Women’s Studies

Women’s Studies

Galatea Collection

, opens a new window(Rare Books & Manuscripts) A collection of approximately 5,000 volumes devoted to the history of women and particularly strong in 19th-century books by and about women. The nucleus of the Galatea Collection was presented to the Library by Thomas Wentworth Higginson, opens a new window in 1896. Unable, at the time, to identify any other institutional collection focused on women and women's history, Higginson built the Galatea Collection with the intent of donating it to the BPL. A catalog of the Galatea Collection, opens a new window was published in 1898, but many volumes have since been added through gifts, transfers, and purchases. These additions include a number of important periodicals such as the Lowell Offering (1843-1845), Woman’s Era (1894-1897), and Woman’s Journal (1870-1917). The collection is documented in the Research Publication’s microfilm series, The History of Women. Online access: Items that have been fully electronically cataloged can be retrieved through either of the online catalogs, opens a new window via a title search for "Galatea Collection (Boston Public Library)". The Emily Dickinson manuscript material from the Galatea collection is available through the BPL's online collections, opens a new window. (Rare Books & Manuscripts) Pictured at right: The extremely rare pamphlet of the report on the Seneca Falls Convention, from the personal library of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, donated to Higginson by her son. BPL P.60.979

Thayer, Eliza Library (d. 1876)

(Rare Books & Manuscripts) Relates to history and biography, including a large number of costly illustrated works containing many historical portraits and a set of Granger's Biographical History of England (1824). The nucleus of this collection consisted of 890 volumes given to the Library in 1877 under the bequest of Miss Eliza Thayer of Roxbury. From time to time, her sisters gave from their own libraries many valuable illustrated books and memorials of Theodore Parker. The entire collection now numbers 5,398 volumes. A printed index of the collection, as well as an index of the portraits within the collection, are both available in the Rare Books & Manuscripts Department. Online access. A catalog of the collection was published in the BPL Quarterly Bulletin in 1895, opens a new window. See also the Theodore Parker Collection.(Rare Books & Manuscripts)  

Woodhull Martin, Victoria (1838-1927) Papers

This collection is comprised of approximately 515 letters that document the relationship between Victoria Woodhull (1838-1927) and her third husband John Biddulph Martin (1841-1897). Many common themes run throughout the letters, including the spouses’ emotional and physical well-being, daily events, and their publication activities. The collection also contains Woodhull and Martin’s correspondence from relatives and colleges and a significant amount of newspaper clippings that document Woodhull’s lifelong interests, among them equal rights, sexual freedom, and marriage. Included in the collection are photographs, manuscript fragments and drafts, and newspaper clippings. Online access: Digitized images from this collection are available through Digital Commonwealth and a finding aid is available. (Rare Books & Manuscripts)

A-Z Collections Index