Historical note:

            The Narragansett Club was formed to reprint early Rhode Island works of historical significance. It produced seven volumes, including an edition of Roger Williams' Key into the Language of America. The club sold its publications to libraries and private subscribers, and also traded with similar clubs across the country. The first president of the club was John Russell Bartlett, but the guiding force seems to have been secretary George T. Paine, an independent insurance agent and amateur historian who later served as the secretary of the Rhode Island Historical Society.

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Scope and content:

            This collection consists mostly of correspondence, mostly orders received for the club's publications. Many of these letters are from prominent Rhode Islanders, including Gen. George Sears Greene. Some of the letters contain significant historiographical content. Paine had arranged the letters in bundles, and labeled them either "personal" or "Narragansett Club". Both series of letters seem to cover the same ground, but have been maintained separately. In addition to letters, this collection also contains some subscription records, receipts, order forms, review clippings and a minute book from 1865.

            Also housed with this collection are a few items with no apparent connection to the Narragansett Club, probably from the personal collection of George T. Paine. This includes a small autograph collection consisting of letters from Edward Everett, Carl Schurz and Mark Hopkins

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Provenance:

            These papers were donated as part of a lot of miscellaneous papers from the George T. Paine estate in 1903.

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Inventory:

Box 1.

1. Correspondence,     1863-1867 ("G.T. Paine, personal")

2.                                             1865

3.                                             1866

4.                                             1867

5.                                             1867 (second folder)

6.                                             1868 ("personal")

7.                                             1868 ("relative to discovery of portrait of Roger Williams...")

8.                                             1869

9.                                             1870

10.                                           1870 (second folder)

11.                                           1871

12.                                           1871 (personal?)

13.                                           1872 (personal?)

14.                                           1873 (personal?)

15.                                           1874-1875 (personal?)

16.                                           1876-1878 (personal?)

17.                                           1896-1897, from Henry T. Drowne

18.                                           Undated

Oversized volume:

subscription record book, 1865-1875

Box 2

1. Subscription lists, undated

2. Advertising literature, 1865-1872

3. Receipts, 1865-1872

4. Orders, 1865-1866

5. Minutes, 9/20/1865 (supposedly only meeting that kept minutes)

6. Copyright papers, 1866-1874

7. News clippings re Narragansett Club

8. Miscellaneous:

            Memorandum, 1871, on George Fox Digg'd out of his Burrows

            Agreement with Providence Press Co., 1871

            Agreement with Hiram H. Thomas & Co., Printers, 1865

            Memorandum, undated, on The Soldier's Bible

            American Baptist Historical Society flier

            Subscription book for forming Providence Public Library, 1871

9. Miscellaneous clippings, and What Cheer logos.

10. Transcriptions of documents, from:

            Staples' Annals of Providence

            Thomas Edwards' Antapologia

            Solomon Drowne's journal, 1767

11. Autograph collection:

            Letter, Edward Everett to unknown, 10/7/1858. Declines speaking invitation.

            Letter, Mark Hopkins to C.P. Hartshorn, 7/31/1858. Declines speaking invitation.

Letter, Carl Schurz to William C. Townsend, 5/25/1859? Discusses terms for speaking engagement, requests suggestions for an agent. Dated from Milwaukee.

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Subjects:

Bartlett, John Russell (1805-1886)

Book clubs - Rhode Island

Everett, Edward (1794-1865)

Greene, George Sears

History publishing - Rhode Island

Hopkins, Mark (1802-1887)

Paine, George T. (1838-1903)

Providence Public Library

Schurz, Carl (1829-1906)

Williams, Roger (1604-1683) - Publishers

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RIHS1822