MS COLL/BENJAMIN, W.E.
MOST OF THIS COLLECTION IS SHELVED OFF-SITE
William Evarts Benjamin
Papers, 1817-1940
15 linear ft. (ca 4,000 items in 29 boxes and 1 flatbox)
Biography: William Evarts Benjamin (1859-1940) was a prominent publisher and collector.
Summary: The personal and business papers concern Benjamin's publishing and bookselling company, his numerous
benefactions, the disposal of his collections and many printed catalogues for his company, 1833-1940. The two major
correspondents are Charles Hnery Phelps and Edmund Clarence Stedman. Also included are the business and
financial records for the printing, binding and extensive promotion through a network of agents of Stedman's A Library
of American Literature from the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time; new ed. (New York, W.E. Benjamin, 1894).
There are also letters, manuscripts, documents and drawings of English literary figures collected by Benjamin; among
these are 6 letters by George Eliot; 47 letters and 6 manuscripts by John Ruskin; and 3 letters and 1 manuscript of
Joseph Mallord Turner, with 4 letters relating to the artist. In addition there are 10 drawings and watercolors by Ruskin.
1985 Addition: 37 letters and 1 manuscript were removed from Benjamin's copy of Robert Langton's The
Childhood and Youth of Charles Dickens and cataloged for this collection. One letter from Langton and 32 from others
were addressed to Charles Roach Smith, a well-known antiquary of London. Several letters concern numismatics
(including 2 from John Stuart, Earl of Darnley, 1 each from William Henry Ashe, Baron Heytesbury, and Chas. Spence).
Most of these letters relate to Charles Dickens: 3 letters from his son, Sir Henry Fielding Dickens, 6 from Henry Gardiner
Adams, of the Mechanics' Institute of Chatham and Rochester, 1 each from Frederick William Fairholt and Charles
Stewart Montgomerie Lockhart, manuscript notes by John Gough Nichols, a letter from John Brown Rowlands, one
each from W.J. Taylor and Joseph Cotton Wigram, Bishop of Rochester, 2 from Humphrey Wood of the Mechanics'
Institute, and of particular interest the two letters from Sampson Seaton, whose father was a friend of the father of the
famous novelist. Many of these letters were written at the time of Dickens' death from people living in the area of
Rochester and Chatham, his early childhood homes.
Finding Aids: Contents list, 8 pages
Restrictions on Access: Available for faculty, students, or researchers engaged in scholarly or publication projects.
Restrictions on Use: Permission to quote or publish must be obtained in writing from the Director of The Rare Book
and Manuscript Library.
Provenance: Gift of Beatrice Benjamin Cartwright & Henry Rogers Benjamin, 1943
Processing History: Processed by RBML staff; revised by BRC 11/74 and 11/81
Microfilm Information: Royal Cortisso & John Ruskin letters are on microfilm
Physical Location: Boxes 1-3 are on-site; boxes 4-29 are off-site.
RLIN ID: NYCR89-A65
W.E. BENJAMIN Page 2 of 8
ORGANIZATION OF THE PAPERS
PAGE:
I. CATALOGED CORRESPONDENCE
3
II. CATALOGUES
3
III. BUSINESS & PERSONAL PAPERS
3
IV. LIBRARY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE
3
V. SCRAPBOOKS
3
VI. PHOTOGRAPHS
3
VII. PRINTED MATERIALS
3
W.E. BENJAMIN Page 3 of 8
I. CATALOGED CORRESPONDENCE
BOX #
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Abbott, Lyman
Adams, Henry Gardiner
Benjamin, William Evarts
Burke, John Bernard
Byron, Anne Isabella Noël
Campbell, Thomas
Carrington, Katherine S. Batts
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor
Coles, Jonathan Ackerman
Cirtisso, Royal
Note: Above available on microfilm
Crockett, Samuel Rutherford
Cumberland, Richard
Darnley, John Stuart, 6th earl
Davis, Richard Harding
Dickens, Charles
Dickens, Dir Henry Fielding
Dix, Morgan
Dumas, Alexander, fils
Edgeworth, Maria
Eliot, George
Fairholt, Frederick William
Fawkes, Walter Ramsden
Gilbert, Thomas "Bishop of Shropshire"
Gilder, Jeannette L.
Goldwin, J. H.
Hale, Edward Everett
Hay, John
Heytesbury, William Henry Ashe, 2nd Baron
Homer, Winslow
Hubbard, Elbert
Hughes, Charles Evans
Ireland, Joseph N.
Jones, William Alfred
Kitton, Frederick George
Langton, Robert
Leigh, Oliver
Lockhart, Charles
Lockhart, Charles Stuart Montgomerie
Lubbock, Sir John, 1st Baron Avebury
Lupton, Thomas
Maas, Joseph
Mayer, Joseph
Mellon, Andrew W.
Mills, Ogden L.
Mitchell, Donald Grant
Moore, Thomas Sir
Nichols, John Gough
Overall, William Henry
Pearman, Augustus John
Phelps, Charles Henry
Purland, Theodosius
Rheade, Louis J.
Rockefeller, John D.
Rowlands, John Bowen
Ruskin, John
Note: Above available on microfilm
Seaton, Sampson
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley
W.E. BENJAMIN Page 4 of 8
BOX #
2
2
3
3
3
3
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3
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3
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Smith, Charles Roach
Spence, Chas.
Stedman, Edmund C.
Symons, Arthur
Taylor, W. J.
Turner, Joseph Mallord William
Vanderbilt, George W.
Walcott, Mackenzie Edward Charles
Wigram, Joseph Cotton, Bishop of Rochester
Wilson, Harriett
Wood, Humprey
Wright, Thomas
Miscellaneous
II. CATALOGUES
4
5
Duplicate File: Set No. 1
Duplicate File: Set No. 2
III. BUSINESS & PERSONAL PAPERS
6
American Antiquarian Society
Worcester, MA, 1927-1941
6
American Historical Association
1926/1927
6
The Book Lover
1888-1903
6
Bookplates
7
Eastern High School
Washington, DC, 1930
7
Engravings and illustrations
7
Government lists
7
Gutenberg Bible
1891-1929
7
Library of Congress
1926-1929
8
Library of Congress
1930-1935
8
Lyman Allyn Museum
New London, CT, 1935-1937
9
Murillo's Immaculate Conception
1926/1927
9
Murillo's Immaculate Conception - Pallavicini Catalogue
1927
W.E. BENJAMIN Page 5 of 8
BOX #
9
The New York Community Trust
1926-1931
9
The New York Historical Society
1937-1939
9
Photographs
9
Publishing business:
advertising
bills, receipts, etc.
James Mcdonald, Bookbinder
print catalogue
printed materials
stock lists
10
Rogers, H.H. - condolences re. his death
1909
10
S.S. "H.H. Rogers" - launching
1916
10
Speyer property dispute
1911-1913
10
Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation
1927-1930
10
Thatcher, John B.
The Continent of America
10
Union College
1890-1935
11
Union College
1936-1940
11
University of Virginia
1928-1930
11
George Washington
1889-1930
11
Washington family
1927-1930
11
Miscellaneous:
memoranda
notebook
clippings
pamphlet
title pages
IV. LIBRARY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE
12
Accounts
1884-1903
W.E. BENJAMIN Page 6 of 8
BOX #
12
Accounts
1903-1910
12
Accounts – royalties
12
Advantages of the L.A.L.
12
Advertisements:
full page
1/2 & 1/4 page
retailo, printed copy
written copy
12
Advertising
12
Advertising, sets exchanged for
13
Agents
6 folders
13
Agents - printed materials
13
Benjamin, Charles R. [General Agent]
13
Binding
13
Boston orders
13
Braunworth & Co. [Bookbinders]
3 folders
13
Circulars
13
Colonial literature
14
Commendations
10 folders
14
Correspondence – miscellaneous
14
Courses of Reading
3 folders
14
Hovendon, John
Relating to E.C. Stedman
14
Illustrations
15
Improvements in manufacturing
15
Jenkins & McCowan
Printing
15
Legal matters
15
Macdonald, James
Bookbinder
15
Portraits
W.E. BENJAMIN Page 7 of 8
BOX #
15
Printed materials
15
Prospectus, etc.
3 folders
15
Specimin pages
15
Stedman, Edmond Charles
3 folders
15
Webster & Co.
2 folders
15
Miscellaneous
V. SCRAPBOOKS
17
Scrapbook of clippings
1884-1891
1 volume
FLATBOX 28
Scrapbook
VI. PHOTOGRAPHS
FLATBOX 28
Large photographs
VII. PRINTED MATERIALS
For related materials on Library of American Literature see E.C. Stedman Paper
16
Books from W.E. Benjamin's library
18
The Collector
19
The Collector
20
The Collector
21
Catalogs 1-10
21
Catalogs 11-29
22
Catalogs 30-42
22
Catalogs 43-53
23
Catalogs 77-95
23
Catalogs 13-66
24
Catalogs 54-67
24
Catalogs 68-76
25
The Book Lover
26
The Book Lover
27
The Book Lover
W.E. BENJAMIN Page 8 of 8
BOX #
28
The Book Lover
29
The Book Lover