Scope and Contents
The Austin Dobson Collection contains letters by and to Dobson; autograph manuscripts, typescripts and proofs of works by Dobson, including poems, essays, and biographical sketches; notes and notebooks; and manuscript and printed material related to Dobson's research concerning William Hogarth.
Dates
- 1866 - 1930
- Majority of material found within 1880 - 1910
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The Austin Dobson Collection 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
Series I, Herman W. Liebert Collection of Austin Dobson, is the gift and bequest of Herman W. Liebert, 1963-1994. Series II, Other Austin Dobson Papers, contains discrete items acquired by the library by purchase and gift from various sources, 1960-1995. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Arrangement
Series I. Herman W. Liebert Collection of Austin Dobson, 1866-1930. Series II. Other Austin Dobson Papers, 1875-1920.
Extent
9.88 Linear Feet (25 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Overview
The Austin Dobson collection contains letters by and to Dobson; autograph manuscripts, typescripts and proofs of works by Dobson, including poems, essays, and biographical sketches; notes and notebooks; and manuscript and printed material related to Dobson's research concerning William Hogarth. Boxes 1-4 hold letters by and to Dobson. These consist almost entirely of letters by Dobson, and recipients include: C. B. Foote; H. Buxton Freeman; Edmund Gosse; William Heinemann; E. V. Lucas; Sir Bernard Partridge; the firm of Kegan Paul; George Saintsbury; and R. F. Sketchley. Boxes 5-9 contain manuscripts of many of Dobson's poems, both in bound albums and as individual manuscripts. His occasional prose pieces are also well documented; Boxes 10-14 contain manuscripts, typescripts and proofs of a variety of essays, introductions, biographical sketches, and other prose works. Boxes 15-19 hold research materials, including notes and notebooks on various historical figures and events, and material Dobson collected while researching his biography of William Hogarth. Box 19 (Oversize) contains oversize manuscript material. Box 20 consists of individual accessions relating to Austin Dobson.
Austin Dobson, 1840-1921
Austin Dobson, British poet and author, was born in 1840. He was educated at Beaumaris School, Anglesey; Coventry; and the Gymnase in Strasbourg. He began to work for the Board of Trade in 1856 and rose to the rank of Principal Clerk in the Harbour Department, retiring in 1901. He married Frances Mary Beardmore in 1868, and the couple had five sons and five daughters.
Beginning in 1864, Dobson began to publish verse in the magazine St. Paul's, which was edited by Anthony Trollope. His first volume of poetry, Vignettes in Rhyme, was published in 1873, followed by The Prodigals (1876) and the very popular Old-World Idylls (1883) and At the Sign of the Lyre (1885). Dobson was one of the leaders in the movement to adapt French metrical forms to English, and his poems include rondeaus, rondels, villanelles, and triolets. He was equally well known for his poems in English eighteenth-century styles, including The Ballad of Beau Brocade and the Story of Rosina.
After 1885, Dobson's major publications were in prose, and include biographies of eighteenth-century literary and historical figures, including William Hogarth, Richard Steele, Samuel Richardson, and Fanny Burney, as well as critical and occasional essays on a variety of topics, often related to the eighteenth century as well. He died at home at Ealing, London on September 2, 1921, survived by his wife and all of their children.
Beginning in 1864, Dobson began to publish verse in the magazine St. Paul's, which was edited by Anthony Trollope. His first volume of poetry, Vignettes in Rhyme, was published in 1873, followed by The Prodigals (1876) and the very popular Old-World Idylls (1883) and At the Sign of the Lyre (1885). Dobson was one of the leaders in the movement to adapt French metrical forms to English, and his poems include rondeaus, rondels, villanelles, and triolets. He was equally well known for his poems in English eighteenth-century styles, including The Ballad of Beau Brocade and the Story of Rosina.
After 1885, Dobson's major publications were in prose, and include biographies of eighteenth-century literary and historical figures, including William Hogarth, Richard Steele, Samuel Richardson, and Fanny Burney, as well as critical and occasional essays on a variety of topics, often related to the eighteenth century as well. He died at home at Ealing, London on September 2, 1921, survived by his wife and all of their children.
Processing Information
The collection is comprised of material formerly classed as: MS Vault Shelves Dobson; Uncat MS Vault 769; Uncat MS Vault 800; Uncat MSS 601; Uncat MS Vault File. Series I, Herman W. Liebert Collection of Austin Dobson, received preliminary processing and rehousing in 2003.
Information included in the Description of Papers note and Collection Contents section is drawn from information supplied with the collection, inlcuding dealer descriptions and donor lists, and compiled from some individual catalog cards. Folder titles appearing in the contents list below are often based on those provided by the creator or during the 2003 preliminary processing. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. Otherwise, folder titles are supplied by staff during basic processing.
Information included in the Description of Papers note and Collection Contents section is drawn from information supplied with the collection, inlcuding dealer descriptions and donor lists, and compiled from some individual catalog cards. Folder titles appearing in the contents list below are often based on those provided by the creator or during the 2003 preliminary processing. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. Otherwise, folder titles are supplied by staff during basic processing.
- Authors -- Great Britain -- 19th century
- Authors, English -- 19th century
- Authors, English -- 19th century -- Archives
- Dobson, Austin, 1840-1921
- English literature -- 19th century
- English poetry -- 19th century
- English prose literature -- 19th century
- Foote, C. B.
- Forman, H. Buxton (Harry Buxton), 1842-1917
- Gosse, Edmund, 1849-1928
- Heinemann, William, 1863-1920
- Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co
- Lucas, E. V. (Edward Verrall), 1868-1938
- Partridge, Bernard, 1861-1945
- Saintsbury, George, 1845-1933
- Sketchley, Richard Forster, 1826-1911
- Title
- Guide to the Austin Dobson Collection
- Author
- by Beinecke Staff
- Date
- November 2012
- 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.