Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
Harvard Depository
This collection is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. See access
restrictions below for additional information.
b
MS Am 2655
Wernaer, Robert M. (Robert Maximilian), b. 1865.
Robert Maximilian Wernaer papers,
1905-1949.
12 boxes (5 linear ft.)
Collection materials are in English, some in German.
Papers of German born author and teacher of
German at Harvard University and elsewhere, Robert Maximilian Wernaer.
Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt
Part of the MS Storage project, 2008-2009.
Most of this collection arrived in great disarray. An attempt has been made in
the repository to remove items and folders possessing clear titles and the rest remains
at the end of series "IV. Compositions by Wernaer" as unsorted compositions.
No accession number. Source and date received is unknown.
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.
This collection is not housed at the Houghton Library but is shelved offsite at the
Harvard Depository. Retrieval requires advance notice. Readers should check with
Houghton Public Services staff to determine what material is offsite and retrieval
policies and times.
Preferred Citation for Publication:
Robert Maximilian Wernaer
Papers (MS Am 2655). Houghton Library, Harvard University.
Robert Maximilian Wernaer (18-65-1951) was born in
Jena, Germany in 1865, the son of Anton Ottomar and Alvine Peisker Ottomar. He was educated at preparatory schools and
gymnasia in Germany and came to the United States in 1884. He received an LL.B. in
1887 from the Albany Law School and in 1889 he was admitted to the bar and practiced
in Brooklyn and New York City from 1889 to 1896. In 1899 he was received an A.B.
from Harvard College, an A.M. in 1900 and a Ph.D. in 1903. He was an instructor of
German at Harvard from 1901-1903, at the University of Wisconsin from 1904-1905, at
Harvard again from 1905-1906, and a lecturer at Harvard in German literature in 1908.
He was an assistant professor of German at Simmons College from 1920-1921.
He also studied at the Universities of Leipzig, Heidelberg, Geneva, and Berlin, and
contributed articles to many magazines and scientific journals, and was an editor and
translator. His major works were:
-
Die Einfühlung und das Symbol, 1906.
-
Das ästhetische Symbol, 1906.
-
Romanticism and the romantic school in Germany, 1910.
-
New constructive criticism, 1911.
-
The soul of America, 1917.
-
The scholar in our universities, 1926.
-
The proposal for a society of scholars, 1932.
He married Esther Upham Farr in 1891 (d. 1919) and married his
second wife in 1930, Maud May Parker (d. 1943). Wernaer died in
1951.
Organized into the following series:
- I. Correspondence
- II. Subject file
- III. Biographical miscellany
- IV. Compositions by Wernaer
Includes correspondence of friends and associates with Wernaer, subject files
established by Wernaer containing clippings, notes, and drafts of texts, a few
biographical items, and extensive drafts and final versions of his compositions,
including a large group of unidentified and unsorted material. Compositions include
poems, plays, and writings concerning World War I, the League of Nations, the spread
of communism, and concern for the future of democracy.
Additional Robert Maximilian Wernaer papers are held by the Harvard
University Archives.
I. Correspondence
(1)
Correspondence with Robert Maximilian Wernaer, 1905.
1 folder.
(2)
Correspondence with Robert Maximilian Wernaer, 1906.
1 folder.
(3)
Correspondence with Robert Maximilian Wernaer, 1907.
1 folder.
(4)
Correspondence with Robert Maximilian Wernaer, 1908.
1 folder.
(5)
Correspondence with Robert Maximilian Wernaer, 1910.
1 folder.
(6)
Correspondence with Robert Maximilian Wernaer, 1911.
1 folder.
(7)
Correspondence with Robert Maximilian Wernaer, 1912.
1 folder.
(8)
Correspondence with Robert Maximilian Wernaer, 1913.
1 folder.
(9)
Correspondence with Robert Maximilian Wernaer, 1914.
1 folder.
(10)
Correspondence with Robert Maximilian Wernaer, 1915.
1 folder.
(11)
Correspondence with Robert Maximilian Wernaer, 1917.
1 folder.
(12)
Correspondence with Robert Maximilian Wernaer, 1918.
1 folder.
(13)
Correspondence with Robert Maximilian Wernaer, 1919.
1 folder.
(14)
Correspondence with Robert Maximilian Wernaer, 1921.
1 folder.
(15)
Correspondence with Robert Maximilian Wernaer, 1923.
1 folder.
(16)
Correspondence with Robert Maximilian Wernaer, 1924.
1 folder.
(17)
Correspondence with Robert Maximilian Wernaer, 1926.
1 folder.
(18)
Correspondence with Robert Maximilian Wernaer, undated.
1 folder.
(19)
Lists of correspondents with Robert Maximilian Wernaer.
1 folder.
II. Subject file
Titles taken from original folders.
(20)
Americanization, ca. 1919-1920.
3
folders.
Includes correspondence on topic, clippings, call slips from Harvard? library, and autograph manuscript notes.
(21)
Being an American.
1 folder.
Notes.
(22)
Concluding chapter of a work.
3 folders.
Notes, drafts, clippings.
(23)
Criticism.
2 folders.
Notes and clippings.
(24)
The drama.
1 folder.
Clippings.
(25)
Drama scenarios, sketches, lectures, and articles.
4
folders.
(26)
Drama seen and books read, ca. 1911-1916.
3 folders.
Includes programs and
Wernaer's reviews? and notes of The 47 Workshop, Boston plays, Harvard Dramatic
Society productions, Cambridge Social Dramatic Club, etc...
(27)
Humanism.
1 folder.
Clippings.
(28)
Labor.
1 folder.
Clippings and other printed material.
(29)
League of Nations.
1 folder.
Correspondence and clippings.
(30)
My philosophy.
3 folders.
Notes, drafts, and clippings.
(31)
North Atlantic pact.
1 folder.
(32)
Plots for stories, undated.
1 folder.
Includes notes and drafts and clippings.
(33)
Poetry.
1 folder.
Clippings.
(34)
Psychiatrists, undated.
1 folder.
Notes.
(35)
Religion.
1 folder.
Notes and drafts, clippings.
(36)
Revolution: dialogue.
1 folder.
Clipping.
(37)
Romanticism.
1 folder.
Clippings.
(38)
Sociology.
4 folders.
(39)
Sorokin. Lecture.
1 folder.
(40)
Thoughts on the war.
4 folders.
Includes clippings, drafts of articles and letters.
III. Biographical miscellany
(41)
Maud May Parker Wernaer estate papers, ca. 1943.
1 folder.
She was
Wernaer's second wife.
(42)
Ottmar family documents.
1 folder.
In German.
(43)
Photographs.
3 items in 1 folder.
None are identified.
(44)
Printed miscellany saved by Wernaer.
4 folders.
(45)
Romanticism and the romantic school in Germany : book review clippings,
1910.
5 folders.
(46)
Wernaer, Robert M. (Robert Maximilian), b. 1865. Appointment as Commissioner of Deeds for City of Brooklyn : certificate,
1889.
1 folder.
(47)
Wernaer, Robert M. (Robert Maximilian), b. 1865.
Certificate of participation National Poetry Center New York World's Fair 1939 exhibit, 1939.
1 folder.
(48)
Wernaer, Robert M. (Robert Maximilian), b. 1865. Diary :
autograph manuscript notebook, 1891.
1
folder.
(49)
Wernaer, Robert M. (Robert Maximilian), b. 1865.
In
memoriam. To the memory of Esther Farr Wernaer : print pamphlet, 1919.
1 folder.
Poems
about his first wife, after her death.
Also includes copyright papers.
IV. Compositions by Wernaer
(50)
America and the next epoch : autograph manuscript, ca. 1949.
23 folders.
Also
titled:
America and the coming social order.
Includes notes,
clippings, correspondence, drafts, etc...
(51)
America know thyself : autograph manuscript and typescript,
undated.
1 folder.
(52)
America victory or defeat : typescript with autograph manuscript
revisions, undated.
1 folder.
(53)
The American abroad : autograph manuscript, undated.
1 folder.
Story plot.
(54)
The American peace award: summary : autograph manuscript,
undated.
1 folder.
(55)
American principle : autograph manuscript and typescript carbon,
undated.
1 folder.
Includes
clippings.
(56)
Amesbury, Massachusetts High School graduation address : autograph
manuscript, 1939 June 2.
1 folder.
(57)
Annual meeting minutes for unknown society : autograph manuscript, 1944.
1 folder.
(58)
At the Darby house : typescript, undated.
1
folder.
(59)
The blue veil : autograph manuscript, undated.
1 folder.
Marked: collection of poems.
(60)
Book notes on Albert Einstein's Relativity : typescript carbon, 1929.
1 folder.
(61)
Book notes on Joseph Wood Krutch's The modern temper :
typescript carbon, 1929.
1 folder.
(61a)
Can democratic civilization be saved? : autograph manuscript,
undated.
12 folders.
(62)
Civilization : autograph manuscript, undated.
2 folders.
(63)
The comrade : autograph manuscript, undated.
1 folder.
Incomplete.
(64)
The doctor wife : typescript with autograph manuscript revisions, 1923 and undated.
2 folders.
Also includes correspondence with someone about this material and
about the writing of short stories.
(65)
Estes Kapitel : autograph manuscript, undated.
1 folder.
(66)
Far better than aloofness : typescript, undated.
1 folder.
(67)
A feminist : typescript, undated.
2 folders.
Also includes title:
Just a fancy.
(68)
Forces that led to the war and were not liquidated by the war :
autograph manuscript, undated.
1 folder.
(69)
Germany : typescript with autograph manuscript revisions, undated.
1 folder.
A poem.
(70)
The lamp in the earthen pot. A play in four acts : typescript carbon,
undated.
8 folders.
Two
versions with variant titles including
The light in the earthen pot and others.
Also includes correspondence concerning play.
(71)
The lamp in the pot : typescript and autograph manuscript, undated.
7 folders.
A play.
(72)
The League and the protocol : typescript, undated.
1 folder.
(73)
The League article twenty-one : typescript, undated.
1 folder.
(74)
The League of Nations : typescript, undated.
1 folder.
Poem.
(75)
Lean the cancellation matter to the fallen : typescript with autograph
manuscript revisions, undated.
1 folder.
(76)
Letter to Editor of Nation, undated.
1 folder.
(77)
Marriage and friendship : autograph manuscript, undated.
1 folder.
Also with clippings.
(78)
Men and places "Robert Maxfield" : typescript, undated.
1 folder.
Poem.
(79)
Methods of social direction : various formats, 1928.
1 folder.
Includes
correspondence.
(80)
My colleagues and I putting man on his hind legs : typescript with
autograph manuscript revisions, undated.
1 folder.
(81)
The natural life of man. An outlook on civilization : autograph
manuscript, undated.
1 folder.
(82)
New plots : various formats, undated.
2
folders.
(83)
On horoscoping the League : typescript, undated.
1 folder.
(84)
An open letter to the United States Senate : typescript, undated.
1 folder.
(85)
Our age and the author : autograph manuscript, 1945.
1 folder.
(86)
Our age and the thinking man : autograph manuscript, 1937
April 12.
1 folder.
(87)
Peace and our foreign policy : typescript with autograph manuscript
revisions, undated.
1 folder.
(88)
The philosophy of a League of Nations : typescript, undated.
1 folder.
(89)
Poems : various formats, undated.
3 folders.
(90)
The priest : autograph manuscript, undated.
1 folder.
(91)
The problem of democratic civilization. God man and our time :
typescript and autograph manuscript, undated.
4 folders.
(92)
The problem of our civilization : typescript carbon, undated.
6 folders.
(93)
The problem of our civilization : autograph manuscript and
typescript, undated.
12 folders.
Also includes clippings and notes and miscellaneous papers related to this text.
(94)
The problem of our civilization / Go forward or Perish: a preface to our
time : typescript carbon, autograph manuscript, undated.
6 folders.
(95)
A prophecy. The winning of the war : typescript carbon, 1917.
1 folder.
(96)
The proposal for a society of scholars : typescript, 1932.
1 folder.
(97)
The quest : autograph manuscript, undated.
1 folder.
(98)
Reading and thoughts : autograph manuscript, undated.
1 folder.
(99)
The real war against war : galley proof, undated.
1 folder.
(100)
The salon and humanism. A talk before the Petit Salon : autograph
manuscript, 1931 February 26.
1 folder.
(101)
Saving a life : typescript, undated.
1 folder.
(102)
The scholar in ? : autograph manuscript, undated.
1 folder.
Incomplete.
(103)
The sketch : autograph manuscript, undated.
1 folder.
(104)
The smashing of the idol : typescript carbon, undated.
4 folders.
A play.
Marked:
"working copy."
(105)
The smashing of the idol : typescript, undated.
3 folders.
A play.
(106)
Social order, fulfilment and values : autograph manuscript, undated.
1 folder.
(107)
Soul of America : autograph manuscript and clippings,
1919.
2 folders.
(108)
To my God child : typescript, undated.
1
folder.
(109)
To the editor of the Nation : autograph manuscript, 1907 and 1913.
1 folder.
Letters.
(110)
The vision on the hill : various formats.
1
folder.
Short story.
(111)
Why did Mr. Kiss assign to altruism a superrational basis? :
autograph manuscript, undated.
1 folder.
(112)
The winning of the war : typescript, 1918.
2 folders.
Also includes clipping and
correspondence.
(113)
Unidentified compositions : autograph manuscript and typescript, undated.
50 folders.
Primarily drafts of
compositions.
All unsorted, left in order as received in repository.