Jane Porter papers

This collection contains the papers of Jane Porter and includes the family correspondence of Jane Porter, Robert Ker Porter, and Anna Maria Porter spanning the years 1795-1841. This collection has several very strong subject points for the purpose of research. The correspondence between the family members describes life amongst the gentry and literary figures during the Regency and early Victorian eras. Their letters also make clear the financial straits the family faced and the struggles they endured to maintain their expected (and desired) place in society.

The correspondence is also strong in the area of social customs and traditional roles of women in the Regency era, though both Jane and Anna Maria stood somewhat outside those roles as they were, with their writing, the main source of financial support for the family for many years. The letters also describe the social and economic changes in England over a span of fifty years. A number of the letters, particularly those of Robert Ker Porter, were written from Russia, Europe, and South America and provide an "Englishman's view" of the places he visited.

The collection does have some areas of weakness. There is a definite lack of manuscript material for Jane, Anna Maria, and Robert Ker Porter; there are no manuscripts of their most well known novels and works. Also, entire years of correspondence are lacking, especially letters from Robert Ker Porter during various periods of his life.

The papers consist of the following series:

1. Manuscripts and Documents (Boxes 1-4) are arranged alphabetically by author and title. The manuscripts consist mainly of notes, essays, reviews, and business documents written by Jane Porter, 1776-1850. There is also a small number of autograph manuscripts written by Anna Maria, Robert Ker Porter and others. Both Anna Maria and Jane Porter wrote poems and essays which they included in letters to various addressees; these poems and essays are noted on the outside of the folders, as well as in the Added Entries section of this Finding Aid.

2. Correspondence (Boxes 5-52) is arranged alphabetically by author. This series consists mainly of letters written between the Porter family and a small number written by others. The letters of Jane Porter, 1776-1850, begin early in her life and end just a short time before her death, thus spanning almost her entire life. The vast majority of the letters are personal but also included are business letters regarding the publication of the sisters' novels and articles. A large number of the business letters pertain to Robert Ker Porter: his debts, his travel books and artwork, and his diplomatic career. Jane Porter, 1776-1850, copied out the majority of these letters to send to her brother while he was traveling and living overseas.

3. Ephemera (Box 53) is arranged alphabetically by title. The ephemera consists mainly of miscellaneous envelopes and other items. There is one folder of unidentified manuscript fragments written by Jane Porter, 1776-1850, Anna Maria Porter, and others. The Ephemera also contains the spines and labels removed from the original volumes in which the letters were bound.

4. Oversize Manuscripts, Documents and Correspondence (Boxes 54-59) are arranged alphabetically by author. These items were removed from boxes 4-47 so the call numbers are not consecutive. Place holder cards were left in boxes 4-47 to indicate when an item was removed to an oversize box; each box label also indicates the specific oversize box or boxes to locate the items which were removed.