The Ward M. Canaday Center

for Special Collections

The University of Toledo

Finding Aid

David R. Cheney Papers, 1970s-1990s

MSS-157

Size: 12.25 linear feet

Provenance: Gift of Gift of David R. Cheney, April 2001

Access: open

Related Collections: 

 

Processing Note:

 

Copyright: The literary rights to this collection are assumed to rest with the person(s) responsible for the production of the particular items within the collection, or with their heirs or assigns.  Researchers bear full legal responsibility for the acquisition to publish from any part of said collection per Title 17, United States Code.  The Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections may reserve the right to intervene as intermediary at its own discretion.

 

Completed by:  Kim Brownlee, May 2002

Biographical Sketch

            Dr. David R. Cheney, retired professor of English, taught at the University of Toledo for 27 years (1965-1992).  Born on January 23, 1922 at Castle Dale, Utah, he was the son of Silas and Klara Cheney.  He served in the South Pacific during World War II as a company clerk and member of the Armed Service Forces Band.  He graduated from the University of Utah in 1948, and married Patricia Anne Snow the same year.  He then earned M.A. degrees from both Utah (1949) and Harvard (1951), a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa (1955), and did postdoctoral work at the University of Alberta, Canada, in 1958.
            Dr. Cheney became interested in Leigh Hunt while studying at the University of Iowa, where the largest Hunt collection in the world is held.  Leigh Hunt (1784-1859) was a noted English journalist, essayist, poet and critic.  In 1806 he and his brother, John Hunt, founded “The Examiner,” a London newspaper containing literary works, news and opinion. From 1819-1821, he edited and wrote for “The Indicator,” a literary publication.  Though Hunt is remembered as a poet and journalist, he is most famous for his friendships with noted writers of the time, especially Shelley and Keats.  He was also acquainted with Dickens, Lamb and the Brownings. 
At Iowa, Cheney was asked by Dr. Warner Barnes to help edit the Hunt letters in that collection.  Soon after he started, Barnes was transferred to another university and abandoned the project.  Cheney decided to stay on and subsequently increased the scope of the project to include all of the Hunt letters still in existence.  He spent the next 15 years traveling and collecting the letters from libraries and individuals in many countries around the world, including the U.S., Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Norway. 
Dr. Cheney has published numerous articles and several books, including Monsters in Medieval and Renaissance Travel Literature: a Study in Credulity and Skepticism (1949), Animals in a Midsummer Night’s Dream (1955), Musical Evenings: or, Selections, Vocal and Instrumental (1967), Leigh Hunt’s Efforts to Encourage an Appreciation of Classical Music (1968), and The Correspondence of Leigh Hunt and Charles Ollier in the Winter of 1853-54 (1976).

 

Scope and Content Note

            The David R. Cheney Papers consist of his research materials, card files, and copies of correspondence.  The collection is divided into 2 series.  Series I represents Dr. Cheney's research on Leigh Hunt, and Series II consists of Dr. Cheney's Dictionary of Renaissance Allegorical Animals.
            The first series, the Leigh Hunt Research Materials, contains the following subseries:
            Subseries A:  Indexes and working papers.  These consist of various computerized indexes, annotations, and a chronology of Hunt.  It also contains an introduction to his proposed book, a list of abbreviations, and a statement of the editorial principles he used.
            Subseries B:  Card file index of transcribed letters to and from Hunt.
            Subseries C:  Card file index of Hunt's letters.
            Subseries D:  Card file index of people, places, and events mentioned in the Hunt correspondence.
            Subseries E:  This subseries contains Dr. Cheney's computerized working copies of Hunt's letters.
            Subseries F:  Photocopies of original and transcribed letters to and from Hunt.
            Subseries G:  Miscellaneous card files, which include indexes to the locations of original Hunt letters, libraries contacted for Hunt letters that had none, years when specific correspondents wrote to Hunt, and a bibliography, biography, and criticism file.  There are also two indexes to Hunt's residences, one arranged alphabetically, and the other arranged chronologically.

 

 

 

Series List

S1 Leigh Hunt Research Materials
year span, 9.75 linear ft.
arrangement (chronologically, alphabetically etc.)
series description
S2 Dictionary of Renaissance Allegorical Animals
year span, 2.5 linear ft.
arrangement (chronologically, alphabetically etc.)
series description

 

Folder List

Box  Folder  Arrangement
SERIES I. LEIGH HUNT RESEARCH MATERIALS
Subseries A: Indexes and Working Papers
1 1 Indexes and working papers, Hunt letters
2 Indexes and working papers, Hunt letters
3 Leigh Hunt chronology
4 Introduction, editorial principles, and abbreviations, Hunt letters
Subseries B: Card file, index of transcribed letters to and from Leigh Hunt, arranged alphabetically by correspondent
2 A-G
3 H-M
4 N-XYZ?
Subseries C: Card file, index to Leigh Hunt letters arranged chronologically
5 1790-1841
6 1842-1859?
Subseries D: Card file, index of people, places, and events mentioned in the Leigh Hunt correspondence, arranged alphabetically
7 A-B
8 C-D
9 E-G
10 H (part 1)
11 H (part 2)
12 I-M
13 N-R
14 S-V
15 W-Z
Subseries E: Transcribed letters of Leigh Hunt (working copies), arranged chronologically
1 5 Feb. 23, 1790-1800
6 1801-02
7 1803
8 1804
9 1805
10 1806
11 1807
12 1808
13 1809
14 1810
15 1811
16 1812
16 1 1813
2 1814
3 1815
4 1816
5 1817
6 1818
7 1819
8 1820
9 1821
10 1822
11 1823
12 1824
13 1825
14 1826
15 1827
17 1 1828
2 1829
3 1830
4 1831
5 1832
6 1833
7 1834
8 1835
9 1836
10 1837
11 1838
12 1839
13 1840 (part 1)
14 1840 (part 2)
15 1841
16 1842
Subseries F: Photocopies of original and transcribed letters to and from Leigh Hunt, arranged alphabetically
18 1 unknown correspondent
2 A
3 Ba-Ben
4 Bi-Bri
5 Bro-Brou
6 Brow-Bry
7 Bv-By
8 Cal-Carle
9 Carlyle
10 Carp-Char
11 Che-Clar
12 Clar-Cli
13 Co
14 Cr-Cu
15 Da-Dal
16 Dah-Der
17 Dew
18 Dic
19 Dig-Dy
20 E
21 Fa-Fon
22 Forster, 1831-1844
23 Forster, 1845-1849
24 Forster, 1850-1859
25 Fox-Fr
19 1 G
2 H-Hay
3 Haz-Her
4 Hil-Hoo
5 Horne
6 How-Hud
7 Hunt, A.-Hunt, J.
8 Hunt, John
9 Hunt, Julia-Hunt, Marianne 1807
10 Hunt, Marianne 1808-1812
11 Hunt, Marianne 1813-1819
12 Hunt, Marianne 1828-1835
13 Hunt, Marianne 1838-1852
14 Hunt, Marriotte-Hunt, R.
15 Hunt, T.-Hunt, W.
16 Hunter-Hurst
17 I
18 J-Kent, C.
19 Kent, Elizabeth
20 Kent, Tom-Lee
21 Leech-Lo
22 Mac-Mar
23 Mas-Met
24 Mil-Mit
25 Mon-Moor
26 Mor-Mu
27 N-Northbrook
28 Novello 1813-1825
29 Novello 1826-1855
20 1 Old man
2 Ollier, Charles 1816-1852
3 Ollier, Charles 1853-1855
4 Ollier, Charles 1856-1859
5 Oll-Ov
6 Pa
7 Pe
8 Ph-Po
9 Pr
10 R
11 Sam-Shelley, J.
12 Shelley, M. 1815-1821
13 Shelley, M. 1822-1847
14 Shelley, Percy 1811-1818
15 Shelley, Percy 1819
16 Shelley, Percy 1820-1822
17 Shelley, Percy 1844-1859
18 Sher-Smith
19 So-Sw
20 T-Tal
21 Tay-Tw
22 V
23 Wa
24 Webbe
25 Webs-Y
21 Subseries G: Miscellaneous card files
Bibliography, biography, and criticism
Locations of original Leigh Hunt letters
Libraries contacted for Leigh Hunt letters that had none
Years when correspondents wrote to Hunt, arranged alphabetically by last name of correspondent
15 Index of Leigh Hunt residences mentioned in his letters, arranged alphabetically
Leigh Hunt residences arranged alphabetically and chronologically
SERIES II: DICTIONARY OF RENAISSANCE ALLEGORICAL ANIMALS
22 Achlis-Bison
23 Bitch-Cockle
24 Colt-Dove
25 Dragon-Frog
26 Gnat-Hyena
27 Ibex-Ousel
28 Owl-Serpent
29 Shark-Tyre
30 Unicorn-Yale
31 Bibliography

 

 

 


Last Updated: 6/27/22