Writings
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Powers, Hiram, 1805-1873
setName: label: See more items in
content: Hiram Powers papers
physdesc: label: Extent
content: (Box 10; 0.3 linear feet)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1827-1887
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.powehira, Series 3
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement note
content: This series has been divided into writings by Powers and writings by others. This series has been scanned in its entirety.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: This series contains writings by Hiram Powers and writings by others. Included here is Powers' "Studio Memorandum," a notebook he kept from 1841 to 1845, which contains dated notations of letters written, receipts and expenditures, business contacts, works in progress, commissions and price quotations for work, comments on problems encountered during studio work, and other notes. Also found are several original poems written by Powers and brief autobiographical writings, such as problems with his eyes and details regarding his arrival in Europe in 1837. Other writings by Powers include an incomplete story titled "Ghost Story," advice for a young sculptor, and directions regarding his sculptures, such as step by step instructions on using tools and directions for handling finished sculptures. 

 Writings by others include numerous poems written for Powers, many in praise of one of his sculptures. Of note are a poem by President John Quincy Adams, a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning in praise of Powers' "Greek Slave," a booklet entitled "Occasional Verses by Maunsell B. Field," and poems by Bayard Taylor, Thomas Ball, and Theodosia Trollope. Additional writings in this series include a brief account of Powers' studio by L. L. Barnes, a biographical account of Hiram Powers' life prior to moving to Europe in 1937, and a description of one of his sculptures by Frances Trollope. Other writings consist of a Phrenological study of Hiram Powers' personality, and two writings by unidentified authors which discuss Powers' artwork.