Professor Named Scholar-in-Residence at American Antiquarian Society

Posted on May 24, 2006

Professor Philip F. Gura has been named the 2006-07 Mellon Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at the American Antiquarian Society, one of the nation’s largest libraries for the study of early American culture.

The independent research library, founded in 1812 in Worcester, Mass., holds collections that document the lives of Americans from the colonial era through the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Gura is the William S. Newman Distinguished Professor of American literature and culture in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences.

As a scholar-in-residence, Gura will work on his current book, The Club of the Like-Minded: Occasions and Principals in American Transcendentalism. The book is to be published by Hill & Wang, which published Gura’s previous book Jonathan Edwards: America’s Evangelical in March 2005. In spring 2005, Endeavors magazine – UNC’s magazine of research and creative activity that is sent to life members of the GAA as a member benefit – wrote about Gura’s work regarding Edwards.

Gura also wrote C.F. Martin and His Guitars, 1796-1873, a book chronicling the life of Christian Frederick Martin, the famous maker of American guitars. Gura discovered the company’s business journals and letters in wooden crates in Nazareth, Pa., and wrote the book, published by UNC Press. In fall 2003, Endeavors also wrote about Gura’s work regarding Martin.

The residency is made possible by an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant, which allows a senior scholar to research and write a major project and mentor young scholars-in-residence.

Gura’s research interests include early American literature, American renaissance, the history of the book in America, 19th-century popular culture and the history of American music.

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Related coverage is available online:

• Between Sinner and Saint – Jonathan Edwards: America’s Evangelical . (Spring 2005) This article is from Endeavors magazine.
• America’s Guitar (Fall 2003) This article is from Endeavors magazine.

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