]> ms.080 McCabe (James D.) 1842-1883 Papers 1862-1881 Ms. 080 Ben Primer Special Collections, The Milton S. Eisenhower Library, The Johns Hopkins University
3400 N. Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21218 USA Phone: (410) 516-8323
Machine-readable finding aid encoded by Diwakar Bhandari Finding aid written in English McCabe (James D.) 1842-1883 Papers 1862-1881 Ms. 080 Special CollectionsThe Milton S. Eisenhower Library The Johns Hopkins University Contact Information Special Collections The Milton S. Eisenhower Library The Johns Hopkins University 3400 North Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21218 (410) 516-8323 Ben Primer July 1982 Diwakar Bhandari

©2003 The Johns Hopkins University

 Descriptive Summary Ms. 080 McCabe (James D.) 1842-1883 Papers 1862-1881 McCabe, James Dabney, 1842-1883 Johns Hopkins University. Special Collections 3 document boxes English The papers of James D. McCabe, Jr. (1842-1883), popular writer of more than 30 works including histories, biographies, plays, poetry and baedekers, consist of letterbooks and unpublished manuscripts.The McCabe papers range from 1862 to 1881. The correspondence in McCabe's letterbooks deals chiefly with business and family matters. The letters to his publishers, T.J. Jones, National Publishing, United States Publishing, George H. Blalock, American Publishing, Ziegler, McCurdy and Co., and Hanaford and Co. concern details regarding his works and frequent requests for advances. The family letters focus on the problems of his elderly parents and caring for his younger siblings. Correspondents include Robert E. Lee, George E. Pickett, Shuyler Colfax, James A. August, George S. Boutwell, J.R. Jones, T.J. Jones, T.W. Brown, George A. Rosecrans, E. Bliss, Jr., William G. McAdoo, Horatio Seymour, Robert A. McCabe, William P. McCabe, Daniel T. McCabe, John C. McCabe and J.D. McCabe, Sr. McCabe's unpublished manuscripts indicate his "Cut and Paste" method that produced his voluminous popular works. Of interest in his History of the War Between the States (1862) written in the midst of that conflict; a play, Arthur Pendragon, adapted from Tennyson's Idyls of the King; a biographical sketch of temperance leader Francis Murphy and anecdotal histories of the Mormons and of the United States.Related Collections - A small number of McCabe letters is at the Maryland Historical Society in the McCabe and Scharf collections. Administrative Information Provenance

The McCabe papers were part of a major collection of Americana given to the University by J. Thomas Scharf in 1891. Most of the Scharf collection has been on deposit at the Maryland Historical Society since 1905, but portions remained at Hopkins. The McCabe papers were discovered in 1982 among the papers of Herbert Baxter Adams. Not all the McCabe items listed in the Johns Hopkins University Circular of June 1891 were located. Missing were manuscripts on the History of the United States Navy (595 pp.), the History of the War (13 vols.) and the Life of Napoleon (3 vols, 1311 pp.). The Papers appear to have been damaged by fire [perhaps the Library fire of 1908], and there are gaps and unidentified material. The McCabe papers were arranged and described by Dr. Ben Primer in July 1982.

 Use Restrictions

Access is unrestricted.

Permission to publish material from this collection must be requested in writing from the Manuscripts Librarian, Milton S. Eisenhower Library, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Md. 21218.

 Preferred Citation

James D. McCabe Papers Ms. 80 Special Collections Milton S. Eisenhower Library The Johns Hopkins University

Biographical Note

James Dabney McCabe, Jr. was born in Richmond, Virginia on July 30, 1842, the son of James D. McCabe, an Episcopal clergyman and editor. Educated at Virginia Military Institute, McCabe spent the war period writing plays ( The Guerilla); pamphlets ("Fanaticism and Its Results. By a Southerner"); war stories, ("The Aide de Camp"); biographies (Stonewall Jackson [1863]), Robert E. Lee [1867]); poetry ("The Sword of Harry Lee"); history ( The Gray Jackets [1867]) and a journal, Magnolia Weekly [1863-64]. He also served in the Confederate War Department for a time.

Following the war McCabe continued his prolific writing in Boston, New York (where for a time he apparently worked for Fithian and Co., Virginia Tobacco Merchants), and finally in Germantown, Pennsylvania, where he died on January 27, 1883. His later works (some written under a pseudonym, Edward Winslow Martin) include Paris by Sunlight and Gaslight (1869), Great Fortunes and How They Were Made (1871), History of the War Between Germany and France (1871), Lights and Shadows of New York (1872), Behind the Scenes in Washington (1873), History of the Grange Movement (1874), Centennial History of the United States (1875), Pathways of the Holy Land (1877), National Encyclopedia of Business and Social Forms (1879), Our Martyred President (1871) and Our Young Folk in Africa (1882).

 Description of Series/Container List Series I: Letterbooks Series I: Letterbooks, 1866-1872, 1881 1 box

Four letterbooks from 1 October 1866 to 28 October 1872, arranged chronologically with an index for each volume. In addition there is a single incoming letter from George Rosecrans (1881).

Box Folder Contents 1 3 23 April 1868 to 30 December 1869 1 4 2 January 1870 to 28 October 1872 1 5 George S. Rosencrans to McCabe, 1881 Series II: Unpublished Manuscripts Series I: Unpublished Manuscripts, 1862-1880 2 boxes

Eight unpublished manuscripts (some incomplete) arranged alphabetically by title. In addition, there is a small collection of unidentified manuscript material.

Box Folder Contents 2 1 Anecdotes and Incidents of American History [1868] 2 2 Arthur Pendragon, King of Britain, Adapted from the Idyls of the King by Alfred Tennyson [A Play] 2 3-4 Diamond Guide to the City of New York 2 5 The Fairy Tales of Old Ireland Retold for Young America [1880] 2 6 Historical and Descriptive Sketch of the Pennsylvania Railroad 2 7 History of the Mormons [Chapter 1] 3 1-3 History of the War Between the States (1861)[1862] 3 4 Life and Labors of Francis Murphy: The Great Temperance Apostle [c. 1876] 3 5-6 Potomac - 1862 [This may be "Notes to the History of the War"] 3 7 Miscellaneous