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Radius (Walter) amateur press collection
M1525
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Walter Radius amateur press collection
source:
Radius, Walter Albrecht, 1910-2006
Creator:
Radius, Walter, Sr.
Identifier/Call Number: M1525
Identifier/Call Number: 9023
Physical Description:
4 Linear Feet
(8 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1846-1932
Date (bulk): 1890-1904
Abstract: Collection of American amateur press publications, mostly from the late 19th century.
Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Walter A. Radius, 2006 and earlier. Accessions 2006-096, 2023-194.
The Radius collection was donated by Walter's son Walter Albrecht Radius (1910-2006). It came to Stanford in two distinct
accessions over a period of decades. The first batch of material (Boxes 1-6) is dated from approximately 1890 to 1904 and
was arranged alphabetically by the name of the town or city in which it was published. This order was physically retained,
but items have been listed here by state.
The second group of material (Boxes 7 and 8) came from Radius in 2006, and was filed alphabetically by title. Issues are mostly
late 1870s, and many are from the East Coast, especially Massachusetts and New York, but also Indiana. These were probably
originally assembled by another collector. Some are marked "dup" in pencil. Also included are a few early (a few 1840s, one
1860s) and later amateur publications (1930, 1932). This addenda was also described by state.
Series 4. California includes almost all of Radius' own printing and publications (see also
The Texas Amateur in Series 32).
Series 40. National Amateur Press Association lists issues of
The National Amateur published in various places circa 1893-1904.
Walter Radius (senior) was born in California in 1879 to German immigrants Ludwig and Elise Radius. He graduated from the
South Cosmopolitan School in 1894 and attended Polytechnic High School in San Francisco. Radius issued
The Newsboy from 1892 to 1896, and from 1895 to 1896, the
High School Times (also under the name of the
Academic News and the
Times). He was active in amateur press organizations, serving as Vice President of the Pacific Amateur Press Association and Corresponding
Secretary of the Golden State Amateur Press Association.
[identification of item], Walter Radius Amateur Press Collection (M1525). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives,
Stanford Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Amateur newspaper collection (Rare Books Collection PN4827 .A43 1872)
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/9956141
The Pacific Amateur. Vol. I, number 1. Tacoma, Washington] : Pacific Amateur Press Association, January, 1892.
"John London of Oakland, California, listed as a subscriber on page 8."
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/11691174
The Walter Radius collection features over 400 issues of 19th and early 20th century amateur press publications. These were
collected mostly in exchange by Radius, editor and publisher of his own magazine
The Newsboy in San Francisco from 1892 to 1896. Many magazines are from California and the West Coast, but publication of amateur magazines
and newspapers was spread widely across the country, and the publications that Radius received reflect that wide distribution.
There are also a few from Australia and the United Kingdom in the collection. Most publications are affiliated with the National
Amateur Press Association (NAPA), and a majority of articles refer to NAPA and other amateur press organization conventions,
elections, and political infighting.
Radius received most of these issues as part of the amateur press network, often in trade for reviewing. Many have holes punched
in the corner to indicate these promotional copies. There are probably few complete runs of magazines here, but numbering
can be idiosyncratic and some publishers ran several publications, sometimes interchangeably.
While some magazines resemble artists' books or fine press works, the majority are somewhat modest and serve somewhat like
newsletters. Few are larger than twelve inches in height. Outside of amateur press news, reviews and editorials, content is
largely literary, with fiction and poetry, criticism, essays and related material. Some contain illustrations and advertisements,
but photographs are scarce. Printers are sometimes separate from publishers and are usually credited. Many magazines were
published by and for young people, and some are high school newspapers. Frequent subjects include humor, games and puzzles,
politics, suffrage (some women also published), temperance, the Spanish-American War, Japanese invasion of China, Hawaiian
annexation, bicycling, sports (especially baseball), railroad bailouts, x-ray technology, stamp collecting, and worlds' fairs
including the Columbian Exposition in Chicago and especially the California Midwinter Exposition in San Francisco.
Note that these magazines frequently represent antiquated attitudes regarding race, particularly in terms of Black dialect
pieces, patronizing depictions of American Indians, anti-Chinese immigration and labor essays, and other problematic themes.
This is especially born out in a 1904 controversy when a "white only" specification was added to the NAPA constitution, although
it may have in part been a ploy on behalf of the president to encourage more fervent editorializing.
While the names of most writers are not familiar today, the collection includes a program for a banquet of the Golden State
Amateur Press Association on December 8th, 1900 at the California Hotel in San Francisco (Box 8, Folder 16). The program lists
toasts by guests of honor Jack London and Anna Strunsky, and its final pages feature autographs from those present, including
London, Strunsky, and Gellatt Burgess, who was also a guest.
The Dilettante of January 1901 (Box 1, Folder 4) recounts the banquet in detail.
Most of these materials are believed to be in the public domain. There are no restrictions on use of public domain materials.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Amateur journalism
American newspapers.
Printing -- United States -- History
Radius, Walter Albrecht, 1910-2006
National Amateur Press Association
Pacific Amateur Press Association
London, Jack
Walling, Anna Strunsky, 1877 or 1879-1964