Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Robert Alden Sanborn fonds
General material designation
- Textual record
Parallel title
Previously known as the Mary Farley Sanborn collection.
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
Level of description
Fonds
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
Physical description area
Physical description
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Robert Alden Sanborn, a 20th century American writer of both poetry and prose, was born November 3, 1877 in Boston, Massachusetts to Frederick C. Sanborn, a clerk, and Mary Farley Sanborn (1853-1941), a writer. After studying at Harvard from 1896 to 1898 he began his writing career as a journalist before he took to writing as his principal occupation. He published two books of poetry, Horizons (Boston: Four Seas Co., 1916) and The Children and Judas (Boston: B. Humphries, 1954), as well as a fantasy novel, Mr. Mudge Cuts Across (Los Angeles: Suttonhouse, c1937). Olive Burchfiel (1888-1960) acted as Sanborn's editor for several years.
Sanborn and his wife Virginia (nee Berry Wright) (1887-1949) married in New York City on October 10, 1919. Together they had two children: Georgia-Mary (September 7, 1920-April 13, 2006) and Robert Berry (January 14, 1927-February 9, 1983). Sanborn died February 15, 1966 in Norfolk, Massachusetts.
Custodial history
Scope and content
Fonds consists of unpublished typescripts and manuscripts by Robert Alden Sanborn. Influenced by the work of Carl Jung, the unpublished works are predominantly related to Sanborn's interest in the social development of children and several of the drafts consist of narratives about young girls referred to as "Little Anna" and "Bunty". Also included is collected ephemera and correspondence between Sanborn and his family, colleagues and publishing contacts, including his editor Olive Burchfiel (1888-1960), as well as writing by Sanborn's mother, Mary Farley Sanborn, including a published version of "The Valor Ranch" (1914); a typescript version of the poem "My Eighth of May"; and a clipping of the poem "The Barrel-Stave."
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Purchased from Christian Verbeke, Antiquarian Bookseller, in 1969.
Arrangement
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Associated materials
Accruals
General note
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number area
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Control area
Description record identifier
Institution identifier
Rules or conventions
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Revised by PH in October 2018.
Redescribed July 2019 by DR