While Stainforth kept a very detailed catalog of his collection of women’s writing, he also kept personal scrapbooks with clippings of smaller pieces of writing. Scrapbooking was a common hobby during his time, and people would often exchange them with eachother. The pieces in Stainforths are all written by women and are by and large … Continue reading Interesting Discoveries in Stainforth Scrapbooks
“Monument to Our Matrons,” short fiction inspired by the Stainforth library’s auction in 1867
By Michael W. Harris, published in Plumbago issue 5 (Jan. 2019) I settle into my chair at the esteemed auction house of Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge to witness the selling off, piecemeal, of the careful and thoughtful accumulation of the better part of my life. No novice to London collecting circles, I had previously cultivated passions for both … Continue reading “Monument to Our Matrons,” short fiction inspired by the Stainforth library’s auction in 1867
Adah Isaacs Menken
How serendipitous that on a day where I mulled over how Stainforth identified American women writers, by day’s end I should learn of someone new, thanks to Reverend Stainforth. Adah Isaacs Menken, an American actress and poet (1835-1868), was known to this British book collector, evidence of which is in his catalog. She identified one … Continue reading Adah Isaacs Menken
Another woman of color
I spoke too soon and take back my earlier snarky and wistful comments. Our man Stainforth had in his collection a piece written by Adah Isaacs Menken who was a nineteenth-century actress, artist and poet. I am not familiar with her story and will research this further, but her VIAF record identifies her as an … Continue reading Another woman of color
Identify and Identity
In continuing name-authority research for Stainforth writers who do not have VIAF records, I ponder how Reverend Stainforth identified American women writers to include in his private library. No doubt the book dealers with whom he worked recommended new authors and titles on a regular basis, yet he had his favorite reference tools which evince … Continue reading Identify and Identity
The Sisters Acton
In December of 1846, sisters Mary Harriet and Rose Acton published a 150-page volume entitled Poems. Finding biographical entries or information about the sisters proved challenging. Early in our Stainforth DH project, neither author had a virtual international authority file record (VIAF) but recently I found that each has a stub of a VIAF record … Continue reading The Sisters Acton
Ann Yearsley’s Library Catalog
My co-editor, Debbie Hollis, recently shared with me Ann Yearsley’s library catalog, which one can access through Gale/ECCO. Go to Ann Yearsley’s Library Catalog My current institution doesn’t subscribe to ECCO, and I took this incredible (and expensive) database for granted at both CU-Boulder, where I did my PhD, and at Dartmouth College, where I … Continue reading Ann Yearsley’s Library Catalog
A Negress in Stainforth’s Catalogue
My research partner, Dr. Kirstyn Leuner, understands that my initial interest in the Stainforth Library of Women’s Writing DH project was to recover the works of long forgotten women. Shortly after launching ourselves on this path, a narrower interest grew and I wanted to identify women of color in this 19th-century book collector’s holdings. Imagine … Continue reading A Negress in Stainforth’s Catalogue
Alice Flowerdew, Robert Bloomfield, and VIAF #Fail
It is stunning to me that Alice Flowerdew does not have a record in VIAF.org, the Virtual International Authority File. I started searching for Flowerdew while spot-checking our person authority records completed by new student editors (they’re amazing!) at the University of Colorado Boulder. “Flowerdew (A)” appears on page 161 of the catalog and has … Continue reading Alice Flowerdew, Robert Bloomfield, and VIAF #Fail
Miss Edgworth Temple or James Templeman?
Our newest Stainforth researcher, Faith, sent me a Slack message saying that she found a case of a male author in the Stainforth catalog publishing under the name of a woman. This would be James Templeman publishing as Miss Edgworth Temple, author of The Mysterious Shriek, or, Alexander and Lavinia: a metrical tale. Also, the ancient … Continue reading Miss Edgworth Temple or James Templeman?