Victor Oscar Freeburg papers

The Victor Oscar Freeburg papers consist of short writings, notes, memorabilia, and other papers. There is a small amount of correspondence, which falls into three groups: four letters of 1915 congratulating Freeburg on his book, Disguise Plots in Elizabethan Drama; three letters of 1921 concerning Freeburg's unrealized plans for a round-the-world cruise for writers and artists (a diary and memorabilia relating to this planned cruise are also included in the collection); and a longer sequence of letters with Freeburg's replies, 1938-1949, concerning his research on the Colonial painter Gustavus Hesselius (1682-1755). Among Freeburg's writings is an article on Hesselius, accompanied by research notes, an exhibition catalogue and photographs of Hesselius's works, and a copy of Hesselius's will.

Several other of Freeburg's writings concern ciphers and codes. Related to these are nine glass lantern slides showing pictures and tables of ciphers from the Renaissance through the nineteenth century. These slides are in box 3. Also among the writings is the play "Sunset," produced at Yale in 1908 and acted in by Sinclair Lewis. The text is accompanied by memorabilia; other items related to the play are included in a scrapbook which covers the years 1905-1913. The contents of the scrapbook cover Freeburg's years at Yale, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the College of the City of New York, as well as his early publications and public speaking engagements.

The remaining items in the collection are a logbook from the Torpedo Training School which Freeburg attended during his service in World War I containing notes and pencil drawings of machinery; and notes and notebooks on such varied subjects as sociology, Swedish poetry, and geographical allusions in English poetry.

These papers were donated to Yale University in 1953 by Mrs. Victor Oscar Freeburg.