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Works concerning the Mitchell family, 1858-1914

 Series
Identifier: Series II

Scope and Contents note

From the Series: The Silas Weir Mitchell collection contains material related to the personal and professional activities of Philadelphia-area physician and author Silas Weir Mitchell, as well as members of his family. This collection consists of selected manuscripts, photographs, and published material that have been separated from a larger collection by Norman Kane (A.B.A.A., Emeritus), and acquired by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

This collection is arranged into five series; “Letters and autographs, 1888-1952, undated,” “Works concerning the Mitchell family, 1858-1914,” “Photographs, undated,” “Book and periodical contributions by members of the Mitchell family, 1839-1840, 1992,” and “Collector’s research and resources, 1914-1992, undated.” In addition to the series-level description found below, detailed descriptions of each item may be found under the relevant entry in the container list. These descriptions provide significant contextual information for each item, and are authored by David J. Eilenberger as part of a pre-acquisition catalogue.

Series I, “Letters and autographs, 1888-1952, undated,” contains written correspondence and other documents authored or received by members of the Mitchell family. The majority of this series consists of letters authored by Silas Weir Mitchell, but includes items authored by Langdon Mitchell and John Kearsley Mitchell, as well as several items sent by individuals outside the family. This series also includes several non-letter items bearing the signatures of Mitchell family members, including a set of four Mahogony Tree menus which also bear the signatures of other notable Philadelphians. This series is arranged alphabetically by author, and further arranged chronologically.

Series II, “Works concerning the Mitchell family, 1858-1914,” contains published or commercially printed works dedicated to, discussing, or featuring the Mitchell family. This series contains a copy of Harper’s Weekly featuring a poem authored by Silas Weir Mitchell, proceedings of a Masonic lodge concerning the death of John K. Mitchell, a copy of the Philadelphia Public Ledger featuring a portrait of S.W. Mitchell, music dedicated to John Kearsley Mitchell, and an advertising broadside featuring S.W. Mitchell’s “Hugh Wynne, Free Quaker.” This series is arranged alphabetically by subject.

Series III, “Photographs, undated,” contains four albums containing multiple photographs. The subjects of these photographs are primarily members of the Mitchell family, their friends, and events of import, and were the property of Silas Weir Mitchell and Marion Lea Mitchell. Though some photographs have been annotated, the collections compiler has also provided item-level description of each photograph. These descriptions can be found under each individual album in the container list below. The albums are arranged numerically according to the numbers assigned to them by the compiler.

Series IV, “Book and periodical contributions by members of the Mitchell family, 1839-1840, 1992,” contains published and printed works authored by members of the Mitchell family. Included in this series are three items; “Oh! Fly to the Prarie” and “The Prarie Lea,” music composed by John Kearsley Mitchell, and a written appreciation of Samuel Lewis, MD, published by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and including remarks by Silas Weir Mitchell. This series is arranged alphabetically by author. [Items by J.K. Mitchell missing.]

Series V, “Collector’s research and resources, 1914-1992, undated,” contains resources and materials accumulated by one or more collectors of the Silas Weir Mitchell papers during the process of locating and acquiring manuscript material for the collection. Items in this series include bibliographies, publisher’s catalogs, handwritten notes, correspondence, and material concerning an exhibition of Mitchell’s works at the Free Library of Philadelphia central branch. This series consists of one folder.



This entire collection is digitized. You can access it from the "Digital Materials" section below.

Dates

  • 1858-1914

Extent

5.0 folders

Language of Materials

From the Series: English

Creator

Repository Details

Part of the Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Repository

Contact:
19 S. 22nd Street
Philadelphia PA 19103 United States
215-399-2001