Henry Bool correspondence, 1895-1921

Summary

Creator:

Bool, Henry

Abstract:

Consists of 7 outgoing and 344 incoming letters, largely from 1896-1903. Chiefly concerns Bool's financial support of anarchists and their publications, especially Benjamin R. Tucker and Liberty, and Moses Harman and Lucifer, the light-bearer, distribution of literature, particularly Bool's pamphlet Liberty luminants, the philosophy and activities of anarchist friends and acquaintances, notably John W. Lloyd, as well as personal and business affairs.

Extent:

4 linear ft. (351 items)

Language:

English

Authors:

Collection processed and finding aid created by K. Beam/K. Dow

Background

Scope and Content:

The Correspondence series includes several outgoing letters from Bool, but mostly consists of incoming letters. These primarily address Bool's financial support of anarchists and their publications, especially Benjamin Tucker and Liberty, and Lillian and Moses Harman and Lucifer, The Light-Bearer. Portions of the correspondence are concerned business matters as well as with anarchist philosophy and publishing, particularly the distribution of literature such as Bool's pamphlet Liberty Luminants. Anarchist and Labadie Collection founder Jo Labadie is well-represented.

The Archival series consists of one folder containing notes, typed and handwritten, concerning Bool's donation, via Jo Labadie, of pamphlets and booklets. Also included is a short memoir written in 1932 by Agnes Inglis, the original curator of the Labadie Collection, remembering Jo and "Mama" Labadie, Judson and Margaret Grenell, and Henry Bool.

Biographical / Historical:

HenryBool was an anarchist pamphleteer and the benefactor of several anarchist writers, including Benjamin Tucker. Although biographical material about Bool is scarce, written memorials suggest he was born in the village of Monacute, Somerset, England, probably in the 1850s. He emigrated to the United States as a young man and settled in Ithaca, New York, where he began a picture-framing business, eventually expanding the shop into a profitable furniture business.

Bool used the profits from his business to support a number of political activities, including printing political pamphlets, supporting anarchist publishing companies, and opening up a radical lending library in Ithaca. As a young man, Bool was a strong follower of Henry George's single-tax plan, but became more sympathetic to anarchism following the Haymarket trial (1886), which he viewed as unjust. The writings of Benjamin Tucker won him over to the "individualistic Anarchist" viewpoint, which held that all governmental authority stifles individual liberty.

In the early part of the 20th century, Bool sold his business and moved to Florida for several years. In 1907, he moved back to his childhood home in Montacute, where he died in 1922. Researchers interested in Bool might also examine the Labadie Collections "Anarchism-Bool" vertical files, which contain some of Bool's pamphlets and biographical material.

Acquisition Information:

Gift of Henry Bool and Mary Bool through Jo Labadie, 1932.

Processing information:

Collection processed and finding aid created by K. Beam/K. Dow.

Arrangement:

The papers are arranged in two series: Correspondence, arranged alphabetically by correspondent, and Archival.

Related

Additional Descriptive Data:

Joseph A. Labadie (1850-1933) Letters to Henry Bool, 1903-21

• 1903 - Feb. 21 - ALS [2] p.on 1 lf., Detroit.
• 1913 - July 14 - TLS [2] p.on 1 lf., New Hudson, Mich.
• 1913 - Dec. 1 - TLS [2] p.on 1 lf., New Hudson, Mich. Holograph note added at bottom of p.2.
• 1913 - Dec. 29 - TLS [3] p.on 1 lf., Detroit
• 1914 - Apr. 27 - TLS 1 p., Detroit
• 1914 - May 22 - ALS [2] p.on 1 lf., New Hudson, Mich.
• 1910 - May 3 - ALS [4] p.on 2 lvs., Detroit. Note by A. Inglis in upper margin: Saved by George Schumm.
• 1914 - Aug. 20 - AL, incomplete. [2] p.on 1 lf., New Hudson, Mich.
• 1915 - Apr. 6 - TLS 1 p., Detroit
• 1915 - Apr. 25 - ALS [4] p.on 2 lvs., Detroit
• 1915 - Sept. 10 - ALS [2] p.on 1 lf., Bubbling Waters, New Hudson, Mich.
• 1915 - Nov. 16 - ALS [2] p.on 1 lf., Bubbling Waters, New Hudson, Mich.
• 1915 - Dec. 18 - ALS [2] p.on 1 lf., Detroit
• 1916 - Aug. 17 - ALS [2] p.on 1 lf., Bubbling Waters, Wixom, Mich.
• 1916 - Sept. 12 - ALS [2] p.on 1 lf., Bubbling Waters, Wixom, Mich.
• 1917 - Jan. 26 - ALS [7] p.on 4 lvs., Detroit
• 1917 - [June 15] - ALS [6] p.on 3 lvs., [n.p.]
• 1917 - Sept. 3 - ALS [4] p.on 2 lvs., Bubbling Waters, Wixom, Mich.
• 1918 - May 20 - ALS [5] p.on 3 lvs., Bubbling Waters, Wixom, Mich.
• 1918 - Aug. 7 - ALS [4] p.on 2 lvs., Bubbling Waters, Wixom, Mich.
• 1918 - Oct. 17 - ALS [3] p.on 1 lf., Bubbling Waters, Wixom, Mich.
• 1918 - Nov. 19 - ALS [9] p.on 3 lvs., Detroit
• 1919 - [Feb. 12] - ALS [4] p.on 2 lvs., [n.p.], Dated Lincoln's Birthday 1919
• 1919 - Mar. 16 - ALS [7] p.on 4 lvs., Detroit
• 1919 - Sept. 21 - ALS 4 p., Bubbling Waters, Wixom, Mich.
• 1919 - Nov. 9 - ALS [6] p.on 3 lvs., Bubbling Waters, Wixom, Mich.
• 1920 - Jan. 20 - ALS [4] p.on 2 lvs., Bubbling Waters, Wixom, Mich.
• 1920 - June 11 - ALS [2] p.on 1 lf., Bubbling Waters, Wixom, Mich.
• 1920 - [June 30] - TLS [2] p.on 1 lf., [n.p.]
• 1920 - Aug. 10 - ALS [4] p.on 2 lvs., Bubbling Waters, Wixom, Mich.
• 1920 - Aug. 23 - ALS [2] p.on 1 lf., Bubbling Waters, Wixom, Mich.
• 1921 - July 9 - TLS [2] p.on 1 lf., Bubbling Waters, Wixom, Mich.
• [n.y.] - [n.d.] - AL, incomplete. [4] p.on 2 lvs., [n.p.], Lower half of 2nd leaf torn away with loss of text and signature, Begins: You come into my mind...
• [n.y.] - [n.d.] - AL, incomplete. [2] p.on 1 lf., [n.p.], Upper half of leaf torn away with loss of text and salutation, Begins: Of course, what to me... Possibly the end of letter of Aug.20, 1914 (?)
• [n.y.] - [n.d.] - AL 1 p., [n.p.], Fragment of 6 lines

Subjects

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Subjects:

Anarchists

Names:

Liberty.
Bool, Henry.
Harman, Moses, 1830-1910.
Lloyd, J.Wm. (John William), 1857-1940.
Tucker, Benjamin Ricketson, 1854-1939.
Lucifer, the Light-Bearer.
Byington, Steven Tracy, 1868-1957.
Densmore, Emmet, 1837-1911.
Fulton, Edward H.
Gordak, William Walstein.
Labadie, Jo, 1850-1933.
Priest, George E.
Schmidt, Nathaniel, 1862-1939.
Traubel, Horace, 1858-1919.
Westrup, Alfred B.
Armstrong, A. Clarence.
Andrews, Elisha Benjamin, 1844-1917.
Babcock, Augustus.
Barnes, J.C., Dr.
Barnhill, John Basil.
Brukk, Bertha F.
Burr, George Lincoln, 1857-1938.
Burry, Frederic W.
Crosby, Horace S.
Crusan, C.L.
Cuppy, Hazlitt Alva, 1863-.
Davis, A.B., of Ithaca, N.Y.
Dayton, Merritt M.
Dukes, Richard Gustavus, 1871-1950.
Dunton, Delos.
Edwards, D. T.
Eiloart, Arnold.
Elliott, James B.
Gager, R. E.
Gillette, Edwin.
Govers, Francis X.
Green, [T?]P.
Harman, Lillian.
Harris, George William, 1849-1917.
Hazzard, E. B., Dr.
Herbert, Auberon Edward William Molyneux, 1838-1906.
Herring, Alice G.
Hogg, Andrew.
Holmes, Lizzie M.
Holmes, Sarah E.
Isaak, Abe, 1856?-
Jacobs, John.
Jansen, J.J.
Johansen, James.
Jones, Robert T., Baptist minister.
Jruks, J.W.
Kuehn, Herman.
Leibovitz, Osias.
Le Saulnier, Louis.
Leubuscher, Frederic Cyrus, 1860-
Lloyd, J. Wm. (John William), 1857-1940.
Morden, Charles A.
Morse, Virgil D., Mrs.
Mountain, William S.
Newman, Jared Treman, 1855-1937.
Nichols, C.E., 1842?-
Perkins, Theodore P.
Platt, Chester C.
Replogle, Georgia.
Roberts, D.A.
Robinson, John Beverley,1853-
Scott, J.M., of New York.
Seymour, Henry, d. 1938.
Sheldon, Rose.
Siff, Louis.
Simpson, Archibald H., fl. 1889-1943.
Small, Joshua T., 1853-
Smith, J. Blair.
Stell, E.B.
Swartz, Clarence Lee.
Sweetland, Monroe.
Temple, W.B.
Tichenor, George H.
Tilden, John Henry, 1851-1940.
Verity, O.A.
Wagner, Al G., 1858-
Walker, Edwin C., 1849-1931.
Walters, R. Randolph.
Waters, Robert, 1835-1910.
Whedon, D.D. Mrs.
Whittick, William A.