Collection of Bret Harte Letters, 1860-1902

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Summary

Abstract:
Bret Harte (1836-1902) settled in San Francisco in 1860 where he worked as a printer, clerk, and secretary in a government office. He wrote short stories and became the first editor of the Overland Monthly (1868-71) in San Francisco. The collection consists of correspondence, one literary manuscript, and some holograph fragments by Harte.
Extent:
2 boxes (1 linear ft.)
Language:
English.

Background

Scope and content:

Collection consists of correspondence, one literary manuscript, and some holograph fragments of writer Bret Harte. Of some 300 letters from Harte to various persons, there are 108 to his wife Anna Griswold Harte and to his son Francis King Harte, 107 to Alexander Boyd, a British artist who illustrated some of Harte's stories, and his wife, a writer. There are also eleven letters to Thomas Edgar Pemberton. Also includes Bret Harte's manuscript for Colonel Starbottle's client.

Biographical / historical:

Bret Harte was born Francis Brett Hart on August 25, 1836 in Albany, New York; at 11 he had a poem published in the New York Sunday Morning Atlas; he left school and went to work at 13; traveled to California in 1854, settling in San Francisco in 1860; worked as a printer, clerk, and secretary in a government office; published the short story, The Work On Red Mountain (later titled M'liss) in 1860; became first editor of the Overland Monthly (1868-71) in San Francisco; published the story, The Luck of Roaring Camp (1868) and the satiric verse parody, Plain Language from Truthful James (Better Known as the Heathen Chinee) in 1870 in that journal; also became known for his stories, The Outcasts of Poker Flat (1869) and Tennessee's Partner (1869); gained a U.S. government position in Germany in 1878, served as U.S. Consul at Glasgow, 1880-85, and then moved to London; died on May 5, 1902 in Camberley, England.

Acquisition information:
William Andrews Clark Library, 1966, transfer.
Physical location:
Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.

Access and use

Location of this collection:
A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
Contact:
(310) 825-4988
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
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