Guide to the Charles Welsh papers, 1900-1914

Phillips Memorial Library
Archives and Special Collections
1 Cunningham Square
Providence, RI 02918
Tel: 401-865-2578
Fax: 401-865-1578
Email: pcarchives@providence.edu
Website: https://pml.providence.edu/

Published in 2009

Collection Overview

Title:	Charles Welsh papers
Date range:	1900-1914
Creator:	Welsh, Charles, 1850-1914
Extent:	3 linear feet
Abstract:	This collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, illustrations, and newsclippings accquired by Charles Welsh while he was the managing editor of the ten volume anthology Irish Literature (1904). Welsh saved these materials by loosely inserting them into his personal copy of the anthology.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	Phillips Memorial Library
Collection number:	rppc_chaswelsh

Scope & content

The ten volume anthology Irish Literature, featured in this collection, was the personal set owned by managing editor, Charles Welsh. The collection includes correspondence between Welsh and the authors featured in the anthology, illustrations, manuscripts, book reviews, and published magazine articles. The collection also includes numerous news clippings that pertain to the political, economic, and cultural events of early twentieth century Ireland.

These materials were collected by Welsh and serve to show the extent of collabration of those that helped produce the Irish Literature anthology as well as offering valuable insight into the social and literary development of Ireland over the course of its history.

Access Points

Subject Names

• McCarthy, Justin, 1830-1912
• Welsh, Charles, 1850-1914
• Egan, Maurice Francis, 1852-1924
• Hyde, Douglas, 1860-1949
• Gregory, Lady, 1852-1932
• Yeats, W. B. (William Butler), 1865-1939
• Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Subject Topics

• Irish literature

Subject Topics

• Language and Literature

• Irish literature

Document Types

• personal correspondence
• business letters
• memorandums
• black-and-white photographs
• illustrations
• political cartoons
• autobiographies
• manuscripts for publication
• drafts (documents)
• clippings (information artifacts)
• obituaries

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into five series.

• Correspondence
• Illustrations
• Manuscripts
• Clippings
• Published Materials

Biographical note

Charles Welsh was born in Ramsgate, Kent, England on December 22, 1850, to Charles and Susannah Welsh. After attending national schools in Ashford, Kent, Welsh trained as a blacksmith in addition to receiving certificates in arithmetic, English literature and French. In 1868, Welsh went to work for The British Trade Journal as a reporter, using his knowledge of mechanics to write about new agricultural machinery. A publishing career soon followed with positions at Henry S. Ring & Co., (1870), and the Griffith Farran Co., (1877), where Welsh would eventually become a partner in 1884.

Welsh later moved to the United States, and in 1895 began work as the business manager and assistant editor at Art Amateur magazine. Welsh was soon considered a specialist of juvenile literature for the publication and in the years to follow he wrote and published many English and Irish themed works aimed at the young adult audience.

Because of Welsh's literary reputation and close connections in England and Ireland, he was able to assume the position of managing editor for a project at the publishing house of John D. Morris & Co. (Philadelphia) for the creation of an Irish literature anthology.

The Irish Literature anthology (10 vols.) was first published in 1904 by John D. Morris & Co.. As this was a collabrative work, the chief editor was Justin McCarthy (1830-1912). McCarthy, an Irish Nationalist who fought for Irish independence as a liberal home rule representative in the English House of Commons, was a well known noted author in his own right. Contributing editors to the anthology also included Maurice F. Egan, Douglas Hyde, Lady Gregory, James Jeffrey Roche, and Welsh, who became the managing editor for the anthology.

The anthology consists of over three hundred and fifty Irish authors, selected from both ancient and modern times. These literary works provide insight into both the literary and social development of the Irish people over the course of Irish history. Works of mythology, fable, fiction, history, oratory, science, memoirs, essays, drama, and poetry, were included in the anthology.

Welsh's interest in Irish culture and society are further expressed in the news clippings and articles he accumulated, which directly relate to Irish literary, social, and political movements of the time. These pieces, as well as supplemental materials that detail the editing and publication process of Irish Literature, were discovered within Welsh's personal copy of the anthology. Welsh eventually became an English professor at the University of Notre Dame. He died on September 14, 1914.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	Collection is open for research by appointment. Materials do not circulate. Some materials may be restricted, for further information contact the Archives and Special Collections, Phillips Memorial Library, Providence College.
Use of the materials:	Researchers are advised that express written permission to reproduce, quote, or otherwise publish any portion or extract from this collection must be obtained from the Phillips Memorial Library. Although Providence College has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	Charles Welsh papers, Providence College, Phillips Memorial Library, Archives and Special Collections.
Contact information:	Phillips Memorial Library Archives and Special Collections 1 Cunningham Square Providence, RI 02918 Tel: 401-865-2578 Fax: 401-865-1578 Email: pcarchives@providence.edu Website: https://pml.providence.edu/

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	The collection was donated by George L. Considine (Providence College, Class of 1932) to Providence College in 1969.
Custodial history:	This particular copy of the ten volume Irish Literature anthology contained within the collection was owned by Welsh. The additional materials were accquired by Welsh while he was the managing-editor during the publication of the anthology. After Welsh's death the 10 volume anthology Irish Literature and related materials found their way into the custody of George L. Considine.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Providence College Archives staff.
Encoding:	Finding aid encoded by Shannon McNamara 2009 January 29
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Related material:	There are no known related materials.
Separated material:	No materials have been removed from this collection.

Inventory

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