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/mm73040972
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 Ainsworth Rand Spofford, librarian of Congress, were given by Barbara Spofford Morgan in 1970. Other items were received through gift, transfer, and purchase between 1923 and 1994.
The Spofford Papers were processed in 1972. Additional material was incorporated into the collection and the finding aid was revised in 1984 and 1987. An item was added in 2014 and the finding aid was further revised.
A card index to Spofford’s correspondence, arranged by name of correspondent, is available in the Manuscript Reading Room.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Ainsworth Rand Spofford is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of Ainsworth Rand Spofford 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.
A microfilm edition of part of these papers is available on two reels. Consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase or interlibrary loan. To promote preservation of the originals, researchers are required to consult the microfilm edition as available.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, Ainsworth Rand Spofford Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of Ainsworth Rand Spofford (1825-1908) span the period 1819 to 1970, with the bulk of the material dating from 1860 to 1899. The papers consist chiefly of correspondence during the years Spofford was librarian of Congress, and include items of personal and family correspondence. Correspondents include Susan B. Anthony, George Bancroft, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, William T. Sherman, Mark Twain, and Walt Whitman.
The remainder of the Spofford Papers consists of biographical material, some of Spofford's published writings, a bibliography of his writings, one notebook containing listings of sermons and discourses and another listing histories of counties and towns in the United States, a speech and an essay, an address by James P. Adams, autographs, newspaper clippings, photographs, and memorabilia. Also included is a letter of appointment as librarian of Congress signed by Abraham Lincoln and William Henry Seward in 1864.
This collection is arranged by type of material.
Available on microfilm. Shelf no. 19,763