The Wheaton Archives & Special Collections and the Marion E. Wade Center are pleased to announce new additions to their archival holdings donated from the estate of Ralph Blair. Dr. Blair collected widely in the areas of American evangelicalism and British Christianity. Earlier this spring, several boxes containing artifacts from the Blair collection arrived at Wheaton College for campus archival staff to add to our rich collections. These items will soon be available for research, and a few highlights from the collections are featured below. We are grateful for these donations! 

Marion E. Wade Center

Left: George MacDonald’s signature, framed with his cabinet card black and white portrait undated photograph. Right: Fragments of lath from the MacDonald homestead built by George MacDonald’s father in Huntly, Scotland. Retrieved from the basement during renovation and rescued from kindling, along with a 19th C. Carte de Visite of an undated black and white portrait of MacDonald taken by Elliott and Fry.

Broadcast Talks by C.S. Lewis. London: Geoffrey Bles, January 1943 reprint. Signed by John F.R. Tolkien, son of J.R.R. Tolkien, with inscription: “John F.R. Tolkien / Ven. Collegium Anglorum / de Urbe / Stonyhurst April 14, 1943.” 

Wheaton Archives & Special Collections

King James Bible, printed in London by Robert Barker in 1634, in original leather binding with brass clasps. Includes handwritten family notes on the first several pages.  

Four books by John Bunyan, including Pilgrim’s Progress, published in 1861, 1865, 1872, and one undated.  

D.L. Moody’s signature, including Ps. 84:11, framed with black & white photo of Moody in a carriage, undated. Cover of “Dixie for the Union,” sheet music with words by Fanny Crosby in support of the Union army during the Civil War. New York: Firth, Pond & Co.  

Letter (TLS) from Malcolm Muggeridge to unidentified Cuthbert in County Cork, August 5, 1970. Framed with a headshot of Muggeridge, undated.   

Explore more holdings for Wheaton Archives & Special Collections and the Marion E. Wade Center through our archival database at archives.wheaton.edu.