Findind Aid to the Wm. (William) McDevitt Papers, 1892-1959
Processed by Stephen Sturgeon; additions by Alison E. Bridger
The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu
© 2007
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Note
History --History, California --History, Bay Area
Finding Aid to the Wm. (William) McDevitt Papers, 1892-1959
Collection number: BANC MSS 89/86 c
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Contact Information:
- Processed by:
- Stephen Sturgeon; additions by Alison E. Bridger
- Date Completed:
- 1990; additions 2007
- Encoded by:
- Xiuzhi Zhou
© 2007 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Wm. (William) McDevitt Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1892-1959
Collection Number: BANC MSS 89/86 c
Creator:
McDevitt, Wm. (William)
Extent:
Number of containers: 4 boxes, 1 carton, 1 oversize folder
Linear feet: 2.65
Repository: The
Bancroft Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Abstract: Contains personal and business correspondence (ca. 1892-1959); manuscripts of writings; business records; clippings; some
printed pamphlets, many authored by McDevitt; printed ephemera (theatrical, World War II, Panama-Pacific International Exposition,
Socialist Party); other material relating to his wide ranging interests. Principal or significant correspondents include:
Joseph Henry Jackson, Charmain London, H. L. Mencken, William Meredith, Tom Mooney, Veronica Sexton, Upton Sinclair, John
B. (Father) Tabb, and Virginia Wilhelmson. Also includes various ephemera principally of local interest to the San Francisco
Bay Area.
Languages Represented:
English
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information
on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head
of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94270-6000. Consent is given on behalf of The
Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright
owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. See:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research
and educational purposes.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Wm. (William) McDevitt Papers, BANC MSS 89/86 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California,
Berkeley.
Alternate Forms Available
There are no alternate forms of this collection.
Separated Material
- Some printed materials have been transferred to the book collection of The Bancroft Library.
- Photographs have been transferred to the Pictorial Collection of The Bancroft Library. (BANC PIC 1989.043--PIC)
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
McDevitt, Wm. (William)—Archives
London, Charmian
Jackson, Joseph Henry, 1894-1955
Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956
Meredith, William John
Mooney, Thomas J., 1882-1942
Sexton, Veronica J.
Sinclair, Upton, 1878-1968
Tabb, John B. (John Banister), 1845-1909
Panama-Pacific International Exposition, (1915: San Francisco, Calif.)
San Francisco Bay Area (Calif.)
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The Wm. (William) McDevitt Papers were given to The Bancroft Library by the California Academy of Sciences, to which they
were bequeathed by Versonica J. Sexton, on August 3, 1989. Additions were made in 2005.
Biographical Information
Socialist, bookseller, author. Principal areas of interest included: McDevitt's simplified spelling and shorthand systems;
the antiquarian book trade; socialism and the Socialist Party in San Francisco; contemporary literary figures including Jack
London, Upton Sinclair, Father Tabb, and George Sterling. For additional biographical information see: Roos, Robert de, "An
interview with William McDevitt, LL.M." (The Book Club of California Quarterly Newsletter, Vol. XIX, No. 4, Fall 1954.)
Scope and Content of Collection
The William McDevitt Papers contain business and personal correspondence, manuscripts of writings, business records, and clippings,
along with some printed pamphlets, many of which were authored by McDevitt, and other material relating to McDevitt's wide
ranging interests. These included his simplified spelling and shorthand systems, the antiquarian book business, socialism
and the Socialist Party in San Francisco, and contemporary literary figures, in particular Jack London, Upton Sinclair, Father Tabb, and George Sterling.
The collection also contains various ephemera, principally of local interest to the Bay Area, and other miscellaneous material
collected by McDevitt.
Principal correspondents in the collection include Joseph Henry Jackson, Charmian London, H. L. Mencken, William J. Meredith, Tom (Thomas J.) Mooney, Veronica Sexton, Upton Sinclair, John B. (Father) Tabb, and Virginia Wilhelmson.
SERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE, 1892-1959, undated
Father Tabb
see: Tabb, John B. (John Banister), 1845-1909
Box 1, folder 14
Jackson, Joseph Henry, 1894-1955
1939-1947
Box 1, folder 18
London, Charmian,
see also: Carton 1, folder 1
1928-1931
Box 1, folder 22
Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956
1928-1955
Box 1, folder 23
Meredith, William John
1905-1931
Box 1, folder 25
Mooney, Thomas J., 1882-1942
1937
Box 2, folder 5
Sexton, Veronica J., 1946-1951
Box 2, folder 7
Sinclair, Upton, 1878-1968
1910-1958
Box 2, folder 8
Tabb, John B. (John Banister), 1845-1909
1892-1905
Additional Note
Letters signed Father Tabb
Box 2, folder 11
Wilhelmson, Virginia
1905, undated
OUTGOING, 1908-1959, undated
Box 3, folder 11
Lilly, J. K.
1932-1933
Physical Description: - 9 items
Carton 1, folder 1-4
Jack London
Additional Note
Includes correspondence to R. W. Francis from Charmian (Mrs. Jack) London
Carton 1, folder 15-21
Socialist/Political Material
Carton 1, folder 41-44
Simplified Spelling/Shorthand
Box 4, folder 1
Items from unidentified people
Box 4, folder 3
Commemorative medal and button
Box 4, folder 4
Photocopies of letters by Ambrose Bierce
Box 4, folder 10
Panama-Pacific International Exposition ephemera
Box 4, folder 13
Carbon copy of M.A. thesis by Ralph Shaffer,
A History of the Socialist Party in California
Box 4, folder 14
Copy of manuscript by Ina Heron,
Wild Geese in the Bronx
Box 4, folder 16
Lecture and demonstration invitations
Oversize folder 1 A
Certificate of appointment to San Francisco Board of Election Commissioners, January 8, 1920
