Gordon Norton Ray letters collection, 1661-1976
Collection context
- Creator:
- Ray, Gordon N (Gordon Norton), 1915-1986
- Extent:
- 9 boxes 9 boxes
- Language:
- English .
- Scope and content:
-
Letters written to Frank Topham, ca. 1879; letters from various 19th century artists including Wyke Bayliss, G. Bowers Edwards, and Carl Haag; letters to Jerome Milkman, 1925-1958; letters to Howes Norris, 1908-1930; letters from various 20th century artists including Sir D.Y. Cameron, Sir John Collier, and Sir Gerald Kelley; and letters and a few manuscripts and documents of various American and British authors. Also, a group of French documents and letters from immediately following the French Revolution, 1793-1812, mostly dealing with military and governmental matters. Correspondents and signers include Lazare Nicolas Marguerite Carnot, Jean Jacques Regis Cambacérès, Jean Etienne Championnet, and Jean Baptiste Michel Saladin. Letters, 1814-1832, written to United States ministers to France including William Harris Crawford, Albert Gallatin, William Cabell River, and Nathaniel Niles. The correspondents include Elie Decazes, Antoine René Charles Mathurin, comte de La Forest, and Armand Emmanuel du Plesis, duc de Richelieu. The letters deal with a variety of diplomatic matters such as the exchange of war prisoners and refuge for the ship DECATUR.
Also, letters and other autographed items of English artists including Sir William Boxall, Thomas Sidney Cooper, George Cruikshank, Richard Doyle, Copley Fielding, Sir John Gilbert, B.R. Haydon, H. Stacy Marks, Val Prinsep, David Roberts, Thomas Uwins, George Frederic Watts, Thomas Webster, and Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey. Letters and documents of English writers including Edwin Arnold, Alfred Austin, Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, Rider Haggard, W.J. Locke, Captain Marryat, Myles Birket-Foster, Frank Swinnerton, Israel Zangwill, and John Gibson. Letters and documents of English historical figures including A.J. Balfour, Lord Castlereagh, Joseph Chamberlain, Marquis of Queensberry, Philip Snowden, and Friedrich Max Muller. American letters and documents of Julian Green, Alice Longfellow, Christopher Morley, and Dewitt Clinton. French letters and documents of Georges Boulanger, Jean Casimir-Périer, Georges Clemenceau, Paul Doumer, Jean Jusserand, Jacques Lauriston, Raymond Poincaré, and Talleyrand. Letters and documents of 19th and 20th century English literary and historical figures, and letters and manuscripts of various American and British literary figures including a 17th century letter from Archbishop Jeremy Taylor, concerning church business.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Gordon Norton Ray was an American author, Professor of English, and collector of English and French illustrated books, as well as autographed letters from the Victorian era.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
This collection is located on-site.
This collection has no restrictions.
- Terms of access:
-
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
- Preferred citation:
-
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Gordon Norton Ray letters collection; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
- Location of this collection:
- Before you visit:
- Researchers interested in viewing materials in the RBML reading room must must book an appointment at least 7 days in advance. To make the most of your visit, be sure to request your desired materials before booking your appointment, as researchers are limited to 5 items per day.
- Contact:
- rbml@library.columbia.edu