Scope and Content Note
The papers of Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) span the years 1836 to 1886, with the bulk of the material originating between 1840 and 1865. Included in the collection are correspondence, sermons, writings (including manuscript and galley proof of The Life of Jesus the Christ), notes and notebooks, prints and photographs, financial papers, clippings, scrapbooks and printed matter. All of the material relates to Beecher's work as a theologian and clergyman with the greatest portion of it consisting of drafts of his sermons.