Guide to the John Burroughs Papers,
1850-1991 (bulk 1860-1921)
Table of Contents
- Collection Summary
- Biographical Note
- Scope and Content Note
- Subject Headings
- Related Material
- Administrative Information
- Access and Use
- Encoding Information
- Series List
- Container List
Collection Summary
| Repository: | Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries |
|---|---|
| Creator: | Burroughs, John, 1837-1921 |
| Title: | John Burroughs Papers |
| Inclusive Dates: | 1850-1991 |
| Bulk Dates: | 1860-1921 |
| Quantity: | 15.2 cubic ft (65 boxes) |
| Abstract: | Includes 53 original Burroughs journals as well as a typescript of the journals prepared by his granddaughter, Elizabeth Burroughs Kelley, and another typescript prepared by his literary executor, Dr. Clara Barrus. In addition, there are manuscripts, sketch books and correspondence, including letters to Burroughs from Edith Rickert, Walt Whitman, and others; as well as letters by Burroughs to family, friends, colleagues and readers. The bulk of the correspondence is to and from his wife Ursula and son Julian, but other correspondents include Georgia Avery Kendrick, Clara S. Reed, Minnie and Orlando Rouland, James M. Taylor, Mary W. Whitney, and others. Also included are published and unpublished materials and photographs relating to Burroughs. |
| Forms of Materials: | Journals, notebooks, scrapbooks, sketchbooks, manuscripts, correspondence, printed materials, and photographs. |
Biographical Note
John Burroughs (1837-1921) is one of most important contributors to the canon of American nature writing and was one of the most well-known essayists of his time. He published widely on a variety of subjects in many popular publications, received numerous awards and honorary degrees and was well known to scholars and laypeople alike. However, his popularity waned after his death and only recently has interest in his work been rekindled. His work is of significance to those studying not just natural history, but also ecology, philosophy, poetry, geography, history and many other areas.
Burroughs was born on a dairy farm in Roxbury, New York, in the heart of the Catskill Mountains. As a child he spent much of his spare time reading and writing. He attended various one-room school houses and, for a short time, attended the Hedding Literary Institute in Ashland, New York as well as the Cooperstown Seminary. He left home at seventeen to become a teacher himself, and took posts at rural schools in New York, New Jersey, and Illinois. Throughout, he continued to hone his skills as a writer. Burroughs' earliest journal dates from 1854 when he was 17, but the first form he explored as a public writer (due in part to his love of the work of Samuel Johnson and Ralph Waldo Emerson) was the essay. "Fragments from the Table of an Intellectual Epicure," appeared in the The New York Saturday Press in 1860. His first significant published piece, "Expression" was accepted by Atlantic Monthly later that same year, but because the Atlantic articles were not signed at that point, many, including the editor, mistook the author for Emerson. Soon his work was being published in some of the most popular magazines of the day. He was not, however, able to depend on his writing as a primary source of income for another 25 years.
Burroughs married Ursula North in 1857 and with her encouragement, made the decision to leave teaching to pursue more lucrative work as a clerk for the U.S. Treasury. The couple moved to Washington, D.C. in 1863. While there Burroughs became acquainted with another new arrival, Walt Whitman. The two became fast friends as well as significant influences on each others' work. Burrough's first book, published in 1867, was a defense of the controversial poet: Notes on Walt Whitman as Poet and Person .
In 1873, Burroughs left Washington to return home to New York as a bank examiner. He built his home "Riverby" on a vineyard in West Park, a small town on the Hudson River only 50 miles from his birthplace. In 1881 he constructed his "Bark Study" just off the main house, a quiet retreat (perhaps away from the watchful eye of Mrs. Burroughs, who disapproved of his writing) where he added to his growing body of essays and full length works (see list below). His work garnered substantial popular and critical acclaim, and by 1885 he was able to give up the bank position and fully devote his time to writing and enjoying his land.
Burroughs also enjoyed spending time with his young son, Julian. The couple adopted the child when he was two months old, but Ursula was unaware that her husband had a biological connection to the boy. The child's parentage was somewhat obscure while Burroughs' lived, but the truth was that Julian was John's son. The details eventually came out and there was some family tension, but both parents adored Julian, and the family maintained a close bond.
In 1895, Burroughs built another retreat, this time a mile away from the Riverby house, where it was becoming increasingly difficult to work because of the steady flow of expected (and some unexpected) guests. Still, some visitors were welcome at his new woodland cabin. Family and local friends made the trip out to "Slabsides," including some of his more prominent acquaintances, such as Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Ford. It was also a favorite field trip for Vassar College people, particularly his young friends in the Wake-Robin Club.
Although John Burroughs spent the greater portion of his life within a small radius in New York State, his contact with the world at large was extensive. His travels took him to England, the West Indies, Bermuda, and Hawaii. In the United States he went north to Alaska, south to Georgia, east to New England, and west to California. In 1899 he cruised with the Harriman Expedition to Alaska along with John Muir and others, and in 1903 he traveled with President Roosevelt to Yellowstone National Park.
In 1901, Burroughs met Dr. Clara Barrus, a psychiatrist and admirer of his work. They became friends and eventually she served as his assistant and traveling companion. She also became close with Mrs. Burroughs. In 1914, Barrus moved into a house at Riverby, and when Ursula's health began to fail, the couple stayed with her. Ursula died in 1917 from cancer. Burroughs remained active and continued to write, but he followed Ursula four years later. He died on a train returning from a winter stay in California. Barrus, who became his literary executor, published his last essays in Under the Maples (1921) and The Last Harvest (1922).
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Chronology
| 3 Apr 1837 | Born in Roxbury, New York |
| 1854 | Began teaching |
| 12 Sep 1857 | Married Ursula North |
| 1863 | Moved to Washington, D.C., where he began work for the U.S. Treasury |
| 1873 | Returned to New York State, took work as a bank receiver |
| 1873 | Construction began on Riverby |
| 1878 | Julian Burroughs born |
| 1881 | Bark Study constructed |
| 1885 | Left bank position |
| 1895 | Slabsides constructed |
| 1899 | Traveled to Alaska with the Harriman Expedition |
| 1901 | Met Dr. Clara Barrus |
| 1903 | Visited Yellowstone with President Roosevelt |
| 6 Mar 1917 | Ursula Burroughs died |
| 29 Mar 1921 | Died on a train returning from California |
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Books by John Burroughs*
| 1867 | Notes on Walt Whitman as Poet and Person |
| 1871 | Wake Robin |
| 1875 | Winter Sunshine |
| 1875 | Squirrels and Other Fur-bearers |
| 1877 | Birds and Poets |
| 1879 | Locusts and Wild Honey |
| 1881 | Pepacton |
| 1885 | Fresh Fields |
| 1886 | Signs and Seasons |
| 1887 | Birds and Bees |
| 1889 | Indoor Studies |
| 1894 | Riverby |
| 1896 | Whitman: A Study |
| 1900 | The Light of Day |
| 1902 | John James Audobon |
| 1902 | Literary Values |
| 1904 | Far and Near |
| 1905 | Ways of Nature |
| 1906 | Bird and Bough |
| 1906 | Camping with President Roosevelt |
| 1908 | Leaf and Tendril |
| 1912 | Time and Change |
| 1913 | The Summit of the Years |
| 1915 | The Breath of Life |
| 1916 | Under the Apple Trees |
| 1919 | Field and Study |
| 1920 | Accepting the Universe |
| 1921 | Under the Maples |
| 1922 | The Last Harvest |
| 1922 | My Boyhood |
| —————————————————————————————— | |
| *Portions of this listing reprinted with permission from the 2006 Syracuse University Press edition of Signs and Seasons, edited by Jeff Walker. |
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Scope and Content Note
Vassar's John Burroughs collection consists of journals and some correspondence, as well as published and unpublished materials and photographs relating to the naturalist's personal and professional life. The journals are a significant component of the collection. There are 53 handwritten volumes (ca. 3,300 leaves) kept by Burroughs between 13 May 1876, and 4 February 1921. The volumes contain his observations on nature as well as the political, literary, and philosophical commentary, which became the basis for many of his essays. The collection also includes two sets of transcriptions of the journals. The first, annotated and edited by Clara Barrus, covers the journals in the Vassar collection (1876-1921) as well as earlier volumes located in the Berg Collection at the New York Public Library (1854-1876). These transcripts were prepared for the 1928 Barrus publication, The Heart of John Burroughs's Journals. The second transcription was prepared by Elizabeth Burroughs Kelley, granddaughter of John Burroughs and author of several works about him, and includes her handwritten annotations.
Other writings in the collection include manuscript as well has published versions of Burroughs short and full-length works. Much of the manuscript material was annotated in some way by either Clara Barrus or Elizabeth Burroughs Kelley. The same is true for the published versions, and it appears that many items in that series were collected by Elizabeth Burroughs Kelley while doing research on her grandfather.
The correspondence is divided into incoming, outgoing and a miscellaneous series. In both incoming and outgoing, the most frequent correspondents are Burroughs' wife Ursula and his son Julian. Other correspondents include friends, family, neighbors, professional contacts as well as readers of Burroughs' work. Several well-known friends and acquaintances of Burroughs are represented, such as Walt Whitman and Theodore Roosevelt. There are letters to and from artists, such as Timothy Cole, Pietro, and Orlando Rouland, a Burroughs portraitist. There are also several letters showing the connection between Burroughs and members of the Vassar College community, among them: Georgia Avery Kendrick, Clara S. Reed, James Monroe Taylor, and Mary W. Whitney. A series of letters between Fanny Borden, Vassar College Head Librarian, and May Cline, a friend of Burroughs, chronicles the sale of some Burroughs letters to Clara Barrus.
In addition to material created by Burroughs, there is also a variety of materials collected by Kelley and Barrus for their own biographical works on the writer. Series VII and VIII include family and personal documents belonging to Burroughs and the Burroughs family, but also a number of items gathered after Burroughs' death which provide information about his life, his work, the people he knew, and his impact on the world. Included are newspaper clippings, published and unpublished articles, postcards, correspondence and other materials collected as late as 1991.
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Access and Use
Access
This collection is open for research according to the regulations of the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Library without any additional restrictions.
Restrictions on Use
The repository has microfilm of the 53 Burroughs journals and the Barrus and Kelley transcripts. With the exception of extenuating circumstances, readers will be required to use the microfilm. To aid the reader with his/her research, a personal name index has been prepared of those people noted prominently by John Burroughs in his journals.
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Related Material
- Although Clara Barrus' transcripts are available in this collection, the earliest original Burroughs journals (1854-1876) are at the New York Public Library.
- John Burroughs Collection, Clifton Waller Barrett Library, University of Virginia
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Subject Headings
Names:
- Barrus, Clara.
- Burroughs, Julian, 1897-.
- Burroughs, Ursula North.
- Kelley, Elizabeth Burroughs.
- Kendrick, Georgia Avery, 1848-1922.
- Muir, John, 1838-1914.
- Reed, Clara S.
- Rickert, Edith, 1871-1938.
- Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919.
- Taylor, James Monroe, 1848-1916.
- Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892.
- Whitney, Mary Watson, b. 1847.
Subjects:
- Authors.
- Criticism.
- Diaries.
- Literature.
- Natural history.
- Philosophy.
Places:
- United States--Politics and government.
Document Types:
- Photoprints.
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Encoding Information
Encoded by Elizabeth Clarke and Laura Finkel, 2007.
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Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
John Burroughs Papers, Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries.
Processing Information
Collection processed June 1997, updated December 2007.
Acquisition Information
The bulk of the collection was purchased from Elizabeth Burroughs Kelley in 1982. Other materials were gifts of Elizabeth Burroughs Kelley and others
Other Formats
The journals are also available on microfilm.
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Series List
Series I. Writings: Journals and Notebooks (Boxes 1-9, 51, 64) |
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|---|---|
| Series I includes Burroughs' original journals (1876-1921) as well as annotated transcripts by Clara Barrus and Elizabeth Burroughs Kelley. There are also original notebooks, and two sketchbook/scrapbooks. |
Series II. Writings: Manuscripts (Boxes 9-11, 51, 64, 65) |
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| Series II consists of typed and handwritten drafts, galley proofs and some transcripts of Burroughs writing. The listing is organized alphabetically by title. |
Series III. Writings: Published Versions (Boxes 62, 64, 65) |
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| This series consists of original and photocopied essays and poems from various journals, magazines and newspapers. Although not a complete collection, the series does include a wide range of materials from a variety of publication types. The material is organized chronologically by date of publication. |
Series IV. Correspondence: Outgoing (Boxes 11-21, 46, 49, 50) |
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| The bulk of Burroughs' outgoing correspondence is to family members, particularly Julian and Ursula Burroughs. There is also a small collection of letters to others, listed at the end of the series in alphabetical order. |
Series V. Correspondence: Incoming (Boxes 21-47 49, 50, 54, 55, 64) |
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| The incoming correspondence is divided into four sections: family, Clara Barrus, non-family organized alphabetically by name, and non-family organized by category. | |
| There are a number of Julian Burroughs letters in the family section, but there are also letters from Ursula Burroughs, his father Chauncey Burroughs, his brother Hiram, his sister Eden and others. | |
| The Clara Barrus section includes hundred of letters and postcards dating from 1904-1920 as well as a number of typescripts of letters from 1901-1903. | |
| Correspondents in the alphabetical non-family section include a large number of friends, neighbors, and professional contacts. Of particular note are the letters from Poultney Bigelow, Clifton Johnson, Ludella Peck, Theodore Roosevelt, and the letter from Walt Whitman. | |
| The non-family section is organized by category and seems to have been arranged by Elizabeth Burroughs Kelley. It is possible, however, that they were arranged earlier by Clara Barrus and/or Burroughs himself. The categories are sometimes broad, sometimes specific, and frequently overlap. |
Series VI.Correspondence: Miscellaneous (Boxes 47-50, 53, 55) |
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| The Miscellaneous Correspondence includes letters to Ursula Burroughs, between Ursula and Julian Burroughs, and to and from others. |
Series VII. Biography and Family (Boxes 50-52, 55-57, 63-65 and map case) |
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| The Biography and Family Series includes writings about Burroughs, honors, obituaries, images and artworks depicting Burroughs, items relating to his trips, business and financial documents, and other materials regarding to John Burroughs and his family. |
Series VIII. Research Materials and Library (Boxes 50-53, 55, 56, 61, 62, 64, 65) |
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| The "material by and about others" in this series was collected and arranged largely by Elizabeth Burroughs Kelley. The rest of the series consists of photocopies of title pages of books from Burroughs' library, many of which are now housed in Vassar's Archives and Special Collections Library. |
Series IX. Photographs (Boxes 58-60, 63, 64) |
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| The Photographs series consists of formal portraits as well as candids of Burroughs, his family and friends; images of his homes; photos documenting Burroughs' connection to Vassar College; schools he attended or taught at; as well as a number of miscellaneous images. |