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Creator
Porter, Jane, 1776-1850
Call number
Pforz MS
Physical description
25 items
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Jane Porter manuscript material, Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle, The New York Public Library
Repository
Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle
Access to materials
Restricted access. Request an in-person research appointment.

Jane Porter was an English novelist. The collection consists primarily of correspondence dating between 1817 and 1837. It also includes one poem.

Biographical/historical information

Jane Porter, novelist. Most remembered for her bestselling historical novels Thaddeus of Warsaw (1803) and The Scottish Chiefs (1810).

Scope and arrangement

This finding aid for the Jane Porter manuscript material in the Pforzheimer Collection describes one poem, "To a friend of the Battle of Waterloo," and manuscript letters to various correspondents, including the novelist, Lady Charlotte Bury; the painter, Martin Archer Shee; and over 20 others.

Please note that the Pforzheimer Collection also holds The Jane Porter Papers, a large archival collection made up mostly of letters to Jane Porter and her family, but which also contains over 150 items in Jane Porter's hand. See separate finding aid for description of The Jane Porter Papers.

The Jane Porter manuscript material is arranged in two series:

Administrative information

Custodial history

The holograph poem "To a friend of the Battle of Waterloo" was acquired by Carl H. Pforzheimer (1879-1957) in December 1936 from a Dutch bookdealer. Ten letters were acquired between 1962 and 1981 under the auspices of the Pforzheimer Foundation through individual dealers. Since the Pforzheimer Collection's 1986 move to the New York Public Library, its Porter manuscript holdings have grown steadily through purchase both at auction and through individual dealers, mostly notably in the early 2000s. Because the Pforzheimer Collection collects actively, its holdings may grow in the future as items become available.

Processing information

Finding aid created and imported into ArchivesSpace by Timothy Gress in February 2025.

Related Material

The Pforzheimer Collection also holds The Jane Porter Papers, an archival collection consisting of 1,872 items. Once part of the much larger and now dispersed collection of Porter family papers owned by Sir Thomas Phillipps, the Jane Porter Papers is made up primarily of letters to Jane Porter, Robert Ker Porter, and Anna Maria Porter from hundreds of correspondents; it also contains over 150 items in Jane Porter's hand. A representative collection of first and early editions of Jane Porter and Anna Maria Porter's published works are also available in the Pforzheimer Collection.

The Library's Berg Collection holds additional Jane Porter manuscripts and books, and some Jane Porter manuscripts are held by the Manuscripts and Archives Division.

Using the collection

Location

Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Third Floor, Room 319

Access to materials

Restricted access. Request an in-person research appointment.