Frederick Stoever Dickson collection regarding Henry Fielding

The Frederick Stoever Dickson Collection regarding Henry Fielding consists of correspondence, writings and subject files documenting research and scholarship on Henry Fielding (1707-54). The collection spans the years 1733-1937, with the bulk of the material dating from 1900-1920.

The collection is housed in 24 boxes and organized into two series: Frederick Stoever Dickson Papers and Material from Other Sources. Boxes 23-24 contain Oversize material and Restricted Fragile Papers respectively.

Series I, Frederick Stoever Dickson Papers , is organized into three subseries: Correspondence, Writings and Subject Files.

The Correspondence subseries, housed in boxes 1-2, consists predominantly of letters to Dickson from publishers, bookdealers, journal editors, libraries and Fielding scholars. Prominent scholars represented are Wilbur L. Cross, John Paul de Castro, Austin Dobson, Gerard Edward Jensen, Alfred William Pollard and John Edwin Wells. The letters from Cross, a Yale professor, discuss the donation of Dickson's Fielding collection to the Yale University Library and, in general, Fielding research. Letters from Dickson to Cross are located in Series II, Material from Other Sources. Dickson's gift to Yale is also well documented in correspondence from University Librarian Andrew Keogh.

The Writings subseries, housed in boxes 3-7, is organized into eight subseries: Articles and Essays, Biographical Material, Notes, Open Letters, Presentations, Reviews, Writings of Others Related to Fielding and Writings of Others not Related to Fielding. Previously unprocessed material has been incorporated into both the Writings and Subject Files subseries. In the Writings there are draft and printed versions of works by Dickson and a considerable amount of periodical literature by the Fielding scholars with whom Dickson corresponded in the first two decades of the 20th century, as well as from English sources dating from the mid to late 19th century. In addition to those already mentioned, there is work by Thomas Keightley, Sir Walter Scott and William Makepeace Thackeray. The bulk of the secondary literature consists of clippings. Reprints and offprints are noted in the folder description.

The Subject Files, housed in boxes 8-21, consist of research material on Fielding and, more broadly, 18th-19th century English literature. The Subject Files are arranged by type of material and include bibliographic material, clippings and maps.

The Bibliographic material consists of index cards and clippings of citations for titles housed in 3 1/2" by 6" envelopes. The organization of these files, established either by Dickson or earlier processing, has been preserved and includes sections for Books, Miscellanies, Art, Works of Others, Periodicals, the Catalogue of the Law Library of Henry Fielding, the Catalogue of the Miscellaneous Library of Henry Fielding, and a Card Catalog for Fielding.

Books, which contains citations for several of Fielding's novels and The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon, is housed in boxes 8-9 and arranged first by title and then chronologically for each work. The Miscellanies section contains citations for other works by Fielding, such as plays, letters, manuscripts, journals and collections. Miscellanies, housed in boxes 9-12, is arranged under the following categories: Works by Fielding, Works Possibly by Fielding, Works Erroneously Attributed to Fielding, Letters and Manuscripts, Theater Editions and Works. Art, housed in box 12, is a small section of citations for artwork and illustrations in works by Fielding, largely his novels, arranged alphabetically by the artist's name. Works of Others, housed in boxes 12-17, is arranged alphabetically by author or title. Periodicals, housed in boxes 18-19 and arranged alphabetically by title, contains citations for journal literature by and about Fielding, including Champion, The Covent-Garden Journal, The True Patriot, and The Jacobite's Journal. The two catalog listings, Catalogue of the Law Library of Henry Fielding and Catalogue of the Miscellaneous Library of Henry Fielding, appear to be listings of books owned by Fielding in his lifetime. They are both housed in box 19 and arranged alphabetically by author. The Card Catalog, housed in box 20, also provides citations for works by and about Fielding, with emphasis on Fielding's novels.

The remaining Fielding materials are housed in box 21. Clippings provide biographical information on Fielding, as well as bibliographical information on Fielding and Fielding scholarship. There is discussion of the Fielding name and ancestry, publicity for commemorative events, auction sales and publications, and reviews of editions and theatrical productions. Here, too, the general organization provided either by Dickson or earlier processing has been preserved. For the most part, clippings are organized by journal title when three or more clippings are present. Clippings are arranged chronologically within folders.

Fieldingiana includes, among other small items, a facsimile copy of Henry and Charlotte Fielding's signatures and a list of "Framed Fielding pictures" in the Fielding collection.

Maps contains printed maps identified as illustrating publications of Tom Jones. Most maps are from The London Magazine and represent areas in England. The maps are arranged by title.

Series II, Material from Other Sources , housed in box 22, is organized into two subseries, Correspondence and Writings. The correspondence is a gift from Wilbur L. Cross and his estate and the writings are a gift from Gerard Edward Jensen. The bulk of the letters in the Correspondence subseries are from Dickson to Cross and concern, among other subjects, the gift of Dickson's Fielding collection to the University and preparation of a Fielding bibliography. Letters span the years 1913-22. There is a small amount of third party correspondence between Cross and others in 1920-21 regarding an endowment fund for the maintenance of Fielding's tomb in Lisbon.

The Writings subseries consists of journal literature on Fielding dating from 1922-37.

Oversize material, housed in box 23, includes items from Series I. Restricted Fragile Papers are housed in box 24.