Charles Welsh was born in Ramsgate, Kent, England on December 22, 1850, to Charles and Susannah Welsh. After attending national schools in Ashford, Kent, Welsh trained as a blacksmith in addition to receiving certificates in arithmetic, English literature and French. In 1868, Welsh went to work for
Welsh later moved to the United States, and in 1895 began work as the business manager and assistant editor at
Because of Welsh's literary reputation and close connections in England and Ireland, he was able to assume the position of managing editor for a project at the publishing house of John D. Morris & Co. (Philadelphia) for the creation of an Irish literature anthology.
The
The anthology consists of over three hundred and fifty Irish authors, selected from both ancient and modern times. These literary works provide insight into both the literary and social development of the Irish people over the course of Irish history. Works of mythology, fable, fiction, history, oratory, science, memoirs, essays, drama, and poetry, were included in the anthology.
Welsh's interest in Irish culture and society are further expressed in the news clippings and articles he accumulated, which directly relate to Irish literary, social, and political movements of the time. These pieces, as well as supplemental materials that detail the editing and publication process of Irish Literature, were discovered within Welsh's personal copy of the anthology. Welsh eventually became an English professor at the University of Notre Dame. He died on September 14, 1914.
Collection is open for research by appointment. Materials do not circulate. Some materials may be restricted, for further information contact the Archives and Special Collections, Phillips Memorial Library, Providence College.
Researchers are advised that express written permission to reproduce, quote, or otherwise publish any portion or extract from this collection must be obtained from the Phillips Memorial Library. Although Providence College has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Charles Welsh papers, Providence College, Phillips Memorial Library, Archives and Special Collections.
The ten volume anthology
These materials were collected by Welsh and serve to show the extent of collabration of those that helped produce the
This collection is arranged into five series.
This particular copy of the ten volume
The collection was donated by George L. Considine (Providence College, Class of 1932) to Providence College in 1969.
There are no known related materials.
No materials have been removed from this collection.
This series contains correspondence between the contributing authors of Irish Literature, and the anthology's managing-editor from John D. Morris & Company, Charles Welsh. Additional correspondence in this series is between Welsh and his fellow editors of the anthology, including chief-editor Justin McCarthy. The correspondence demonstrates the extensive collaborative effort for the publication of Irish Literature.
This series is comprised of engravings, prints, drawings, and photographs, of prominent Irish authors featured in Irish Literature. Additionally, there are copies of important Irish art work and political cartoons. This series visually highlights Irish artists and their work which contributed to Irish culture.
This series contains excerpts of works submitted for publication to the anthology, manuscripts of poems featured, lines of dedication expressed by the authors, autobiographical pieces on contributing writers, and a draft of the introduction to Irish Literature, written by chief-editor Justin McCarthy.
The news clippings within this series were collected and compiled by Charles Welsh. The clippings pertain to an array of topics which relate to the political, social, and cultural developments of Ireland both historically and in a contemporary sense. Included are several book reviews of
This series includes articles that were published in literary magazines and journals. The topics of these articles pertain to Irish literary developments and the importance of Irish authors. Included in this series is an article written by Justin McCarthy and another written by Charles Welsh. There is also a book catalog featuring prominent Irish works of the time.
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