Coleman O. Parsons papers, 1716-1981

Summary Information

At a Glance

Call No.:
MS#0977
Bib ID:
4078544 View CLIO record
Creator(s):
Parsons, Coleman O., 1905-1991
Repository:
Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Physical Description:
3 linear feet (7 boxes)
Language(s):
English .
Access:
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

This collection has no restrictions.

Description

Scope and Content

Letters, manuscripts, notes, memorabilia, photographs, and printed material. Cataloged letters from George Colman the Elder, English dramatist; Lord Jeffrey, Scottish judge and critic; Andrew Lang, Scottish author; Robert Montgomery, English poet; Richard Parsons Rosse,1st Earl of Rosse; George Thomson, friend of Robert Burns and music editor; Bernard De Voto, critic, and S.R. Crockett, Scottish author. Cataloged manuscripts by Thomas Campbell, Scottish poet, James Montgomery, and E.I. Powell. Cataloged diaries of June and Coleman O. Parsons of their trip around the world in 1936-37. There are also ca.700 pages of notes by Coleman O. Parsons on various Scottish authors(including Sir Walter Scott), Scottish folk-lore and history, and Scottish poetry. Most of the notes concern his research on Francis Colman, George Colman the Elder, and George Colman the Younger. In addition there is the mss. for his book "Studies in Eccentricity"; the mss. of an 18th century Scottish ghost story entitled "A Cool Dialogue between the Living and the Dead" and notes and essays on Mark Twain, as well as a poetry album kept by Elizabeth Saynor Marshall and photographs of Parsons in South Africa.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into 6 series.

Using the Collection

Restrictions on Access

You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

This collection has no restrictions.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

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); Coleman O. Parsons papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Accruals

Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

Ownership and Custodial History

Gift of Coleman O. Parsons, 1986 & 1989.

Gift of Goleman O. Parsons, 1979, 1984, 1986, and 1989.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Source of acquisition--Parsons, Coleman O. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--12/05/1986. Accession number--M-86-12-05.

Album of E.S. Marshall: Source of acquisition--Parsons, Colman O. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--1984. Accession number--M-1984.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

Processed 06/20/1988. PL - 1/90. HR - 7/97. HR - 8/99.

Album of E.S. Marshall Processed HR 07/08/1997.

Revision Description

2010-02-18 Legacy finding aid created from Pro Cite.

2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.

Biographical sketch

Coleman O. Parsons (Columbia A.B., 1928). Professor of English, City University of New York; book collector.

Coleman Parsons was in Ripley, WV on 16 April 1905 and died in New York City on 27 June 1991. He was educated at the University of California Los Angeles 1923-25 University of Chicago 1925-27, Columbia University, A. B. 1928, and Yale University, Ph. D. 1931. An educator and author Coleman O. Parsons was an expert on the works of Sir Walter Scott. He taught at several colleges before joining the staff of the City University of New York in 1941 where he became a professor of English in 1963. Parsons was a professor emeritus at the university at the time of his death. His writings include Witchcraft and Demonology in Scott's Fiction.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

All links open new windows.

Genre/Form
Albums (books) CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Diaries CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Poems CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Name
Crockett, S. R (Samuel Rutherford), 1859-1914 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Marshall, Elizabeth Saynor CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Scott, Walter, 1771-1832 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Twain, Mark, 1835-1910 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Place
Lake District (England) -- Description and travel CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Scotland -- Description and travel CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Subject
Book collectors -- United States -- 20th century CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
College teachers CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Eccentrics and eccentricities CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Ghost stories, Scottish -- 18th century CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Poets CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Scottish literature CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID