Harris-Oliphant papers, 1867-1940

Summary Information

At a Glance

Call No.:
MS#0559
Bib ID:
4078869 View CLIO record
Creator(s):
Harris, Thomas Lake, 1823-1906; Markham, Edwin, 1852-1940; Schneider, Herbert W (Herbert Wallace), 1892-1984; Lawton, George, 1900-1957
Repository:
Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Physical Description:
9 linear feet (21 manuscript boxes and 1 custom CMI box)
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 has no restrictions.

The following boxes are located off-site: Box 21 [cmi]. You will need to request this material from the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at least five business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

Description

Summary

Letters written by and to Harris and his associate, Laurence Oliphant. In addition to the correspondence, these papers include manuscripts of books, miscellaneous biographical materials, and photographs.

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 has no restrictions.

The following boxes are located off-site: Box 21 [cmi]. You will need to request this material from the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at least five business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

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); Harris-Oliphant papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Related Archival Materials

Collections related by provenance: Harris-Oliphant Papers at the Horrmann Library of Wagner College, Staten Island. This collection duplicates Columbia holdings in part, but there are items at Wagner which are not in Columbia's Collection.

Accruals

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

Existence and Location of Copies

Box 19, Folder 5 (Address book and diary of James Murray Templeton) is on Microfilm. MN#2001-3110-1.

A microfilm research collection, Thomas Lake Harris and the Brotherhood of the New Life, 1854–1942 was issued on 14 reels by UMI, using materials from the collections at Wagner College (Staten Island) and the Rare Book & Manuscript Library. The microfilm research collection is available in Butler Library in the Periodicals & Microforms Reading Room, and includes a guide (the guide is filed separately from the reels in Microform Reference under call# Fa 52). More information is available in the CLIO record https://clio.columbia.edu/catalog/7229743.

Ownership and Custodial History

The collection was formed in part by the poet Edwin Markham, after whose death it passed to Prof. Herbert Schneider and George Lawton and was used in writing their biography of Harris and Oliphant, A PROPHET AND A PILGRIM.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Source of acquisition--Schneider, Herbert O. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--1943. Accession number--M-43.

Gift of Prof. Herbert Schneider, 1943.

Publications About Described Materials

Schneider, Herbert Wallace. A Prophet and a Pilgrim; being the incredible history of Thomas Lake Harris and Laurence Oliphant; their sexual mysticisms and Utopian communities amply documented to confound the skeptic. New York : Columbia University Press, 1942.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

Cataloged Christina Hilton Fenn 06/--/89. Processed by Scott Libson.

Revision Description

2010-02-11 Legacy finding aid created from Pro Cite.

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

2024-03-28 Scrapbook added to container list. Note about related UMI microfilm research collection and guide added to the front matter. CCR.

2024-04-11 CMI scrapbook number changed from 21 to 22, to avoid conflict with box 21. kws

Biographical / Historical

Thomas Lake Harris (May 15, 1823-March 23 1906) - American Christian mystic. Born in Fenny Stratford, England he was brought to the United States as a child. In 1845 he was called to the pulpit of the Fourth Universalist Society in New York City but three years later, deeply impressed by spiritualism, Harris organized the First Independent Christian Society. During that period he dictated long poems for which he said he had received inspiration while in trances. He wove the ideas of Swedenborgianism into his religious teachings. He established The Herald of New Light (1857-1861), a monthly journal.

Under his leadership, the Brotherhood of the New Life established (1861) a community in Wassaic N. Y., later moving it (1863) to nearby Amenia and (1867) to Brocton near Buffalo where it was known as Salem-on-Erie. In that year Laurence Oliphant joined the communal religious settlement. Harris and part of the community moved to Santa Rosa, Calif. in 1875. Oliphant remained behind and in 1881 broke completely with Harris. Ten years later Harris left the Santa Rosa community. His later years were spent in New York. His poetical works include The Epic of the Starry Heaven (1854), A Lyric of the Morning Land (1855) and A Lyric of the Golden Age (1856) His writings include also Hymns of Spiritual Devotion (2 vols. 1861) The Wisdom of the Adepts (1884) Star-Flowers (1887) God's Breath in Man and in Humane Society (1891) and The Song of Theos (1903).

Laurence Oliphant (1829-1888) was a British writer and traveller.

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
Photographic prints CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Name
Oliphant, Laurence, 1829-1888 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Subject
Authors, English CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Christianity.ican CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Mysticism and literature CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Mystics CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Religion and literature CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID