Collection Summary
Charles N. Elliot
Collection 1873-1951
1873-1951
MSS76064
Elliot, Charles N. (Charles Nathan), 1873-
400 items
1 container
.4 linear feet
English
Collection material in English
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
Collector and researcher of Walt Whitman. Correspondence, drafts, printed matter, and miscellaneous items relating to Whitman material and scholarship. Includes a small collection of Whitman manuscripts.
Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
People
Beers, Alfred Bishop, 1845-1920--Correspondence.
Bucke, Richard Maurice, 1837-1902--Correspondence.
Deland, Margaret, 1857-1945--Correspondence.
Edwards, Ward Hampton, 1878- --Correspondence.
Elliot family.
Elliot, Charles N. (Charles Nathan), 1873-
Erskine, John, 1879-1951--Correspondence.
O'Connor, William Douglas, 1832-1889--Correspondence.
Saunders, Henry Scholey, 1864-1951--Correspondence.
Seaborn, Edwin, 1872-1951--Correspondence.
Sickles, Daniel Edgar, 1819-1914--Correspondence.
Sprague, Harriet Appleton--Correspondence.
Traubel, Anne Montgomerie, 1864-1954--Correspondence.
Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892.
Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892. Nay, tell me not to-day the published shame. 1873.
Subjects
American literature.
American poetry.
Poetry.
Poets, American.
Titles
Charles N. Elliot papers
Occupations
Collectors.
Researchers.
Provenance
The collection of Charles N. Elliot, collector and researcher of Walt Whitman, was given to the Library of Congress by Elliot in 1943 and 1946 and by Charles E. Feinberg in 1956.
Processing History
The collection of Charles N. Elliot was arranged and described in 1983. The finding aid describing the collection was revised in 2003.
Additional Guides
A description of the Elliot Collection appears in
Walt Whitman: A Catalog Based upon the Collections of the Library of Congress
(Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1955).
Copyright Status
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Charles N. Elliot is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
Access and Restrictions
The Charles N. Elliot Collection is open to research.
Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to
visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to
retrieve these items for research use.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Charles N. Elliot Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Scope and Content Note
The collection of Charles Nathan Elliot (b. 1873) spans the years 1873-1951 and contains correspondence, a small collection of Walt Whitman manuscripts, printed matter, and miscellaneous items. Elliot was one of a group of Whitman admirers whose efforts to promote the poet's work were directed toward collecting Whitman-related manuscripts and promoting the publication of scholarly articles and books about Whitman. Elliot's correspondence with Alfred Bishop Beers, Richard Maurice Bucke, Margaret Wade Campbell Deland, Ward Hampton Edwards, John Erskine, Henry Scholey Saunders, Edwin Seaborn, Daniel Edward Sickles, Harriet Appleton Sprague, and Anne Montgomerie Traubel commented on personal and family affairs, the state of Whitman research, and the collection and preservation of Whitman artifacts and manuscripts. Correspondence between Bucke and William Douglas O'Connor collected by Elliot discussed the publication of Bucke's book
Walt Whitman: A Study
(1883) and the aftermath of the suppression of the 1882 edition of
Leaves of Grass
by authorities in Boston, Massachusetts.
Whitman manuscripts contained in the collection include a holograph draft, proofs and offprints, and printed copies of his poetry and prose. Trial lines and draft of the poem “Nay, Tell Me Not To-day the Published Shame,” handwritten in pencil with revisions in pencil and ink, first published in the
Daily Graphic
(March 5, 1873) are also included.
Many of the items in the collection are identified in
Walt Whitman: A Catalog Based upon the Collections of the Library of Congress,
which contains an annotated bibliography listing Whitman items located within the collections of various divisions in the Library of Congress. Identification numbers tagged to specific entries in the catalog are copied on the folders containing those items in Elliot's collection. The catalog may also be consulted for more detailed descriptions of relevant material.
Arrangement of the Papers
This collection is arranged alphabetically by type of material or topic.
Catalog Record: [https://lccn.loc.gov/mm82076064]
Container List
Box
Contents
1
Correspondence
Alphabetical
Beers, Alfred Bishop, and Daniel Edward Sickles, 1912
Bucke, Richard Maurice, 1897-1901
Elliot, Charles N., 1897-1901
O'Connor, William Douglas, 1880-1888
(2 folders)
Deland, Margaret Wade Campbell, 1917, undated
Edwards, Ward Hampton, 1916, 1925
Erskine, John, 1942-1944
Saunders, Henry Scholey, 1912-1935, 1942-1951, undated
(2 folders)
Seaborn, Edwin, 1943
Sprague, Harriet Appleton, 1942-1948
Traubel, Anne Montgomerie, 1943
Chronological, 1898-1903, 1911-1916, 1923, 1944-1949, undated
Miscellany, 1897, 1913-1917, 1930, 1937, 1947
Newspaper clippings, 1916, 1939-1944, 1950
Printed matter, 1900, 1916, 1943, undated
Whitman, Walt
Poetry
"As the Greek's Signal Flame," proof or offprint, 1887
"Nay, Tell Me Not To-day the Published Shame," draft, 1873
"Old Chants," proof or offprint, undated
"The Singer in the Prison," proof or offprint, undated
"Thou Mother with Thy Equal Brood," broadside, 1918
"You Lingering Sparse Leaves of Me," proof or offprint, undated
Prose, “A Memorandum at a Venture,”
North American Review
, 1882