Table of Contents
Scope and Contents of the Collection
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Overview of the Collection |
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| Creator: | Macdonald, Frederika. |
| Title: | Frederika MacDonald Letters |
| Inclusive Dates: | 1913 |
| Quantity: | 1 folder (SC) |
| Abstract: | Letters from the author and literary biographer to Marion H. Spielmann, in December 1913; regarding the Charlotte Bronte / Constantin Heger letters which had been published six months previously (July 1913). |
| Language: | English |
| Repository: |
Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center |
Biographical History
Frederika Macdonald was a literary biographer and the author of several works on the French Enlightenment, as well as biographies of Charlotte Bronte and Jean Jacques Rousseau and at least one novel. In 1859 Macdonald had been a pupil at the Pensionnat Heger, where Charlotte Bronte had been first a student and then a teacher, which gave Macdonald a personal acquaintance with both Madame and Monsieur Heger and inspired her with a particular interest in Charlotte. When Charlotte's love letters to Monsieur Heger, previously believed to have been destroyed, were published in 1913, Macdonald was the first biographer to use excerpts from them, in her The Secret of Charlotte Bronte.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The Frederika Macdonald Letters consists of two letters from MacDonald to Mr. Marion H. Spielmann, Victorian art critic and scholar, on the subject of the then-recently published Charlotte Bronte / Constantin Heger letters. Spielmann had written the translation and accompanying text for the letters' publication in The Times, 29 Jul 1913. One of Macdonald's letters reads, in part, "[O]ne recognizes in Charlotte a "Romantic" -- whose purpose is to paint her own emotions & by expressing them to alleviate & tranquillise them..."
Restrictions
Access Restrictions
The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.
Use Restrictions
Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.
Related Material
The general (circulating) collection has a copy of Macdonald's The Secret of Charlotte Bronte. Please refer to Libraries Search to locate this item.
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Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Frederika Macdonald Letters,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries
Acquisition Information
Unspecified, 1970.
Finding Aid Information
Created by: MRC
Date: 28 Jun 2010
Revision history: