Frank Baker collection of Wesleyana and British Methodism, 1536-1996

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Summary

Creator:
Baker, Frank, 1910-1999
Abstract:
Frank Baker (1910-1999) was a faculty member at Duke University in history, an expert on Wesleyan Methodism, and a rare book and manuscripts collector. The Frank Baker Collection of Wesleyana and British Methodism, 1536-1996 and undated, comprises correspondence, writings, local histories, printed items, engravings, and many other manuscript materials that date from the earliest years of Methodism to its worldwide expansion up to the 20th century. The collection includes the correspondence of two of the most important founders of Methodism, John and Charles Wesley, as well as correspondence from members of the Wesley family. Collection also includes correspondence from many of the key figures in 18th and 19th century history of British Methodism: Joseph Benson, Jabez Bunting, Adam Clarke, Thomas Coke, James Everett, John Fletcher, Mary (Bosanquet) Fletcher, Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, Elizabeth (Ritchie) Mortimer, George Osborn, Hester Ann Rogers, Richard Tabraham, and Thomas Wride. Other materials include church records and registers, account books, autograph albums, broadsides (notices), circular letters, engravings, maps, sermons, scrapbooks, photographs, and memorabilia. Topics covered by the materials include the life and training of Methodist clergy; the religious life of women; biography and portraiture of Methodists; spirituality; Protestantism in art; and the debate between Arminianism and Calvinism in the early church. Organizational history in the collection covers several branches of the 18th and 19th century church, including Wesleyan Methodism, Primitive Methodism, missions, and missionary societies.
Extent:
50 Linear Feet (approximately 18,000 items)
Language:
Materials in English
Collection ID:
RL.00413

Background

Scope and content:

The Frank Baker Collection of Wesleyana and British Methodism, 1536-1996 and undated, comprises a vast range of original correspondence, writings, local histories, printed items, engravings, and many other manuscript materials that date from the earliest years of Methodism to its expansion throughout the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries. The collection includes the correspondence of two of the most important founders of Methodism, John and Charles Wesley, as well as correspondence from members of the Wesley family, including Samuel Wesley, Sr. (1662-1735), Sarah (Gwynne) Wesley (1726-1822) and the Gwynne family, and the children of Charles and Sarah Wesley: Charles Wesley, Junior (1757-1834), Sarah (Sally) Wesley (1759-1828), and Samuel Wesley (1766-1837).

Additionally, correspondence from many of the key figures in 18th and 19th century history of British Methodism greatly extends the collection's breadth of coverage. Among others, these groups of correspondence include Joseph Benson, Jabez Bunting, Adam Clarke, Thomas Coke, James Everett, John Fletcher, Mary (Bosanquet) Fletcher, Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, Elizabeth (Ritchie) Mortimer, George Osborn, Hester Ann Rogers, Richard Tabraham, and Thomas Wride.

The collection materials cover many topics, including: the life and training of clergy women correspondence and diaries; the religious life of women; biography; portraiture; spiritual topics; Protestantism as depicted in art; and the debate between Arminianism and Calvinism in the early church. Organizational history in the collection covers several branches of the 18th and 19th century church, including Wesleyan Methodism, Primitive Methodism, missions, and missionary societies.

Formats of materials include church records and registers, account books, autograph albums, broadsides (notices), circular letters, engravings, maps, sermons, scrapbooks, class tickets, photographs, photocopies of original manuscripts, memorabilia, and realia.

Acquisition information:
The materials in the Frank Baker Collection of Wesleyana and British Methodism were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as purchases and gifts from 1961-2007.
Processing information:

Processed by Andrew Cannon, Tanner Capps, Stephanie Chao, Allison Curseen, Kaley Deal, Beth DeBold, Deanna Koretsky, Paula Jeannet, Elisabeth Narkin, Chloe Rockow, Michael Shumate, October 2013

Accession(s) described in this finding aid: all accessions prior to 2008 were merged into one collection, described in this finding aid.

Many Wesley-related items were transferred to this collection from the Frank Baker Papers.

Print materials such as Baker's library of books and pamphlets were cataloged separately for the Rubenstein collections or for the Duke Libraries general collections.

Arrangement:

The collection is divided into ten series: Wesley Family, Correspondence, Methodist Class and Band Tickets, Printed Materials, Subject Files, Visual Materials, Writings and Addresses, Volumes, and the F. F. Bretherton Papers. Finally, the Small Collections Series describes twelve small related Methodist history manuscript collections cataloged and housed as separate collections.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Subjects

Click on terms below to find related finding aids on this site. For other related materials in the Duke University Libraries, search for these terms in the Catalog.

Subjects:
Arminianism -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century
Calvinistic Methodists -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century
Church records and registers -- England
Class meetings, Methodist
Clergy -- Correspondence
Methodism -- History
Methodist Church -- England -- History
Methodists -- Biography
Portraits, British
Protestantism in art
Sermons
Women -- Religious life
Women -- Diaries
Women -- England -- Correspondence
Format:
Account books
Autograph albums
Black-and-white photographs
Broadsides (notices)
Circular letters
Diaries
Engravings (prints)
Maps
Memorabilia
Realia
Scrapbooks
Names:
Primitive Methodist Church (Great Britain)
Methodist Church (Great Britain) -- Missions
Methodist Church -- England -- Clergy
England -- Pictorial works
England -- Maps -- Early works to 1800
Wesleyan Methodist Church -- History
Wesleyan Methodist Church -- West Indies, British
Wesleyan Methodist Church -- Missions -- Africa
Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society
Wesley family
Wesley, Charles, 1757-1834
Wesley, John, 1703-1791
Wesley, Charles, 1707-1788
Rogers, Hester Ann, 1756-1794
Tabraham, Richard, 1792-1878
Osborn, G. (George), 1808-1891
Mortimer, Elizabeth, 1754-1835
Newton, Robert, 1780-1854
Fletcher, Mary, 1739-1815
Huntingdon, Selina Hastings, Countess of, 1707-1791
Everett, James, 1784-1872
Fletcher, John, 1729-1785
Coke, Thomas, 1747-1814
Clarke, Adam, ca. 1762-1832
Bunting, Jabez, 1779-1858
Benson, Joseph, 1749-1821
Baker, Frank, 1910-1999
Wesley, Sarah, 1726-1822
Wesley, Samuel, 1662-1735
Wesley, Sarah, 1759-1828
Wride, Thomas, 1733-1807

Contents

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Restrictions:

Access note. Collection contains some originals in the collection that are restricted except for use under direct staff supervision. Patrons must use photocopies of originals. Contact Research Services for access.

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], Frank Baker Collection of Wesleyana and British Methodism, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.