Chester Linn Shaver Papers

Collection

Identifier: RG 30-073

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The bulk of the collection, which consists of photocopies, photographs, genealogies and notes, is organized around six record series: I. Student Years [1924-1937]; II. Academic Teaching Files; III. Talks and Writings (General); IV. Correspondence, Notes and Research Materials Files (General); V. Wordsworth Catalogue Project Files; and, VI. Additional Materials Received.

The correspondence, though meager in some cases, contains letters from such well-known Oberlin College faculty as Philip D. Sherman (1881-1957) and Charles Wager (1869-1939). In addition, letters from Richard Carl (1906-1991, Class of 1928) and Jack Warner (1907-1991, Class of 1929) Schaefer are also included. An original William Wordsworth signature exists in the collection, which was sent to Shaver by a descendant of Wordsworth.

Though Shaver diligently served on college faculty committees, faculty councils and so forth, no materials relating to his service are to be found in his personal papers. Evidence of the role he played in departmental affairs will be found in the faculty council minutes for the English Department.

Shaver's personal life is not well documented. Two travel diaries (undated, 1937) and a 1928 college daybook (all are modest in research value) say little about his life outside of academia. Some of Shaver's notes, research papers and examination bluebooks while he was a student at Oberlin College constitute the only other material relating to his pre-teaching years. The research papers, covering topics such as Shakespeare, Chaucer and Wordsworth, documents the early years in his academic career; in some respects, they may even foreshadow Shaver's later academic scholarship.

In series 2 of this collection, are Shaver's lecture notes and class books (restricted access). The lecture notes, on 5 x 8 sheets, are quite extensive and outline every class he taught at Oberlin College. Correspondence from colleagues (1937-1974) from this period is also included.

Two indexes (series 4) and slides (series 2 and series 7) represent different media in the collection. The indexes were used in his work various research projects, some of which may not have been complete. The slides in the teaching files, which document Wordsworth and Coleridge, were part of a presentation he used in his classes. The slides in series 7, presumably by Shaver, were taken of his colleagues, buildings and other subjects in Oberlin.

Dates

Creation: 1924 - 1979
Other: Date acquired: 05/27/1970

Conditions Governing Access

Unrestricted.

Biographical Sketch

Chester Linn Shaver, the son of lawyer Clarence Lester Shaver (1876-1963) and Elizabeth Phiniah (1885-1940), was born in Somerset, Pennsylvania, on November 23, 1907. Educated at Oberlin College (A.B., 1928 Phi Beta Kappa) and Harvard University (A.M., 1929, Ph.D., 1937), Shaver joined the English Department at Oberlin in 1930, serving as chairman of the department from 1952 to 1955 and from 1964 to 1970. He married Alice Louise Crafts (A.B. Oberlin, 1936; B.S. Simmons, 1937) on June 14, 1937, and they had two children: Philip Alcott (b. 1938) and Anne Elizabeth (b. 1941), both of whom are Oberlin graduates.

Shaver, who became interested in William Wordsworth when he was an undergraduate at Oberlin in the 1920s, devoted his scholarly life to studying the English poet. Over four decades Shaver was the eighteenth century English literature specialist in the Department of English. Like so many of his colleagues, he was of the "old school" where the professor largely lectured from prepared notes. In love with his subject, Shaver's manner, included an enthusiastic, distilled response to the Romantics. His interests in English and photography were joined in a frequently used classroom slide presentation on Wordsworth and Coleridge. He also diligently served on many faculty committees and was the advisor on acquisitions for the Library.

Over the years, Shaver published a number of articles on Wordsworth as well as Byron, Keats and Chaucer. He also served on the editorial board of the quarterly "The Wordsworth Circle." He undertook a major editing project when he prepared a revised edition of Ernest de Selincourt's The Letters of William and Dorothy Wordsworth: The Early Years, 1787-1805, published by Oxford University's Clarendon Press in 1967. This volume's importance is in the addition of letters, which were not included in the first edition or any successive editions. Shaver wrote the piece on Wordsworth in the "Encyclopedia International." His research took him to England, France, Italy, Switzerland, and Western Germany.

Following the completion of The Early Years, he began compiling Wordsworth's Library: A Catalogue. With the help of his wife, Alice (1914-2003), he created an entire listing of the books that were owned by William Wordsworth and housed at his home, Rydal Mount. The book's scholarly significance is in the correlation between what Wordsworth read and the influence it had on his writing. This connection could not be fully understood previously because published listings of his library were incomplete.

Chester Shaver died of cancer on 2 February 1980 at Elyria Memorial Hospital after several years of illness. Alice Shaver died on December 2, 2003, in Oberlin.

Note written by Lisa S. Hicks.

Extent

11.42 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The papers of Chester L. Shaver, 1924-1979, mainly document his research efforts and writings related to authors of the Romantic Period, especially William Wordsworth. The materials vary in content according to form, but they are by far the richest part of the collection. Proofs of The Letters of William and Dorothy Wordsworth: The Early Years (frequently referred to as The Early Years) and drafts of other works are included.

Method of Acquisition

The papers of Chester Linn Shaver were received by the Oberlin College Archives from Chester Shaver on May 27, 1970. Further materials were given by Mrs. Alice Shaver (his wife) in separate lots in 1980, 1983, and 1986. Elizabeth Brinkman assisted with the estate of Alice Shaver and delivered additional materials to the College Archives in 2004.

Accruals and Additions

Accessions: 104, 1980/28, 1993/87, 1993/88, 2004/001.

Related Materials

For related information the researcher is encouraged to consult Chester Shaver's faculty file in the Alumni and Development Records (28/3, Box 72). For material on other English professors consult the papers of Charles H. A. Wager (30/33), Andrew Hoover (30/93), Philip D. Sherman (30/28) and Warren Taylor (30/15).