Contents and Arrangement Expanded View
Online

Collection Overview

Creator:
Thorington, J. Monroe (James Monroe) (1894)
Title:
J. Monroe Thorington Collection
Repository:
Manuscripts Division
Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/0k225b100
Dates:
1848-1983 (mostly 1920-1964)
Size:
43 boxes
Storage Note:
  • This is stored in multiple locations.
  • Firestone Library (scamss): Box 1-25
  • ReCAP (scarcpxm): Box 26-43
Language:
English

Abstract

Consists of works, correspondence, diaries, documents, photographs, maps, scrapbooks, miscellaneous material, and printed matter by and about mountaineer J. Monroe Thorington (Princeton Class of 1915), as well as some papers of other people.

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

The collection consists primarily of works, correspondence, diaries, documents, photographs, maps, scrapbooks, miscellaneous material, and printed matter by and about Thorington (Princeton Class of 1915), and papers of other people. The works include manuscripts for three books, A Climber's Guide to the Rocky Mountains of Canada (1921), written in collaboration with Howard Palmer, The Glittering Mountains of Canada (1925), and Mont Blanc Sideshow (1934), a biography of Albert Smith (1816-1860), a renowned mountain-climbing guide of the 19th century. There are also over thirty-six articles (1916-1934) reflecting Thorington's interest in mountaineering, many of which were published in the American Alpine Journal. The correspondence contains many letters to and from the American Alpine Club, alpine clubs of Canada and England, and individual mountain-climbing enthusiasts and friends of Thorington. There is also correspondence regarding the early American ascents of the Alps which contributed to the body of information in his book A Survey of Early American Ascents in the Alps in the Nineteenth Century (1943).

The collection contains many photographs of friends and Alpine and Rocky Mountain ranges, as well as the towns of Chamonix, France, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, and Zermatt, Switzerland, and there are travel slides and films, diaries, a scrapbook of pictures and pencil sketches of Alpine animals, and printed matter, including articles and book reviews by Thorington.

Papers of others include the typescript of Conrad Kain's Where the Clouds Can Go (1935), edited, with additional chapters, by Thorington; Kain's correspondence with Amelia Malek and articles by Kain; letters by Majorie and Francis P. Farquhar to friends describing their round-the-world airplane flight (1951); diaries (1926-1935) by Andrew Morrison Taylor; photographs and films by Edgar F. Farmer; articles by Allen Carpe and Noel Ewart Odell; letters by William Sargent Ladd and D. R. Smith; and the Thompson-Little Collection of material including a genealogy of the Thompson family and letters and photographs dealing with mountaineering in the Canadian Rockies and Selkirks.

Arrangement

Unprocessed.

Collection Creator Biography:

Thorington

J. Monroe Thorington, a member of the Princeton Class of 1915, was a mountaineering enthusiast and the author of mountaineering guides and books relating to the history of mountain-climbing.

Collection History

Processing Information

Folder inventory prepared by Fadzilah Yahaya GS in 2011.

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:

J. Monroe Thorington Collection; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/0k225b100
Location:
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-3184
Storage Note:
  • This is stored in multiple locations.
  • Firestone Library (scamss): Box 1-25
  • ReCAP (scarcpxm): Box 26-43