Home > Collections > Rare Books and Manuscripts > Manuscripts > Manuscripts Registers > MS.056
Special Collections
Milton S. Eisenhower Library
The Johns Hopkins University
3400 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD 21218
410-516-8348 White (Edward Lucas) 1866-1934
Papers (1885-1934)
Ms. 56
Size: 65 document boxes
(27.1 linear feet)
Processed: May 1987
By: Cynthia H. Requardt
Provenance: The papers came to the Milton S. Eisenhower
Library after being deposited at the Peabody
Library.
Access: Access to the papers is unrestricted. Literary Rights: The literary rights were donated to the
Woodstock Theological Center in Washington,
D.C. Permission to publish material from this
collection must be requested in writing from
the Woodstock Theological Center and from the
Manuscripts Librarian, Milton S.
Eisenhower Library, The Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, Maryland 2l2l8 Citation Form: Edward Lucas White Papers Ms. 56
Special Collections
Milton S. Eisenhower Library
The Johns Hopkins University White (Edward Lucas) Papers Ms. 56
Provenance
The papers in this collection are those considered by Edward
Lucas White to be his literary papers. He named Louis H. Dielman
his literary executor, and in a letter to Dielman dated March 27,
l934 stated that his sister Ethel White was to turn over to
Dielman "any and all of my manuscripts, letters, books and other
papers not manifestly unliterary." A copy of this letter is in
Box 25 of the collection. The letter also gives a detailed
description of White's literary papers. Dielman was at the time the Librarian of the Peabody Library
which White believed was a suitable location for his literary
output. It is not clear when the papers were given to the Milton
S. Eisenhower Library. There is an allied collection of White's papers at the
Maryland Historical Society in the Edward Lucas White Manuscripts
Ms. 892. Some of the papers of White's parents Thomas H.and Kate
L. White and of his sister Ethel White are housed at the Maryland
Historical Society in the Lucas-White Papers Ms.2277. Literary Rights The literary rights to Edward Lucas White's unpublished
papers were retained by White's sister Ethel White (l868-l955).
In her will (l949) Miss White left any royalties owed to her from
the publication of Edward Lucas White's manuscripts to the
Woodstock Theological Center in Washington, D.C. A copy of Miss
White's will is in the Woodstock College Archives located at
Georgetown University. Biographical Sketch Edward Lucas White (l866-l934) was a classics teacher and
author of historical romances, short stories and poetry. He was
the son of Thomas Hurley White (l838-l902) and Kate Butler
[Lucas] White. White's early years were spent in Brooklyn and Ovid, New
York. In l877 the White family took up permanent residence in
Baltimore. Edward attended several schools finishing his
secondary education at the University School for Boys (the
Marston School) from l882-84. White then attended the Johns
Hopkins University. He received his B.A. in l888 after taking
one year off for travel to recover his health. Edward Lucas White considered poetry his vocation, but
realizing he could not support himself by poetry alone, he began
studying for his doctorate in Romance Languages at Hopkins. He
concentrated on Greek and Latin as a basis for later studies in
romance languages. Again poor health, combined with financial
problems, forced White to leave Hopkins before completing his
doctorate. White then began his life-long career of teaching
classics in Baltimore secondary schools. He taught at the
Friends School (l892-95), the Boys Latin School (l899-l9l5), his
alma mater the University School for Boys (l896-99, l9l6-30), and
McDonogh School (l933-34). While teaching paid the bills, White's first love was
writing. He believed his poetry was his best writing but that to
write good poetry one must not be distracted by day to day cares
as he was. He instead "turned more and more to prose, which can
be turned out in any mood in any brief interval of leisure."
("Edward Lucas White as Viewed by Himself," l9l9, p. 6, Box 65).
White worked hard on his prose style, and in l903 wrote the first
story he considered "not bad enough to burn." He wrote stories,
many of which were published, for the next seven years and in
l909 began what became his first romance El Supremo (l9l6). His
other major works were The Unwilling Vestal (l9l8), The Song of
the Sirens and Other Stories (l9l9), Andivius Hedulio (l92l),
Helen (l925), Lukundoo and Other Stories (l927), Why Rome Fell
(l927), and Matrimony (l932). His one vlume of poetry Narrative
Lyrics was published in l908. In an autobiographical sketch White stated that "[t]he chief
event in my life has been a singularly happy marriage." He
married Agnes Gerry in l900, and his book Matrimony was inspired
by their marriage. Agnes died in l927. White lived seven more
years but after an unsuccessful attempt to begin a new teaching
position at McDonogh School and with increasing financial
difficulties, White committed suicide on March 30, l934. A biography of Edward Lucas White was written by George T.
Wetzel and serialized in three parts in Fantasy Commentator
beginning in l980. Copies of the first two parts are in the
biographical file in Box 65. White wrote two autobiographical
sketches (l9l9, l925) for publication and these along with "How
One Historical Novelist Collects His Material" (l925) are in Box
65. Some biographical material is also available in Matrimony. Scope and Content Note
The papers span the period l885-l934 and fall into four
major series: Correspondence, Writings, Printed Material, and
Personal.
Correspondence Series Boxes l-30 l90l-34
The correspondence (l90l-34) is both orginal incoming
letters as well as carbon copies of White's replies. White
divided the correspondence into seven categories, and these have
been retained. The categories are: Family, Personal, School,
Business, Literary, Agents, and Publishers. Within each category
White filed the incoming letters alphabetically, beginning a new
A-Z file every few years. The incoming letters have not been re-
sorted. White filed his outgoing letters chronologically and
bound the copies in notebooks. For each of the seven categories
of correspondence the incoming are filed first and then the bound
outgoing.
The only exception to this filing system is White's
correspondence with Rudyard Kipling. In this instance the carbon
copies of White's letters to Kipling are bound in a notebook with
Kipling's letters to White. The Kipling letters are typed
transcripts only, and there is nothing to indicate what became of
the original letters. The Kipling-White correspondence is in Box
9.
The correspondence has not been completely analyzed, but
among the interesting letters are those from frineds living or
traveling abroad. Lisette Conner wrote from Japan (1922-34) as
did Shosuke Sato (1914-32). Hannah Parker wrote from Portugal
(1903-1919) and James Loe from China 1923-33. Writings Series Boxes 32-62 l885-l934 Manuscripts of White's earliest writings, mostly poetry,
were bound together by him and entitled "Writings of Edward Lucas
White" Volume I (l885-92), Volume II (l892-97), Volume III (l897-
l907) and "Writings of Edward Lucas White: Smiles and Similies"
(l886-l905). These are found in Boxes 58-59. For his later works dating from about l904 White kept
drafts, original typescripts and carbon copies. Included in this
collection are one or all three types of manuscripts for Andivius
Hedulio, El Supremo, Why Rome Fell, Matrimony, The Unwilling
Vestal, and Helen. This series also has the original lead pencil manuscript of
what White considered his magnum opus. Entitled "Plus Ultra" it
is a utopian novel of life in 50,000 A.D. George Wetzel
discussed and printed parts of "Plus Ultra" in his biography of
White in Fantansy Commentator (l980?). The typescript of "Plus
Ultra" is owned by the Maryland Historical Society in the Edward
Lucas White Manuscripts Ms. 892. Original typescripts and carbon copies of many of White's
stories and poems are also in this series in Boxes 55-64. A
partial listing of the stories and poems is in the container
list. In Box 63 are copies of magazines containing White's
stories and poems. Copies of several of White's essays on writing verse as well
as a biographical sketch of Mrs. Marguerite E. [Miller] Easter
(l839-94) and a play entitled "Ecclesiazusae" are found in Box
58. The final box of the Writings Series (Box 62) contains
copies of letters from readers of White's books and revisions for
some of the books as well as materials about their publication.
This has not been completely sorted.
Printed Material Series Boxes 63-65 l900-34
This series contains clippings of reviews of White's
writings, articles about White, or reviews and articles by White
that appeared in print. These have not been completely sorted.
There are also some printed materials publicizing White's books.
The biographical material on Edward Lucas White and his father
Thomas H. White are in Box 65.
Container List
Box l Family incoming letters l90l-20 Box 2 Family incoming letters l92l-32 Box 3 Family outgoing letters l902-22 Box 4 Family outgoing letters l922-34 Box 5 Personal incoming letters l9l0-27 Box 6 Personal incoming letters l92l-27 Box 7 Personal incoming letters l928-33 Box 8 Personal outgoing letters l903-22 Box 9 Personal outgoing letters l923-34 Box l0 Personal outgoing letters l927-34
(Mary Wickliffe Hoyett Lee) Box ll School incoming letters l933
School outgoing letters l904-34 Box l2 Business incoming letters l930-33
Business outgoing letters l902-l6 Box l3 Business outgoing letters l9l7-25 Box l4 Business outgoing letters l926-34 Box l5 Literary incoming letters (special) A-M Box l6 Literary incoming letters (special) N-W
letters to be sorted
Box l7 Literary incoming letters l907-l5 Box l8 Literary incoming letters l9l6-22 Box l9 Literary incoming letters l9l9-24 Box 20 Literary incoming letters l925-27 Box 21 Literary incoming letters l929-33
Box 22 Literary incoming letters l93l-33
letters to be sorted
Box 23 Literary outgoing letters l904-l9 Box 24 Literary outgoing letters l920-27
Box 25 Literary outgoing letters l928-34
Baltimore News letters l908-9 Box 26 Agents' incoming letters l923-33
Agents' outgoing letters l923-34
(Brandt & Brandt) Box 27 Agents' incoming letters l905-34
Agents' outgoing letters l905-34
(Paul R. Reynolds) Box 28 Publishers' incoming letters l92l-27
Publishers' outgoing letters l924-34
(George H. Doran Company)
Publishers' incoming letters l925-33
Publishers' outgoing letters l926-32
(Harper & Brothers) Box 29 Publishers' incoming letters l9l6-34
(E.P. Dutton & Company) Box 30 Publishers' outgoing letters l9l4-34
(E.P. Dutton & Company) Box 3l receipts to be sorted Box 32 receipts to be sorted
Johns Hopkins University diploma l888
writings to be sorted Box 33 Andivius Hedulio
original lead pencil manuscript:
Forward, Books l-20
Box 34 Andivius Hedulio
original lead pencil manuscript:
Books 21-40, Afterword Box 35 Andivius Hedulio
original lead pencil manuscript:
bibliography
carbon copy typescript
Box 36 El Supremo
original lead pencil manuscript:
Books l-20 Box 37 El Supremo
original lead pencil manuscript:
Books 21-30
Box 38 El Supremo
original lead pencil manuscript:
Books 31-48 Box 39 El Supremo
carbon copy typescript Box 40 El Supremo
original typescript Box 4l "Plus Ultra"
original lead pencil manuscript Box 42 "Plus Ultra"
original lead pencil manuscript Box 43 "Plus Ultra"
original lead pencil manuscript Box 44 "Plus Ultra"
original lead pencil manuscript Box 45 "Plus Ultra"
original lead pencil manuscript Box 46 "Plus Ultra"
original lead pencil manuscript Box 47 Why Rome Fell
original lead pencil manuscript:
Books l-21
Box 48 Why Rome Fell
original lead pencil manuscript:
Books 22-29; Afterword; Chronology; Notes Box 49 Why Rome Fell
carbon copy typescript
Matrimony
original typescript; carbon copy typescript
Box 50 Matrimony
original lead pencil manuscript Box 5l [The Unwilling Vestal]
notes Box 52 The Unwilling Vestal
notes; original lead pencil manuscript Box 53 The Unwilling Vestal
original typescript; carbon copy typescript
Box 54 Helen
original lead pencil manuscript
"Rex Nemorensis"
"Aphidnae"
"Gytheon"
"Kranae"
"The Pinnacle"
"Deiphobus"
"Menelaus" Box 55 stories: original typescripts
"early attempts"
Tales Volume I
Tales Volume III
"Gertrude"
"Mandola"
"The Serge Coat"
"The Startling Blonde"
"Buying a Husband"
"The Voices"
"The Pianist Preaches"
"The Four Sides of a Square"
"The Unforeseen Test"
"The Grin of the Bulldog"
"A Home-Coming"
"The Hammerhead"
"After the Lynching"
"A Wedding-Reception"
"Sister Mary and the North German Lloyd"
"Duck a la Nelson"
"A Clearing Bridal"
"Five Colloquies"
"The Fighting Parson"
"The Ballade"
"The Turning-Point"
"The Death Rattle"
"The Front Steps"
"The Encounter"
"The Tooth"
Box 55 "The Chute"
(cont.) "An Ovine Misogynist"
Box 56 stories: original typescripts
"Canea"
"The Salute"
"The Revelation"
"The Escape"
"The Untryst"
"The Strategem"
"The Azotea"
"The Velorio"
"Cat and Beefsteak"
"The Postage-Stamps"
"Barbara North"
"Mrs. Berry and the School-Board"
"Shoula Rayfield"
"The Latch-Key"
"Sesta"
"The Release-Card" stories: carbon copy typescripts
Volume l-2 Box 57 stories: carbon copy typescripts
Volume 3-8 Box 58 writings:
"Memoir of Mrs. Marguerite E. Easter"
"Ecclesiazusae" (play)
"Sulpicia"
"On the Study of English Verse"
"On the Science and the Art of English Verse"
memoranda about poems
"Possible Sonnet Forms"
"Writings of Edward Lucas White" Vol. I (l885-92)
"Writings of Edward Lucas White" Vol. II (l892-
l897)
Box 59 "Writings of Edward Lucas White" Vol. III (l897-
l907)
"Writings of Edward Lucas White: Smiles and
Similies" (l886-l905)
Lyrical Inspiration original typescript
"Interpretations" (poems)
Box 60 poetry:
"Leon"
"Poems in the Rhythms of Horace's Meters"
"Contrasts"
"Poems on the Baltimore Fire"
Box 60 "Poems" Volume III
(cont.) "The Tuning of the Lyre"
"The Measure of the Sword"
"Duplicates of poems, and poems already published"
typed verse Box 6l poetry:
typed verse Box 62 Andivius Hedulio letters (copies)
Helen letters (copies)
Lukundoo letters (copies)
Matrimony letters (copies)
"Plus Ultra" material
The Song of the Sirens changes
El Supremo letters (copies)
The Unwilling Vestal letters (copies)
Why Rome Fell letters (copies)
letters to editors (copies)
book sales
lists for projected volumes of short stories
lists and notes of my books
bibliographies
letters from readers
books by ELW, copies sold, net proceeds
stories, printed copies Box 63 magazines containing writings of ELW Box 64 newspaper clippings:
reviews, writings by and about ELW Box 65 newspaper clippings:
reviews, writings by and about ELW
letters to the editor
printed material: publicity
biographical material:
Edward Lucas White
Thomas Hurley White
Index Anderson, Harry B. 4
Andivius Hedulio 2, 3, 14
Appleby & Co., J.L. 4
Atlantic Monthly 4
Authors Clipping Bureau 4
Authors Club Carnegie Fund 4 Baltimore News 4
Banks, Algernon Polan 4
Belknap, P.H. 4
Bennett, Jesse Lee 4
Bill, Florence H. 4
Boone, Camilla 4
Boutell, Robert 4
Boys' Latin School 2
Brandt & Brandt 4, 13
Braunlich, Alice 4
Brown, Helen Gagen 4
Browne, Arthur Lee 4
Browne, Harriet S. 4
Browne, William Hand 4
Bruen, Elizabeth 4
Burgess, Lily Early 4
Buxton, Richard E. 4 Carter, Alice Neill 4
Canby, Henry Seidel 4
Cautley, John R. 4
Chambers, D. Laurence 4
Chang, Hsin-Hai 5
China 2a
Christy, J. S. 5
Chu, Jennings P. 5
Clark, John D. 5
Clayville-Smith, Beata 5
Connor, Lisette L. 5
Cypriano, Dom 5 Dean, Mildred 5
DeGournay, Blanche 5
Derby, Richard C. 5
Desmond, Shaw 5
Devecman, W. C. 5
Dielman, Louis H. l, 5
Doran, George H. Company 5,13
Downes, William E. D. 5
Dreiser, Theodore 5
Dunham, Matilda L. 5
Dutton, E.P. & Co. 5,13
Early, Eveline 5
Easby, Gertrude K. 5
Easter, Marguerite E. [Miller] 3, 18
Ebeling, Flora A. 5
Ensor, W. L. 6
Evans, Harry R. 6 Ferris, Cornelius Jr. 6
Forbes, Elizabeth 6
Fowler, Louisa McE. 6
Fowler, Susan 6
Frank, Tenney 6
Franklin, Fabian 6
Frick, Helen C. 6
Friends School 2 Garrison, Wendell Phillips 6
Gerald, Katherine Fullerton 6
Gerry, Charles F. 6
Gerry, Clarence 6
Gerry, Elbridge 6
Gerry, Elizabeth 6
Gerry, James L. 6
Gerry, Lily 6
Gerry, Margarita 6
Gieske, Elsie and Alfred W. 6
Gilbert, Anne K. 6
Gildersleeve, Basil Lanneau 6
Gilmor, Alice 6
Gould, Kenneth M. 6 Hancock, Alice P. 6
Hanway, John 6
Harper & Brothers 7,13
Harr‚, T. Everett 7
Harwood, Mary E. 7
Hassencamp, Paul R. 7
Hawes, Mabel C. 7
Helen 2, 3, 15, 18
high schools l, 2
Hill, Lucien 7
Hiss, Alger 7
Hollander, Jacob H. 7
Howe, A. De Wolf 7
Hoye, Stephen M. 7
Huber, Frederick R. 7
Hutton, Mary and Augusta 7
Hyllbourne, Stephen Douglas 7 Ijams, May M. 7 Jackson, Luis 7
Japan 2a
Jelleson, Harold B. 7
Johns Hopkins University 2, 3, 18
Jones, Beatrice 7 Kelsey, Francis W. 7
Kilborn, Charles M. 7
King, Elizabeth Miner 7
Kipling, Rudyard 3, 7
Knapp, Charles 7 Lafferty, Samuel E. 7
Lamborn, Louis E. 7
Lamont, Hammond 7
Lee, Mary Wickliffe Hyatt 12
Lemperly, Paul 7
Leser, Oscar and Annette 7
Lind, W. Murdoch 8
Linn, James Ussher 8
Loe, Jamie Y. 8
Lodge, Gonzalez 8
Lou, Kwang L. 8
Lucas, William F. 8
Lukundoo and Other Stories 2, l8 Mabie, Hamilton Wright 8
MacDonald, F.C. 8
Mackall, Leonard L. 8
MacLean, Charles Agnew 8
MacMechan, Archibald 8
Magoffin, R.V.D. 8
Marburry, Fendell 8
Marston School see University School for Boys
Mather, Frank Jewett 8
Matrimony 2, 3, 15, 18
McCarty, John 8
McDonogh School 3, 8, 13
McGilvra, Kitty Scott 8
Mencken, Henry L. 8
Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. 8
Miller, Mrs. A. Harold 8
Moulnier, Edward P. 8
Mustard, Wilfred P. 8
Napper, Laura L. 8
Nicholson, Meredith 8
Norman, Grace Gore 8
Nyburg, Sidney L. 8 Omond, T. S. 8
Orr, Oliver 8
Orth, Grover C. 8 Parker, Hannah and Adelaide 8
Parr, McKew 8
Pessels, C. 9
Phelps, William Lyon 9
Phillips, Esther B. 9
Phillips, Sally C. 9
Philpot, Hamlet 9
Plunkett, Frank 9
"Plus Ultra" 3, 14
poets l-3
Portugal 2a
Powys, Llewelyn 9
Preston, James H. 9
Price, Eldridge C. 9
Putnam's Sons, G.P. 9 Rede, Kenneth 9
Rede, Wyllys 9
Reese, Lizette Woodworth 9
Reeves, William Peters 9
Remington, Stanley G. 9
Reynolds, Minna D. 9
Reynolds, Paul R. 13, 9
Richman, Irving B. 9
Roberts, Dane E. 9
Roberts, Emma L. 9
Robinson, Paschal 9
Roulston, Robert B. 9
Rudmore-Browne, Thomas B. 9 Saintsbury, George 10
Sato, Shosuke 10
Saxton, Eugene F. 10
Scribner's Sons, Charles 10
short stories 2-3
The Song of the Sirens and Other Stories 2, 18
Smith, C. Alphonso 10
Smith, Kirby Flower 10
Snibbe, George W. 10
Sonneborne, Hilton B. 10
Snibbe, George W. 10
Sonneborn, Hilton B. 10
Stedman, Edmund C. 10
Stieff, Claire M. 10
Strachey, John St. Loe 10
Stuart, Margaret 10
El Supremo 2, 3, 14, 18
Surratt, William H. 10
Swift, Henry J. 10 Taney, Joseph A. 10
teachers 1, 2
Thomas, Edward M. 10
Thomson, William 10
Turnbull, Grace H. 10
Tyrell, Roberta 10
University School for Boys 1, 2
The Unwilling Vestal 2, 3, 15, 18
Ward, Frank A. 10
Watts, Augusta Tucker and Donald 10
Webster, Minnie Elizabeth 10
Wells, H. G. 10
Wells, James B., Pauline, Joseph K. and Zoe 10
West, Rebecca 10
Wetzel, George T. 2, 3
Whicher, George M. 11
White, Agnes [Gerry] 2, 11
White, Edna 11
White, Edward H. 11
White, Edward H. Jr. 11
White, Edward Lucas l-l9
White, Ethel l, 11
White, Joseph A. 11
White, Kate Butler [Lucas] l
White, Thomas Hurley 1, 4, l0
Why Rome Fell 2, 3, 14, 15, 18
Willcox, J. Taney and Fielding 11
Willcox, Kate T. and Louise 11
Williams, Anne 11
Williams, Jay Jerome 11
Wisner, J. Ward 11
Woo, S. M. 11
Wright, Walter T. 11
Wroth, Lawrence C. 11 Publicity
The papers of Maryland author and Hopkins graduate Edward
Lucas White are open for research in the Special Collections
Division of the Milton S. Eisenhower Library. White (l866-l934)
was a poet as well as the author of short stories and several
historical romances. His major works include Narrative Lyrics
(l908), El Supremo (l9l6), The Unwilling Vestal (l9l8), Andivius
Hedulio (l92l), The Song of the Sirens (l9l9), and Lukundoo
(l927). In addition to his writing White was a well-known
teacher of Greek and Latin at the Friends School, the Boys Latin
School, and the University School for Boys. His papers include
drafts of his writings and his voluminous correspondence with
family, friends, fellow authors, literary agents, and publishers.
Library of Congress Subject Headings authors as teachers
classicists
high school teachers
high schools
historical fiction, Greek
historical fiction, Roman
historical fiction, Paraguyan
poets
short story
Personal and Corporate Name Added Entries
Boys Latin School
Brandt & Brandt
Dielman, Louis H.
Doran, George H. Company
Dutton, E.P. & Co.
Easter, Marguerite E. [Miller] (l839-94)
Johns Hopkins University
Lee, Mary Wickliffe Hoyett
McDonogh School
Reynolds, Paul R.
University School for Boys
Wetzel, George T.
White, Agnes [Gerry] (d. l927)
White, Edward Lucas (l866-l934)
White, Ethel (l868-l955)
White, Kate Butler [Lucas]
White, Thomas Hurley (l838-l902)
White (Edward Lucas) l866-l934
Papers (l885-l934)
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