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These files have been compiled by the Rare Book and Manuscript Library from its origin in 1930 through the present day. The material derives largely from gifts, and the occasional purchase; much of the subject file in particular is made of ephemera included in the American Type Founders, Co. Library, purchased in 1942. Prospectuses and information sent by fine presses and book artists are added to the relevant files in an ongoing fashion. The files cover subjects from the beginning of printing to the current day.

Items written by or relating to the American poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892) as collected by Williams. There are three autograph letters signed from Whitman to Williams, 1884, 1887, n.d., regarding contributions by the poet to the PHILADELPHIA PRESS, as well as one postal card dated 1890. Also, two proofs of poems with corrections in Whitman's hand and four envelopes; a broadside containing lines from Whitman's poetry, five pages of manuscript notes on remarks made by Whitman on some occasion, two letters, one manuscript receipt, and three printed items concerned with a speech by Whitman, a testimonial, the choice of a speaker for his funeral, and the proposal to purchase the house in which he died, for a memorial. There are two prospectuses for books about the poet, and two placards advertising his books.

One letter from Walt Whitman to Alfred Lord Tennyson and three manuscripts by Whitman, one of which is a photostatic copy, several pieces of memorabilia and printed material by and about Whitman. The printed material includes newspaper clippings, pamphlets, periodical articles, illustrations, portraits of Whitman and publications of the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association

Copies of Rossetti's letters to Mrs. Anne Gilchrist and her son, Herbert, regarding Walt Whitman and the Whitman Testimonial Fund.

Correspondence, manuscripts, documents, memorabilia, pictures, portraits, and printed material. Included are about 800 letters from outstanding literary figures of Mr. Conway's lifetime, manuscripts of his sermons, lectures and other writings and photostats of Conway material in Dickinson College Library. Among the cataloged correspondents are: Thomas Carlyle, S.L. Clemens, Arthur Conan Doyle, R.W. Emerson, O.W. Holmes, and Walt Whitman

A collection of letters and manuscripts of English and American authors, including one item from each of the following: Pearl S. Buck, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Thomas De Quincey, Thomas Frognall Dibden, Charles Dickens, William Ewart Gladstone, Edmund Gosse, Hester Thackeray Ritchie Fuller, Rockwell Kent, Charles Kingsley, Edward George Bulwer Lytton, John Masefield, Clinton Scollard, William Wordsworth and Walt Whitman. In addition, there are 8 letters from Samuel Rogers (1763-1855) to Mr. and Mrs. Horace Twiss (Annie Sterky Greenwood Twiss), photographs of Alan and Margaret Kempner and miscellaneous Kempner items.

Correspondence, manuscript, and drawings relating to English and American literature of the 19th and early 20th centuries collected by Solton (1896-1961) and Julia (-1984) Engel. Ten letters and four manuscripts of poems by Rudyard Kipling form the largest unit within the collection. Prominent among the other items are the manuscript of Robert Louis Stevenson's "Mock Trial" and two Walt Whitman letters, a copy of R. W. Emerson's famous "Leaves of Grass" letter in Whitman's hand and Whitman's letter to Conway regarding the Emerson letter. Also included is a letter from James Fenimore Cooper to Mary Rutherfurd Clarkson Jay, wife of Peter Augustus Jay. Thirty-one of the drawings in the collection are by William Wallace Denslow and John Rae Neill and represent illustrations done for various works by L. Frank Baum. There are also two drawings of Gelett Burgess, one ot "The Goop" and the other of "The Purple Cow." Castings of the obverse and reverse of the bronze Kipling medallion commissioned by Engel in 1953 from Julio Kilenyi are stored in 2 oversize boxes. Most of the items in this collection relate to a collection of first editions which was also presented to the Libraries by Mr. and Mrs. Engel.

This collection contains audio recordings of Fellowship talks delivered by Olgivanna Lloyd Wright to members of the Taliesin Fellowship nearly each week, usually on Sundays organized chronologically from 1952-1984. These talks continued a tradition begun by Frank Lloyd Wright; they similarly cover a range of topics from Frank Lloyd Wright's Organic Architecture (often read from transcriptions of his Fellowship talks) to the daily activities of the Fellows. Many include her reading from poetry and philosophy and her own theories on moral character and the ethics of hard work. The collection also includes other talkes, speeches, and interviews with Olgivanna Lloyd Wright.