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Collection Overview

Creator:
Henry Wikoff, 1813-1884
Collector:
Princeton University. Library. Special Collections
Title:
Henry Wikoff Collection
Repository:
Manuscripts Division
Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/t435gd048
Dates:
1836-1884
Size:
1 box and 0.2 linear feet
Storage Note:
  • Firestone Library (scamss): Box 1
Language:
English

Abstract

Consists of correspondence and other material by and about nineteenth-century American author and adventurer Henry Wikoff.

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of correspondence and other material by and about the American author and adventurer Henry Wikoff. Most of Wikoff's letters are addressed to his friend and relative Charles I. Hendrickson, but some are addressed to Hendrickson's daughter "Tillie" or Matilda Hendrickson. Three of Wikoff's early letters (1839) to Hendrickson were written while both men were in Paris. In other letters from the 1860s and 1870s, Wikoff writes to Hendrickson about his frequent travels to Europe, the people he meets, and books he is writing, and he inquires about family and friends back home. One letter of Tillie's mother and two letters of Joanna Neuell are about being invited for parties and dinners by Mrs. Abraham Lincoln as Wikoff was a friend of Mrs. Lincoln. There is a letter by Agnes E. Brunning to Mrs. Julia Hendrickson informing her of Henry Wikoff's death on April 28, 1884. There are two portrait engravings: one of the Comte d'Orsay, inscribed to Wikoff by the Comte, and another of Wikoff by P. C. van Geel, dated 1836. Included are a carte-de-visite photograph of Wikoff by the New York firm of Charles D. Frederick and Co. and a photograph of the family home "Locustwood" built by Hendrickson in Middletown, New Jersey. Also included are a small bankbook of Wikoff and several loose sheets showing George H. Wikoff's financial transactions with Henry Wikoff, with entries dated from April 1839 to January 1846.

Arrangement

The collection is organized alphabetically by personal name.

Collection Creator Biography:

Henry Wikoff, 1813-1884

Henry Wikoff was an American author and adventurer related to the Conover, Hartshorne, Hendrickson, Schureman, and Wikoff families of Monmouth and New Brunswick, New Jersey. He attended the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) for some time but did not earn a degree. Wikoff was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in June 1834, after which time he departed on an extended tour of Europe. He was a man of wit, intelligence, and captivating charm and manners, and soon was able to penetrate the most exclusive circles of European society. He was also a devoted friend of Napoleon I of France, and he received a decoration from the queen of Spain, hence the ns2:title "Chevalier." When one of his theatrical friends who had contracted to bring the famous dancer Fanny Elssler to America died, Wikoff took responsibility of bringing her over from Europe, and contributed to the success of her American tour in 1840. In 1836 he was made an attaché of the United States in London, and, while in England in 1850, he accepted work as an agent of the British Foreign Office.

Wikoff also worked as an "undercover" journalist for the New York Herald. He was able to befriend and attain the confidence of Mrs. Abraham Lincoln and became part of her inner circle of friends. His most important literary work is The Reminiscences of an Idler (1880). Wikoff died of paralysis in England in 1884.

Charles I. Hendrickson, a relative of Henry Wikoff, was a merchant. Between 1830 and 1831, he had a family home built in Middletown Village in New Jersey, which was called "Locustwood." From 1837 to 1857, he was a rug merchant for A. McCallum & Company in Philadelphia.

Collection History

Acquisition:

Lithograph of Henry Wikoff was a gift of Alison Delarue, Princeton Class of 1928.

Letters to Charles and Tillie Hendrickson, lithograph of the Comte d'Orsay, and other related material were the gift of Mrs. Louise Hartshorne on May 15, 1954 .

Photographs of Wikoff and of Locustwood and bankbook were the gift of Alison Delarue, Princeton Class of 1928, on November 24, 1964 .

Letter to Leland was purchased on July 21, 1977 .

Custodial History

The bulk of the material, gifted by Mrs. Hartshorne, was kept in a trunk belonging to Wikoff, mentioned in his letters, which he left with Charles Hendrickson at Locustwood for safekeeping.

The collection was formed as a result of a Departmental practice of combining into one collection material of various accessions relating to a particular person, family, or subject.

Appraisal

No appraisal information is available.

Processing Information

Folder inventory added by Nicholas Williams '2015 in 2012.

Access & Use

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Credit this material:

Henry Wikoff Collection; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/t435gd048
Location:
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-3184
Storage Note:
  • Firestone Library (scamss): Box 1