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The Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield Manuscript Collection

 Collection
Identifier: SCM 218

Scope and Content

The bulk of this collection consists of sets of correspondence maintained in the original order that Warfield once bundled them. The titles of the original bundles, as labeled by Warfield himself, have been transcribed at the box level. Correspondence sets contain mostly letters to Warfield, with the rare letter from Warfield. The collection also includes lecture and research notes on biblical criticism, systematic theology, and various readings. It includes manuscript works on Augustine, Calvin, and other topics. Also included are scrapbooks of articles and postcards, genealogical information on the Warfield, Breckinridge and Kinkead families, and facsimiles of letters collected from other institutions or individuals.

Dates

  • 1877 - 1920

Language of Materials

English

Access:

There are no special restrictions to access of this collection. It may be examined by library patrons under the normal rules and conditions of Special Collections.

Preferred Citation

The following is the acceptable citation for publication: The Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield Manuscript Collection. Special Collections, Princeton Theological Seminary Library.

Chronology

1851 November 5
Born, Lexington, Kentucky
1871
Graduated, College of New Jersey (now Princeton University)
1873-1876
Student, Princeton Theological Seminary
1875
Stated supply, Concord Church, Kentucky
1876
Stated supply, First Church, Dayton Ohio
1876-1877
Student, University of Leipzig
1877-1878
Stated supply, First Church, Baltimore, Maryland
1878
Instructor, Western Theological Seminary (now Pittsburgh Theologcal Seminary)
1879 April 26
Ordained, Evangelist, Presbytery of Ebenezer
1879-1887
Professor, Western Theological Seminary (now Pittsburgh Theologcal Seminary
1887-1921
Professor, Didactic and Polemical Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary
1921 February 16
Died, Princeton

Extent

23.6 Linear Feet (54 Boxes)

Arrangement

Box 1: Diaries of William Warfield

Boxes 2-35: Original correspondence sets bundled and labeled by Warfield ("General," "Select," "Important," including family correspondence and others)

Boxes 36-39: Manuscripts, lecture and research notes, and correspondence with Susan Brinsted Dod Brown

Box 40: Material added from the Seminary Libraries and other institutions

Boxes 41-45: Scrapbooks and postcard albums

Boxes 46-49: Lecture and research notes, unpublished studies, and other manuscripts

Box 50: Published material

Box 51: Manuscripts

Box 52: Miscellaneous material from John Meeter

Box 53: Bound material from the Seminary libraries

Box 54: Correspondence wrappers

Processing Information:

The library and papers of Professor Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield were bequeathed to the Seminary Library in his Last Will and Testament. Most of the materials in this collection were presented to the Seminary Libraries by the Rev. John E. Meeter in October of 1969. Rev. Meeter worked on the Oxford edition of Warfield's works while at Princeton Seminary. The collection had been given to him for his use by Dr. Ethelbert Warfield (Professor Warfield's brother and last living heir). Other material was sent by Rev. Meeter in 1976, 1987, and by his son-in-law Ralph Quere (after John Meeter's death) in 1999. Portions of this collection were cataloged in the old "Alumni Alcove," and the remaining papers were kept in library storage for many years. The collection was brought together to be organized, and the original finding aid was written in September of 1995 by Bradley Gundlach and Raymond Cannata, under the direction of William O. Harris, Archivist. In 2000 Bradley Gundlach returned to work on the collection and organize the scrapbooks. In August of 2005 accruals from the Seminary archives and facsimile material from other institutions were added to the collection, and some revision to the finding aid was done. In July of 2009, the collection was reprocessed by Daved Anthony Schmidt, and the finding aid was edited by Sarah Seraphin.

Title
The Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield Manuscript Collection
Status
Completed
Author
Bradley Gundlach, 2000. Collection reprocessed by: Daved Anthony Schmidt, 2009.
Date
2009
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Repository Details

Part of the Princeton Theological Seminary. Library. Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Princeton Theological Seminary
Wright Library
25 Library Place
Princeton NJ 08540 USA