Wilder Bentley Autobiographical Manuscript, 1966

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Summary

Creators:
Bentley, Wilder
Abstract:
Wilder Bentley (1900-1989) was a poet and printer associated with The Archetype Press. This is a hand-written autobiography entitled Brief History of the life of Wilder Bentley written November, 1966 in Berkeley, California.
Extent:
0.1 Linear Feet (1 folder)
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Wilder Bentley Autobiographical Manuscript, 1966, Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum of the American West; MS.585.

Background

Scope and content:

This is a hand-written autobiographical manuscript entitled Brief History of the life of Wilder Bentley written November, 1966, in Berkeley, California.

Biographical / historical:

Printmaker, painter, and craftsman Wilder Mayo Bentley (known also as Wilder Bentley the Younger) was born in 1928 in Oklahoma City. He began his artistic pursuits early on, illustrating broadsides distributed annually by his father Harvey Wilder Bentley (a printer and printshop owner), before age ten, and learning typesetting from him in his young adulthood. In 1959 in San Francisco, Bentley set up the Bread & Wine press where he published four pamphlets of poetry by various authors, and went on to exhibit his work throughout the west. Thus far he has created many folios of his art in a variety of media, including engravings in wood and copper, watercolors, and digital works. Among these are included the works "Oiomai, a Prophesy" (1965), "Adrift in Valueland, Vol. I: The Triumph of the Antichrist" (1970), "Native Funk and Flash" (1976-77), which would be included in a traveling group show that went to museums throughout the southwest; and "Storm's Fury" (2007). Education: Received A.B. at Univeristy of California, Berkeley, 1951; studied at University of Perugia, Italy, 1952 – 1953. Private study with Chiura Obata, 1940 – 1965; worked with and was mentored by father Harvey Wilder Bentley at Archetype Press, Berkeley.

Processing information:

Processed by Glenna Schroeder, circa 1977-1981. Biographical note composed by Maritxu Carmen de Alaiza, 2012. Finding aid completed by Holly Rose Larson, NHPRC Processing Archivist, 2012 October 9, made possible through grant funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commissions (NHPRC).

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Appointments to view materials are required. To make an appointment please visit https://theautry.org/research-collections/library-and-archives and fill out the Researcher Application Form.

Terms of access:

Copyright has not been assigned to the Autry Museum of the American West. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Research Services and Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Autry Museum of the American West as the custodian of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Preferred citation:

Wilder Bentley Autobiographical Manuscript, 1966, Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum of the American West; MS.585.

Location of this collection:
4700 Western Heritage Way
Los Angeles, CA 90027, US
Contact:
(747) 201-8448
rroom@theautry.org
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