Special Collections
 Left: Arthur and Roger Johnson fishing in an inlet in South Hadley, MA ca. 1914. Right: Three African-american boys entertaining themselves while one plays a jewsharp and another whittles a cane. Sewanee River, FL ca. 1905. Photographs by Clifton Johnson. Courtesy of the Jones Library. |
Clifton Johnson Papers, bulk ca. 1885-ca.1935
Collection Overview
Quantity: 37 linear feet
Abstract: Clifton Johnson was born in the village of Hockanum in Hadley, Massachusetts, on January 25, 1865. Johnson was an important literary figure with some 125 published books and countless magazine and newspaper articles to his credit. A friend of William Dean Howells and John Burroughs, he was an acquaintance of many other late 19th and early 20th century authors and editors. Johnson was a self-styled folklorist, an illustrator, photographer, author, and editor. He died on January 22, 1940. This collection of approximately 7,000 items comprises a wide range of materials reflecting Johnson's life and work. It includes a large collection of photographs and artwork, plus many of Johnson's personal notebooks, diaries, published articles, correspondence, and ephemera. The Clifton Johnson Collection was presented to the library by Clifton Johnson in 1939. It is an active collection with new accessions constantly being made by purchase and by gift.
Restrictions: The collection is open to research. Access to glass plate negatives is restricted.
Provenance: The Clifton Johnson Collection was first presented to the library by Clifton Johnson in 1939. The first donation mostly comprised of Johnson's personal schoolbook collection of over 1,000 volumes of 17th, 18th, and 19th century schoolbooks. Over the years various acquisitions were made by purchase and gift, and a large donation of Johnson's photographs and glass plate negatives and personal papers was made in 1987. In 2005 600 pieces of original artwork by Johnson were donated to the collection. It is an active collection with new accessions constantly being made by purchase and by gift.
Preferred Citation: Clifton Johnson Collection, Special Collections, Jones Library, Amherst, Massachusetts.
Processing Information: Photographs were first processed in 1987. Papers and artwork were processed by Kirstin Kay in 2006.
Related Material: Clifton Johnson Schoolbook Collection: Over 1000 volumes of 17th, 18th, and 19th century schoolbooks which range from almanacs to spellers, on topics from arithmetic to zoology. The majority are American imprints, there are a number of English and foreign language texts. It is of value for students of the history of education, the history of children's books and of life in New England from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century.
Johnson Editions Collection: Nearly complete collection of the 125 volumes authored, illustrated, or edited by Clifton Johnson. The collection includes first editions, editions owned and marked by Johnson, and later reprints.