Literature Collections

Literature Collection – Collection Development Policy 

Scope 

The Literature collection is almost exclusively composed of sub-collections devoted to individual writers in the Western canon (such as Matthew Arnold, Robert Burns, Lord Byron, Willa Cather, H. Rider Haggard, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Rudyard Kipling, Walt Whitman, and numerous others) or themes (such as Literature of the Sea and Bibliomysteries). The very notable exception is the J. Lawrence Mitchell Collection, which is not only a cornerstone of the Literature collection, but indeed of Cushing’s holdings more generally. Lit/Mitchell, as it is commonly known, deals primarily with: the history of the English language, lexicography, and philology; writers associated with the Great War (including Wilfred Owen, Siegried Sassoon, and many others); English Modernism (most notably the writers of the Bloomsbury group, especially the Garnett family); extensive holdings related to Katherine Mansfield; the Powys family and their circle (most notably Theodore Francis Powys and Sylvia Townsend Warner); Rhys Davies; other notable English writers between the two World Wars; as well as the history of the book, book collecting, and fine press publishing. 

Types of Materials 

In general, the Literature collection is composed of printed editions, but also contains significant (if somewhat sporadic) archival holdings. The Mitchell collection, for example, contains extensive manuscript and archival material related to the Powys family. 

Existing Collection Strengths 

The Garnett family; the Bloomsbury group; the Powys family; Katherine Mansfield; Sylvia Townsend Warner; WWI poets; slang dictionaries; the Poetry Bookshop; Walt Whitman; Rudyard Kipling. 

Current Collecting Foci 

The Garnett Family; the Poetry Bookshop; Book Collecting and Bibliography. 

Institutional Repository / Digitization Projects 

None known. 

Connections with Other Cushing Collections 

Lowman; Children’s Literature (curated separately); Science Fiction and Fantasy; Rare; Laughlin; Ragan; Maritime; Kelsey Illustrators; Kelsey Americana.

Curator: Kevin M. O’Sullivan 

Created 7/24/2020