Edgar Simmons Buchanan papers, 1890 -- 1950
Summary Information
Abstract
At a Glance
- Bib ID:
- 4492437 View CLIO record
- Creator(s):
- Buchanan, E. S (Edgar Simmons), 1872-1932
- Repository:
- Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary
- Physical Description:
- 6.75 linear feet (6.75 linear feet; 14 boxes)
- Language(s):
- English .
- Access:
-
This collection is open for research.
The following boxes are located offsite: entire collection except Series 2 Box 9 OS. Please note that requests for use of boxes held in offsite storage must be made three business days in advance.
Description
Scope and Contents
This collection contains correspondence largely relating to Buchanan's research into early Gospel manuscripts and his teaching career, as well as correspondence of a more social nature; material relating to Buchanan's writings and research on early Biblical manuscripts, ESB's writings about his research, papers associated with Bridport, England Reading Society, and other various writings including sermons, poetry, and autobiographical writings; clippings that relate to Buchanan's scholarly publications and publisher's notices announcing publication of Buchanan's books; as well as personal materials and legacy processing information.
-
Series 1: Correspondence, 1890 -- 1936
This series contains correspondence largely relating to Buchanan's research into early Gospel manuscripts and his teaching career. Some of the correspondence is of more social nature. A large number of the letters concern Buchanan's interactions with libraries where he worked on his research; these include Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, Biblioteca Capitolare di Verona, the British Museum, Morgan Museum and Library, the Bodleian Library, Harvard College Library, The Hispanic Society of America, Oberlin College Library, National Library of Wales, Library of Congress, Bibliotheque Universitaire Bordeaux, and New York Public Library. Buchanan also corresponded with clergy and religious organizations, including Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Bishops of Salisbury, Carlisle and Birmingham, Society for Promoting of Christian Knowledge, Drew Theological Seminary, Theological Seminary at Princeton, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, American Sunday-School Union, Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, Episcopal Theological School, the office of Pope Pius XI, American Tract Society, Evangelical Theological College, Pentecostal Holiness Church, Biblical Seminary, and Union Theological Seminary. Individual scholars that Buchanan corresponded with include Alexander Souter, Francis Crawford Burkitt, Dr. Erwin Nestle, Eduard Naville, James Rendel Harris, and Homero Seris. Further notable correspondents include Theodore Roosevelt, Arthur Conan Doyle, Rudyard Kipling, Dr. Achille Ratti (later Pope Pius XI), E. Rutheford ("father of nuclear physics"), Stanley Baldwin (British Prime minister during WWI), and William Inge (Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral).
-
Series 2: Writings, 1896 -- 1932
This series contains material relating to Buchanan's writings and research on early Biblical manuscripts, including Fleury Palimpsest (Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris), which resulted in a book "The Records Unrolled", published in 1911; Codex Corbeiensis = Codex H2 (Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris), published as "The Four Gospels from the Codex Corbeieinsis… Together with Fragments of the Catholic Epistles of the Acts and of the Apocalypse from the Fleury Palimpsest" in the Old-Latin Biblical Texts series in 1907; Codex Veronensis (Biblioteca Capitolare di Verona), published as "The Four Gospels from the Codex Veronensis" in 1911; Beatus Apocalypse = Morgan Ms. (Morgan Library), published as "A New Text of the Apocalypse from Spain" in 1915; Huntington Palimpsest (The Hispanic Society of America, New York); Harkness Manuscript (New York Public Library); and various other manuscript transcriptions and translations. Also included in this series are ESB's writings about his research, papers associated with Bridport, England Reading Society, and other various writings including sermons, poetry, and autobiographical writings.
-
Series 3: Reviews and publicity, 1896 -- 1932
This series contains clippings that relate to Buchanan; most of the clippings concern his scholarly publications. This series also contains publisher's notices announcing publication of Buchanan's books.
-
Series 4: Personal materials, circa 1894 -- 1950
This series contains personal materials, including teacher recommendations, church licenses, a resume that Buchanan wrote in 1914, his photograph, and his business card. This series also contains legacy processing information.
Burke Library record group:
Union Theological Seminary Archives: UTS 1, papers of faculty and students
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in four series: Series 1: Correspondence; Series 2: Writings; Series 3: Reviews and publicity; and Series 4: Personal materials.
- Series 1: Correspondence, 1890 -- 1936
- Series 2: Writings, 1896 -- 1932
- Series 3: Reviews and publicity, 1896 -- 1932
- Series 4: Personal materials, circa 1894 -- 1950
Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
The following boxes are located offsite: entire collection except Series 2 Box 9 OS. Please note that requests for use of boxes held in offsite storage must be made three business days in advance.
Conditions Governing Use
Some material in this collection may be protected by copyright and other rights. Information concerning copyright, fair use, and reproduction requests can be consulted at Columbia's Copyright Advisory Office.
Preferred Citation
Item description, UTS1: Edgar Simmons Buchanan papers, series #, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Edgar Simmons Buchanan papers were donated to the Union Theological Seminary in 1943.
About the Finding Aid / Processing Information
Columbia University Libraries, Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary
Processing Information
Correspondence, articles, newspaper clippings, photographs, reviews, and autobiographical materials were cataloged by Lynn A. Grove on 1988-07-07. Metal clips were removed from the material if they were rusted. Material was flattened where necessary. The collection was placed in archival folders and boxes. Acidic items were interleaved with acid-free paper. Photographs and fragile materials were placed inside Mylar envelopes. The finding aid was created by Maya Naunton in 2017 with the support of the Henry Luce Foundation and the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, and edited by Leah Edelman in 2024.
Revision Description
2024-06-28 PDF converted to EAD and description updated by Leah Edelman.
Biographical / Historical
Edgar Simmons Buchanan was a scholar of early Biblical manuscripts and an Anglican Church minister. He was born in Southampton, England on May 6th, 1872 to John Edgar Buchanan and Elizabeth May Saunders. When Buchanan was four, the family moved to New Zealand where he grew up. Buchanan graduated from University of New Zealand with an M.A. and B.Sc. In 1896 he returned to England where he attended Theological College in Salisbury. The College was headed by Bishop Wordsworth for whom Buchanan worked as his pupil and assistant. Their close relationship lasted until Bishop Wordsworth's death in 1911. After being ordained in 1897 Buchanan served as a curate in a number of churches in England and on the continent. During this period he also studied early Biblical manuscripts in libraries in London, Paris, Rome, Vienna, Milan, and Verona. He published numerous articles and books based on his research. In 1914, Buchanan came to New York and stayed in the United States for the rest of his life. In the United States Buchanan continued working on early Biblical manuscripts, as well as teaching and lecturing, including teaching at Columbia University. In 1915 Buchanan became a Curator of Manuscripts in the Hispanic Society of America. While working there, he began studying a manuscript belonging to Archer Milton Huntington, the founder of the Hispanic Society (referred to as the Huntington Palimpsest). Buchanan announced that the manuscript was a palimpsest and declared that the erased text constituted the earliest, previously unknown version of the Gospels. He dated the erased text to the 2nd century AD and claimed that the text was very distinct from the traditional Bible as it was known and that the newly discovered text revolutionized our understanding of Christ and Christianity. Buchanan prepared the text for publication and was working on correcting the proofs when the owner of the manuscript started having doubts about the validity of Buchanan's findings. Other scholars disagreed with Buchanan's assertions and the type of the book was broken up and it was never published in the United States. Buchanan published it later in England. Subsequent to the controversy with the Huntington Palimpsest, Buchanan continued to fight for recognition of his discoveries, writing letters to other scholars, to the media, and even to Pope Pius XI, who Buchanan met prior to his election while they were doing Biblical research in Italian Libraries. Buchanan supported England during WWI and the archive holds correspondence with the English government and benevolent societies reflecting that association. Later Buchanan taught at a number of private schools. He continued to do research and publish. He also lectured around the country. In 1930 Buchanan fell sick and sailed to Australia at his doctor's advice, where he died on August 19th, 1932.
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.