck, G.C. Eggleston, William Evelyn, Wade Hampton, J.W. Harper, H.B. Hirst, J.B. Jones, J.P. Kennedy, C.C. Lee, W.H. Lee, B.W. Leigh, A.H. Sands, W.G. Simms, David Strother, and Beverly Tucker.
Extent:
0.75 Linear Feet (2 boxes)
Approx. 296 Items
Language:
Material in English
Collection ID:
RL.00257

Background

Scope and content:

Professional and personal correspondence and literary notes of novelist and Civil War Confederate officer John Esten Cooke and of his brother, Philip Pendleton Cook (1816-1850), poet and storyteller. The John E. Cooke papers primarily consist of business letters from publishers and critical letters from literary friends during the 1870s and 1880s, but also include letters from boyhood friends, a few Civil War letters. There are also diaries from the war period, and manuscript copies of Cooke's novel about Stonewall Jackson, Surry of Eagle's Nest, A Legend of Turkey Buzzard Hollow, and article "On the Road to Despotism." The Philip P. Cooke papers include letters to his father, of interest in themselves as literary productions; he was considered to be equally talented if not more so than his father.

Civil War era items include a few letters written to Cooke, indicating his state of illness and discouragement during the war and his lack of communication with family; and Cooke's four manuscript diaries. The diaries contain references throughout to battles around Richmond, Cold Harbour, Chancellorsville, J.E.B. Stuart, Robert E. Lee, Gen. John R. Cooke, Stonewall Jackson (especially his death in 1863), Gen. William N. Pendleton, the re-election of Lincoln, camp life, and the social life of Stuart's staff. They also contain Cooke's literary jottings and references to literary figures such as Victor Hugo. A copy of the 1941 edition of the diaries is included in the collection.

Correspondents in the collection include W.H. Appleton, George W. Bagby, Alexander R. Boteler, W.H. Browne, O.B. Burie, M.B.T. Clark, W. De Hass, M. Schele De Vere, H.K. Douglas, E.A. Duyckinck, G.C. Eggleston, William Evelyn, Wade Hampton, J.W. Harper, H.B. Hirst, J.B. Jones, J.P. Kennedy, C.C. Lee, W.H. Lee, B.W. Leigh, A.H. Sands, W.G. Simms, David Strother, and Beverly Tucker.

Biographical / historical:

John Esten Cooke (1830-1886) was a novelist and farmer born in Winchester Virginia, one of 13 children, to John Rogers Cooke and Maria Pendleton Cooke. His literary career began in the 1840s, and be quickly became a successful and prolific novelist, journalist, poet, and short story writer. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1851, and then served the Confederate Army as a staff officer for J.E.B. Stuart during most of the war (Cooke was first cousin of Gen. Stuart's wife, Flora Cooke Stuart). He also served under Brig. Gen. Pendleton after Stuart's death in 1864, amd was promoted to major by the end of the war. He eventually published more than 30 novels and many articles and poems. He is most well-known for his biographies of J.E.B. Stuart and Stonewall Jackson, as well as his many historical novels set in Virginia. His Civil War diaries were published in 1941 in the Journal of Southern History by Jay B. Hubbell of Duke University.

Acquisition information:
The John Esten Cooke Papers were acquired by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library from 1935-1974.
Processing information:

Processed by Rubenstein Library staff, July 2011

Encoded by Paula Jeannet and Matthew Warren, April 2013

Accession(s) described in this finding aid: 35-635, 35-686, 36-744, 48-216, 48-783, 1970, 1974

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.

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.

Before you visit:
Please consult our up-to-date information for visitors page, as our services and guidelines periodically change.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], John Esten Cooke Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Permalink:
https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m1w31r