Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Restrictions on Access

Collection is open to research.

Preferred Citation

Stiles collection of John B. Tabb, Collection # M 35, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.

Biographical / Historical

John Bannister Tabb was born 22 March 1845 on his father's plantation, "The Forest," in Amelia County, Virginia. His parents were John Yelverton and Marianne Bertrand Archer Tabb. A Confederate blockade runner during the Civil War, Tabb's ship, the "Siren," was captured 4 June 1864, and he was imprisoned at Pt. Lookout, Maryland. There he met and befriended the Georgian poet Sidney Lanier. They remained close friends until Lanier's death in 1881. Through their friendship, Tabb began to write poetry. After the war, Tabb studied theology, expecting to become an Episcopalian priest. However, he became interested in Catholicism and converted in September 1872. He subsequently entered St. Charles College, Ellicott City, Maryland, from which he graduated in 1875. Tabb enrolled in St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore in 1881 and was ordained as a priest on 20 December 1884, though he never held a parish. He returned to St. Charles College and taught English until blindness forced him to retire in 1907. He began to write poetry during the Civil War, but his first volume, Poems, was not published until 1882. His metaphysical little poems gained popularity after the publication of a second volume of the same name in 1894, and he published regularly thereafter. Poor eyesight had plagued Tabb since boyhood, and he was completely blind when he died in Ellicott City, Maryland on 9 November 1909. Tabb's major works include Poems (1882), An Octave to Mary (1893), Poems (1894), Lyrics (1897), Bone Rules: Or, Skeleton of English Grammar (1897), Child Verse (1899), Two Lyrics (1900), Later Lyrics (1902), The Rosary on Rhyme (1884), Quipps and Quiddits (1907) and Later Poems (1910).

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of approximately 275 items of various types concerning the priest-poet, Father John B. Tabb, collected by his friend and admirer, Mary Evelyn Stiles of Richmond. Contained in the collection are a number of manuscript poems by Tabb, photocopies of letters from Tabb to Sidney Lanier, Gordon Blair, and others (1877-1909 originals at the Virginia Historical Society), and the letters and notebooks of Miss Stiles that pertain to Tabb. The collection spans the years 1877 to 1968.

Arrangement

Collection is arranged by subject and chronological therein.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Catholic Church -- Clergy
• Poets, American -- 19th century.
• Stiles, Mary Evelyn -- Archives
• Tabb, John B. (John Banister) -- Manuscripts