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University of Chicago Library

Guide to the Ramona Bressie Papers 1900-1965

© 2012 University of Chicago Library

Descriptive Summary

Title:

Bressie, Ramona. Papers

Dates:

1900-1965

Size:

4 linear feet (8 boxes)

Repository:

Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center
University of Chicago Library
1100 East 57th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.

Abstract:

The Ramona Bressie Papers consist of the personal papers, diaries, research, reports, and unpublished fiction of literary scholar Ramona Bressie. It includes her work on the Chaucer Life Project; Roman and Medieval England; and British Libraries before 1450.

Information on Use

Access

This collection is open for research.

Citation

When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Bressie, Ramona. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Biographical Note

Ramona Bressie was born on December 3, 1894. She attended the University of Chicago, receiving a B.A. in 1920 and a M.A. in 1925. In 1928 she received a Ph.D. in English, writing her dissertation on Thomas Usk while under the supervision of Edith Rickert. After completing her degree, she worked with Edith Rickert and John Matthews Manly on the Chaucer Life Records project, an extensive archival search for new documents pertaining to Chaucer's life.

Even though Bressie's dissertation was well received and she made lasting contributions to medieval scholarship, she never held an academic position and spent most of her life as an independent scholar. While her primary focus was Chaucer, her research interests also included Roman and medieval England, and libraries in the British Isles prior to 1450.

She died in 1965.

Scope Note

The Ramona Bressie Papers Collection consists of the personal papers, diaries, research, reports, and unpublished fiction of Ramona Bressie. It includes her work on the Chaucer Life Project; Roman and Medieval England; and British Libraries before 1450.

This collection is separated into four series: Series I Personal; Series II Correspondence; Series III Research; and Series IV Fictional Writings.

Series I, Personal, consists of Bressie's personal notebooks and diaries.

Series II, Correspondence, consists of her personal and professional correspondence.

Series III, Research, consists of research notes, transcriptions, and drafts of academic papers. It is divided into four subseries: Subseries I Chaucer Life Project; Subseries II Research on History of Roman and Medieval England; Subseries III Research on British Libraries before 1450; and Subseries IV Miscellaneous Research.

Series IV consists of typescripts of Bressie's fictional writings.

Related Resources

Browse finding aids by topic.

Subject Headings

INVENTORY

Series I: Personal

Box 1   Folder 1

Personal Notebooks, undated

Box 1   Folder 2

Personal Notebooks, undated

Box 1   Folder 3

Personal Notebooks, undated

Box 1   Folder 4

Diary, 1961

Box 1   Folder 5

Diary, 1962

Box 1   Folder 6

Diary, 1963 [1/2]

Box 1   Folder 7

Diary, 1963 [2/2]

Box 2   Folder 1

Diary, 1964 [1/2]

Box 2   Folder 2

Diary, 1964 [2/2]

Box 2   Folder 3

Photographs, undated

Series II: Correspondence

Box 2   Folder 4

Personal Correspondence, 1924-1964

Box 2   Folder 5

Professional Correspondence, 1936-1957

Series III: Research

Subseries I: Chaucer Life Project

Box 2   Folder 6

List of Assignments for Staff Abroad, 1927

Box 2   Folder 7

"Was Chaucer at the Siege of Paris?" Notes and Drafts, 1940

Box 2   Folder 8

Report of Progress to the Modern Language Association, 1941

Box 2   Folder 9

Chaucer Research in Progress Reports, 1939-1960

Box 2   Folder 10

"Memorandum on the copy of the Life-Record," manuscript, undated

Box 2   Folder 11

Research notes and paper regarding "Redstone Manuscript" controversy, undated

Box 2   Folder 12

Summary Description of the Chaucer Life-Records Collection, undated [1/3]

Box 2   Folder 13

Summary Description of the Chaucer Life-Records Collection, undated [2/3]

Box 3   Folder 1

Summary Description of the Chaucer Life-Records Collection, undated [3/3]

Box 3   Folder 2

Summary Description of the Chaucer Life-Records Collection Draft, undated

Box 3   Folder 3

Summary Description of the Chaucer Life-Records Collection Draft, undated

Box 3   Folder 4

Summary Description of the Chaucer Life-Records Collection Notebook Draft, undated

Box 3   Folder 5

Notes, undated

Box 3   Folder 6

Redstone Manuscript Controversy, undated

Box 3   Folder 7

List of Microfilm Contents of Life-Record Collections, undated

Box 3   Folder 8

Chaucer Biography Drafts and Notes, undated

Box 3   Folder 9

Maps, Tracings of Maps, Handwritten Maps, undated [1/2]

Box 3   Folder 10

Maps, Tracings of Maps, Handwritten Maps, undated [2/2]

Box 4   Folder 1

Guidebooks to Chaucerian Towns in England, undated

Box 4   Folder 2

Chaucer's 1359-1360 Itinerary Notes and Drafts, undated

Box 4   Folder 3

"Who was Chaucer?" Notes, undated

Box 4   Folder 4

Manuscript Fragments, undated

Box 4   Folder 5

Miscellaneous Papers Concerning Chaucer, undated

Subseries II: Research on History of Roman and Medieval England

Box 4   Folder 6

Chapter on Julius Caesar, undated

Box 4   Folder 7

Chapter on Roman Britain, undated

Box 4   Folder 8

Untitled Drafts, undated [1/4]

Box 4   Folder 9

Untitled Drafts, undated [2/4]

Box 4   Folder 10

Untitled Drafts, undated [3/4]

Box 4   Folder 11

Untitled Drafts, undated [4/4]

Box 4   Folder 12

Untitled Draft, undated [1/2]

Box 4   Folder 13

Untitled Draft, undated [2/2]

Subseries III: Research on British Libraries before 1450

Box 4   Folder 14

"Libraries of the British Isles in the Anglo-Saxon Period," 1939

Box 4   Folder 15

Report on Handbook Project, undated

Box 4   Folder 16

Notebooks, undated [1/4]

Box 4   Folder 17

Notebooks, undated [2/4]

Box 4   Folder 18

Notebooks, undated [3/4]

Box 5   Folder 1

Notebooks, undated [4/4]

Box 5   Folder 2

The Leicester Abbey Catalogue, undated [1/3]

Box 5   Folder 3

The Leicester Abbey Catalogue, undated [2/3]

Box 5   Folder 4

The Leicester Abbey Catalogue, undated [3/3]

Box 5   Folder 5

The Leicester Abbey Catalogue Notes, undated [1/2]

Box 5   Folder 6

The Leicester Abbey Catalogue Notes, undated [1/2]

Box 5   Folder 7

Domus Fratrum Predicatorum Manuscript Catalogue, undated

Box 5   Folder 8

Matheus Manuscript Catalogue, undated

Box 5   Folder 9

Fotheringay College and Leicester Abbey Manuscript Catalogue, undated

Box 5   Folder 10

St. Andres, Northampton Manuscript Catalogue, undated

Box 5   Folder 11

Libri Beati Augustini Doctoris Manuscript Catalogue, undated

Box 5   Folder 12

List of English Authors, scribes, parchmenters and stationers, undated

Box 5   Folder 13

R.A. Index, undated

Box 5   Folder 14

Introduction Draft, undated [1/3]

Box 5   Folder 15

Introduction Draft, undated [2/3]

Box 5   Folder 16

Introduction Draft, undated [3/3]

Box 6   Folder 1

"Libraries in the British Isles Before the Conquest" draft, undated

Box 6   Folder 2

"Libraries in the British Isles Before 1450" typescript draft, undated [1/6]

Box 6   Folder 3

"Libraries in the British Isles Before 1450" typescript draft, undated [2/6]

Box 6   Folder 4

"Libraries in the British Isles Before 1450" typescript draft, undated [3/6]

Box 6   Folder 5

"Libraries in the British Isles Before 1450" typescript draft, undated [4/6]

Box 6   Folder 6

"Libraries in the British Isles Before 1450" typescript draft, undated [5/6]

Box 7   Folder 1

"Libraries in the British Isles Before 1450" typescript draft, undated [6/6]

Box 7   Folder 2

"Libraries in the British Isles Before 1450" unsorted typescript draft, undated [1/5]

Box 7   Folder 3

"Libraries in the British Isles Before 1450" unsorted typescript draft, undated [2/5]

Box 7   Folder 4

"Libraries in the British Isles Before 1450" unsorted typescript draft, undated [3/5]

Box 7   Folder 5

"Libraries in the British Isles Before 1450" unsorted typescript draft, undated [4/5]

Box 8   Folder 1

"Libraries in the British Isles Before 1450" unsorted typescript draft, undated [5/5]

Subseries IV: Miscellaneous Research

Box 8   Folder 2

"The Date of Thomas Usk's Testament of Love," 1928

Box 8   Folder 3

Manual for use in English IIIa, undated

Box 8   Folder 4

"Beowulf," undated

Box 8   Folder 5

"John Malverne," undated

Box 8   Folder 6

"Letter Patent of Great Seal, 36 Charles I," undated

Box 8   Folder 7

Miscellaneous Professional Documents, undated

Series IV: Fictional Writings

Box 8   Folder 8

"The Last Thesis; or a Ghost Allayed in Harper Stacks," 1929

Box 8   Folder 9

"Professor Folio's Library," undated

Box 8   Folder 10

"To the Queen's and Mr. Gibson's Taste," undated

Box 8   Folder 11

"Warty Higgins, the Toad," undated

Box 8   Folder 12

"Unidentified Fragment," undated