Collection number: MC 63
Size: 5 boxes
(1.66 cu.ft.)
About Henry Augustus Shute
Henry Augustus Shute (1856-1943) was a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy (1875) and Harvard University (1879). He was born and lived in Exeter, New Hampshire, where he worked as a lawyer and a judge of the municipal court. Sometime in the 1890s, Shute began writing weekly stories for the Exeter News-Letter based on recollections from boyhood. Although these were popular, it was not until the publication of The Real Diary of a Real Boy (1902) that Shute acquired national recognition. He went on to write nineteen other books and published extensively in the Saturday Evening Post, (1925-1928). Named the “Mark Twain of New England,” Shute’s humorous, innocent, and ‘jolly’ stories continue to “provide valuable insight into the customs of his hometown.”
About the Henry Augustus Shute Papers
The Henry Augustus Shute Papers contain correspondence to and from Shute; manuscripts (primarily short stories featuring Shute’s major character, `Plupy’); copies of Shute’s material published in the Saturday Evening Post, as well as information pertaining to Henry Shute and the town of Exeter.
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
This collection is open.
Copyright Notice
Contents of this collection are governed by U.S. copyright law. For questions about publication or reproduction rights, contact Special Collections staff.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], [Folder], [Box], Henry Augustus Shute Papers, 1903-1942, MC 63, Milne Special Collections and Archives, University of New Hampshire Library, Durham, NH, USA.
Acquisitions Information
- Donated: Doris Shute, 1981 (Accession number: 8117)
- Purchased: Paul Richards, 1978 (accessiion number: 7761)
- Purchased: Bernice Weiss Rare Books, 1979 (Accession number: 7929)
Collection Contents
Series 1: Correspondence
Subseries A: Business
| Box 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Box 1, Folder 1 | A, 1923-1927 | |
| Box 1, Folder 2 | B, 1923-1933 | |
| Box 1, Folder 3 | C, 1925-1937 | |
| Box 1, Folder 4 | D, 1925-1928 | |
| Box 1, Folder 5 | Dorrance and Company, Inc., 1924-1929 | |
| Box 1, Folder 6 | G, 1925-1929 | |
| Box 1, Folder 7 | H, 1925-1933 | |
| Box 1, Folder 8 | J-L, 1925-1942 | |
| Box 1, Folder 9 | M-N, 1924-1929 | |
| Box 1, Folder 10 | O-R, 1925-1937 | |
| Box 1, Folder 11 | S, 1924-1931 | |
| Box 1, Folder 12 | Saturday Evening Post,1925-1928 | |
| Box 1, Folder 13 | T-Y, 1924-1928 | |
Subseries B: Admirers
| Box 1, Folder 14 | A, 1925-1941 | |
| Box 1, Folder 15 | B, 1927-1934 | |
| Box 1, Folder 16 | C, 1925-1941 | |
| Box 1, Folder 17 | D, 1924-1937 | |
| Box 1, Folder 18 | E, 1925-1937 | |
| Box 1, Folder 19 | F, 1925-1935 | |
| Box 1, Folder 20 | G, 1925-1933 | |
| Box 1, Folder 21 | H, 1924-1939 | |
| Box 1, Folder 22 | I-J, 1925-1928 | |
| Box 1, Folder 23 | K-L,1925-1940 | |
| Box 1, Folder 24 | M, 1926-1939 | |
| Box 1, Folder 25 | O, 1926-1941 | |
| Box 1, Folder 26 | P, 1925-1930 | |
| Box 1, Folder 27 | R, 1925-1931 | |
| Box 1, Folder 28 | S, 1925-1939 | |
| Box 1, Folder 29 | T, 1924-1939 | |
| Box 1, Folder 30 | W, 1923-1941 |
Subseries C: Family and Friends
| Box 2 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Box 2, Folder 1 | B, 1923-1939 | |
| Box 2, Folder 2 | C, 1923-1938 | |
| Box 2, Folder 3 | D-H, 1924-1930 | |
| Box 2, Folder 4 | J-L, 1924-1933 | |
| Box 2, Folder 5 | M, 1923-1937 | |
| Box 2, Folder 6 | N, 1923-1928 | |
| Box 2, Folder 7 | P, 1923-1938 | |
| Box 2, Folder 8 | R, 1924-1929 | |
| Box 2, Folder 9 | S, 1925-1939 | |
| Box 2, Folder 10 | T, 1925-1933 | |
| Box 2, Folder 11 | W-Z, 1924-1930 | |
Subseries D: Letters from Henry A. Shute
| Box 2, Folder 12 | Letter to Lucie Waugh [handwritten], 1903 | |
| Box 2, Folder 13 | typed, 1926 | |
| Box 2, Folder 14 | typed, 1927-1942 | |
| Box 2, Folder 15 | Xerox copies, 1926-1942 |
Series 2: Manuscripts
Subseries A: 'Plupy' Stories
| Box 2 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Box 2, Folder 16 | “Brite and Fair,” pp. 99-120, 263-286 | |
| Box 2, Folder 17 | “Assmer and Tizzick” | |
| Box 2, Folder 18 | “We Go into the Pig Business” | |
| Box 2, Folder 19 | “Me and Beanny Write a Book of Poims” | |
| Box 2, Folder 20 | “Plupy Extends a Saving Hand to a Friend” | |
| Box 2, Folder 21 | “They Fought Like Brave Men” | |
| Box 2, Folder 22 | “When Music Heavenly Maid Was Young” | |
| Box 2, Folder 23 | “Chadwick and Shute, Gob Printers” | |
| Box 2, Folder 24 | “The Silver Arrow Pierced Plupy’s Heart and Head the First Shot” | |
| Box 2, Folder 25 | “Listen, My Children, and You Shall Hear the Midday Ride of Plupy’s Dear” | |
| Box 2, Folder 26 | “Majority Rules” | |
| Box 2, Folder 27 | “Plupy’s Life is Despaired of” | |
| Box 2, Folder 28 | “Plupy Returns to His Muttons with Dire Results to Them” | |
| Box 2, Folder 29 | “Fire! Fire! A Cry of Fire!” | |
| Box 2, Folder 30 | “Plupy Earns and Deserves a New Nicknaim” | |
| Box 3 | ||
| Box 3, Folder 1 | “Plupy Becomes a Distinguished Amateur Upon the E-Flat Alto” | |
| Box 3, Folder 2 | “Plupy Regrets an Ambition that Leads Him into Literary Activities” | |
| Box 3, Folder 3 | "The Present of a Talking Parrot Makes Plupy’s Life Worth Living” | |
| Box 3, Folder 4 | “Plupy’s Mother and Father Entertain a Missionary” | |
| Box 3, Folder 5 | “A Special Town Meeting” | |
| Box 3, Folder 6 | “Beany Escapes a Felon’s Cell and Is Punished by an Outraged Parent” | |
| Box 3, Folder 7 | “The Grab Bag Grabs Everything in Sight” | |
| Box 3, Folder 8 | Fragments from “Plupy stories,” unidentified | |
| Box 3, Folder 9 | Untitled | |
| Box 3, Folder 10 | Untitled | |
| Box 3, Folder 11 | Untitled | |
Subseries B: Miscellaneous
| Box 3 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Box 3, Folder 12 | “The New Attitude Towards the Criminal” | |
| Box 3, Folder 13 | “Concerning Neighborly Kindness” | |
| Box 3, Folder 14 | “A Tribute to William J. (`Skinny’) Bruce” | |
| Box 3, Folder 15 | “Was a Good Journalist Spoiled When I Became a–well, a Lawyer” | |
| Box 3, Folder 16 | Notes on the Ophecleide, Clarinet, and Bassoon | |
| Box 3, Folder 17 | Unidentified | |
| Box 4 | ||
| Box 4, Folder 1 | Miscellaneous list, 1927-1930 | |
| Box 4, Folder 1 | Miscellaneous list, 1927-1930 | |
| Box 4, Folder 2 | Will of Clifford M. Anderson, 1928 | |
| Box 4, Folder 3 | New Year’s Eve Speech, 1932 | |
| Box 4, Folder 4 | Unidentified | |
| Box 4, Folder 5 | Unidentified | |
Series 3: Miscellaneous Materials
| Box 4 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Box 4, Folder 6 | Exeter, New Hampshire’s Tercentenary Celebration, 1938 | |
| Box 4, Folder 7 | Pencil Sketches | |
| Box 4, Folder 8 | Poster, “Plupy and Old J. Albert” | |
| Box 4, Folder 9 | Poster, “Lecture…Mason School Library, Tuesday March 28” | |
| Box 4, Folder 10 | Poster, “Lecture…Mason School Hall, Newton Centre” | |
| Box 4, Folder 11 | Poster, “Humorous Readings…First M.E. Church, Medford…”Nov, 20, 1912 | |
| Box 5 | ||
| Box 5, Folder 1 | Photographs and negatives | |
| Box 5, Folder 2 | Photocopies of drawings | |
| Box 5, Folder 3 | Miscellaneous | |
Series 4: Published Materials
Subseries A: By Shute
| Box 5, Folder 4 | Saturday Evening Post, 1925 | |
| Box 5, Folder 5 | Saturday Evening Post, 1926 | |
| Box 5, Folder 6 | Saturday Evening Post, 1927 | |
| Box 5, Folder 7 | Saturday Evening Post, 1928 | |
| Box 5, Folder 8 | “Symphonic Poem in Five Cantos.” n.p. | |
| Box 5, Folder 9 | “You’d Scarce Expect One of My Age.” n.p. | |
| Box 5, Folder 10 | Newspaper articles by Henry Shute, 1890-1938 |
Subseries B: About Shute
| Box 5, Folder 11 | Newspaper articles about Henry Shute, 1926-1981 | |
| Box 5, Folder 12 | Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard University obituaries for Henry Shute, 1943 | |
| Box 5, Folder 13 | Bibliography of Henry Shute’s work |
