George Perkins Marsh Online Research Center
Collection Overview
The George Perkins Marsh Research Center provides access to transcriptions and images of selected letters in Marsh's correspondence. With a generous grant from the Woodstock Foundation we have transcribed over 650 letters from the University...
Show moreThe George Perkins Marsh Research Center provides access to transcriptions and images of selected letters in Marsh's correspondence. With a generous grant from the Woodstock Foundation we have transcribed over 650 letters from the University manuscript collection and from Marsh's letters located at other institutions.
Major topics in the correspondence selected for electronic publication are:
The American Civil War. The letters present the war from two perspectives: as it was experienced by those in Europe and by those in New England, particularly in Vermont. Marsh, an ardent Unionist, wrote from Italy, where there were many active Confederate sympathizers in the American expatriate community and among English residents. The view from Vermont is represented by Albert G. Peirce, a Burlington grocer, who sent Marsh detailed accounts of the war as it affected the city. Other Vermonters and Charles Eliot Norton, the Harvard luminary and an active abolitionist, also wrote of their hopes and opinions as the war progressed.
Vermont geography. Creating an accurate geographical description of the complex Vermont landscape remained a problem throughout the nineteenth century. Marsh and his brother Charles, a Woodstock, Vermont, farmer, made several attempts to measure the elevation of Vermont mountains, and Marsh kept in contact with leading geographers of the day to find more accurate instruments to measure temperature and ascertain the exact landmass of the state.
Nineteenth century sculpture. Marsh's friendship with Hiram Powers, begun when both were children on neighboring Woodstock farms, led to a correspondence in which Powers not only described the trials and tribulations of a working sculptor, but discussed his ideas about classical and contemporary works in some detail. Powers's aesthetics are most clearly expressed in his letters to Caroline Crane Marsh regarding the bust he made of her, now in the Fleming Museum at the University of Vermont. In addition, Marsh corresponded with Larkin G. Mead, then a young sculptor from Barre, who designed the statue of "Agriculture" atop the State House, and with John Norton Pomeroy of Burlington about the statue of Ethan Allen, carved in Italy under Marsh's supervision, that now stands above Allen's grave in Burlington's Green Mount Cemetery.
Nineteenth century public architecture. The rebuilding of the Vermont State House in 1857 provides a detailed picture of how American connoisseurs and architects designed public buildings. The collection contains over ninety letters by Thomas W. Silloway, the architect, to Marsh, one of the building commissioners, discussing appropriate forms for each element, as well as the politics involved in construction. These are enhanced by letters from the building superintendent, Thomas E. Powers of Woodstock, from another commissioner, Norman Williams of Woodstock, and from state legislators and private citizens caught up in what was a highly controversial undertaking.
Creation of the Smithsonian Institution. The evolution of the museum and its support for scientific expeditions and collection development are documented in the correspondence between Marsh and Spencer Fullerton Baird which began in 1847 and ended with Marsh's death in 1882. Marsh was instrumental in securing a post at the Smithsonian for Baird, who eventually became its second director and founded the Oceanographic Institute at Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The two men also worked together to increase the Smithsonian's collections and facilitate the exchange of scientific information with Italy.
In addition the letters provide information on nineteenth century domestic life, the politics surrounding Vermont's railroads, local and national social and political developments, the tangled relationships between the European powers, and other subjects of interest to educated and engaged individuals of the time.
The Center also includes the full text of contemporary publications that are related to the major topics of the letters.
Biography: When Man and Nature was published in 1864 it was immediately hailed as a major contribution to the field of physical geography. Now a classic of environmental literature, its author, George Perkins Marsh, was one of the first to recognize and described in detail the significance of human action in transforming the natural world.
Lawyer, diplomat, and scholar, Marsh, was born on March 15, 1801 at Woodstock, Vermont. In 1820 he graduated with highest honors from Dartmouth. He immediately tried teaching, but finding it distasteful, studied law with his father, Charles Marsh. Admitted to the bar in 1825, he practiced in Burlington, Vermont, where he became prominent in his profession. On April 10, 1828, he married Harriet Buell of Burlington. They had two sons; the eldest died a few days before his mother in 1833. Marsh immersed himself in the study of Icelandic and other Scandinavian languages, beginning a life long career as a philologist and linguist. Six years after his first wife's death, he married Caroline Crane of Berkley, Massachusetts. Already well known as a lawyer, business man and scholar, in 1835 he was elected to the Governor's Council. In 1843 he ran for Congress as a Whig, and during three successive terms proved himself a cogent speaker in support of a high tariff and in opposition to slavery and the Mexican War. He served on the committee that established and guided the future of the Smithsonian Institution.
In 1849 President Taylor appointed Marsh U.S. Minister to Turkey. He aided refugees from central European revolutions of 1848, and in the summer of 1852 he was sent to Athens on a special mission. He collected specimens for the Smithsonian during an intensive tour of Egypt and Palestine.
Recalled by a new administration in 1854, Marsh labored to mend his bankrupt fortunes, to act as Vermont railroad commissioner, fish commissioner, and to lead a commission formed to rebuild the Vermont State House. He lectured throughout the northeast and mid-West and taught courses on the English language at Columbia College and the Lowell Institute. Having joined and campaigned for the Republican party in 1856, he was sent by President Lincoln as the first United States minister to the new kingdom of Italy in 1861, a post he held for the remaining twenty-one years of his life. He won admirers in the Italian government and a greater reputation as a scholar by his mastery of Italian affairs and his writings on language and environmental matters. He died on July 23, 1882 at Vallombrosa, near Florence, and was buried in the Protestant cemetery in Rome.
David Lowenthal's George Perkins Marsh: Prophet of Conservation. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2000.
Caroline Crane Marsh's Life and Letters of George Perkins Marsh. Vol. I. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1888.
Biographical sketches can also be found in national biographical dictionaries.
Technical Information The text files were created using WordPerfect 7.0 as an SGML editor and the DTD for historical documents developed by Dr. David R. Chesnutt of the University of South Carolina and the Model Editions Partnership (MEP). The SGML publication used DynaText, a software package developed by EBT Corporation of Providence Rhode Island and granted to the University of Vermont under their educational grant program. WordPerfect 9.0 was used as the final editor and parser.
The actual coding depended largely on programs James P. Tranowski wrote to process the letters. Ellen Mazur Thomson did the bulk of it, although Cheryl Morrison and several graduate students connected with the MEP project at the University of South Carolina also worked on the letters. William Hicks of Tyrone, Pennsylvania, provided additional coding of the Correspondence Lists. Aaron Shamp coded the footnotes, entered copy editing corrections, parsed and cleaned all the SGML files and entities.
Paul Philbin and Marcie A. Crocker, at the Howe Library and Hope A. Greenberg, at the Academic Computing Service served as technical advisers for the hardware and software.
Original web publication came through DynaWeb, also an EBT grant program.
On November 26, 2008 The George Perkin Marsh Online Research Center was migrated from its original location http://bailey2.uvm.edu/specialcollections/gpmorc.html to its new home at the CDI. Documents were migrated from SGML to XML using openSP and XSL.
Contributors David A. Donath, the Advisory Board of Directors, and the Board of Trustees of the Woodstock Foundation provided the financial support that made this project possible. Bruce Kirby, archivist at the Smithsonian Institution Archives, and archivists at the Houghton Library, Harvard University, the New York Historical Society, and the Archives of American Art provided copies of Marsh correspondence in their collections for us to transcribe and publish. The Vermont Historical Society allowed us to reproduce photographs in their collection.
Connell Gallagher, head of the Special Collections Department, and Dr. Elizabeth H. Dow, created the project; Dr. Dow acted as Project Director. Ellen Mazur Thomson was Project Manager.
Faculty and staff members of the Special Collections Department gave us specialized and expert reference: David Blow, Ingrid Bower, Sylvia Bugbee, Karen Campbell, Sylvia Knight and Jeffrey Marshall.
Dr. Robert H. Rogers of the Classics Department, transcribed and annotated many of the Greek and Latin phrases used in the letters. Dr. Ralph H. Orth translated German materials, Ellen Mazur Thomson translated those in French.
Dr. Ralph H. Orth, Professor Emeritus of the University of Vermont, created the transcription protocols for the letters. He transcribed most of the Powers and Norton letters and provided notes for their correspondence with Marsh. John Thomas transcribed Marsh's letters to Baird and Jacob Colie transcribed the Peirce letters. Eileen N. Brown contributed notes.
Ellen Mazur Thomson selected the letters, designed the [original] web pages and wrote the introductory text.
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Related Archival Collection
Sub-collections
- Title
- Caroline Crane Marsh Diary, April 8 - June 14, 1863
- Date Created
- 1863
- Description
-
The Marshes explore Piobesi Castle and its gardens in this diary. George Perkins Marsh commutes from the castle to Turin to attend to diplomatic business and meets for a second time with King Victor Emmanuel. Caroline Crane Marsh continues to receive updates on the latest battles in the American...
Show moreThe Marshes explore Piobesi Castle and its gardens in this diary. George Perkins Marsh commutes from the castle to Turin to attend to diplomatic business and meets for a second time with King Victor Emmanuel. Caroline Crane Marsh continues to receive updates on the latest battles in the American Civil War, as well as the rising tensions between England and the U.S., France’s interference in Mexican affairs, and the “doings” of Richard M. Blatchford and J.C. Hooker in Rome.Topics in this diary include funerary practices in Italy, Catholicism and religious celebrations in Italy, the everyday experiences of the Italian peasantry, Italian marital norms, the behavior and treatment of women in Italy versus the United States, Italian medical practices, Italian agriculture, relations between the elites of Naples and those of Savoy, Turin court life and etiquette, and life as an expatriate in Italy.
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- Title
- Caroline Crane Marsh Diary, August 3 - October 21, 1863
- Date Created
- 1863
- Description
-
George Perkins Marsh becomes dean of the Italian diplomatic corps in this diary, following the recall of English ambassador Sir James Hudson. Diplomatic relations between Rome and Turin deteriorate during this period, while France’s interference in Mexico bears fruit with the crowning of Emperor...
Show moreGeorge Perkins Marsh becomes dean of the Italian diplomatic corps in this diary, following the recall of English ambassador Sir James Hudson. Diplomatic relations between Rome and Turin deteriorate during this period, while France’s interference in Mexico bears fruit with the crowning of Emperor Maximilian I. The Marshes travel extensively in this diary, taking trips into the Alps and the South of France.Topics in this diary include tourism and hospitality in Italy and Southern France, education in Italy, communication methods in rural Italy, agriculture and land ownership in Italy and France, foreign enlistment in the American Civil War, crime and punishment in Italy and France, the experiences of the Italian peasantry, erosion and land management in Southern France, French art and architecture, the effects of American Civil War on other countries, divorce in the 19th century, language and accents, diplomatic etiquette, and Christianity, especially Catholicism.
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- Title
- Caroline Crane Marsh Diary, January 1 - March 1, 1864
- Date Created
- 1864
- Description
-
Mounting political and military tensions between the major powers of Europe serve as the backdrop for this diary: the Second Schleswig War breaks out, four Italians are arrested in Paris for allegedly plotting to kill Napoleon III, and “war fever” whips the rest of Europe into a frenzy. George...
Show moreMounting political and military tensions between the major powers of Europe serve as the backdrop for this diary: the Second Schleswig War breaks out, four Italians are arrested in Paris for allegedly plotting to kill Napoleon III, and “war fever” whips the rest of Europe into a frenzy. George Perkins Marsh’s brother, Charles, arrives unexpectedly in Turin and settles in with the Marshes for an extended stay. Caroline Crane Marsh closely follows the decline and death of the Marchesa Doria and Barone Giovanni Plana, two of her earliest acquaintances in Italy. The Marshes attend public lectures with their friends, and Caroline Crane Marsh collects autographs from the lecturers and other famous Italians for the U.S. Sanitary Fairs.Topics in this diary include the Count of Cavour, death and funerary practices in Italy, etiquette, the theory of evolution, women and marriage in the nineteenth century, Catholicism in Italy, the royal family of Savoy, and nineteenth-century British authors, including Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Charles Lamb.
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- Title
- Caroline Crane Marsh Diary, June 14 - August 2, 1863
- Date Created
- 1863
- Description
-
Tensions between the major European powers, a French victory in Puebla, draft riots in New York City, and the American Civil War battles of the summer of 1863 serve as the backdrop for this diary. The Marshes receive visits at Piobesi from several friends, including writer and journalist Anna...
Show moreTensions between the major European powers, a French victory in Puebla, draft riots in New York City, and the American Civil War battles of the summer of 1863 serve as the backdrop for this diary. The Marshes receive visits at Piobesi from several friends, including writer and journalist Anna Blackwell, diplomat John A. Kasson, and journalist William James Stillman. They also take a lengthy trip into the Alps, hiking several mountains during their travels. George Perkins Marsh finishes the manuscript for Man and Nature, and he and his wife agree to lease the Casa d’Angennes again for the winter.Topics in this diary include Italian agriculture, tourism and hospitality in Italy and the Alps, gossip and etiquette in Italian high society, renting and occupying real estate in Italy, King Victor Emmanuel, the experiences of the Italian peasantry, nineteenth-century attitudes towards insanity, nineteenth-century (American) Independence Day celebrations, expatriate attitudes towards the American Civil War, and the treatment of American soldiers during the Civil War. This diary covers several topics relating to religion, as well, including Irish Catholicism, the Pope, the overlap between Church and State in Italy, Catholic attitudes towards Protestantism, conversion, and religious celebrations.
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- Title
- Caroline Crane Marsh Diary, March 1 - May 6, 1864
- Date Created
- 1864
- Description
-
European political relations remain tense in this diary, while rumors of an imminent rapprochement between Garibaldi and the Italian government precede Garibaldi’s departure for England. In Turin, the Marshes receive a visit from Lady Caroline Estcourt and her sisters and continue to attend...
Show moreEuropean political relations remain tense in this diary, while rumors of an imminent rapprochement between Garibaldi and the Italian government precede Garibaldi’s departure for England. In Turin, the Marshes receive a visit from Lady Caroline Estcourt and her sisters and continue to attend lectures and sightsee in and around the city.Topics in this diary include charity in Italy, relations between the Italian social classes, etiquette in Italy, Italian royalty and nobility, death, grief, and memorialization in Italy; Italy’s literary circle, Italian art, spiritualism, democracy, slavery in the United States, and Catholicism.
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- Title
- Caroline Crane Marsh Diary, March 8 - May 14, 1862
- Date Created
- 1862
- Description
-
The threat of war between Italy and Austria, increasing opposition to Urbano Rattazzi and the new ministry, and new negotiations between France, Rome, and the Italian government regarding the “Roman Question” serve as the backdrop for the events in this diary. The Marshes receive a visit from...
Show moreThe threat of war between Italy and Austria, increasing opposition to Urbano Rattazzi and the new ministry, and new negotiations between France, Rome, and the Italian government regarding the “Roman Question” serve as the backdrop for the events in this diary. The Marshes receive a visit from sculptor Hiram Powers and his family, and Green Clay arrives to replace Romaine Dillon as Secretary of the U.S. Legation, serving George Perkins Marsh alongside Marsh’s Italian secretary, Giuseppe Artoni. George Perkins Marsh completes the manuscript for his latest book, The Origin and History of the English Language, and resumes working on Man and Nature: or, Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action. Throughout this diary, the Marshes take sightseeing drives in and around Turin, visiting Moncalieri, the gardens at Valentino Palace, Stupenigi, Franchetti Villa, Madonna di Campagna, and Venaria Reale, among other places.Topics in this diary include Rome and the Pope, Catholicism and the prejudice against Protestantism in Italy, Princess Maria Pia, the behavior and politics of Italian royalty and elites, court etiquette in Italy and the Ottoman Empire, labor practices in Italian agriculture, education and health in rural Italy, diplomatic relations between Italians and “Northern” countries, the role of women in marriage and society in the 19th century, spiritualism, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Bettino Ricasoli, and Harriet Beecher Stowe.
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- Title
- Caroline Crane Marsh Diary, May 16 - July 24, 1862
- Date Created
- 1862
- Description
-
The Marshes travel extensively in this diary, passing through Biella and other Alpine towns as they hike and explore the region. On a trip to Florence, the Marshes reconnect with Hiram Powers, who sculpts a bust of Caroline Crane Marsh over several sittings. At one point between trips, the...
Show moreThe Marshes travel extensively in this diary, passing through Biella and other Alpine towns as they hike and explore the region. On a trip to Florence, the Marshes reconnect with Hiram Powers, who sculpts a bust of Caroline Crane Marsh over several sittings. At one point between trips, the Marshes receive a visit from Lady Caroline Estcourt and her sisters in Turin.Topics in this diary include tourism and hospitality in Italy and the Alps, agriculture and rural industry in Italy, Italian court etiquette, relations between the Italian social classes, Italian marriages, Mexican politics, the Crimean War, and the effects of the American Civil War on Italy. This diary also covers several topics relating to religion in Italy, including persecution, legal protection, religious neutrality in diplomacy, religious celebrations, charitable works, and religious orders.
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- Title
- Caroline Crane Marsh Diary, May 6 - September 22, 1864
- Date Created
- 1864
- Description
-
Negotiations between Italy and France regarding the “Roman Question” and the placement of Italy’s capital spark violent protests in the streets of Turin. The Marshes go on several trips in this diary, visiting nearby landmarks as well as hiking into the Alps. Between trips, the Marshes gather the...
Show moreNegotiations between Italy and France regarding the “Roman Question” and the placement of Italy’s capital spark violent protests in the streets of Turin. The Marshes go on several trips in this diary, visiting nearby landmarks as well as hiking into the Alps. Between trips, the Marshes gather the latest news on the American Civil War, including the details of the Battle of the Wilderness, and receive visits from the Estcourts and American diplomat David H. Wheeler, among others.Topics in this diary include the September Convention, Italian art and patronage, tourism in Italy, Italian funerary practices, relations between the Italian social classes, King Victor Emmanuel and the royal family of Savoy, the treatment of women in Italy, the Italian silk industry, George Perkins Marsh’s diplomatic duties, Greek War of Independence, differences in behavior and manners between Americans and Europeans, and the death of Nathaniel Hawthorne. This diary covers several topics relating to religion, as well, including Catholic royal marriages, convents and religious orders, conversion, and French Protestants.
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- Title
- Caroline Crane Marsh Diary, September 23 - December 21, 1864
- Date Created
- 1864
- Description
-
The Italian ministry dissolves and reforms in this diary amid countrywide protests against the September Convention treaty and debates over proposed bills for the suppression of monasteries and tax hikes on salt and other goods. The Marshes acquire the lower floors of the Casa d’Angennes during...
Show moreThe Italian ministry dissolves and reforms in this diary amid countrywide protests against the September Convention treaty and debates over proposed bills for the suppression of monasteries and tax hikes on salt and other goods. The Marshes acquire the lower floors of the Casa d’Angennes during this period and the offices of the American Legation move into those rooms shortly after. Caroline Crane Marsh continues collecting items for the U.S. Sanitary Fairs and has an audience with the Duchess of Genoa.Topics in this diary include Italian law enforcement, slavery in the United States, differences between Turin and Florence, Italian art, Italian grief and funerary practices, convents, Italian medicine, relations between the Italian social classes, crime in Italy, political relations between Italy, France, and Rome; Catholicism, marriage, traveling and tourism in Russia, the Greek War of Independence, and the royal family of Savoy.
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