Guide to the John Burroughs Papers, 1850-1991 (bulk 1860-1921)

Collection Summary

Biographical Note

John Burroughs (1837-1921) is one of most important contributors to the canon of American nature writing and was one of the most well-known essayists of his time. He published widely on a variety of subjects in many popular publications, received numerous awards and honorary degrees and was well known to scholars and laypeople alike. However, his popularity waned after his death and only recently has interest in his work been rekindled. His work is of significance to those studying not just natural history, but also ecology, philosophy, poetry, geography, history and many other areas.

Burroughs was born on a dairy farm in Roxbury, New York, in the heart of the Catskill Mountains. As a child he spent much of his spare time reading and writing. He attended various one-room school houses and, for a short time, attended the Hedding Literary Institute in Ashland, New York as well as the Cooperstown Seminary. He left home at seventeen to become a teacher himself, and took posts at rural schools in New York, New Jersey, and Illinois. Throughout, he continued to hone his skills as a writer. Burroughs' earliest journal dates from 1854 when he was 17, but the first form he explored as a public writer (due in part to his love of the work of Samuel Johnson and Ralph Waldo Emerson) was the essay. "Fragments from the Table of an Intellectual Epicure," appeared in the The New York Saturday Press in 1860. His first significant published piece, "Expression" was accepted by Atlantic Monthly later that same year, but because the Atlantic articles were not signed at that point, many, including the editor, mistook the author for Emerson. Soon his work was being published in some of the most popular magazines of the day. He was not, however, able to depend on his writing as a primary source of income for another 25 years.

Burroughs married Ursula North in 1857 and with her encouragement, made the decision to leave teaching to pursue more lucrative work as a clerk for the U.S. Treasury. The couple moved to Washington, D.C. in 1863. While there Burroughs became acquainted with another new arrival, Walt Whitman. The two became fast friends as well as significant influences on each others' work. Burrough's first book, published in 1867, was a defense of the controversial poet: Notes on Walt Whitman as Poet and Person.

In 1873, Burroughs left Washington to return home to New York as a bank examiner. He built his home "Riverby" on a vineyard in West Park, a small town on the Hudson River only 50 miles from his birthplace. In 1881 he constructed his "Bark Study" just off the main house, a quiet retreat (perhaps away from the watchful eye of Mrs. Burroughs, who disapproved of his writing) where he added to his growing body of essays and full length works (see list below). His work garnered substantial popular and critical acclaim, and by 1885 he was able to give up the bank position and fully devote his time to writing and enjoying his land.

Burroughs also enjoyed spending time with his young son, Julian. The couple adopted the child when he was two months old, but Ursula was unaware that her husband had a biological connection to the boy. The child's parentage was somewhat obscure while Burroughs' lived, but the truth was that Julian was John's son. The details eventually came out and there was some family tension, but both parents adored Julian, and the family maintained a close bond.

In 1895, Burroughs built another retreat, this time a mile away from the Riverby house, where it was becoming increasingly difficult to work because of the steady flow of expected (and some unexpected) guests. Still, some visitors were welcome at his new woodland cabin. Family and local friends made the trip out to "Slabsides," including some of his more prominent acquaintances, such as Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Ford. It was also a favorite field trip for Vassar College people, particularly his young friends in the Wake-Robin Club.

Although John Burroughs spent the greater portion of his life within a small radius in New York State, his contact with the world at large was extensive. His travels took him to England, the West Indies, Bermuda, and Hawaii. In the United States he went north to Alaska, south to Georgia, east to New England, and west to California. In 1899 he cruised with the Harriman Expedition to Alaska along with John Muir and others, and in 1903 he traveled with President Roosevelt to Yellowstone National Park.

In 1901, Burroughs met Dr. Clara Barrus, a psychiatrist and admirer of his work. They became friends and eventually she served as his assistant and traveling companion. She also became close with Mrs. Burroughs. In 1914, Barrus moved into a house at Riverby, and when Ursula's health began to fail, the couple stayed with her. Ursula died in 1917 from cancer. Burroughs remained active and continued to write, but he followed Ursula four years later. He died on a train returning from a winter stay in California. Barrus, who became his literary executor, published his last essays in Under the Maples (1921) and The Last Harvest (1922).

Chronology

Books by John Burroughs*

Scope and Content Note

Vassar's John Burroughs collection consists of journals and some correspondence, as well as published and unpublished materials and photographs relating to the naturalist's personal and professional life. The journals are a significant component of the collection. There are 53 handwritten volumes (circa 3,300 leaves) kept by Burroughs between 13 May 1876, and 4 February 1921. The volumes contain his observations on nature as well as the political, literary, and philosophical commentary, which became the basis for many of his essays. The collection also includes two sets of transcriptions of the journals. The first, annotated and edited by Clara Barrus, covers the journals in the Vassar collection (1876-1921) as well as earlier volumes located in the Berg Collection at the New York Public Library (1854-1876). These transcripts were prepared for the 1928 Barrus publication, The Heart of John Burroughs's Journals. The second transcription was prepared by Elizabeth Burroughs Kelley, granddaughter of John Burroughs and author of several works about him, and includes her handwritten annotations.

Other writings in the collection include manuscript as well has published versions of Burroughs short and full-length works. Much of the manuscript material was annotated in some way by either Clara Barrus or Elizabeth Burroughs Kelley. The same is true for the published versions, and it appears that many items in that series were collected by Elizabeth Burroughs Kelley while doing research on her grandfather.

The correspondence is divided into incoming, outgoing and a miscellaneous series. In both incoming and outgoing, the most frequent correspondents are Burroughs' wife Ursula and his son Julian. Other correspondents include friends, family, neighbors, professional contacts as well as readers of Burroughs' work. Several well-known friends and acquaintances of Burroughs are represented, such as Walt Whitman and Theodore Roosevelt. There are letters to and from artists, such as Timothy Cole, Pietro, and Orlando Rouland, a Burroughs portraitist. There are also several letters showing the connection between Burroughs and members of the Vassar College community, among them: Georgia Avery Kendrick, Clara S. Reed, James Monroe Taylor, and Mary W. Whitney. A series of letters between Fanny Borden, Vassar College Head Librarian, and May Cline, a friend of Burroughs, chronicles the sale of some Burroughs letters to Clara Barrus.

In addition to material created by Burroughs, there is also a variety of materials collected by Kelley and Barrus for their own biographical works on the writer. Series VII and VIII include family and personal documents belonging to Burroughs and the Burroughs family, but also a number of items gathered after Burroughs' death which provide information about his life, his work, the people he knew, and his impact on the world. Included are newspaper clippings, published and unpublished articles, postcards, correspondence and other materials collected as late as 1991.

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Encoded by Elizabeth Clarke and Laura Streett, 2007. Updated by Emma Gronbeck, November 2023.

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