Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#1920
SAMUEL AARON TANNENBAUM PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: Samuel Aaron Tannenbaum was born in Hungary and
immigrated to the U.S. in 1886. In 1898, he began
practicing psychotherapy in New York City. He was
widely recognized as a scholar of Shakespeare and his
times.
Chiefly correspondence, 1905-1943, between Tannenbaum
and other specialists in 16th- and 17th-century English
literature, including Joseph Quincy Adams, Horace
Howard Furness, W. W. Greg, William Bailey Kempling, W.
J. Lawrence, Arthur Huntington Nason, Ernest Henry
Clark Oliphant, Charlotte Endymion Porter, Hyder Edward
Rollins, M. H. Spielmann, Marie Charlotte Carmichael
Stopes, and Charles William Wallace. Letters discuss
Tannenbaum's interest in Shakespeare and his works,
with particular emphasis on questions of disputed
authorship, on Elizabethan theater productions, and on
Shakespeare's handwriting and his sexual habits. Also
included are letters relating to the Shakespeare
Association, the Modern Language Association of
America, and the Folger Shakespeare Library. Among the
small number of letters not relating to English
literature are those from individuals in the field of
psychology, including a 1908 letter from Sigmund Freud
to E. A. Brill about arrangements for Freud's trip to
Clark University; two 1913 letters from Sandor
Ferenczi; one 1912 letter from James Jackson Putnam;
and seven letters, 1918-1919, from Ernest Jones about
the establishment of an English language journal on
psychoanalysis. There are also a few writings by
Tannenbaum on literary and medical topics and a small
number of photographs.
Online Adams, Joseph Quincy, 1881-1946.
Catalog English literature--Early modern, 1500-1700--History
and
Terms: criticism.
Ferenczi, Sandor, 1873-1933.
Folger Shakespeare Library.
Freud, Sigmund, 1856-1939.
Furness, Horace Howard, 1865-1930.
Greg, W. W. (Walter Wilson), 1875-1959.
Jones, Ernest, 1879-1958.
Kempling, William Bailey.
Lawrence, W. J.
Modern Language Association of America.
Nason, Arthur Huntington, 1877-1944.
Oliphant, Ernest Henry Clark, 1962- .
Paleography, English.
Porter, Charlotte Endymion, 1859-1942.
Psychoanalysts.
Psychologists.
Putnam, James Jackson, 1846-1918.
Rollins, Hyder Edward, 1889-1958.
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Authorship.
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Autographs.
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Relationship with
women.
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Spurious and doubtful
works.
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Stage history.
Shakespeare Association.
Speilmann, M. H. (Marion Harry), 1858-1948.
Stopes, Marie Charlotte Carmichael, 1880-1958.
Tannenbaum, Samuel Aaron, 1874?-1948.
Wallace, Charles William, 1865-1932.
Size: About 375 items (1.5 linear feet).
Provenance: Gift of Dorothy R. Tannenbaum of New York, N.Y.,
in 1954; transfer from the Rare Book Collection,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in
1983 (Acc. 83097).
Access: No restrictions.
Processing Note: This collection was rehoused under the
sponsorship of a grant from the National
Endowment for the Humanities, Office of
Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or
their descendants, as stipulated by United States
copyright law.
INTRODUCTION
Biographical Note
Samuel Aaron Tannenbaum was born in Hungary around 1874.
After immigrating to the United States in 1886, he studied at the
College of the City of New York. In 1895, he became a citizen of
the United States. In 1898, he received his M.D. degree from the
College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University and
began practicing psychotherapy in New York City. Tannenbaum was
twice married--in 1901, to Jeannette S. Rosett and, in 1942, to
Dorothy Rosenzweig with whom he collaborated on several
publications.
Tannenbaum's publications reflect his career in
psychotherapy and his intense interest in Shakespeare and his
times. Major works range from The Psychology of Accidents (1924)
and The Patient's Dilemma (1935) to Problems in Shakespeare's
Penmanship (1927) and Shakespearean Scraps and Other Elizabethan
Fragments (1933). He contributed a great many articles to
journals in the field of psychotherapy and the field of
Shakespearean scholarship, serving for many years as the editor
of the Shakespeare Association Bulletin.
Collection Overview
Chiefly correspondence, 1905-1943, between Tannenbaum and
other specialists in the field of 16th- and 17th-century English
literature, including Joseph Quincy Adams, Horace Howard Furness,
W. W. Greg, William Bailey Kempling, W. J. Lawrence, Arthur
Huntington Nason, Ernest Henry Clark Oliphant, Charlotte Endymion
Porter, Hyder Edward Rollins, M. H. Spielmann, Marie Charlotte
Carmichael Stopes, and Charles William Wallace. Letters discuss
Tannenbaum's interest in Shakespeare and his works, with
particular emphasis on questions of disputed authorship. Also
included are letters about Tannenbaum's efforts to collect
publications relating to Shakespeare and his times, and to the
workings of such organizations as the Shakespeare Association,
the Modern Language Association of America, and the Folger
Shakespeare Library. Among the small number of letters not
relating to English literature are those from individuals in the
field of psychology, including a 1908 letter from Sigmund Freud;
two 1913 letters from Sandor Ferenczi; one 1912 letter from James
Jackson Putnam; and seven letters, 1918-1919, from Ernest Jones
about the establishment of an English language journal on
psychoanalysis. There are also a few writings by Tannenbaum on
literary and medical topics and a small number of photographs.
The collection is arranged as follows:
Series 1. Correspondence
Subseries 1.1. Correspondence Relating to English
Literature
Subseries 1.2. Other Correspondence
Series 2. Writings
Subseries 2.1. Writings on English Literature
Subseries 2.2. Other Writings
Series 3. Pictures
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. Correspondence
1857-1943 and undated. About 840 items.
Subseries 1.1. Correspondence Relating to English Literature
1857-1943 and undated. About 820 items.
Chiefly correspondence, 1905-1943, between Tannenbaum and
other specialists in the field of 16th- and 17th-century English
literature. Some letters offer congratulations on the
publication of pamphlets, books, and articles, but most deal with
substantive issues. There are also four letters, 1857-1898,
relating to the work of others on Shakespearean themes that
appear to have been collected by Tannenbaum. Tannenbaum's
correspondence starts in 1905 with letters between Tannenbaum and
scholars in England and the United States about his investigation
of Shakespeare's coat of arms. Among the early correspondents
are Henry Sweet (1845-1912), Arthur Huntington Nason (1877-1944),
John Louis Haney (1877- ), Sir Sidney Lee (1859-1926), Marie
Charlotte Carmichael Stopes (1880-1958), Homer Baxter Sprague
(1829-1918), A. C. Bradley (1851-1935), and Charles William
Wallace (1865-1932). Letters to and from many of these scholars
continue throughout the collection.
By 1910, Tannenbaum had become a prolific writer of books,
articles, and pamphlets on Shakespeare and his times. Among
these works were contributions to such journals as The Dial, for
which he produced several reviews of books on Shakespeare. In
the 1920s, Tannenbaum investigated the question of Shakespeare's
sexual preference. He also was interested in authenticity issues
surrounding Shakespeare's signature and handwriting, especially
as these issues relate proving authorship.
In the 1930s, there are letters relating to the Shakespeare
Society, the Modern Language Association of America, and the
Folger Shakespeare Library, the dedication of which Tannenbaum
attended in 1932. Among the correspondents from this later
period are Horace Howard Furness (1865-1930), M. H. Spielmann
(1858-1948), W. J. Lawrence, Thornton Shirley Graves (1883- ),
Charlotte Endymion Porter (1859-1942), Arthur Acheson (1864- ),
Ernest Henry Clark Oliphant (1962- ), Joseph Quincy Adams
(1881-1946), W. W. Greg (1875-1959), Vincent Starrett
(1886-1974), Charles Jaspar Sisson (1885-1966), William Bailey
Kempling, Macleod Yearsley (1857-1951), and Hyder Edward Rollins
(1889-1958).
Folder 1 1857-1898; 1905-1909
2 1910-1916
3 1917-1923
4 1924
5 1925
6 1926
1927
7 January-August
8 September-December
1928
9 January-July
10 August-December
Folder 1929
11 January-April
12 May-August
13 September-December
14 1930
1931
15 January-May
16 June-September
17 October-December
18 1932
19 1933-1935
20 1936-1937
21 1938-1943
22 Undated and fragments
Subseries 1.2. Other Correspondence
1908-1929. About 20 items.
Correspondence chiefly relating to psychology and
psychoanalysis. Included are a 1908 letter in German from
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) to E. A. Brill about arrangments for
Freud's visit to Clark University; a 1912 letter from James
Jackson Putnam (1846-1918); two 1913 letters in German from
Sandor Ferenczi (1873-1933); and seven letters, 1918-1919, from
Ernest Jones, chiefly about establishing an English-language
journal of psychoanalysis.
Folder 23
Series 2. Writings
1916-1936 and undated. About 25 items.
Subseries 2.1. Writings on English Literature
1926-1932 and undated. About 20 items.
Miscellaneous short works on Shakespeare and related topics,
including authentication of Shakespeare's signature, sexuality,
and family. Most of the writings are typed and corrected drafts,
but there are also a few reprints.
Folders 23-27
Subseries 2.2. Other Writings
1916; 1936. 3 items.
Three reprints of articles by Tannenbaum: "Pollutions, A
Psychoanalytic Study" (1916) from the American Journal of Urology
and Sexology (see also Clyde Edgerton Papers) and "State
Medicine" (1936) and "Medical Racketeering and Other Matters"
(1936), both from the Medical Review of Reviews.
Folder 28
Series 3. Pictures
1935-1941. 8 items.
P-1920/1-2 Photographs, 1935 and 1940, of M. H. Spielmann
P-1920/3-8 Views of the Shakespeare Garden at Rockefeller
Park, 1940-1941.
SHELF LIST
Series 1. Correspondence
Box 1 Subseries 1.1. 1857-1929 (folders
1-13)
Box 2 Subseries 1.1. 1930-1943 (folders
14-22)
Subseries 1.2. (folder
23)
Box 3 Series 2. Writings (folders
24-28)
Items separated:
P-1920/1-8