Matthiessen, F. O. (Francis Otto), 1902-1950

Variant names

Hide Profile

Matthiessen was an American literary scholar, teacher, and critic.

From the description of Papers, 1929-1950. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 122468863

From the guide to the Papers, 1929-1950., (Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University)

F.O. Matthiessen was an American literary critic and a Harvard professor of history and literature.

From the description of Correspondence with Hugh T. Cunningham, 1946-1950. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 612757934

Francis Otto Matthiessen, American historian, literary critic and educator. He was born on February 19, 1902 in Pasadena, California. Matthiessen graduated from Yale University in 1923, was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, and received his doctorate from Harvard in 1927. He taught at Harvard University from 1929-1950 and chaired its undergraduate program in history and literature. Matthiessen's notable works concern T. S. Eliot, the James family (Alice James, Henry James, Henry James Sr., and William James), and writers of the American Renaissance, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Sarah Orne Jewett, Sinclair Lewis, Herman Melville, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman. He is best known for his book, American Renaissance: Art and Expression in the Age of Emerson and Whitman (1941).

Matthiessen's life partner was the painter Russell Cheney and the couple shared a cottage in Kittery, Maine. Matthiessen kept his personal life quite private and wished for most of his colleagues to not know he was gay. His friends, however, maintained close relationships with him and Cheney throughout their years together. Cheney died in 1945 of mesenteric thrombosis and Matthiessen never recovered from his death. He committed suicide by jumping from a window in 1950.

From the guide to the F. O. Matthiessen papers, 1900-1964, (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Witter Bynner papers, 1829-1965. Houghton Library
referencedIn Wheeler, Ruth Winifred Robinson, 1890-1973. Collection of mounted newspaper and periodical clippings relating to Hawthorne, 1923-1946. Concord Free Public Library, Special Collection
referencedIn Granville Hicks Papers, 1906-1980 Syracuse University. Library. Special Collections Research Center
referencedIn Pease, Arthur Stanley, 1881-1964. Correspondence and compositions, 1870-1963 Houghton Library
referencedIn Harvard Law School Forums Records Harvard Law School Library Langdell Hall Cambridge, MA 02138
creatorOf Matthiessen, F. O. (Francis Otto), 1902-1950. F. O. Matthiessen papers, ca. 1925-1950. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
creatorOf F. O. Matthiessen papers, 1900-1964 Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
referencedIn Alfred Kazin collection of papers, 1933-1990, 1933-1978 The New York Public Library. Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature.
referencedIn New Directions Publishing records Houghton Library
referencedIn Harry Levin papers Houghton Library
referencedIn Joseph Barnes Papers, 1923-1970 Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library
creatorOf Matthiessen, F. O. (Francis Otto), 1902-1950. Papers, 1929-1950. Houghton Library
referencedIn Dana, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1881-1950. Papers on Henri Barbusse and Sacco-Vanzetti, 1913-1949. Houghton Library
referencedIn New Yorker records New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
referencedIn Houghton Mifflin Company correspondence and records, 1832-1944. Houghton Library
referencedIn Goldsmith, Alfred F. Letters : to Edward Naumburg, Jr., 1930-1945. Grolier Club
referencedIn Arlin Turner Papers, 1927-1980 David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library
referencedIn Joseph Barnes Papers, 1923-1970 Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library
referencedIn Daniel J. Boorstin Papers, 1882-1995, (bulk 1944-1994) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
referencedIn Mark Anthony De Wolfe Howe additional papers Houghton Library
referencedIn Harvard University Archives Photograph Collection: Portraits, ca. 1852-ca. 2004 Harvard University Archives.
creatorOf Matthiessen, F. O. (Francis Otto), 1902-1950. Letter to Paul Engle. Boston, [MA]. [1944] Dec. 11. University of Iowa Libraries
creatorOf Matthiessen, F. O. (Francis Otto), 1902-1950. Correspondence with Donald B. Elder, 1944-1946. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
referencedIn Utley, Francis Lee, 1907-. Notes on a lecture by F.O. Matthiessen presented at the Modern Language Conference, April, 1934. Ohio State University Libraries
creatorOf Papers, 1929-1950. Houghton Library
referencedIn Sarah Orne Jewett correspondence, 1861-1930. Houghton Library
referencedIn May Sarton Papers, 1846-1995, 1920-1995 The New York Public Library. Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature.
referencedIn Yaddo records, 1870-1980 New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
creatorOf Matthiessen, F.O. (Francis Otto), 1902-1950. Correspondence with Hugh T. Cunningham, 1946-1950. Houghton Library
creatorOf Alden, John Eliot, 1914-1991. Ezra Pound research collection, 1916-1948. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
referencedIn Arlin, Turner, 1909-1980. Papers, 1929-1980. Duke University Libraries, Duke University Library; Perkins Library
referencedIn Sarah Orne Jewett correspondence, 1861-1930. Houghton Library
referencedIn Papers of the Howe-Richards family, 1840-1950. Houghton Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Arlin, Turner, 1909-1980. person
associatedWith Barnes, Joseph, 1907-1970. person
correspondedWith Boorstin, Daniel J. (Daniel Joseph), 1914-2004. person
correspondedWith Bynner, Witter, 1881-1968 person
associatedWith Cheney, Russell, 1881-1945 person
associatedWith Cunningham, Hugh T., person
correspondedWith Dana, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1881-1950 person
associatedWith Doubleday, Doran & Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Dreiser, Theodore, 1871-1945. person
associatedWith Elder, Donald B. person
associatedWith Engle, Paul, 1908-1991, person
correspondedWith Goldsmith, Alfred F. person
correspondedWith Harvard Law School Forum corporateBody
associatedWith Hicks, Granville, 1901-1982 person
correspondedWith Houghton Mifflin Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Howe family. family
correspondedWith Howe, M. A. De Wolfe (Mark Antony De Wolfe), 1864-1960 person
associatedWith Hyde, L. K. (Louis K.) Rat & the devil. person
associatedWith James family. family
associatedWith James, Henry, 1843-1916. person
associatedWith Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909. person
associatedWith Kazin, Alfred, 1915-1998 person
correspondedWith Levin, Harry, 1912-1994 person
correspondedWith New Directions Publishing Corp. corporateBody
correspondedWith New Yorker Magazine, Inc corporateBody
correspondedWith Pease, Arthur Stanley, 1881- person
associatedWith Sarton, May, 1912-1995 person
associatedWith Steegmuller, Francis, 1906- person
correspondedWith Turner, Arlin person
associatedWith Utley, Francis Lee, 1907- person
associatedWith Van Doren, Mark, 1894-1972 person
associatedWith Wilson, Edmund, 1895-1972 person
associatedWith Yaddo (Artist's colony) corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Czechoslovakia
Europe, Central
Subject
American literature
American literature
Authors, American
Suicide
World politics
Occupation
Authors
Activity

Person

Birth 1902-02-19

Death 1950-04-01

Americans

English

Information

Permalink: http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6v98q1v

Ark ID: w6v98q1v

SNAC ID: 46135980