Albert Edgar Lownes collection on Henry David Thoreau, 1837-1965

John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Published in 2014

Collection Overview

Title:	Albert Edgar Lownes collection on Henry David Thoreau
Date range:	1837-1965
Creator:	Lownes, Albert Edgar, 1899-1978
Extent:	7 boxes
Abstract:	The Lownes collection includes a wide variety of materials by and pertaining to Henry David Thoreau, including correspondence, college papers, journal excerpts, prints, clippings, photographs, and other Thoreauviana collected by Albert E. Lownes. Materials date from 1837-1965.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Collection number:	Ms.80.1

Scope & content

The Lownes Thoreau collection as a whole contains a wide variety of materials, the vast majority of which are Albert Lownes' collections of books, pamphlets and reviews concerning Thoreau, natural studies and New England. It should be noted here that while certain items are Thoreau's own personal manuscripts or possessions, most items in the collection only pertain to Thoreau.

The books and pamphlets number approximately 600 items; they consist of works by and about Thoreau, various editions of his writings, and volumes from his personal library. The collection also contains over 200 reviews and clippings concerning Thoreau and his works, many of which are from scholarly journals and magazines. In respect to these printed items, much more expansive and detailed information can be obtained from the Library's online catalog, Josiah, and from the Special Collections Card Catalogue, under the listing of Thoreau, Henry David, 1817-1862.

The Thoreau papers themselves consist of various pieces of his works, and related material. Included are pieces of correspondence, various drafts from his journal, poems and college essays, all in his hand, and some signed. Related material includes a letter from Emerson, obituaries and memoria appearing in newspapers at the time of Thoreau's death, and small pieces of visual memorabilia.

Mr. Lownes' personal Thoreauvian memorabilia, including photographs of Thoreau, his family, his associates and his homes, are also included in boxes accompanying the manuscript collection as are some correspondence and lists related to the collection.

Access Points

Subject Names

• Alcott, Amos Bronson, 1799-1888
• Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888
• Channing, William Ellery, 1817-1901
• Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882
• Greeley, Horace, 1811-1872
• Hosmer, Alfred W.
• Jones, Samuel Arthur, 1834-1912
• Lownes, Albert Edgar, 1899-1978
• Ricketson, Daniel, 1813-1898
• Thoreau, Henry David, 1817-1862
• Thoreau, Jane, 1784-1864
• Thoreau, John
• Thoreau, Maria, 1794-1881
• Thoreau, Sophia E

Subject Organizations

• Harvard University

Geographical Names

• Concord (Mass.)
• Walden Pond (Middlesex County, Mass.)

Subject Topics

• American literature--19th century
• Transcendentalism

Occupations

• Authors
• Naturalists
• Transcendentalists
• Poets

Document Types

• Artifacts
• Clippings
• Diaries
• Engravings
• Letters (Correspondence)
• Maps
• Notebooks
• Photographs
• Poems
• Prints
• Realia

Subject Topics

• Language and Literature

Arrangement

Thoreau's correspondence appears first, followed by college essays, and other writings. Following are letters concerning Thoreau written by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Alfred Hosmer; newspaper clippings, and finally, rough drafts of four essays on Thoreau written by Samuel Arthur Jones. Furthermore, the collection includes bibliographical material, a large selection of photographs, and other miscellaneous items. Correspondence and lists related to the collection, written presumably by Albert Edgar Lownes, are located in folder 25.

This collection is organized into the following series and is arranged chronologically within each series.

• Series 1. Correspondence
• Series 2. College papers
• Series 3. Journal excerpts: variants or drafts
• Series 4. Miscellaneous manuscripts
• Series 5. Scattered fragments
• Series 6. Prints
• Series 7. Clippings
• Series 8. Related correspondence
• Series 9. Some works of Samuel Arthur Jones
• Series 10. Miscellaneous Thoreauviana collected by A.E. Lownes
• Series 11. Bibliographic materials
• Series 12. Photographic prints and engravings
• Series 13. Miscellaneous printed material relating to Thoreau
• Series 14. Thoreau relics

Biography of David Henry Thoreau (1817-1862)

Henry David Thoreau (christened as David Henry Thoreau), was born in 1817, the second of three children. His father, John Thoreau, was a shopkeeper of modest means in Concord, Massachusetts. John Thoreau ran a string of unsuccessful businesses before establishing a profitable pencil factory. His wife, Cynthia, supplemented the family income by keeping a boarding house.

As a child, Henry David Thoreau enjoyed the beauty of the woods in Concord and excelled at school. He was the only child in the family to receive a college education, entering Harvard College in 1833 and graduating near the top of his class in 1837. After college, he worked in the family pencil factory for a year, and then taught briefly in the public schools of Canton (Massachusetts) and at the Center School. However, he found himself disinclined to the common practice of applying corporal punishment as a means of discipline and, as a result, soon lost his position as a teacher. Unable to find another teaching job, Thoreau and his older brother John, who had helped put Henry through college on his teacher's pay, established a private school using the progressive educational methods advocated by Bronson Alcott. Henry also began writing essays and poetry, some of which were printed in The Dial, Ralph Waldo Emerson's Transcendentalist literary magazine.

The Thoreau brothers' school closed down in 1841, primarily because of John Thoreau's ill health. Later that year, Emerson invited Thoreau to live with his family as a handyman. Thoreau accepted, seeing the opportunity to both write and earn his keep. At Emerson's home he came into frequent contact with a number of Transcendental luminaries, including George Ripley and Margaret Fuller. He took up the study of Hindu scriptures, and contributed to The Dial, publishing additional poems and essays and occasionally helping to edit the magazine.

John Thoreau died in 1842. A grieving Henry moved to New York the following year, serving as tutor to William Emerson's sons, but returned to Concord in 1844. His move to the cabin on Walden Pond, part of Emerson's property, took place in 1845 and lasted for two years. While there, he wrote much of A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers and Walden. It was during this period that Thoreau was briefly jailed for refusing to pay the Massachusetts poll tax, which he argued was used for unjust purposes, such as enforcing the Fugitive Slave laws and prosecuting the war against Mexico.

Returning from Walden Pond, Thoreau earned his living as as Emerson's handyman and later as a surveyor. By the early 1850s, however, Thoreau had begun to fear that he had not fulfilled his literary calling. The publication of Walden in 1854 and its enthusiastic reception, particularly in Transcendentalist circles, restored his confidence. The moderate success of Walden also made it easier for Thoreau to publish essays in popular periodicals of general circulation. During the 1850s Thoreau also traveled and lectured widely on conservation of natural resources and the abolition of slavery.

Thoreau had developed tuberculosis in 1835 but managed it successfully for 20 years. However, when the disease flared up in 1860, his immune system proved too weak to combat it and he finally succumbed to the disease. He died at Concord on May 6, 1862.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested..
Use of the materials:	Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Alternate form:	Digital facsimiles of items from this collection are available from within the online finding aid.
Preferred citation:	Albert Edgar Lownes collection on Henry David Thoreau, Ms. 80.1, Brown University Library.
Contact information:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148 Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	Donated to the Brown University Library in 1967 by Albert E. Lownes (Class of 1920).
Custodial history:	The Thoreau collection was compiled by Albert E. Lownes over a period of many years. The original provenance of these materials, prior to their coming into the possession of Mr. Lownes, is unrecorded.
Processing information:	Arranged and described by Barbara Filipac in 1980.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Barbara Filipac.
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2014-12-10

Additional Information

Related material:	RESOURCES AT BROWN UNIVERSITYManuscript materials related to Thoreau in the collections of the John Hay Library include a sheet of Thoreau's autograph manuscript tipped in volume 1 of: Thoreau, Henry David. The Writings of Henry David Thoreau [Manuscript edition]. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin and Company, 1906. Location: Lownes Thoreau Collection PS3040.F06a. Related poetry material may be found in: The Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays. Correspondence related to the activities of Albert Lownes may be found in: Papers of Albert Lownes. Call number: A91-11. RESOURCES BEYOND BROWN UNIVERSITYHenry David Thoreau Papers, The Concord Free Public Library (Concord, Massachusetts); Henry David Thoreau Papers, The New York Public Library; Botanical Index to the Journal of Henry David Thoreau by Ray Angelo; "Thoreau's Pencils," by John H. Lienhard (University of Houston's Engines of Our Ingenuity website); "Writings of Henry David Thoreau" editorial project at Northern Illinois University.
Location/Existence of copies:	Digital facsimiles of items from this collection are available from within the online finding aid.
Other information:	Brown University Library catalog record for this collection: Lownes, Albert Edgar, 1899-1978. Henry David Thoreau collection, 1837-1964

Inventory

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