Search

This 838-page volume contains twelve manuscript issues of the Club Room Gazette, a literary magazine produced by the Everett Literary Association's Committee on Literary Exercises. The magazine appeared monthly and this volume, containing the twelve issues of Volume 6, covers the calendar year of 1861. A complete table of contents may be found here: Club Room Gazette Manuscript Magazine Table of Contents.

This 838-page volume contains twelve manuscript issues of the Club Room Gazette, a literary magazine produced by the Everett Literary Association's Committee on Literary Exercises. The magazine appeared monthly and this volume, containing the twelve issues of Volume 6, covers the calendar year of 1861.

The Club Room Gazette consists primarily of manuscript documents organized into 12 issues and bound into a single volume. It includes essays, short stories, serials, travel accounts, articles, editorials, letters, poems, songs, jokes, club administrative reports, and a single obituary. In addition, the issues contain numerous hand-drawn illustrations and examples of decorative lettering.

Each issue contains varying content, as well as two monthly recurring items: an editorial essay and the ELA "Round Table." The editorial, written by the Gazette editor, reflects on events from the preceding month, the state of the Gazette, and general thoughts from the editor. The Round Table contains a combination of club news, accounts of club events, and jokes submitted by members.

While the Club Room Gazette was not, in general, a political publication, it does include some pieces relating to contemporary politics. Notably, a number of pieces discuss the outbreak of the American Civil War, slavery, and wartime military operations and preparations.

A complete table of contents may be found here: Club Room Gazette Manuscript Magazine Table of Contents.

The Field papers contain eleven letters from the popular American writer, Eugene Field; one undated letter from J.M. Stoddart to Field; two manuscript poems; a newspaper edition of "The House," with marginal editorial notes; and a set of proof sheets from Field's "autobiography," Love Affairs of a Bibliomaniac.

The Field papers contain eleven letters from the popular American writer, Eugene Field; one undated letter from J.M. Stoddart to Field; two manuscript poems; a newspaper edition of "The House," with marginal editorial notes; and a set of proof sheets from Field's "autobiography," Love Affairs of a Bibliomaniac. Field's letters are addressed variously to his wife or children, and to Harvard linguist, Francis J. Childs.

Although the letters in the Field papers are miscellaneous, and touch on a wide variety of subjects, several stand out for their individual interest. One letter, apparently written to a son (1886 September 10), includes a brief, pleasant description of a baseball game between Chicago and Detroit, and is accompanied by a charming example of Field's ability as an illustrator. The most important letters in the collection are those few that reveal some of Field's attitudes toward marriage and family. Two letters addressed to his 16-year-old fiancee (1873 January 10 and 1873 October 10), for instance, provide advice on how to prepare for their impending wedding night, adding confidently, "Oh Julia, you know not what bliss is in store for you!" Another letter written to his wife shortly after the death of a young son (1890 October 4) suggests the fragile distance that Field was able to place between himself and his deceased child. "I fear that I am regarded quite hard hearted," he wrote "I have been so peaceful since the end came. While our boy still lived, I battled constantly in spirit and I think that another week would have killed me. Now that all is over, I am content, wholly reconciled. I believe our boy is happy now. It is selfish to wish him back."

The collection contains final manuscript drafts of Field's poems, "De Amicitus," "A French Crisis" (published as "The Fair Limousin") and "Holly and Ivy" (which was decoratively illustrated by the author), and the newspaper edition of "The House," with marginal editorial notes, some of which are in Field's hand. A single cabinet card photograph of Field in this collection was signed by him and dated May, 1895.

Teenager Gilbert Attwood created this 8-page manuscript magazine titled "The Nick-Nack" (vol. 1) while attending high school in 1840. The magazine features humorous articles and advertisements, comments about Attwood's teachers and classmates, and several small drawings.

Teenager Gilbert Attwood created this 8-page magazine titled "The Nick-Nack" (vol. 1) while attending high school in 1840. The magazine features humorous articles and advertisements, comments about Attwood's teachers and classmates, and several small drawings.

The magazine's sections include "Names" (a rumination on the names of other students, as well as objects like streets and chairs), "A Year in the Country" (Attwood's account of his family's move in the spring of 1838), "Parody on the Country Schoolmaster Original" (a take on the poem "The Village Schoolmaster" by Oliver Goldsmith), "Extracts from a Journal," and "A Peep into the Year 2000." The sections are separated by thin black lines. Advertisements include "Printing," "Lectures," "Arostook Whiskers," and "Stop Thief."