William Charvat Collection of American Literature

Nineteenth Century American Fiction and Poetry

Resources in The Charvat Collection of American Literature  & The Rare Books and Manuscripts Library

The Sarah M. B. Piatt Collection
Paula Bernat Bennett’s research materials for her selection of Sarah M. B. Piatt Poems,
Palace-Burner: The Selected Poetry of Sarah Piatt (2001)
New from Professor Bennett:

• Finding List for Sarah Piatt's Poetry (Dec 2013)
• Index to the Juvenilia (Feb 2014)
• Chronological Index to the Variorum (Feb 2014)
• Alphabetical Index to the Variorum (Feb 2014)

The Larry R. Michaels Collection
Books and serials donated by Larry R. Michaels for research on Sarah Piatt may be found with a keyword search of the catalog on "gift of Larry R. Michaels."

Ohio Memory
See the Ohio Memory Project (A Collaborative Project of the Ohio History Connection and the State Library of Ohio) for more on the Piatt Family, as well as other resources for the history of Ohio.

The Capital
Washington, D. C. newspaper.  Donn Piatt was editor off and on until 1879, and published the work of newly discovered authors on its pages. Early volumes held at Piatt Castles were loaned to OSU and scanned.  They are available online in a searchable database.

Request and view the following issues in the Thompson Library Special Collections Reading Room:

March 8, 1874 - December 19, 1875 (microfilm)
April 9, July 30, August 6, December 3-24, 1876 (microfilm)
February 4, 1877 - September 21, 1879 (microfilm)
January 4, 1880 - March 13, 1881 (microfilm) 
January 14, May 27, 1883 (microfilm)
March 2, August 17, 1884 (microfilm)
June 20, 1886 (microfilm)
January 1, 1888 (microfilm)
January 6, 1889-June 23, 1889 (microfilm)

March 12, 1871 - February 22, 1880 (scans from print originals - request access)

The following sample issues are available on our web site as individual files:

Vol. 1, No. 5 - April 9, 1871
Vol. 2, No. 15 - June 16, 1872
Vol. 2, No. 17 - June 29, 1872
Vol. 2, No. 19 - July 14, 1872
Vol. 2, No. 23 - August 11, 1872
Vol. 2, No. 43 - December 29, 1872
Vol. 3, No. 15 - June 15, 1873

The Jerry Tarver Elocution, Rhetoric and Oratory Collection
See the guides on the collection page to access this collection of books, serials, manuscripts, photographs and ephemera.

Tuttle American Poetry Collection
This was a special purchase of 19th and early 20th century books of poetry.  The complete list is a scan of our old typewritten record.  Please note that there are two separate alphabetical listings, plus some unordered items in between.
To pull up a complete list from the catalog search for the title "Tuttle American Poetry Collection."

Visual Materials:

The Photograph Collection
Daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes and calotypes are listed in the inventory.  Check with curator about browsing the collection of cabinet cards, cartes-de-visite and stereocards.

Trade Catalogs
The Dr. Ivan S. Gilbert Trade Catalog Collection includes catalogs for any consumable one can imagine.  Many date to the 19th century.  The researcher my be particularly interested in such categories as carriages and carts, or clothing and dress.

Ancillary Resources:

Almanacs
The Kevin Elder Almanac Collection may provide some useful information.

Children's Science Texts
The Emanuel Rudolph Children's Science Collection includes over 1200 19th-century texts.  One may limit a title search on the "emanuel rudolph children's science collection" to just those dating from the 19th century.

Cookbooks
The Peter D Franklin Cookbook Collection includes some from the 19th century.  After performing a title search in the library catalog for "peter d franklin cookbook collection," limit the results to those predating 1900.

Nineteenth-century Newspapers
Various issues of approximately 45 newspapers, predominantly dated between 1810-1870.  This is a boxed collection of selected issues.  See also individual titles, such as Every Saturday.

Sheet Music
The Fanny Arms collection of American popular sheet music, ca. 1865-1950, is an enormous collection.  Please consult a curator for assistance in locating desired pieces.

Personal Correspondence, Journals and Papers
The following collections provide personal accounts of life in the 19th century:

• Anderson, William B. Civil War Correspondence. 1862-1864.
• Cox, Samuel Sullivan. Journal of a tour to Europe. 1851,
• Doane, Louisa A.  Manuscript diary of Louisa A. Doane on two voyages: New York to Marseilles and return, and New York to Chinchas Islands and return. 1852.
• Dumaresq, Philip K (Philip Kearney). Daily Diary. 1879.
  Diary of an American working as a special agent for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company in China, primarily in Shanghai, including details of his family, social life, and work.
• Hawthorne, Sophia Peabody. Letters to Elizabeth Palmer Peabody. ca. 1837-1868.
• Newlon, William. Day Books, 1843-1891.
  The books contain financial records, as well as some poems and drawings.
• Peers, Valentine. Valentine Peers papers. 1777-1854.
• Sherrard, Thomas J.  Correspondence Collection.
  Personal family correspondence to or from Thomas Sherrard, his wife, Mary Campbell Sherrard and his wife's immediate family. Rev. Thomas J. Sherrard led several Presbyterian congregations in the second half of the 19th century.  See finding aid on the web.
• Smith, Lucius Clark.  Diaries, 1859-1862.
  Two volumes of the manuscript diaries of school teacher and farmer, Lucius Clark Smith, resident of New Albany, Plain Township, Franklin County, Ohio.