William Hickling Prescott Papers 1665-1959; bulk: 1775-1859 Guide to the Collection

Table of Contents Collection Summary Biographical Sketch Sources Collection Description Acquisition Information Other Formats Organization Detailed Description of the Collection Preferred Citation Access Terms Materials Removed from the Collection

Collection Summary

Biographical Sketch

William Hickling Prescott was a historian and author distinguished for his writings about the rise and fall of the Spanish Empire. His most well-known books include, The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic (1837), History of the Conquest of Mexico (1843), History of the Conquest of Peru (1847), and his unfinished History of the Reign of Philip the Second (Vol. I and II, 1855; Vol. III, 1858). Prescott's histories received critical and popular success during his lifetime, and today, although outdated, are still widely known and read in the historical community.

Born on May 4, 1796 in Salem, Mass., Prescott was the son of William Prescott (1762-1844), a prominent Boston attorney, and Catherine Greene Hickling Prescott, and the grandson of William Prescott (1726-1795), a United States colonel at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the Revolutionary War. Prescott spent his early school years in Salem studying under Master Jacob Newman Knapp, until his father moved the family to Boston in 1808. In Boston he studied first under Master Eleazer Moody of Drummer Academy, and later under Dr. John Gardner, rector of Trinity Church in Boston.

In 1812, Prescott entered Harvard University with the intention of becoming an attorney like his father. In 1815 he was blinded in the left eye by a hard piece of bread thrown in a dining hall ruckus. Soon after the accident he began to suffer from "rheumatism" and inflammation in his right eye, an ailment that would plague him for the rest of his life. Prescott graduated from Harvard in 1815, but it already was apparent that he would not study for the bar.

In September 1815, Prescott set sail from Boston to visit his maternal grandfather Thomas Hickling, a Boston merchant and United States Consul, on St. Michael's Island in the Azores and to focus on improving the condition of his eyes. He suffered greatly during the voyage from the "rheumatism" and inflammation in his right eye and subsequently spent most of his time on St. Michael's in a darkened room. In April 1816 he sailed from the Azores for London, where he met with several expert oculists who determined that the blindness in his left eye was permanent and the ailment in his right eye incurable. After visiting England, Italy, and France, he returned to Boston in the summer of 1817, with little improvement to his condition. Unable to pursue a law career, Prescott spent the next several years in leisure, being read history and the classics by family and friends.

During this time, Prescott and several friends began a literary and social group that they named "The Club." They wrote essays and met frequently to critique each other's writings, and in early 1820 they began producing a periodical called The Club Room, with Prescott as the editor. The periodical lasted only four issues, but made a strong impression on Prescott that ultimately led him to a "life of letters."

On 4 May 1820 Prescott married Susan Amory. The marriage of nearly 50 years produced three children: Elizabeth, William Amory, and William Gardner Prescott. Soon after his marriage and the demise of his periodical, Prescott began his literary career. Due to the problems with his eyes, Prescott was a fastidious planner and created elaborate short-term and long-term study schedules for himself. With the help of a personal assistant and his noctograph, a writing apparatus for the blind, he began his studies in 1821 with English and American history, moving on to French in 1822, and Italian in 1823. The next step in Prescott's plan was to study German, but after just a short while he found German not to his liking, and he abandoned his studies in frustration. At this time Prescott's long time friend George Ticknor had been teaching Spanish Literature at Harvard University for several years. To merely "amuse and occupy" his friend, Ticknor spent the fall of 1824 reading his lectures to Prescott, and that November, Prescott replaced his German studies with Spanish.

Although always social, Prescott spent the majority of the rest of his life writing letters, doing research, and composing his histories at his three homes in Boston, Nahant, and Pepperell, Mass. He traveled occasionally but because of his eye problems rarely ventured outside of the United States. To find and obtain the Spanish, Mexican, and Peruvian books and manuscripts needed for his research, he frequently corresponded with friends, colleagues, and booksellers living or visiting outside the States to assist him. Prescott maintained long-term correspondence with many famous people, including Charles Dickens, who Prescott supported in his crusade for international copyright laws. Prescott maintained his strict schedule for his entire career, and because he was so diligent in the care of his eye, never lost his eyesight completely.

Prescott suffered a small stroke in January 1858, and died a year later on 28 January 1859 from another more massive stroke.

Sources

George Ticknor, Prescott's Life, Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1864.

Collection Description

The William Hickling Prescott papers consist of twenty-five document boxes, one oversize box, and nine volumes in cases that spans the years 1665-1959, with the bulk between 1775-1859. The collection is divided into four series: Personal Papers, Literary Papers, Prescott Family Papers, and Printed Materials.

The bulk of the collection consists of papers, including correspondence written and received and diaries entitled "Literary Memorandum," written during the career of historian and writer William Hickling Prescott. In addition to the descriptions of his constant struggles with "rheumatism" and inflamation of his right eye (after the blinding of his left), Prescott's correspondence and diaries reflect the many phases of his career, including his early studies of history and languages; his efforts to obtain Spanish books and manuscripts through colleagues and friends in Europe, Peru, and Mexico; daily writing with the aid of an assistant and his noctograph; publication and reviews of his books; and the admiration and friendship of fellow historians and literary figures. Some of his key correspondents include Don Angel and Frances(Fanny) Erskine Inglis Calderon de la Barca, Sir Charles and Lady Mary Horner Lyell, George Bancroft, Pasual de Gayangos, Obidiah Rich, Susan Amory Prescott, and George Ticknor, among many others. The collection also includes a diary kept from 1815-1817, and incoming and retained outgoing (letterbook) correspondence between Prescott and his parents William and Catherine Hickling Prescott relating to his life as a student at Harvard College, his time spent traveling to the Azores and Europe soon after his right eye was blinded, and his relationships with his family and longtime friends. Of special interest are several outgoing copies of letters written to Charles Dickens during the summer and fall of 1842 after Dickens toured the United States earlier in the year. The letters request Dickens' help to get a book published by Prescott's friend Frances (called Fanny) Calderon de la Barca, and touches on Prescott's support of Dickens' efforts to get an international copyright law passed.

Another large part of the collection consists of literary drafts and printed proofs of Prescott's histories from his first work the History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic to his final work, the History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain. The drafts were composed using his noctograph and also include a manuscript copy of Philip the Second. Some of the drafts and most of the printed proofs are incomplete.

The Prescott family papers include family correspondences of several generations of Prescott family members, including William Hickling Prescott, his father Boston lawyer William Prescott, mother Catherine Hickling Prescott, grandfather Col. William Prescott, and wife Susan Amory Prescott, among many others. The Prescott family papers also include early papers primarily pertaining to the towns of Groton and Pepperell, Mass. and the Lincolnshire Company of Boston; an orderly book and papers pertaining to Col. William Prescott's service leading the 7th Massachusetts Regiment during the Revolutionary War; business records of William Prescott (1762-1844); diaries describing Catherine Greene Hickling's (later Prescott) travels to the Azores and Europe; a diary kept in 1778 by Catherine's uncle William Greene on a trip to Europe after being captured and released by British sailors; various family notebooks; a commonplace-book; and deeds and wills.

The remainder of the collection includes Spanish manuscripts and notes, clippings and a scrapbook of clippings, printed volumes, honorary diplomas, paybooks, and calling cards.

Acquisition Information

The bulk of the collection was deposited by Roger Wolcott from 1909-1924. Additional deposits were made by Roger, Oliver, William P., and Samuel H. Wolcott, and Cornelia Wolcott Drury in 1935; additional papers were a gift of Samuel H. Wolcott in 1969.

Other Formats

The William Prescott (1726-1795) orderly book is available on the Revolutionary War Orderly Books Microfilm, P-394, Reel III, Vol. 5.

The William Greene diary is printed in the Proceedings of the MHS, Vol. 54, p. 84-138.

The Catherine Greene Hickling Prescott travel diaries are published in Gavea-Brown: A Bilingual Journal of Portuguese American Letters and Studies, Jan. 1994-Dec. 1995, vol. 15/16, p. 117-257.

Organization of the Collection

The collection is organized into the following series:

Detailed Description of the Collection

Preferred Citation

William Hickling Prescott papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.

Materials Removed from the Collection

Photographs were removed to the MHS Photo Archives.

Some printed items were removed to the MHS Printed Collections.

Silhouettes and a calling card printing plate was removed to the MHS Artifacts Collection