Scope and Contents
The Donald Grant Mitchell papers contain original correspondence and manuscripts by the prominent nineteenth-century New Haven area author. Correspondents include Henry Ward Beecher, Henry Augustin Beers, George Washington Cable, William Maxwell Evarts, Fitz-Greene Halleck, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Thomas Raynesford Lounsbury, Hamilton Wright Mabie, Noah Porter, Theodore Roosevelt, Charles Scribner, Edmund Clarence Stedman, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and others. Writings include drafts for published and unpublished work and journals, including substantive drafts for Fresh Gleanings (1847), American Lands and Letters (1897-1899), English Lands, Letters and Kings (1889-1890), and Wet Days at Edgewood (1865), as well as an unpublished "History of Venice." Other materials include biographical and bibliographical material, financial and legal records, photographs, and printed ephemera.
Dates
- 1787-1936
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The Donald Grant Mitchell Papers is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Acquired through various gifts and purchases from 1938 to 1974. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Arrangement
Arranged according to Za Mitchell numbers in card catalog.
Extent
7.26 Linear Feet (18 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Abstract
The Donald Grant Mitchell papers contain original correspondence and manuscripts by the prominent nineteenth-century New Haven-area author. Correspondents include Henry Ward Beecher, Henry Augustin Beers, George Washington Cable, William Maxwell Evarts, Fitz-Greene Halleck, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Thomas Raynesford Lounsbury, Hamilton Wright Mabie, Noah Porter, Theodore Roosevelt, Charles Scribner, Edmund Clarence Stedman, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and others. Writings include drafts for published and unpublished work and journals, including substantive drafts for Fresh Gleanings (1847), American Lands and Letters (1897-1899), English Lands, Letters and Kings (1889-1890), and Wet Days at Edgewood (1865), as well as an unpublished "History of Venice." Other materials include biographical and bibliographical material, financial and legal records, photographs, and printed ephemera.
Donald Grant Mitchell (1822-1908)
Donald Grant Mitchell, essayist and novelist, was born in Norwich, Connecticut, graduated from Yale College in 1841 and, after serving abroad briefly as U.S. consul in Venice, Italy, from 1853 to 1854, settled near New Haven, Connecticut. Mitchell wrote literary criticism, travel literature, and volumes of essays on rural themes, including Reveries of a Bachelor (1850), My Farm of Edgewood: A Country Book (1863), and Rural Studies (1867). Other works include the novel Doctor Johns (1866), About Old Story Tellers (1878), and American Lands and Letters (1897–1899).
Processing Information
The collection received preliminary processing at an unknown date. During further processing in 2011, the material was listed below in the order in which it was arranged and described in the card catalog (Za Mitchell 1, Za Mitchell 2, etc.), with broad groupings for correspondence, writings, and other papers.
Formerly classed as Za Mitchell and Za M692 +S1.
- American literature -- 19th century
- Authors -- United States -- 19th century
- Authors, American -- 19th century -- Archives
- Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887
- Beers, Henry A. (Henry Augustin), 1847-1926
- Cable, George Washington, 1844-1925
- Evarts, William Maxwell, 1818-1901
- Halleck, Fitz-Greene, 1790-1867
- Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1809-1894
- Lounsbury, Thomas R., 1838-1915
- Mabie, Hamilton Wright, 1846-1916
- Mitchell, Donald Grant, 1822-1908
- Photographic prints
- Porter, Noah, 1811-1892
- Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
- Scribner, Charles, 1821-1871
- Stedman, Edmund Clarence, 1833-1908
- Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896
- Title
- Guide to the Donald Grant Mitchell Papers
- Author
- by Michael Rush and Aubrey Novak
- Date
- August 2011
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.