Coleman Parsons was in Ripley, WV on 16 April 1905 and died in New York City on 27 June 1991. He was educated at the University of California Los Angeles 1923-25 University of Chicago 1925-27, Columbia University, A. B. 1928, and Yale University, Ph. D. 1931. An educator and author Coleman O. Parsons was an expert on the works of Sir Walter Scott. He taught at several colleges before joining the staff of the City University of New York in 1941 where he became a professor of English in 1963. Parsons was a professor emeritus at the university at the time of his death. His writings include Witchcraft and Demonology in Scott's Fiction.
: Letters, manuscripts, notes, memorabilia, photographs, and printed material. Cataloged letters from George Colman the Elder, English dramatist; Lord Jeffrey, Scottish judge and critic; Andrew Lang, Scottish author; Robert Montgomery, English poet; Richard Parsons Rosse,1st Earl of Rosse; George Thomson, friend of Robert Burns and music editor; Bernard De Voto, critic, and S.R. Crockett, Scottish author. Cataloged manuscripts by Thomas Campbell, Scottish poet, James Montgomery, and E.I. Powell. Cataloged diaries of June and Coleman O. Parsons of their trip around the world in 1936-37.
There are also ca.700 pages of notes by Coleman O. Parsons on various Scottish authors(including Sir Walter Scott), Scottish folk-lore and history, and Scottish poetry. Most of the notes concern his research on Francis Colman, George Colman the Elder, and George Colman the Younger. In addition there is the mss. for his book Studies in Eccentricity; the mss. of an 18th century Scottish ghost story entitled "A Cool Dialogue between the Living and the Dead" and notes and essays on Mark Twain, as well as a poetry album kept by Elizabeth Saynor Marshall and photographs of Parsons in South Africa.
Cataloged Series | |||
--Correspondence | |||
| 1 | Crockett, Samuel Rutherford, 1860-1914 | ||
| 1 | Colman, George, 1732-1794 | ||
| 1 | De Voto, Bernard | ||
| 1 | Jeffrey, Francis Jeffrey, Lord, 1773-1850 | ||
| 1 | Lang, Andrew, 1844-1912 | ||
| 1 | Montgomery, Robert, 1807-1855 | ||
| 1 | Rosse, Richard Parsons, 1st Earl of, d.1741 | ||
| 1 | Thomson, George, 1757-1851 | ||
--Manuscripts | |||
| 1 | Bürger, Gottfried August, 1748-1794 | ||
| 1 | Campbell, Thomas, 1777-1844 | ||
| 1 | Montgomery, James, 1771-1854 | ||
| 1 | Parsons, Coleman O. | ||
| 1 | Parsons, June Lee. | ||
| 2 | Powell, E I | ||
--Objects | |||
| 2 | Scott, Sir Walter. Lock of Sir Walter Scott's hair. [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
Arranged Series | |||
--Correspondence | |||
| 2 | Correspondence, A-Z [v.p.], [v.d.] | ||
--Manuscripts | |||
| 2 | Plays [v.p.], [v.d.] Note: Many with Coleman Parson's notes. | ||
| 2 | George Colman the Elder Entertainment of Harlequin Teague [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 2 | George Colman the Elder. The Enraged Musician [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 2 | George Colman the Elder. The Genius of Nonsense [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 2 | George Colman the Elder. The Jealous Wife [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 2 | George Colman the Elder. Preludio [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 2 | George Colman the Elder. Prologues and Epilogues [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 2 | George Colman the Elder. The Separate Maintenance [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 2 | George Colman the Elder. Sheep Shearing [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 2 | George Colman the Elder. The Spanish Barber [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 2 | George Colman the Elder. The Spleen [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 2 | George Colman the Elder. The Suicide [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 2 | George Colman the Elder. Tit for Tat [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 3 | Marshall, Elizabeth Saynor Poetry Album [n.p.], [1849-1946] 72 leaves in 1 volume | ||
| 3 | Parsons, Coleman. Bibliography of eighteenth century plays and literature. [n.p.], [n.d.] ca. 150 index cards | ||
| 3 | [?] "A Cool Dialogue between the Living and the Dead." [n.p.], [n.d.] Note: An unidentified ghost story. | ||
| 3 | Essays and Articles. [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 3 | Lecture on Sir Walter Scott. [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 3 | Lecture " " by an itinerant boarder speaker. [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 3 | Notes and essays on Mark Twain. [n.p.], [n.d.] 3 folders Note: Includes and autobiographical sketch of Coleman Parsons. | ||
| 3 | Notes on the Aberdeen Journal. [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 3 | Notes on the Coleman family. [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 3 | Notes on Thomas Campbell. [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 3 | Notes on William Chambers. [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 4 | 1-19 | Notes on Francis Colman, George Colman the Elder and George Colman the Younger [n.p.], [n.d.] 19 folders | |
| 5 | 20-36 | Notes on Francis Colman, George Colman the Elder and George Colman the Younger. [n.p.], [n.d.] 16 folders | |
| 6 | Notes on Eighteenth century plays [n.p.], [n.d.] 14 folders Note: Many with texts of the plays | ||
| 6 | Notes on George (Gordon), Duke of Gordon [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 6 | Notes on George Hogarth, 1783-187 [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 6 | Notes on Baron Lyndhurst, Lord Chancellor. [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 6 | Notes on James Montgomery, 1771-1854. [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 6 | Notes on Robert Montgomery, 1807-1855. [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 6 | Notes on Julia Pardoe, 1806-1862. [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 6 | Notes on Scottish folklore and poetry. [n.p.], [n.d.] 6 folders | ||
| 6 | Notes on George Thomson, 1757-1851. [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 7 | Short stories [n.p.], [n.d.] 3 folders | ||
| 7 | "Studies in Eccentricity." [n.p.], [n.d.] 11 folders | ||
| 7 | Two notebooks detailing trans-Atlantic trips by an unidentified author. [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 7 | Photocopies of letters and manuscripts. [v.p.] [v.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 7 | Photographs of Coleman Parsons South Africa, [n.d.] | ||
--Printed material | |||
| 7 | Clippings relating to Mark Twain [n.p.], [v.d.] | ||
| 7 | Clippings (photographs of Mark Twain) [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 7 | An Excerpt from the General Catalogue of Printed Books in the British Museum re. Daniel Defoe England, 1953 | ||
| 7 | "Notes and Queries." [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||
| 7 | Offprint from "The Review of English Studies." [n.p.], {n.d.] | ||
| 7 | Photocopies. [n.p.], [n.d.] 3 folders | ||
| 7 | Two Odes by George Colman the Elder [n.p.], [n.d.] | ||