The collection contains John Gish’s correspondence, 1850-51, which describes his journey west and experiences in California, letters to Gish from associates in the mines, 1852-56, describing life in the mines and conditions in California, and an 1850 agreement of partnership to search for gold in California.
Subject (Name):
Gish, Mary, Hill, Joseph, Hodge, John S., Mays, Abraham, Mekemson, Joseph S., Singer, Jacob, and Wise, John H.
Series I contains approximately a thousand letters, primarily personal correspondence among members of Louisa Siefert's family. The majority of the letters are between Siefert and her sister, Clemy (Siefert) Bost, and between Siefert and her mother, Adele-Adrienne (Belz) Siefert. These letters mainly document social and personal activities, such as news of Clemy's husband and children and the health of their mother. Many of Louisa Siefert's letters to her sister describe her own ailing health and advancing tuberculosis, and her doctors' advice. Letters to Siefert's mother also describe the dinners Siefert attends; visits with acquaintances, including Victor Hugo, Charles Blanc, and Paul Chenevard; and operas she sees. Other correspondents in the collection include Siefert's friends such as Charles Asselineau, Chenevard, and Emmanuel des Essarts; admirers of her poetry; the Journal de Lyon concerning her publications; and family members to each other after her death. Also in the collection are Siefert's wedding announcement and death notice; several accounts and receipts; and a manuscript, with numerous corrections, of Adele-Adrienne Siefert's memoirs of her daughter. and Series II contains eight volumes of poetry, primarily in Siefert's hand. Two volumes contain collections of other poets' works, one of which includes, dos-a-dos, a juvenile play by Siefert titled En Automne. Other volumes include a set of notes taken during a course on French poetry taught by Charles Asselineau, and four collections of original poetry dated between 1865 and 1872, which include many sentimental or dedicatory poems to friends and family members. The original poems are annotated with the dates of their composition, and occasionally with publication information; and laid in a volume titled Poems d'amour are two pages of comments on the poems in Asselineau's hand. Also included in the collection is a volume of reviews of Siefert's works, copied in her hand.
Description:
Louisa Siefert (1845-1877), poet, was raised in Lyon as a Protestant by her parents Henry Siefert, vice-consul to Portugal, and Adele-Adrienne (Belz) Siefert. Her first book of poems, Rayons perdus, was published in 1868 to great acclaim; other collections published during her lifetime include L'Année républicaine (1869); Les Stoïques (1870); Les Saintes Colères (1871); and Comédies romanesques (1872); as well as a novel, Méline (1875). Through her friendship with Charles Asselineau, she became well acquainted with other literary and artistic figures, including Victor Hugo, Emile Deschamps, Charles Baudelaire, and Paul Chenavard. In 1876, she married Jocelyn Pene, secretary to Emilio Castelar; a year later, she died of tuberculosis in Pau, France. After her death, her mother published Souvenirs, Poésies inédites. and Purchased from Bernard Quaritch, Ltd. on the Edwin J.Beinecke Book Fund, 2006.
Subject (Geographic):
France--Social life and customs--19th century
Subject (Name):
Siefert family
Subject (Topic):
Artists--France--19th century--Correspondence and Authors, French--19th century--Correspondence
Authors, American--20th century--Archives, Authors, Russian--20th century--Archives , Nobel Prize winners, Poets, American--20th century, Poets, Russian--20th century, and Translators
Seventy letters from William C. Ellis to his wife describe the trip to California by way of Panama and experiences in the gold fields. Accompanied by six other family letters, including five letters by or to Anne Ellis, wife of the Welsh poet, Robert Ellis.
Description:
The six additional family letters were a gift of Hannah C. Ellis in 1961.
Subject (Geographic):
California--Gold discoveries
Subject (Name):
Ellis, Anne, Ellis, Cornelia, Ellis, Robert, 1810-1875, and Ellis, William C.
Subject (Topic):
Frontier and pioneer life--California, Gold mines and mining--California, and Voyages to the Pacific coast
Six autograph letters (1853-1856) from August Scharf and his wife to her parents in Hermann [Missouri?] written after their arrival in California. The letters discuss their ranch, August's work in the mines, trouble with Elisabeth's brothers, financial difficulties, and Elisabeth's death. One letter contains an addendum by August's friend Jakob Schneider and wife. The Scharf letters are accompanied by three autograph letters dated 1860-1863, one from Alwine Scharf Weber to her brother from Naumburg, Germany containing family news, another from Gottlob Sachse Shuhmacher to his friend August Scharf from Nebra, near Naumburg, asking for news of his brother-in-law, and a third from Charles Robert Kleine to [August?] Scharf from San Francisco mentioning that he had visited Scharf's little son.
Description:
August Scharf, his wife Elisabeth, and her three brothers made an overland journey to California in 1853 from Hermann (possibly Hermann, Missouri, a German settlement). The Scharfs lived in Grizzly Flat, where they had a farm and had shares in a gold mill. Elisabeth died in August 1856, two months after having a third child, their first girl. and Purchased from Charles Apfelbaum on the Arthur Corbitt Hoskins Memorial Fund, 2000.
Subject (Geographic):
California--Gold discoveries and Hermann (Mo.)
Subject (Name):
Scharf, August and Scharf, Elisabeth
Subject (Topic):
German Americans--California and Gold mines and mining--California--El Dorado County