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MS Am 1089

Norton, Andrews, 1786-1853. Papers: Guide.

Houghton Library, Harvard College Library

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Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138

© 2003 The President and Fellows of Harvard College

Descriptive Summary

Repository: Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
Location: b
Call No.: MS Am 1089
Creator: Norton, Andrews, 1786-1853.
Title: Papers,
Date(s): 1768-1890 (inclusive), 1795-1852 (bulk).
Quantity: 17 boxes and 1 v. (6 linear ft.)
Abstract: Correspondence, compositions, and miscellaneous writings of American religious scholar and librarian Andrews Norton. Also some town documents of Hingham, Mass.

Acquisition Information:

Gift of the Norton family, date unknown.
MS Am 1089 (1321a): Silhouette of Andrews Norton found among the C.E.Norton papers, put into the Portrait file,then later moved here.

Processing Information:

Much of this collection is not fully cataloged.
Re-cataloged from MS Am 9029.

Historical Note

Andrews Norton (1786-1853) theological controversialist, biblical scholar and man of letters, was born in Hingham, Mass., the son of Samuel Norton, a shopkeeper, and Jane Andrews Norton. He graduated from Harvard College in 1804 and spent the next 15 years as a graduate student, tutor, and lecturer at Harvard and at Bowdoin College in Maine. In 1813 Harvard appointed him Dexter Lecturer on Biblical Criticism and in 1819 he was appointed the first Dexter Professor of Sacred Literature. He also acted as the College Librarian from 1813 to 1821. In 1821 he married Catharine Eliot who brought him wealth and a Cambridge estate called "Shady Hill". Norton, known as the "Unitarian Pope," was Emerson's leading foe in the Unitarian-Transcendentalist controversy. He spent his last years in deteriorating health and died in Newport, Rhode Island in 1853. Andrews and Catharine Norton had four children who survived infancy; one was scholar, critic, and Harvard professor, Charles Eliot Norton.

Arrangement

Organized into the following series:

Scope and Content

Correspondence and letter books of Andrews Norton, including family correspondence and letters reflecting Norton's scholarly interests and his work as librarian and professor at Harvard; together with some manuscripts of writings by Norton; undergraduate diary from Norton's student days at Harvard; daguerreotype of Norton; diary, 1818-1819; notebooks; notes on reading and catalogue of Norton's books; and clippings. Also includes documents, 1768-1782, relating to the committee of correspondence and town militia of Hingham, Mass., where Norton's father Samuel lived.

Related Material

There are additional Norton family materials in the following printed books:

Container List


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