Administrative Information

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Preferred Citation

Correspondence Between Arnold Whitridge and John O. Waller, Accession #4885-bl, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This material was given to the Library on September 27, 1990 and October 31, 1991, by John O. Waller of Berrien Springs, Michigan, through Cecil Y. Lang of the University English Department.

Scope and Content Information

These 55 letters (original and electrostatic copies), 1961-1990, are chiefly between Arnold Whitridge and John O. Waller concerning Matthew Arnold and other literary figures and related subjects. Whitridge was born on June 29, 1891 in New Rochelle, New York, to Frederick Wallingford and Lucy (Arnold) Whitridge, and was the grandson of Matthew Arnold. He received his A.B. at Yale in 1913, A.M. at Oxford in 1914, and his Ph.D. at Columbia in 1925. He was an educator and author whose books include Critical Ventures in Modern French Literature (1924), Dr. Arnold of Rugby (1928), Simon Bolivar (1954), No Compromise (1960), and Rochambeau (1965). John Oscar Waller was born on October 29, 1916, in Los Angeles, California, to David Oscar and Susan Veva (Williams) Waller. He received his B.A. at San Diego State College in 1941, his M.A. at the University of Southern California in 1949 and 1954. He taught at San Diego State College, Walla Walla College in Washington, and Andrews University in Michigan. Membership includes Modern Language Association of America, Victorial Periodicals, and the Tennyson Society.

Letters from April 1961 through February 1962 discuss Waller's articles "Matthew Arnold and the Civil War" and on Edward Dicey's reporting of the Civil War, and his interest in Thomas Arnold. In June 1962, Waller mentions reading with great interest Whitridge's book No Compromise . Letters in November and December 1962 refer to Waller's article on John Stuart Mill and Whitridge's article "British Liberals in the Civil War," including a discussion of Northern sympathizers. Waller sent articles (not included) on "Matthew Arnold and the American Civil War," Victorian Newsletter (January 21, 1963) and Charles Kingsley (November 1, 1963). On May 16, 1965, Whitridge discusses Waller's review of [Thomas] Carlyle, including the Civil War, the Union and the Confederacy. On August 2, 1966, Waller mentions studies of Matthew and Thomas Arnold and having met Arthur Kyle Davis of this University. Waller's article on "Rugby Chapel" is mentioned several times between January 1969 and February 1970. In his letter of January 21, 1969, Waller reveals that his article demonstrates Arnold's use, in his poem "Rugby Chapel," of metaphor and other imagery derived from the sermons of Thomas Arnold. During February and April 1969, they comment on Edward Alexander and his work on a biography of Matthew Arnold. A letter of September 23, 1970 from Waller describes and discusses a trip to England, where he visited Fox How and other places with Arnold interests. Letters through the early 1970s mention Mrs. Humphry (Mary) Ward, niece of Matthew Arnold, as the subject of a work-in-progress by William Peterson. On January 1, 1976, Waller mentions that Peterson has found a publisher for his book; and, on January 3, 1977, Whitridge comments on the book about Robert Elsmere and Mary Ward. Waller's growing interest in Alfred, Lord Tennyson comes to light in his letters of January 1, 1976 and July 19, 1980. He also expresses an interest in Irving Bacheller and comments on his writings in his letter of September 20, 1976. There is an interesting letter, March 8, 1976, from Whitridge, relating the courtship of his father and Lucy Arnold, Matthew Arnold's daughter.

Accession #4885-br contains the original letters from Whitridge; these have replaced the electrostatic copies of the letters initially in #4885-bl. There are no restrictions on this correspondence.