urn:taro:utexas.hrc.01149 Thomas James Wise: Literary File Photography Collection Finding aid created by Ransom Center Staff Harry Ransom Center, 2016 Finding aid encoded by Sarah Sauri and Kait Dorsky, September 2016 Finding aid written in English. Collection Summary Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin Wise, Thomas James, 1859-1937 Thomas James Wise Literary File undated 0.5 document box (.21 linear feet) Thomas James Wise was an English book collector and biographer who became known for literary forgeries and stolen documents that were resold or authenticated by him. The collection of 163 items, which include photographic portraits of Wise and various other people, negatives of correspondence to and from him and of articles on literary forgeries, and lantern slides of frontispieces and portraits. English Photography Collection PH-002636 Acquisition:

Internal transfer

 Access:

Open for research. Please note: Transparencies may be accessed but require 24 hours advance notice. Negatives cannot be accessed without curatorial approval. To make an appointment or to reserve photography materials, please contact the Center's staff at photography@hrc.utexas.edu.

 Processed by:

Susan McClellan, 2006, and Sarah Sauri and Kait Dorsky, 2016

 Scope and Contents

The collection consists of 163 items by and related to the English book collector and biographer Thomas James Wise. Included are portraits of Wise and various other people, such as Joseph Conrad, Harry Buxton Forman, Herbert E. Gorfin, Edmund Gosse, Thomas Hardy, Clement King Shorter, and James Patterson Smart. There are also negatives of correspondence to and from Wise and of articles on literary forgeries from the Symington Collection at Rutgers University, and lantern slides of frontispieces and portraits. An index at the end of this guide lists photographers whose work is featured in this file.

This file forms a part of the Literary Files photography collection, which is comprised of photographs and albums withdrawn from the libraries and/or papers of literary figures and businesses, and generally include portraits and images taken or collected by and/or of those people and businesses.

Additional materials by and about Wise can be found in the Ransom Center's Thomas James Wise Collection and Thomas James Wise Art Collection.

Index Terms People Wise, Thomas James, 1859-1937. Subjects Authors, English--19th century--Portraits. Authors, English--20th century--Portraits. Literary forgeries and mystifications. Portraits. Document Types Acetate negatives. Gelatin silver prints. Lantern slides. Nitrate negatives. Item List 1.1 982:0019:0001-0005 Portraits of Wise as a middle-aged man. osb 982:0019:0006-0007 Enlarged photographic reproductions of half-tone prints of portraits of Wise. Cold storage 982:0019:0008 Negative for 982:0019:0001. Cold storage 982:0019:0009 Negative for 982:0019:0002. Cold storage 982:0019:0010 Negative for 982:0019:0004. Cold storage 982:0019:0011 Negative of a portrait of Wise as a middle-aged man. 1.2 982:0019:0012-0014 Portraits of Wise as a middle-aged man sitting at his desk. Cabinet storage 982:0019:0015 Negative for 982:0019:0012. 1.3 982:0019:0016-0022 Portraits of Wise as an older man, including Wise wearing a cap and gown and Wise in his library. osb 982:0019:0023 Photographic reproduction of a half-tone print made from a portrait of Wise as an older man, wearing a cap and gown. 1.4 982:0019:0024 Photographic reproduction of a half-tone print of a drawing of Wise. Cabinet storage 982:0019:0025 Negative for 982:0019:0024. 1.5 982:0019:0026-0028 Images of Wise as an older man with unidentified women. Cold storage 982:0019:0029 Negative for 982:0019:0026. 1.6 982:0019:0030-0037 Portraits of Herbert Athol Wise (brother of Thomas James Wise), Joseph Conrad, Herbert E. Gorfin, Harry Buxton Forman, James Patterson Smart, Clement King Shorter, Thomas Hardy and Edmund Gosse. Cabinet storage 982:0019:0038 Negative for 982:0019:0032. 1.7 982:0019:0039 Portrait of two unidentified men. Cold storage 982:0019:0040 Negative for a portrait of an unidentified man seated at a desk. Cabinet storage 982:0019:0041 Portrait of an unidentified man. Cabinet storage 982:0019:0042 Portrait of an unidentified woman. 1.8 982:0019:0043-0044 Views of Wise’s library in Hampstead. 1.9 982:0019:0045-0048 Color snapshots and photographic postcard of the exterior of Wise’s house, Heath Drive, London. Cold storage 982:0019:0049-0051 Color transparencies for 982:0019:0045-0047. 1.10 982:0019:0052-0055 Photographic reproductions of a letter and postcard to Wise. Cabinet storage 982:0019:0056-0063 Negatives of correspondence. Cold storage 982:0019:0064-0065 Negatives of Wise obituaries. Cold storage 982:0019:0066-0071 Negatives of letters to editors about Wise's forgeries. Cold storage 982:0019:0072-0107 Negatives of an articles on Wise's literary forgeries. Cabinet storage 982:0019:0108-118 Lantern slides of book plates and frontispieces. 1.11 982:0019:0119-0120 Photographic reproductions of bookplates. Cabinet storage 982:0019:0121-0140 Lantern slides of book plates, frontispieces, and portraits. 1.12 982:0019:0141-0148 Images pertaining to Carter and Pollard’s research on the Wise forgeries. Index of Photographers Chappuis, P. E. (Paul Emile), 1816-1887--982:0019:0041 Elliott & Fry--982:0019:0033-0034 Gorfin, Herbert E. (Herbert Edwin), 1877 or 1878-1942--982:0019:0001-0003, 0010 Hughes & Mullins--982:0019:0035 J. Russell & Sons--982:0019:0016-0019 Swanwick, Peter--982:0019:0013-0014, 0020 Walker, Emery, 1851-1933--982:0019:0016-0019 Wrightson, Hay--982:0019:0036