MS Am 2206 Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion), 1854-1909. F. Marion (Francis Marion)
Crawford papers: Guide.
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
![[link]](http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.OIS:fas_shield)
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
© 2002 The President and Fellows of Harvard College
Last update on 2009
September 22
Repository: Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
Location: b
Call No.: MS Am 2206
Creator: Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion), 1854-1909.
Title: F. Marion (Francis Marion) Crawford papers,
Date(s): 1864-1967 (inclusive),
1883-1908 (bulk).
Quantity: 4 boxes (1.25 linear ft.)
Abstract: Letters of the American novelist, F. Marion Crawford, to his wife, with other
related correspondence and papers.
Processed by: Melanie M. Wisner
*91M-62. Manuscripts purchased with funds from the Amy Lowell fund from
Professor Robert L. Gale, 131 Techview Terrace,
Pittsburgh, PA 15213; received 1992 June
26
*2000M-5 Manuscripts presented by Professor Robert L. Gale, 131 Techview Terrace, Pittsburgh, PA 15213; received
2000 July 27.
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.
F. Marion (Francis Marion) Crawford Papers (MS Am 2206). Houghton Library, Harvard
University.
Francis Marion Crawford was born in 1854 in Bagni di Lucca (Italy), to American
parents: the sculptor Thomas Crawford (1813?-1857), and Louisa Cutler Ward Crawford
(later Terry), Julia Ward Howe's sister.
After education in Rome, Concord (N.H.), England, Germany, and India, Crawford went
to Boston in 1881 to try writing and possibly politics. He returned to Europe after
success with his first novel, continuing to write and in 1884 marrying Elizabeth
Christophers Berdan, daughter of General Hiram Berdan, rifle inventor, engineer, and
Civil War sharpshooter. The couple first lived with Crawford's mother in Rome, but,
after the birth of the first of their four children, Crawford bought a cliff-side
property in Sant'Agnello di Sorrento, Italy, which became the
Villa Crawford. The growing family eventually adopted the
surname Marion-Crawford.
Through the 1880s and 1890s, Crawford wrote more than forty romance and adventure
novels and popular histories, most set in Italy, most published by Macmillan &
Co., and most enjoying great success in the United States and worldwide. He traveled
to the United States often to lecture and to write; he also visited to direct the
legal affairs of the Berdan Firearms Manufacturing Company, created by his
father-in-law, in its patent claims against the U.S. government. During the summer
months, Crawford also sailed off the Italian coast on his yacht, the Alda;
his wife, too, traveled seasonally, and the resulting separations were
bridged with almost daily correspondence.
The papers are organized into six series:
- I. Letters from F. Marion
(Francis Marion) Crawford to Elizabeth Christophers Berdan Crawford.
- II. Letters from F. Marion (Francis Marion) Crawford to others.
- III. Letters from others to F. Marion (Francis Marion)
Crawford.
- IV. Letters from others to Elizabeth Christophers
Berdan Crawford.
- V. Other correspondence.
- VI.
Other materials.
Crawford's autograph manuscript letters to his wife form the bulk of this collection,
with other related letters, one photograph, and printed material, some originally
enclosed in the letters to his wife.
-
Series: I. Letters from F. Marion (Francis Marion) Crawford to Elizabeth
Christophers Berdan Crawford.
Mrs. Crawford was known generally as "Bessie" but also as "Zuhrah" to her
husband. Many letters are written from a New York apartment in the Macmillan
& Co. offices at 66 Fifth Avenue; many letters are written on the
letterhead of his yacht, the Alda; and some emanate
from Torre San Nicola, his tower retreat south of
Sorrento.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically. Some undated letters were assigned
tentative dates by previous owners and are now filed by that date; others of
less certainty have been placed together at the end of the series.
-
(1) Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion), 1854-1909.
Letters to Elizabeth Christophers Berdan Crawford,
1888. 1 folder.
-
(2) Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion), 1854-1909.
Letters to Elizabeth Christophers Berdan Crawford,
1889. 1 folder.
-
(3) Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion), 1854-1909.
Letters to Elizabeth Christophers Berdan Crawford,
1892. 1 folder.
-
(4) Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion), 1854-1909.
Letters to Elizabeth Christophers Berdan Crawford,
1893. 1 folder.
-
(5) Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion), 1854-1909.
Letters to Elizabeth Christophers Berdan Crawford,
1894. 1 folder.
-
(6) Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion), 1854-1909.
Letters to Elizabeth Christophers Berdan Crawford,
1895. 1 folder.
-
(8) Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion), 1854-1909.
Letters to Elizabeth Christophers Berdan Crawford,
1897. 1 folder.
-
(10) Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion), 1854-1909.
Letters to Elizabeth Christophers Berdan Crawford,
1899. 1 folder.
-
(11) Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion), 1854-1909.
Letters to Elizabeth Christophers Berdan Crawford,
1900. 1 folder.
With a news clipping.
-
(12) Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion), 1854-1909.
Letters to Elizabeth Christophers Berdan Crawford,
1901. 1 folder.
-
(14) Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion), 1854-1909.
Letters to Elizabeth Christophers Berdan Crawford,
1903. 1 folder.
-
(15) Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion), 1854-1909.
Letters to Elizabeth Christophers Berdan Crawford,
1904. 1 folder.
-
(16) Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion), 1854-1909.
Letters to Elizabeth Christophers Berdan Crawford,
1905. 1 folder.
-
(18) Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion), 1854-1909.
Letters to Elizabeth Christophers Berdan Crawford,
1908. 1 folder.
-
(19) Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion), 1854-1909.
Letters to Elizabeth Christophers Berdan Crawford,
undated. 1 folder.
-
Series: IV. Letters from others to Elizabeth Christophers Berdan Crawford.
-
(49) Dufferin and Ava, Frederick Temple Blackwood, Marquis of,
1826-1902. Letters to Elizabeth Christophers
Berdan Crawford, 1884-1892. 1 folder.
-
(50) Macmillan, Frederick. Letter to Elizabeth
Christophers Berdan Crawford, 1902. 1 folder.
-
(51) Marion-Crawford, Harold. Letter to
Elizabeth Christophers Berdan Crawford, 1896. 1 folder.
-
(53) Terry, Louisa Ward Crawford. Letter to Elizabeth Christophers Berdan Crawford, 1884. 1 folder.
-
Series: V. Other correspondence.
-
(53a) Dufferin and Ava, Frederick Temple Blackwood, Marquis of,
1826-1902. Letter to Louisa Cutler Ward
Crawford Terry, 1884. 1 folder.
hou00157
![[OASIS]](../images/oasis/OASISshield50.gif){kind=small}