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The Papers of Philander Chase

Document Types and Their Symbols

The collection of Bishop Chase’s papers is large and varied. Along with his numerous publications, there are also thousands of pages of manuscript documents. We have broken these documents down into three main categories: letters and documents, sermons, and journals.

The journals comprise the smallest portion of the corpus of manuscript materials. Kenyon owns two of Chase’s journals (both from his England voyage to raise money to establish his theological seminary in Ohio). Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of these journals is the vast amount of sketches done by Chase of the folks aboard the Orbit, the frigate in which he sailed to and from England.

The sermons, though a larger collection of nearly one hundred, are also a relatively simple set of documents. All contain a list of dates and places where they were delivered, as well as the Biblical passages discussed.  There are several which are not dated, and a several which are fragments.

The “letters and documents” category contains pretty much everything else. It contains letters between Chase and his family, friends, and colleagues. It also contains a few “diary letters” (signified by the symbol “DL”) which Chase wrote to his wife, Sophia, while he was in England. (Diary letters are a series of letters Chase wrote daily, which he then sent as one package.)  Many of the letters in the collection are Chase’s copy (called the “file copy” or “FC”), or are drafts (indicated by “Df”). Among the letters are many documents, certificates, circulars, as well as many transcriptions and incomplete letters. Please see the key below to identify the symbols used to describe the document type. These symbols are used both in the document description preceding the full-text document, as well as in the Inventory Lists.

Key to Document Type Symbols

ALS - autograph letter signed
AL - autograph letter
L - letter
LS - letter signed
D - document
DS - document signed
Df - draft
Tr - transcript (this symbol will only be used if the original letter cannot be obtained)
FC - file copy (a.k.a. author’s copy)
DL - diary letter (will be used to describe each of the individual daily letters contained within the diary letter pack)
Fr - fragment
Ex - extract
[S] - used with other symbols and denotes that the signature has been clipped

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the information provider. The provider assumes full  responsibility and liability for the contents of this document. The contents of this page have neither been reviewed nor approved by Kenyon College. All comments and feedback should be sent to richmonda@kenyon.edu. This page and its entire contents ©2001 Papers of Philander Chase, Andrew S. Richmond, Editor. All rights reserved.
Last updated 15 January 2001