About
This online exhibition was created by Elizabeth Watts Pope, curator of books at the American Antiquarian Society. It was inspired by the generous donation of Jacksonian Era materials by AAS member Bill Cook. The site would never have been completed without the following staff members (at the time) of the American Antiquarian Society: Nikki Grdinich, Molly Hardy, Tom Knoles, and the Omeka group at AAS. Some content was modified from pieces originally written by others, namely: Diann Benti, formerly readers' services assistant ("Anatomy of a Catalog Record" illustration on the Cataloging page); Alan Degutis, head of cataloging (quoted on the Cataloging page and in the item description of The Messages of Gen. Andrew Jackson); Claire Jones, intern from Princeton University (descriptions of items in the extra-illustrated Life); Laura Oxley, conservator (description of the paper treatment process and quoted on the Conserve & Preserve page).
Resources for Further Study
The William C. Cook Jacksonian Era Collection at AAS
Browse all items in this online exhibition. A list of catalog records for all items in the William C. Cook Jacksonian Era Collection at AAS is available in the online catalog. The AAS website has more information about the American Antiquarian Society.
The William C. Cook War of 1812 in the South Collection
The Historic New Orleans Collection in Lousiana has a related collection, The William C. Cook War of 1812 in the South Collection. According to their website: "This extensive collection of manuscript documents, rare prints and publications, artifacts, and ephemera was gathered over a period of forty years by private collector William C. Cook of Nashville; it was the largest collection of such materials in private hands prior to its acquisition by THNOC. Mr. Cook's collection focuses on the War of 1812 in the South, particularly the Creek War, the war in the Gulf of Mexico, and the Battle of New Orleans."
The Papers of Andrew Jackson
The Papers of Andrew Jackson, sponsored by the University of Tennesse, has made many of Jackson's presidential papers available both in print and online. The American Antiquarian Society also has all of the volumes that have been completed thus far of the print edition of The Papers of Andrew Jackson [catalog record], which are also available online.
Original manuscript material from Andrew Jackson is preserved in a number of locations, including:
- Library of Congress in Washington, DC, has over 20,000 items and provides digitized versions and transcriptions for many of them.
- National Archives in Washington, DC, and College Park, MD, holds many official records of the Jackson administration.
- Hermitage, Jackson's home just outside of Nashville, owns about 300 items.
- Tennessee State Library and Archives in Nashville holds a small collection of Jackson letters some of which are available online.
Other Sources Utilized in this Exhibition
Allgor, Catherine. Parlor Politics: In Which the Ladies of Washington Help Build a City and a Government. Charlottesville [Va.]: University Press of Virginia, 2000.
American Antiquarian Society. “Finding a Home at the Society: How a Collection Item Becomes Just That.” Almanac (September 2013): 1, 6-7. http://www.americanantiquarian.org/Almanac/2013September.pdf
Gaskell, Philip. A New Introduction to Bibliography. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972.
McDonough, John. “Andrew Jackson Papers: Provenance.” Library of Congress website. https://www.loc.gov/collections/andrew-jackson-papers/articles-and-essays/andrew-jackson-papers-provenance/
Picard, Sara M. “Racing Jules Lion.” Louisiana History (2017): 5-37.
Tanselle, G.T. “The Bibliographic Concepts of Issue and State.” Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America (1975): 17-66.