Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Philip Alexander Bruce Papers, Accession #2889, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

The Bruce papers were given to Alderman Libary by his daughter, Mrs. Archibald B. Shepperson, in 1948.

Biographical/Historical Information

Philip A. Bruce (1856-1933) was a historian, essayist, and poet of Scotch descent. The son of Charles and Sarah Seddon Bruce, Philip spent his youth at Staunton Hall Plantation in Charlotte County, Virginia. Deeply influenced by the social and cultural life of the plantation, Bruce received a good education from various tutors. Later, he attended Norwood Academy; and then the University of Virginia from 1873 to 1875. He obtained a Bachelor of Law degree from Harvard in 1879.

Bruce's career was varied and colorful. His first position as editorial writer for The Richmond Times brought him recognition as a promising writer. As corresponding secretary of the Virginia Historical Society, Bruce played a major role editing its quarterly publication. Bruce never taught, but devoted his full creative energies to writing. In 1896 his major work The Economic History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century appeared. Bruce spent time in England to research colonial Virginia records. He published a social and institutional history of Virginia and a History of the University of Virginia (5 vols.) in 1921. For additional biographical information, see Darrett B. Rutman, "Philip Alexander Bruce: A Divided Mind of the South" Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, LXVIII (Oct. 1960), pp. 387-408.

Scope and Content Information

The Bruce papers include correspondence between Bruce and various persons concerning his publications, business and personal matters, as well as family papers. Prominent correspondents include Thomas Seddon Bruce, William Cabell Bruce, Armistead Gordon, Mr. and Mrs. John Kelsall, Frederick Viaux, and Gerald Smythe. The remainder of the collection contains miscellaneous printed materials and research notes. There are newspaper clippings, publication agreements, leases, poems, typescripts of published works, and a few photos of Bruce. There are five scrapbooks (1888-1933) of newspaper clippings. Manuscript notebooks include: "Intimate Sidelights on Belligerent England," "Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State," and "Edgar Allan Poe." Box 10 contains the Stony Point Plantation papers. Bruce inherited the plantation when his mother died in 1907. The papers include correspondence on business matters relating to care and management of the farm. There are accounts, deeds, sale agreements, and plats showing the extent of the land holdings.

This collection of Bruce papers should be used in conjunction with collection 2889-a which contains an autobiographical sketch of Bruce, typed extracts from the Bruce family Bibles, copies of letters of James Coles Bruce and Henry Bruce and various other materials.

Arrangement

The papers were originally filed by the Library in loose chronological order. They have now been arranged in alphabetical order by correspondent, and there are folders containing miscellaneous letters A to Z. These materials fill the first five boxes. Boxes 6 to 9 contain miscellaneous printed materials and research notes, typescripts of poems, sonnets, and published articles, scrapbooks of newspaper clippings, and manuscript notebooks. Box 10 contains the Stony Point Plantation papers organized mainly by correspondents.