Alcott Holdings in the Special Collections

The Concord Free Public Library has a rich collection of original material relating to the Alcott family.  The Special Collections include both literary manuscripts and personal papers.  Notable among Concord's holdings are portions of Louisa May Alcott's Little Men and Little Women in manuscript, A. Bronson Alcott's Concord Book and Emerson in manuscript, a portion of his New Connecticut and several other fragments in manuscript, and microfilmed Alcott diaries and letters.  The Special Collections are also strong in newspaper clippings, periodical articles, reprints, and research papers.  Some of this material consists of published writings by the Alcotts--for example, A. Bronson Alcott's contributions to the American Journal of Education ; the remainder is of a biographical or critical nature.  The Library's art collection includes several watercolors by May Alcott.  Concord's manuscript and pamphlet collections are continually expanding through gift and purchase. 

The Library's special collection of printed books relating to Concord's authors (the Concord Authors Collection) contains an extensive and ever-growing Alcott collection, consisting primarily of material by and about Amos Bronson Alcott and Louisa May Alcott, including first and later editions of the Alcotts' writings, several sets of Louisa May's works, items to which the Alcotts contributed pieces or which they edited, and biographical, bibliographical, and critical material about them.  The collection also includes some representation of Abigail May Alcott and May Alcott material (for example, May Alcott's Concord Sketches and Caroline Ticknor's May Alcott: A Memoir ).  In addition, the Library owns some 40 books--many of them inscribed--once belonging to members of the family. Alcott-related volumes in the Concord Authors Collection may be searched through the database of the Minuteman Library Network. 

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