Hilen 19th Century Americana Collection

Prior to 1964 there was no unified collection of 19th century American literature in Special Collections, but several authors had been collected. A few, including Henry James and Walt Whitman, had been collected extensively. Professor Andrew Hilen, while working on his definitive edition of the letters of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, began to collect the authors' printed works, which he then donated over time to Special Collections, starting in 1964. Professor Hilen and his wife, Frances, in 1975 began to fund directly the purchase of the works of Longfellow and other major writers of the 19th century. The first purchase was a major Longfellow collection.

Reproduced from Walt Whitman's Hymn on the Death of Lincoln, Essex House Press, 1900

From this base in James, Whitman and Longfellow, additional authors were targeted for collecting: Stephen Crane and Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1976; Henry James, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Frank Norris in 1977; Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1979; Herman Melville in 1980; Lydia Maria Child in 1981; Lydia Sigourney in 1986, and Emily Dickinson in 1988. In 1988, Special Collections began to collect the works of all women authors represented in the Bibliography of American Literature. In the case of some authors, collecting was initiated as a result of an opportunity to acquire an existing collection through purchase, for example Emily Dickinson in 1988 and Bret Harte in 1987, or through a gift of a collection, for example, Fanny Kemble, Mark Twain, and Owen Wister in 1994. The Kemble books had been collected by Mrs. Hilen and the Wister books by Professor Hilen.

First editions of an author's work and major scholarly editions are collected, as are variant and limited editions of major works such as Moby Dick and Walden. Works that enrich the research value of the collection are also collected, for example, a book published in reaction to an author's work, or basic reference works. Although the vast majority of the books in the Collection were published in the 19th century, books published in 18th and 20th centuries are also represented. In many instances, an author's publishing career began before or extended beyond the nineteenth century. In other cases, works have been published posthumously, or scholarly or limited editions have been published in the 20th century. Many of the books in the collection are the only copies in the Libraries.

The Hilen Collection is a resource not only for the study of 19th century American literature and history, but for the study of the 19th century book, including binding, book illustration, and publishing. It is also a resource for women's studies and for the study of children's literature and the anti-slavery movement. With the establishment of the Andrew and Frances Hilen Endowment for Nineteenth Century Americana in 1980, the continued development of this valuable scholarly resource was assured.

For further information about the Hilen 19th Century Americana Collection, contact Sandra Kroupa.