Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm2015086029
Collection material in English
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.
The papers of Francis Watts Lee, photographer and printer, were transferred to the Manuscript Division from the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress in 2015.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Francis Watts Lee is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of Francis Watts Lee are 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.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Francis Watts Lee Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of Francis Watts Lee (1867-1945) span the years 1845-1951, with the bulk of the material dated between 1880 and 1943. The collection consists of correspondence, diaries, clippings, addresses, genealogical information, poems, printed matter, and liturgical books.
Francis Watts Lee was an American printer and photographer raised and educated in
Boston, Massachusetts. Lee worked for forty-three years at the Boston Public Library
until his retirement in 1937 as chief of the printing department. As a printer, Lee’s
most notable work was a cultural magazine entitled
Throughout the 1890s until his withdrawal from photography in 1902, he was very active
in producing photography as art. His work was reproduced in outlets like
Although Lee achieved moderate fame through his photographic work, the papers included
within this collection are primarily personal in nature, and relate to Lee’s family. The
sole item in the collection related to Lee’s professional life is a bound volume of
clippings, filled with examples of Lee’s writings to newspapers and magazines of the
time. There is correspondence written by or addressed to Lee, two of his children, Lucy
Lee Bridges and Francis Lincoln Lee, his second wife, Marion Lewis Lee, and Marion’s
sister, Christine L. Lewis. The letters mostly concern family matters, school, and
personal business. In addition to the correspondence, there are several bound volumes of
a personal nature. These include a diary of Lee’s maternal grandfather Francis Osborne
Watts, a bound volume of letters written by Francis Osbourne Watts, a notebook of
collected quotes, and a pocket diary. Additionally, there are several volumes of a
liturgical nature, including personal copies of
This collection is arranged alphabetically by type of material.