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A collection of letters to and from John Treat Irving Jr. While there are 63 letters from Irving, the majority of the correspondence is that of his father and mother, John Treat Irving, Sr. and Abby Furman Irving, other members of the Irving family, and friends. There are no letters of Washington Irving in the collection, though there are many interesting reference to him. There are nineteen letters to John Treat Irving from his uncle, the writer Peter Irving (1771-1838), dated 1835-1837. The collection also contains 51 pages of extracts from letters dating from the period of his European travels of 1836-1837. Included are two notebooks. The earlier of the two, dating from 1828 when John Irving was a senior at Columbia College, records class notes, problems, and exercises. The second contains poems, sketches, and essays, most of which are dated 1831-1833, the period preceding his travels to the West and the writing of INDIAN SKETCHES.

This collection includes letters from members of the academic community at Columbia and elsewhere, former students, Columbia College alumni, members of the Van Amringe family, and friends. These letters deal with the official, alumni, and personal matters. There are two letter books for 1894 when he was Dean of Columbia's School of Arts (later known as Columbia College, the undergraduate school). The manuscripts include holograph and typescript copies of speeches made by Van Amringe at various Columbia functions, at alumni affairs, and at meetings of civic, charitable, and academic organizations; course notebooks while he attended Columbia College; diaries of daily appointments, 1909-1914; intimate prose and poetry written by Van Amringe and members of his family; a pencil sketchbook and notebook containing three plays by his daughter Emily Bulow Van Amringe. The collection includes numerous clippings, brochures, invitations, and other Columbia and personal memorabilia.