Inventory of the Lewis Nathaniel Chase Papers,
1807-1941
[
top]
Descriptive Summary
Repository
University Archives, Duke
University
Creator
Chase, Lewis Nathaniel, 1873-1937
Title
Lewis Nathaniel Chase Papers, 1807-1941
Language of Material
Material in English
Extent
2.0 Linear Feet
2000 Items
Abstract
Lewis Chase taught in the English Department at Duke University beginning in 1929. It is unclear when/if he left the University. He died in 1937.
The collection largely includes material pertaining to Chase's research on writer Edgar Allan Poe. It ranges in date from 1807-1941.
[
top]
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
Patrons must sign the Acknowledgement of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this collection.
Collection is open for research.
Copyright Notice
Copyright for Official University records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Lewis Nathaniel Chase Papers, University Archives, Duke University.
Provenance
The Lewis Nathaniel Chase Papers were received by the University Archives as a
transfer in 1958 and 1967.
Processing Information
Processed by Jessica Wood, November 2006
Encoded by Kimberly Sims, February 2007
Accessions A56 and A68-99 were merged into one collection, described in this finding aid.
Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory: DACS, EAD, NCEAD guidelines, and our local Style Guide.
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
[
top]
Biographical Note
Lewis Nathaniel Chase was born in 1873 in Sidney, Maine and grew up in Rochester, New York. He earned his A.B. in 1895 from Columbia University. After graduation, he studied stage dancing at Daly's Theater and with several private instructors. He spent one year in Philadelphia selling office equipment before returning to Columbia University and earning his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in 1898 and 1903, respectively. He subsequently taught English at the University of Indiana, the University of Louisville, and the University of Bordeaux in France. In 1910, he made a research trip to London, where an old acquaintance suggested that Chase write a volume on Poe for the Harrap's Poetry and Life series; this inaugurated Chase's exhaustive research into Poe's life. In 1916, Chase returned to the U.S. and taught Literature at the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Rochester. He relocated to India in 1920, where he was appointed professor of English Literature at Aligarh Muslim University. Within a few years, he moved to China, where he taught at four different universities. Eventually, he returned to the U.S., teaching at the University of California, the California School of Technology, Riverside College and Union College before joining the faculty of the English Department at Duke University in 1929. Besides Edgar Allan Poe, Chase also specialized in the work of Georgia poet Thomas Holley Chivers, utilizing Duke's collection of Chivers manuscripts. Chase died in 1937.
[
top]
Collection Overview
The collection includes correspondence pertaining to Chase’s publications and research on Edgar Allan Poe’s works, Chase’s research notes, typescripts of Poe-related correspondence found in libraries, clippings, postcards and other memorabilia relating to Edgar Allan Poe. It also includes photographs, mostly commercial prints, of people and places related to Poe’s life, including London scenes, the Poe cottage and Seagate Castle. Correspondence files are extremely brittle. Among the correspondents are Edmund Gosse, John Erskine and J. E. Spingarn. There is also an unidentified handwritten travel diary dated September 1858, which was found in the Woman’s College Library, and believed to have been left by Chase. It details travels in New England and China. Paperclips damaging the files were replaced, as were disintegrating folders. The collection ranges in date from 1807-1941.
[
top]
Subject Headings
These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.
[
top]
Related Material
News Service Biographical Files, 1960-2004
Duke University Archives
Clarence Louis Frank Gohdes Papers, 1811-1990s and undated (bulk 1905-1981)
Rare Books, Mansucripts and Special Collections Library, Duke University
Eastwood-Bigelow Family Papers
University of Rochester, New York
[
top]
Detailed Description of Collection
Container List
Box 1
Poeiana, 1807-1941
Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1903-1907
Unidentified Notebook, 1858 (thought to have belonged to Chase)
Box 2
Parodies on
"The Raven"
"A New Poe Letter,"
1934
Poe and His Poetry - Reviews, Correspondence, 1914
"Poe and the London Critic"
Chase's Poe Lecture Notes, 1933
Poe Death Notices
Poe in England / Poe's Childhood Abroad and its Effects Upon His Works
Poe in England - Letters, Etc.
Poe in France
John Bransky and His School
Poe in France - Nancy Cope's Translation
Poe in Putnam
Poe Material at Clark Jr. Library - William Andrew
Poe - New York Mirror - Typescript, 1845
Box 3
Poe's Father - Correspondence
Poe's Lecture in Boston
Chase - Poe's London - Manuscript, Clippings, Correspondence
The Poe-Griswold Controversy
Poe and His Poetry - Early Draft
Poe and His Poetry - Carbon Copy
Poe and His Poetry - Page Proof
Giltspur -
"The Story of Church Street"
Census of First Editions and Other Original Materials
Box 4
Illustrations for Poe's Works
Photographs Relating to Poe
Postcards Relating to Poe
Typescript of Eveleth-Whitman Correspondence, 1932
Typescript of Davidson-Whitman Correspondence, 1932
[
top]
Bibliography
Chase, Lewis Nathaniel
The English Heroic Play: A Critical Description of the Rhymed Tragedy of the Restoration,
Chase, Lewis Nathaniel
Thomas Holley Chivers: a Selection,
