Skip to content

Letter book of William Upton | Collections | The Huntington

Membership

Donate

Store

OPEN TODAY: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.

Home
Collections
Search
Letter book of William Upton

Manuscripts

Letter book of William Upton

Image not available

Description: The first half of the volume deals with Upton's work in the construction of a dry dock at Sevastopol in the Crimea, including its funding, design, progress, and the constant supplying of materials. The second half of the volume details his life as an engineer and refugee during the Crimean War and his efforts to find further employment and full reimbursement for his loss of property at the outbreak of the war. Upton talks in detail about how his neighbors in Sevastopol had to flee their villas at the approach of troops, and the looting of his property. There are copies of letters by Upton begging for a new job after the war. He wrote several notable people including Lord Raglan and even Emperor Napoleon. The volume also includes a proposal to beautify, improve and develop the banks of the River Thames which Upton sent to the editor of the Illustrated London news in 1856. A letter to Upton (1855, May 7) and a draft of another letter were found In the front cover of the volume. About half of the volume is made up of blank pages; Upton only wrote in the first half of the volume.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1844-1858.

Subscribe to our e-newsletter

About
Accessibility
Land Acknowledgment
Using the Library
Careers
Host an Event
Volunteer
Press
Contact Us
Filming/Photography

Opening Hours

Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.

Closed on Tuesdays

Admission Info and Tickets

1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108

Privacy Policy
Social Media Guidelines and User Policy

©2026 The Huntington

Charity Navigator

Call number

mssHM 74299

Creator

Upton, William(Opens in new tab)

Provenance

Burndy Library Collection, Gift of Dibner Family, November 2006.

Dimensions

23 cm :

Associated people

Napoleon (1808-1873,)

Raglan, FitzRoy James Henry Somerset, (1788-1855,)

Associated organization

Burndy Library,

Find out more

View in the Library catalog(Opens in new tab)

You might also be interested in

Image not available
Upton Sinclair correspondence
Manuscripts
The collection consists of correspondence written between Upton Sinclair and his friend and colleague, Thomas Hastie Bell (1867-1942). As both men were writers and political activists by profession, much of their correspondence deals with the intersection between literature and politics. Specific subjects addressed within their correspondence include twentieth-century American literature, communism in the Soviet Union, labor unions and the labor movement in the United States, socialism in the United States, the Spanish Civil War, and twentieth-century politics and government in the United States. Individuals discussed within the collection include Alexander Berkman, Frank Harris, Rudolph Rocker, Leon Trotsky, and Oscar Wilde
mssHM 37562-37616
Image not available
Matthew Gilbert Upton papers
Manuscripts
Letters and articles by Matthew Gilbert Upton of San Francisco, California. Includes some material related to the Customhouse in San Francisco.
mssHM 19271-19292
Image not available
George Bruce Upton letters to his father
Manuscripts
This is a series of nine letters written by George Bruce Upton, Junior, to his father, describing his journey to California and his experiences therein. The first two letters, HM 24681 and 24684, were written in February and April, 1852, while the younger Upton was en route to California aboard the ship "Great Britain." By the next letter (HM 24683, dated April-May, 1852), the ship has landed at San Francisco. HM 24684 (written May 31) sees George Junior in San Francisco, attempting to order goods for the opening of a store. In the next letter, (HM 24685, dated June 15), he travels to gold mines out of curiosity, and to check on an acquaintance, whom had gone there to search for gold. Putnam, the would-be miner, was found not doing well. George Junior likes what he has seen of San Francisco, though he is not enamored with its government. HM 24686, written in San Francisco on November 15, tells of a fire in Sacramento that, according to Junior, will "enhance the value of almost every description of merchandise" in San Francisco. The rest of the letter is concerned with the shipping and prices of goods, and details of the purchasing of a boat and insurance. The next letter in the series is dated January 15, 1854. George Junior is living in a shared house in San Francisco, and he writes "the city has improved wonderfully." The following letter was written May 31, 1854 (HM 24688) and contains George Junior's description of his visit to gold mines, and his own successful attempts at panning and digging. He also mentions quartz mining as a potential and relatively untapped source of revenue. In his opinion, he considers "the idea of the mines giving out, in the usual acceptance of the expression, as highly improbable." The final letter in this series is HM 24689, alleged to have been written in San Francisco in 1854, as only the final eight pages of the twelve-page letter remain. George Junior reports that "the mining population has diminished greatly," and that the market for goods has also fallen. He worries about the long-term prospects of San Francisco, despite its rapid growth during his stay there.
mssHM 24681-24689
Image not available
William Freeman letter book
Manuscripts
A Leeward Islands letter book containing 87 letters relating to the management of the estates, financial, and legal affairs of William Freeman. The majority of the letters concern the management of his estates in St. Kitts, Nevis, and Montserrat, the transatlantic sugar and indigo trades, the movement of enslaved persons, and other political, legal, and financial matters; letters include mention of the death of Charles II, the Monmouth Rebellion, and the invasion of William of Orange. The main correspondents are Henry Freeman (William's younger brother), and Robert Helme; there are also letters to William's sister-in-law Sarah Helme, other local merchants, and Sir Nathaniel Johnson, Governor of the Leewards from 1686 to1689. In early 1685, Henry Freeman had travelled to the Leewards to act on his older brother's behalf, with very mixed results, until Henry's early death in 1690. The volume is written in a variety of italic and secretary hands, by clerks and presumably William Freeman; it is in four gatherings, evidently once bound but now loose and secured at the inner margin with old tape. The volume also contains a duplicate copy of one letter laid in.
mssHM 84411
Image not available
Upton Sinclair
Manuscripts
Includes letters to The American Mercury, Bessie Kimmelman, and Henry Louis Mencken; also includes a letter addressed to Upton Sinclair and Pryns Hopkins.
mssHM 37562-37616, 41995-42118, 42277-42350
Image not available
William Wilson Cowan letters
Manuscripts
In the letters, which Cowan wrote to his wife, daughter and father, he describes his eight-month overland journey from Indiana to California. He includes details regarding the hardships of the trip including disease and the death of several of his traveling companions, problems with the captain of the company, lack of provisions along the way, and delays due to bad weather. In the one letter he wrote from California, he describes California and his life in Weaverville, the conditions in the city, the high prices of food and supplies, the behavior of his fellow gold miners, and the difficulty of mining for gold. Included with the nine letters is a poem, written by Cowan, entitled "A Memento on Leaving for Calafornia [sic]," and a manuscript, written by an unknown person, which gives details about Cowan's life and his sudden death from typhoid fever in December 1849. Also included are negative photostats of all eleven items.
mssHM 68061-68071