ma22 Henry Walcott Boynton Papers 1897-1939 Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by Daria D'Arienzo, Margaret R. Dakin. Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
Amherst, MA
© 2002

Amherst College Archives and Special Collections. All rights reserved.

 Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Sarah Sorscher. 2002-07-25 Finding aid written in English. 2005-09-23 ma22 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02-5c.xsl (sy2003-10-15). Amherst College Archives and Special Collections Henry Walcott Boynton Papers 1897-1939 Finding Aid Revised November 1999 Daria D'Arienzo, Archivist of the College Margaret R. Dakin, Archives and Special Collections Associate Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

© 2002 Amherst College. All rights reserved.

 Collection Overview Boynton, Henry Walcott, 1869-1947 Boynton Papers 1897-1939 13 archives boxes (6.5 linear ft.) Amherst College Archives and Special Collections Correspondence, notes, reviews and clippings documenting the literary career of Henry Walcott Boynton. The collection includes handwritten drafts of plays, prose and poems, and drafts of stories written under the pseudonym John Walcott. Correspondence is chiefly with magazine and book publishers, including the Atlantic Monthly, The Bookman and The Nation. English. Biographical Note

Henry Walcott Boynton was born in 1869 in Guilford, Connecticut. He received his Bachelor of Arts in 1891, and his Master of Arts in 1893, both from Amherst College. From 1892 to 1901 Boynton was head of the department of English at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts. After 1901 he devoted himself to writing. He was chief reviewer for the Atlantic Monthly from 1901 to 1904. He was on the regular staff of the Nation and the New York Evening Post beginning in 1912. He wrote criticism for the Bookman beginning in 1915. Boynton died in 1947.

Boynton was the author or editor of at least twenty-four books, often using his pseudonym, John Walcott. His works include: Life of Washington Irving (1901); The Golfer's Rubaiyat (1901); Bret Harte (1903); A Reader's History of American Literature (1903, with T.W. Higginson); Journalism and Literature (1904); Guenever, a Romantic Play (1905); The World's Leading Poets (1911); James Fenimore Cooper (1931); and Annals of American Bookselling (1932). Boynton's edited texts with introduction and notes include: Selections from Carlyle (1895); Tennyson's The Princess (1896); Milton's Paradise Lost (1897); Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield (1899); Pope's The Rape of the Lock (1901); Mrs. Ewing's Jackanapes (1902); Miss Martineau's The Prince and the Peasant (1902); Pope's Complete Poetical Works (Cambridge edition) (1902); Tennyson's Idylls of the King (1903); and Selected Poems for Secondary Schools (1911).

 Scope and Contents of the Collection

Correspondence, notes, reviews and clippings documenting the literary career of Henry Walcott Boynton. The collection includes handwritten drafts of plays ("Dr. Lavendar," "Guenever," "Pompilia," "Flood Tide," etc.), prose and poems, and drafts of stories written under the pseudonym John Walcott. Correspondence is chiefly with magazine and book publishers, including the Atlantic Monthly, The Bookman and The Nation.

Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into nine series:

1. Correspondence 2. Dr. Lavendar, Play 3. Manuscripts of Plays and Books 4. Manuscripts of Poetry 5. Boynton Writing Under Pseudonym John Walcott 6. Scrapbook on Guenever 7. Books of Clippings and Reviews By Boynton 8. Newspaper Clippings 9. Miscellaneous Materials Arrangement of the Collection

Correspondence is arranged alphabetically.

 Information on Use Terms of Access and Use

There is no restriction on access to the Boynton Papers for research use. Particularly fragile items are restricted for preservation purposes.

Requests for permission to publish material from the Boynton Papers should be directed to the Archives and Special Collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.

 Preferred Citation

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

[Identification of item], in Henry Walcott Boynton Papers [Box #, folder #] , Amherst College Archives and Special Collections, Amherst College Library

 History of the Collection Revised November 1999 Daria D'Arienzo, Archivist of the College Margaret R. Dakin, Archives and Special Collections Associate Search Terms Boynton, Henry Walcott, 1869-1947. Boynton, Henry Walcott, 1869-1947. Dr. Lavendar--Sources. Boynton, Henry Walcott, 1869-1947. Guenever--Sources. Boynton, Henry Walcott, 1869-1947. Pompilia--Sources. Boynton, Henry Walcott, 1869-1947. Flood tide--Sources. Atlantic Monthly. Nation. New York post. Bookman. Criticism--Sources. Literature--History and criticism--Sources. Journalism--Sources. Amherst College. Class of 1891. Boynton. Section 1: CORRESPONDENCE

Sub-section A: Outgoing Correspondence Sub-section B: Incoming Correspondence

The correspondence is mainly from publishers and magazines concerning Boynton's work. Those letters are filed by publisher. Correspondence is arranged alphabetically.

 Sub-section A: Outgoing Correspondence 1 1 Letters to others from others 1 2 Letters from Boynton, A-Z Sub-section B: Incoming Correspondence 1 3 Illegible signatures 1 4 A - All 1 5 Allyn and Bacon 1 6 Am - D. Appleton Century Co. 1 7 Atlantic Monthly - Az 1 8 Badger, Richard G., Publisher - Boni and Liveright, Inc. 1 9 The Bookman 2 1 Bos - Bz 2 2 C - The Century Co. 2 3 Ch - Con 2 4 Cooper, James F. 2 5 James Fenimore Cooper Junior High School Memorial Committee - The Critic - Cz 2 6 D - The Delineator - The Dial - George H. Doran Co. - Duffield and Co. - Dz 2 7 E - Ez 2 8 F - Fox, Duffield and Co. - Fz 3 1 G - Ginn and Co. - The Grafton Press - Gz 3 2 H - Harper and Bros, Publishers - Henry Holt and Co. - Houghton, Mifflin and Co. - Hz 3 3 I - The Independent and Weekly Review - Iz 3 4 J 3 5 K - Kauser, Alice, dramatist's agent - Kz 3 6 L - Library of the World's Best Literature - Literary Review - Little, Brown and Co. - Horace Liveright, Publisher - Longmans, Green and Co. - Lz 3 7 M - McClure Co. - MacMillan Co. - A.N. Marquis and Co. - Mz 4 1 N - The Nation 4 2 National - New International Encyclopedia - New York (the journal) - New York Evening Post - New York Times - New York Tribune - Nz 4 3 O - The Outlook Co. 4 4 P - Paget Literary Agency - The Providence Journal and Evening Bulletin - Putnam's Monthly 4 5 R - The Reader Magazine - The Review - Rz 5 1 S - The Saturday Evening Post - The Saturday Review of Literature - Charles Scribner's Sons - The Shortstory Publishing Co. - Sibley and Ducker Herbert S. Stone and Co. - The Stratford Co. 5 2 The Sun 1924-26 5 3 The Sun - Sz 1927-37 5 4 T 5 5 U - The Unpopular Review 5 6 V 5 7 W - The Weekly Review - John Wiley and Sons, Inc. The World's Work - Wz 5 8 Y 5 9 Z 5 10 Contracts with publishers Section 2: DR. LAVENDAR, PLAY

Sub-section A: Correspondence Sub-section B: Notes

 Sub-section A: Correspondence 6 1 Letters from Boynton 6 2 Letters to Boynton Sub-section B: Notes 6 3 Notes 6 4 Notes 6 5 Notes Section 3: MANUSCRIPTS OF PLAYS AND BOOKS

Contains handwritten drafts, typed drafts, and photocopies of play and books.

 7 1 Dr. Lavendar - four acts (complete), typewritten script 7 2 Dr. Lavendar - three acts (short version), typewritten script 7 3 Guenever - A Romance, typewritten manuscript 7 4 Pompilia - A Dramatic Study of the Ring and the Book - in five acts, handwritten manuscript 7 5 Pompilia - A Dramatic Study of the Ring and the Book - in five acts, photocopy 7 6 Flood Tide, A Play in Three Acts, typewritten script 7 7 Flood Tide, A Play in Three Acts, photocopy 7 8 Flood Tide, miscellaneous pages 8 1 One of Our Personages, Samuel Finley Breese Morse, typewritten manuscript 8 2 One of Our Personages, Samuel Finley Breese Morse, photocopy of book Section 4: MANUSCRIPTS OF POETRY

Contains handwritten drafts, typed drafts, and photocopies of poetry.

 8 3 Photocopies of poems, with critical letter from Professor John F. Genung 8 4 Manuscript of class poem 1891 Jun 22 8 5 Book of poetry, handwritten 1898-99 8 6 Book of poetry, handwritten 1898 8 7 Poetry, typewritten manuscripts 8 8 Poetry about Massasoit 8 9 Poetry Section 5: BOYNTON WRITING UNDER PSEUDONYM JOHN WALCOTT

Contains stories and miscellaneous material by Boynton, writing under the pseudonym John Walcott.

 9 1 Short stories for lectures 9 2 Short stories, some printed 9 3 Miscellaneous pages of short stories Section 6: SCRAPBOOK ON GUENEVER

Includes correspondence with Julia Marlowe.

 10 Scrapbook-contains correspondence Section 7: BOOKS OF CLIPPINGS AND REVIEWS BY BOYNTON

Includes material from 1897-1937.

 11 [Unnumbered book] 1906-1937 11 Book I 1897-1902 11 Book II 1902-1903 11 Book III 1903-1904 11 Book IV 1904 11 Book V 1905-1907 11 Book VI 1907-1909 11 Book VII 1910-1915 Section 8: NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS 12 Miscellaneous clippings Section 9: MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS 13 1 Writings on war 13 2 Lecture on "Browning and Landor" 13 3 Miscellaneous papers 13 4 "Literature by Piecemeal" in The English Journal, 1934 13 5 "Along New England's Book Trails" in Yankee Magazine, January 1939, pp. 24 and 27 1939 13 6 Miscellaneous papers and clippings including some reviews of Annals of American Bookselling, by Boynton