The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the Ira M. Price Papers 1875-1964
© 2009 University of Chicago Library
| Title: | Price, Ira M. Papers |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1875-1964 |
| Size: | 35.75 linear feet (27 boxes) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | Ira Maurice Price (1856-1939) was a founding faculty member of the University of Chicago, serving as a professor of ancient languages and literatures from 1892 until 1925. Price was committed to religious education in the wider community as an active member of the Baptist Church and an author of popular histories of the Old Testament. The Ira M. Price Papers include personal and professional correspondence, family papers, photographs, scrapbooks, teaching and research notes, and drafts of his scholarly and popular writings |
No restrictions.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Price, Ira M. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Ira Maurice Price (1856-1939) was a professor of Semitic Languages and Literatures at the University of Chicago. He was among the University’s original faculty. He was a leading figure in the Baptist Church.
Price was born in Granville, Ohio. He came from a farming family, though all five of his brothers distinguished themselves in academic, legal, and religious careers. Price was educated at Denison University and the Baptist Union Theological Seminary in Morgan Park, south Chicago. He taught modern and classical languages at Des Moines University and Wheaton Theological Seminary before receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Leipzig in 1886. He then returned to Chicago, teaching at the Baptist Union Theological Seminary. When the Seminary left Morgan Park to be incorporated into the new University of Chicago in 1892, Price became a faculty member there, remaining until his retirement in 1925.
Price’s career in Morgan Park and at the University of Chicago was concurrent with that of University founder and president William Rainey Harper, with whom he shared an interest in Hebrew scholarship. Price’s interest in biblical history and ancient languages also brought him into contact with leading American Orientalists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, including William Hayes Ward and James Henry Breasted.
In addition to his scholarly work on Sumerian and Assyrian languages, Price published books for a broader audience on the history of the Old Testament: A Syllabus of Old Testament History, 1890; Monuments and the Old Testament, 1899; The Ancestry of Our English Bible, 1907; and The Dramatic Story of the Old Testament, 1935. These achieved widespread popularity and went through numerous editions and translations.
Price’s interest in biblical history stemmed from a personal commitment to religious education. Price was a leading figure in the Baptist Church, particularly the Baptist Young Peoples Union and the International Sunday School Association. He was secretary of the Association’s Lesson Committee between 1908 and 1914.
Along with his wife, Elizabeth, Price enjoyed the outdoors at their summer home in Olympia, Washington. He climbed Mount Rainier at the age of 65 and was remembered by his friends as an amateur naturalist with an interest in ferns.
The Ira M. Price Papers span the years 1875-1964. They are organized into four series:
Series I: Family, contains papers of the extended Price family from the 1880s through the 1960s. Particularly represented are Price’s brother, Orlo Price, his wife, Elizabeth Price, and his niece, Florence (“Flossie”) Bateson. It includes correspondence, financial papers, photographs, glass lantern slides, and scrapbooks.
Series II: Professional, contains material related to Price’s academic career, which spanned the 1880s through 1930s. It includes correspondence with other scholars and with his colleagues at the Baptist Union Theological Seminary and the University of Chicago. It also contains lecture notes for courses Price taught or at both institutions. Of note is his scrapbook documenting the early history of the University of Chicago, and his correspondence with its first president, William Rainey Harper.
Series III: Church Organizations, series documents Price’s involvement with the Baptist Young People’s Union of America and the International Sunday School Lesson Committee between 1892 and 1932. It includes bible course materials, notes, and clippings.
Series IV: Research and Writings, contains research notes related to Price’s scholarly interest in biblical history and ancient languages. It also contains drafts, books reviews, articles, and book manuscripts. It includes articles written by other scholars and spans 1880-1936.
The following related resources are located in the Department of Special Collections:
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/spcl/select.html
Series I: Family |
This series contains papers of the extended Price family from the 1880s through the 1960s. Particularly represented are Price’s brother, Orlo Price, his wife, Elizabeth Price, and his niece, Florence ("Flossie") Bateson. It includes correspondence, financial papers, photographs, glass lantern slides, and scrapbooks.
| Box 1 Folder 1 | Correspondence, Orlo Price to Ira M. Price, circa 1908-1930 |
| Box 1 Folder 2 | Correspondence, Ira M. and Elizabeth Price to Florence and Ada Benson, 1928-1947 |
| Box 1 Folder 3 | Correspondence, Royal Price to Ira M. Price, 1936 |
| Box 1 Folder 4 | School reports, Ira Price II and Owen F. Price, circa 1930s |
| Box 1 Folder 5 | Obituaries, Ira M. Price and letters to Elizabeth Price, 1939 |
| Box 1 Folder 6 | Memorial for Price in the Journal of Semitic Languages, 1940 |
| Box 1 Folder 7 | Correspondence, memorials for Ira M. Price, 1942-1962 |
| Box 1 Folder 8 | Correspondence, Price and Bateson families, 1962-1963 |
| Box 1 Folder 9 | University memorial service program for Elizabeth Price, 1962 |
| Box 1 Folder 10 | Correspondence, Ira M. Price II, 1964 |
| Box 1 Folder 11 | Correspondence, "Price Family Letter Number 3," 1964 |
| Box 1 Folder 12 | Genealogical notes on the Price family from the eighteenth century,
|
| Box 1 Folder 13 | Biographical sketch of Enoch Jones Price by Ira M. Price |
| Box 1 Folder 14 | Photographs, Price family, circa 1913-1934 |
| Box 1 Folder 15 | Newspaper clipping, "Pasquin," Granville, Ohio, 1878 |
| Box 1 Folder 16 | Newspaper clippings, "The Madras Mail," 1951 |
| Box 1 Folder 17 | Recipe for peppermint chews, undated |
| Box 1A Folder 1 | Bound and indexed picture scrapbook of Ira M. Price, 1898-1904 |
| Box 2 Folder 1 | Newspaper clippings related to Ira M. Price, circa 1880s-1930s |
| Box 2 Folder 2 | Articles by Orlo J. Price, 1929 |
| Box 2 Folder 3 | Expense book, Price family, 1882-1889 |
| Box 2 Folder 4 | Expense book, Ira M. Price, 1911-1926 |
| Box 2 Folder 5 | Accounts, Price family and Homer Price, Evergreen Farm, circa.
|
| Box 2 Folder 6 | Accounts and investments, Ira M. Price, 1911-1926 |
| Box 2 Folder 7 | Legal and financial papers, Ira M. Price, circa 1930s |
| Box 2 Folder 8 | Correspondence, Leipzig book dealers, circa 1920s |
| Box 2 Folder 9 | Correspondence, French book dealers, circa 1920s-1930s |
| Box 2 Folder 10 | Last will and testament of Ira M. Price, 1936 |
| Box 2 Folder 11 | Financial papers, Elizabeth Price, 1925-1955 |
| Box 3 | Account book, Ira M. Price, 1911-1939 |
| Box 3 | Personal scrapbook, circa 1874-1908 |
| Box 4 | "Personal Reminiscences," Ira M. Price, 1933 |
| Box 4 | Notes on the collection, 1972 |
| Box 5 | Glass lantern slides, Price family and Morgan Park, 1899-1900, undated |
Series II: Professional |
This series contains material related to Price’s academic career. It includes correspondence with other scholars and with his colleagues at the Baptist Union Theological Seminary and the University of Chicago. It also contains lecture notes for courses Price taught at both institutions. Price’s "University of Chicago" scrapbook documents critical moments in the establishment of the University. Of related note is his correspondence with William Rainey Harper, covering the period during which Harper was a faculty member of the Baptist Union Theological Seminary, as well as his early presidency at the University of Chicago. Also of note is his correspondence with William Hayes Ward, which includes the shards of an ancient cylinder and Price’s attempt to decode its inscription. This series also contains correspondence by other University of Chicago faculty, including James Henry Breasted of the Oriental Institute.
| Box 6 Folder 1 | Correspondence, William Rainey Harper, circa 1880s-1890s |
| Box 6 Folder 2 | "Personal recollections of William Rainey Harper prior to 1892," undated |
| Box 6 Folder 3 | Correspondence, Edward C. Mitchell, 1890-1902 |
| Box 6 Folder 4 | Correspondence with William Hayes Ward, circa 1902-1909, includes artifact and "Notes on Homonyms in Sumerian Texts," undated |
| Box 6 Folder 5-6 | Correspondence, professional, 1887-1939 |
| Box 6 Folder 7 | Correspondence by other faculty, 1901-1939 |
| Box 6 Folder 8 | Lecture notes, "Messianic Prophecies" and "Hebrew Literature and
|
| Box 7 Folder 1 | Lecture notes, "Messianic Prophecies" and "The Minor Prophets," Morgan Park, 1889-1890 |
| Box 7 Folder 2 | Lecture notes, "General Introduction to the Old Testament" and "Special Introduction to the Old Testament," University of Chicago, 1892-1893 |
| Box 7 Folder 3 | Lecture notes, "Kings," University of Chicago, 1903 |
| Box 7 Folder 4 | Lecture notes, sacred literature course, University of Chicago, undated |
| Box 7 Folder 5 | Lecture notes, Old Testament history course, University of Chicago, undated |
| Box 7 Folder 6 | Appreciation of Ira M. Price, read by the Hebrew language class, 1905 |
| Box 7 Folder 7 | Lecture notes, "History of Feudal England," Professor Terry, 1923-1924 |
| Box 8 Folder 1 | Papers related to Hebrew study organizations, circa 1880s-1890s |
| Box 8 Folder 2 | College catalogues, 1875-1928 |
| Box 8 Folder 3 | "Who’s Who Among Biblical Scholars," compiled by Ira M. Price, undated |
| Box 9 | University of Chicago Scrapbook, 1889-1908 |
Series III: Church Organizations |
This series documents Price’s involvement with the Baptist Young People’s Union of America and the International Sunday School Lesson Committee, of which he was secretary between 1908 and 1914. It includes bible course materials, notes, and clippings and spans the years between 1892 and 1932.
| Box 8 Folder 4 | Papers, International Sunday School Lesson Committee, 1914-1929 |
| Box 8 Folder 5 | Notes and clippings, Sunday School periodicals, circa 1910-1932 |
| Box 10 | Baptist Young People’s Union: Bible Readers’ Course, 1892-1896 |
| Box 11 | Baptist Young People’s Union: Bible Readers’ Course, 1896-1900 |
| Box 12 | Baptist Young People’s Union: Bible Readers’ Course, 1900-1904 |
| Box 13 | Baptist Young People’s Union: Bible Readers’ Course, 1904-1912 |
| Box 14 | Baptist Young People’s Union: Introduction to the Books of the Old Testament, 1902-1903. |
Series IV: Research and Writings |
This series contains research notes, drafts, books reviews, articles, and book manuscripts. This series is divided into three subseries and spans 1880-1936.
Subseries 1: Research Materials, contains notes, translations, photographs, and clippings related to Price’s scholarly interest in biblical history and ancient languages.
Subseries 2: Writings, contains drafts, book reviews, articles, and manuscripts by Price, including his unpublished Social Life in Ancient Israel.
Subseries 3: Writings by Others, contains copies of articles written by other scholars on biblical history, the ancient world, and contemporary religion.
Subseries 1: Research Materials |
| Box 8 Folder 6 | Translations of the Hebrew Book of Genesis, 1880-1881 |
| Box 8 Folder 7 | Notes on translations of the Books of Judge, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, 1881 |
| Box 8 Folder 8 | Ethiopische Woerterbuch, 1885 |
| Box 15 Folder 1 | DeSarzec transliterations, circa 1885 |
| Box 15 Folder 2 | Notes on Hebrew manuscripts in the Cambridge Library, 1901 |
| Box 15 Folder 3 | Chart, "Age of the Prophets," 1906 |
| Box 15 Folder 4 | Notes on tablets and seal, circa 1909-1930s |
| Box 15 Folder 5 | Clippings on theology and the Old Testament, circa 1904-1916 |
| Box 15 Folder 6 | Notes and clippings on archaeology and the Bible, circa 1920s |
| Box 15 Folder 7 | Hittite glossary, 1931 |
| Box 15 Folder 8 | Notes on Hittite codes and Sumerian laws, undated |
| Box 15 Folder 9 | Notes on ancient legal codes in cuneiform, undated |
| Box 15 Folder 10 | Notes on Isaiah, undated |
| Box 15 Folder 11 | Egyptian photographs, undated |
| Box 15 Folder 12 | Materials related to the ancestry of the Bible, undated |
| Box 16 Folder 1 | Notebook, "Syllables," undated |
| Box 17 | Oriental Seals, 1879 |
| Box 17 | Thesaurus of Biblical and Indian Scholars, 1889 |
| Box 18 | Archaic Signs, 1885 |
| Box 18 | Egyptian Photos, undated |
| Box 19 | Bible references, undated |
| Box 19 | German English Dictionary |
| Box 19 | Notes on Hebrew Poetry, undated |
Subseries 2: Writings |
| Box 16 Folder 2 | Leipzig thesis manuscript, 1881 |
| Box 16 Folder 3 | Notes, "Life in Old Testament Times," 1909 |
| Box 16 Folder 4 | Correspondence and clippings, "The Ancestry of Our English Bible," 1904-1935 |
| Box 16 Folder 5 | Draft, "Covenant in the Old Testament," undated |
| Box 16 Folder 6 | Drafts, "Adoption in Early Babylonia" and "Is the Bible Like Other Books?" undated |
| Box 16 Folder 7 | Drafts, writings on biblical history, undated |
| Box 16 Folder 8 | Draft, "The Dramatic Story of Old Testament History," 1928 |
| Box 19 | Dramatic History of the Old Testament, 1929 |
| Box 20 Folder 1 | Draft, "The Dramatic Story of Old Testament History," undated |
| Box 20 Folder 2 | Pamphlets on "Monuments and the Old Testament," undated |
| Box 20 Folder 3 | Draft, "Monuments and the Old Testament," 1925 edition |
| Box 20 Folder 4 | Draft, "Monuments and the Old Testament," chapters 1-18, undated |
| Box 21 Folder 1 | Draft, "Monuments and the Old Testament," chapters 19-25 and index,
|
| Box 21 Folder 2 | Correspondence related to the Great Cylinders of Gudea, circa 1920s (in French
|
| Box 21 Folder 3 | Original transcription of the Great Cylinders of Gudea, undated |
| Box 21 Folder 4 | Draft, "Great Cylinder Inscriptions of Gudea," circa 1926 |
| Box 21 Folder 5 | "A Sketch of the History of the Theological Faculties Union of Chicago and
|
| Box 21 Folder 6 | "Biographical Sketch of Frederick Carl Eiselen," undated |
| Box 21 Folder 7 | "Literary Remains of Rim-Sin (Arioch)", 1904 |
| Box 21 Folder 8 | "Syllabus of Old Testament History for Private Study and Classroom," 1910 |
| Box 22 Folder 1 | "Varia," articles on seals and inscriptions, circa 1904-1910 |
| Box 22 Folder 2 | "An Ancient Babylonian (Ax-head) Inscription," 1905 |
| Box 22 Folder 3 | "The So-called Levirate-Marriage in Hittite and Assyrian Laws," 1926 |
| Box 22 Folder 4 | "The Story of the Uniform Lessons," with John. R. Sampey, 1930 |
| Box 22 Folder 5 | Translation, "Tel-el-amarna letters," undated |
| Box 22 Folder 6 | Book reviews, 1930-1932 |
| Box 24 | Great Cylinder Inscriptions of Gudea Part 1, 1899 |
| Box 25 | Great Cylinder Inscriptions of Gudea Part 2, 1899 |
| Box 26 | Book reviews, 1882-1900 |
| Box 27 | Book reviews, 1888-1908 |
| Box 22 Folder 7-10 | Manuscript, "Social Life in Ancient Israel," undated |
| Box 23 Folder 1-2 | Manuscript, "Social Life in Ancient Israel," undated |
| Box 23 Folder 3 | Photographs and illustrations, "Social Life in Ancient Israel," undated |
| Box 23 Folder 4 | Correspondence with University of Chicago Press, "Social Life in Ancient Israel," 1911, 1919 |
Subseries 3: Writings by Others |
| Box 23 Folder 5 | American Tract Society, "The Orphan Girl and "Opening Blind Eyes," undated |
| Box 23 Folder 6 | Reverend Frederick Anderson, "An Analysis of the Gospel of John," 1904 |
| Box 23 Folder 7 | Anonymous, Explanation of Baurath Dr. Schick’s Models," undated |
| Box 23 Folder 8 | William Rainey Harper, "Studies in Hebrew," circa 1881-1884 |
| Box 23 Folder 9 | Theophile Meek, "The Poetry of Jeremiah," 1924 |
| Box 23 Folder 10 | A.T. Olmstead, articles on Oriental imperialism, 1918 |
| Box 23 Folder 11 | Maurice T. Price, "Our Amateurishness in Promoting International
|
| Box 23 Folder 12 | Georg Reiner, commissioner, "Ba’albek Excavation Photos," 1905 |
| Box 23 Folder 13 | T.V. Smith, "Two Voices," 1936 |
| Box 23 Folder 14 | Wilbur M. Smith, "Bibliographies of Theological Literature," 1931 |
| Box 23 Folder 15 | E.H. Sturtevant, "Position of Hittite Among Indo-European
|
| Box 23 Folder 14 | Clyde W. Votaw, "The Modern Jewish View of Jesus," 1905 |
| Box 23 Folder 15 | Arnold Walther, "The Hittite Code," 1931 |