Charles E. Mudie Collection, 1816-1897 | Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Title: Charles E. Mudie Collection, 1816-1897

ID: 01/01/MSS00042

Primary Creator: Mudie, Charles E. (1818-1890)

Extent: 0.43 Cubic Feet

Arrangement: The collection is arranged in two major series: correspondence and mixed materials. Correspondence is arranged in alphabetical order.

Languages: English, Italian

The Charles E. Mudie Papers dates from 1816 to 1897. Correspondence in the Mudie Papers comprises the most voluminous resource, with letters sent to and written by Mudie and family members. A wide array of mixed materials include photographs, broadsides, passports and a travel diary from 1859. Topics from the letters shed light on Mudie's Circulating Library subscription system and the book trade, and discussions of 19th century books. Conversations about British politics, the Italian unification, European travel, the opening of Mudie's Great Hall in 1860, literary matters, family genealogy and personal matters are also recorded in the letters and mixed materials.

Charles Edward Mudie (1818-1890) was a publisher, author, and the founder of Mudie's Select Library. Located initially in London, Mudie introduced through his innovative library the concept of lending books by way of a circulating system operated by membership. With the help of his wife Mary and son Arthur Oliver, Mudie established during the Victorian era a network with publishers and writers to support and maintain the library. Collections of books in the library were curated or selected by Mudie in accordance with Victorian morals, limiting titles to subjects pertaining to science, biographies, fiction and "adventure" (travel). The lending of books operated by having multiple copies available for subscribers to borrow. The concept of Mudie's Select Library proved successful with the opening of three branches outside of London, in York, Manchester and Birmingham. Upon his dead in 1890, his son Arthur Oliver Mudie succeeded him as Chairman of the Library.

Repository: Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Access Restrictions: Open to researchers.

Use Restrictions:

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The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials.

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Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Correspondence],
[Series 2: Mixed Materials],
[All]

Series 1: Correspondence

Sub-series 1: Charles E. Mudie Correspondence

Box 1

Folder 1: Ainsworth, W. Harrison, 1800, undated

Folder 2: Bentley, George, 1884, 1885

Folder 3: Blanc, Louis, 1861, undated

Folder 4: Brooke, Rajah, undated

Folder 5: Brooks, Shirley, 1859

Folder 6: Browning, Robert, 1866

Folder 7: Carlyle, Thomas, undated

Folder 8: Collins, Frances, 1877

Folder 9: Collins, Wilkie, 1860

Folder 10: Conder, G.W., 1872

Folder 11: Cowden-Clarke, Mary, 1884

Folder 12: Gordon Cumming, Constance, 1882-1885

Folder 13: Cruikshank, George, 1870

Folder 14: Darwin, Charles, 1865

Folder 15: Dennis, George, 1884

Folder 16: Dickens, Charles, 1860

Folder 17: Edwards, Amelia B., 1864-1877

Folder 18: Fletcher, J.C., 1883

Folder 19: Forster, John, 1860, 1872

Folder 20: Gladstone, William Ewart (W.E.), 1882

Folder 21: Guizot, Guillaume, 1865

Folder 22: Hall, Samuel Carter (S.C.), 1883, undated

Folder 23: Sir Rowland Hill, undated

Folder 24: Howitt, William, 1866

Folder 25: Hughes, Thomas, 1859-1861

Folder 26: Inchbold, John William (J.W.), 1883

Folder 27: Ireland, Alexander, 1883

Folder 28: Mrs. Jameson, undated

Folder 29: Kingsley, Charles, 1857, 1867

Folder 30: Kingsley, Henry, 1860, undated

Folder 31: MacMillan, Alexander, 1860

Folder 32: Philip Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope (Lord Mahon), 1873

Folder 33: Manning, Anne, 1859-1869

Folder 34: Masson, David, 1858-1883

Folder 35: Mulock, Dinah, 1859-1884

Folder 36: Nightingale, Florence, 1863, 1867

Folder 37: Oliphant Wilson, Margaret (M.O.W.), undated

Folder 38: Palgrave, Francis Turner, 1869

Folder 39: Payn, James, undated

Folder 40: Rae, Edward, 1877, 1882, 1883

Folder 41: Reade, Charles, 1859, 1866-1867, undated

Folder 42: Reid, Mayne, 1857, 1875, undated

Folder 43: Ruskin, John, undated

Folder 44: Sala, George Augustus, 1860, 1862

Folder 45: Stowe, Harriet Beecher (H.B.), undated

Folder 46: Tennent, James Emerson, 1860

Folder 47: Tennyson, Alfred, undated

Folder 48: Sellwood, Emily, (Mrs. Alfred Tennyson), undated

Folder 49: Twining, Louisa, undated

Folder 50: Woolner, Thomas, 1860

Folder 51: Wordsworth, Christopher, 1865

Folder 52: Mudie, Carl, (letter sent by Charles Mudie), 1871

Sub-series 2: Mary Kingsford Mudie Correspondence

Box 1

Folder 53: Bentley, George, 1885, 1886

Folder 54: Edwards, Amelia B., undated

Folder 55: Hall, Samuel Carter, undated

Folder 56: Hughes, Thomas, 1857

Folder 57: Kavanagh, Julia, 1875

Folder 58: Moore, Henry, 1872, 1885

Folder 59: Mudie, Mary Kingsford to the Mudie children, 1871, undated

Folder 60: Mulock, Dinah, 1860-1884, undated

Folder 61: Reid, Mayne, 1857

Folder 62: Trollope, Frances Eleanor, 1887, undated

Sub-series 3: Third Party Correspondence

Box 1

Folder 63: Caine, Hall, 1897

Folder 64: Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman, 1858

Folder 65: Cargill, Jessie (Mrs. Cargill), 1896

Folder 66: Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn (Mrs. Gaskell), 1862

Folder 67: Gaskell, Margaret Emily (Meta), undated

Folder 68: Greenaway, Kate, 1891

Folder 69: Hunt, W. Holman, 1860

Folder 70: Lever, Charles, 1848, 1864

Folder 71: Mazzini, Joseph, 1862, 1865

Folder 72: Mudie, Mary Polly, 1869

Folder 73: Pawling, Gilbert, 1816

Folder 74: Queen Victoria, 1866

Folder 75: Ristori, Adelaide and Portia Gigliuca, undated

Folder 76: Shields, Frederic, undated

Series 2: Mixed Materials

Box 1

Folder 77: British passport granted to Charles E. Mudie, his wife, children, governess, and maid, July 6, 1860

Folder 78: Italian route sheet issued by the city of Bologna, and an Italian visa or abroad passport, June 19, 1848 and July 3, 1849

Folder 79: Great Hall opening guest list, December 17, 1860

Folder 80: Travel diary titled, The travels of two children through France and Italy in 1859 aged 11 and 9 1/2

Folder 81: Newspaper clipping of an ad titled, Sisters' Charity: ₤25,000 as Grants for the Poor, and clipped illustration published by D. Ardley, from the town of Torquay, undated

Folder 82: Check for the amount of three guineas paid to Charles Haddon (C.H.) Spurgeon, undated

Folder 83: Textual and pictorial materials related to Giuseppe (Joseph) Mazzini, undated

Folder 84: Mudie Circulating Library pamphlet, undated

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