Recent Gift Enhances Harriet Martineau Resources at Armstrong Browning Library

Professor Deborah A. Logan, professor emerita of Victorian literature at Western Kentucky University, recently gifted Baylor's Armstrong Browning Library and Museum with her personal Harriet Martineau collection, which totals over 100 volumes. The collection includes original writings by Martineau as well as modern scholarly editions and scholarly criticism of many of her works.

Harriet Martineau became prominent among English intellectuals during the Victorian era as an essayist, novelist, journalist and economic writer. She is considered one of the earliest sociologists. Her studies and perspectives spoke out against enslavement, inequality toward women and injustice against the working poor.

Logan started her teaching career in 1997 at Western Kentucky University, specializing in Victorian literature and culture. She serves as senior editor and general manager of Victorians: A Journal of Literature and Culture (formerly Victorian Newsletter). Her passion for Victorian culture allowed her to accumulate the collection that she donated to Armstrong Browning Library.

"Over the years, I have accumulated a good collection, through gifts and scholarship," said Professor Logan. "The Armstrong Browning Library is such a great resource for Victorianists, and I'm proud to have my small collection be part of it. I especially value the Library's visiting scholars program, and hope the Martineau materials will be of use to other Victorian/Martineau scholars."

Professor Logan’s collection is currently available to researchers. The Visiting Scholars Programs at Armstrong Browning Library offers research fellowships for scholars who reside outside the immediate area.

"Professor Logan’s gift adds a new and important strength to the library’s research holdings," said Jennifer Borderud, director of Armstrong Browning Library. "The collection bolsters our nineteenth-century holdings and will support research by scholars at Baylor and around the world."

Researchers may explore these new library holdings through Baylor’s online catalog