Robert Montgomery Bird Papers
Scope and Content Note

The University of Pennsylvania is an appropriate home for this collection, as both Robert M. Bird and his son Frederic attended this University; University of Pennsylvania professor Clement Foust wrote a biography of Bird, The Life and Dramatic Works of Robert Montgomery Bird, and professor Arthur Hobson Quinn edited several of Bird's dramatic works for publication early in this century. Not included in this collection is the material relating to Bird's photographic experiments and writings on photography, purchased from the family by the Library Company of Philadelphia in 1992.

Correspondence. The letters in this collection shed light on Bird's family life, his literary ambitions, and his political beliefs. The diverse range of topics covered in these letters reflect the breadth of Bird's interests and talents.

From his early studies of medicine and his brief career as a doctor, Bird earned a place in the scientific community of Philadelphia. His correspondents include several prominent Philadelphia physicians, many associated with the University of Pennsylvania: John Redman Coxe, John S. Dorsey, Richard Harlan, George McClellan, and Samuel George Morton.

Bird's literary correspondents include authors Edward Bulwer Lytton, Willis Gaylord Clark, Harriet Martineau, William Gilmore Simms, Rufus W. Griswold, and Caroline Lee Hentz. While Bird was involved in dramatic literature, he made the acquaintance of Edwin Forrest. Included in this collection is the correspondence of these two men, as well as documentation of the ensuing legal battle over copyrights and profits. Though Bird withdrew from the world of theater after his falling out with Forrest, he continued his interest in drama, corresponding with dramatist Robert Taylor Conrad and writing on the Dramatic Author's Bill, proposed by George Boker. In other branches of the arts, Bird corresponded with painter Oliver Frazer, engraver James Barton Longacre, and sculptor Hiram Powers.

Bird was a staunch supporter of the Delaware Whig Party, and even ran for Congress himself in 1842. Over the years he corresponded with many of the most important figures in the nineteenth-century politcal scene of Philadelphia and Delaware. These political correspondents include Delaware congressman George P. Fisher and John W. Houston and Pennsylvania congressmen Joseph R. Chandler, Edward Joy Morris, and Job R. Tyson. In addition, Bird corresponded with Delaware senators Thomas Clayton, Joseph P. Comegys, and John M. Clayton. Other noteworthy political figures among Bird's correspondents are Reverdy Johnson (U.S. Attorney General); Leslie Comb (State Legislator, Kentucky); S.G. Howe (reformer); J.Y. Mason (U.S. cabinet member); and Robert Dale Owen (Rep., Indiana). Morton McMichael, co-editor of The North American with Bird, was a prominent Whig politician and served as mayor of Philadelphia from 1866 to 1869. Also included is a letter of introduction written by U.S. President Martin Van Buren, and a letter by President Zachary Taylor to John M. Clayton. Bird also corresponded with several prominent military men, including Samuel F. Du Pont, Elisha Kent Kane, Alexander Mackenzie, Scott Winfield, and Lorenzo Thomas.

Always an active contributor to journals and newspapers and an editor himself, Bird maintained a correspondence with the world of publishing and journalism. He exchanged letters with editors Cephas Grier Childs, George Rex Graham, Charles Fenno Hoffman, James Lawson, and Ephraim George Squier, as well as the publisher Justus Starr Redfield and journalists William Leggett, George P. Morris, James Watson, and Nathaniel Parker Willis.

Writings and Compositions. This collection provides a rich resource for scholars of Bird's literary works, comprising plays, poems, songs, stories, and novels. The literary material ranges from notes on a plot never realized to bound volumes of the last drafts of a manuscript before publication. Included in this collection are multiple drafts of works that Bird went on to publish, including bound manuscripts of the following dramatic wroks: The Broker of Bogota, Caridorf, The City Looking Glass, The Cowled Lover, The Fanatick, Giannone, The Gladiator, The Man without Money, Oraloosa, Pelopidas, The Three Dukes, and 'Twas all for the Best. Bound manuscripts of the following prose works are also included: Calavar, Hawks of Hawk Hollow, Nick of the Woods, and Robin Day. In addition to these are volumes of poetry and fragments of numerous other literary works, some only in the planning stages.

Bird also had a talent for music and drawing. Included in this collection are folders of musical compositions, plans for political songs, patriotic songs, and operas. Watercolor, and pen and ink sketches depict theatrical scenes, landscapes, and architectural designs.

Research Notes and Non-Fiction Fragments. In addition to his career as a fiction writer, Bird also devoted much of his time to non-fiction research and writing, from history to politics, agriculture, and science. Among these research notes is material on Mexico and South America, later used in his historical novels, The Infidel and Calavar. His research on U.S. History and geography may have provided the backdrop for some of Bird's other novels and was intended for eventual publication as a work on American History. In 1839 Bird purchased a farm in Maryland, which he called "Cabin Cove." During the period Bird lived on the farm, he collected information on farming, primarily compiled in a series of notebooks on agriculture and farming projects.

Related Papers. This collection also comprises the papers of Bird's son, Frederic Mayer Bird (1838-1908), and of his wife, Mary E. Bird (1809-1868). Among the latter are drafts of Mary Bird's biography of her husband, never completed. In 1945 University of Pennsylvania librarian C. Seymour Thompson edited these fragments of manuscripts and published them under the title, Life of Robert Montgomery Bird. His correspondence relating to the publication and distribution of this volume is also included in this series. At the end of this collection are the research notes compiled by Clement Foust for his biography of Bird, The Life and Dramatic Works of Robert Montgomery Bird (New York: The Knickerbocker Press, 1919).

Two copies of a lithograph portrait of Bird, based on a daguerreotype by M. A. Root, are in the oversize box at the end of this collection.