Guide to the Robinson Jeffers / Frank H. Armstrong Collection
Processed by Special Collections staff
Department of Special Collections
Davidson Library
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Phone: (805) 893-3062
Fax: (805) 893-5749
Email: special@library.ucsb.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/speccoll.html
© 2003
Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Guide to the Robinson Jeffers / Frank H. Armstrong Collection, 1926-1980
Collection number: Mss 53
Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara
Contact Information:
- Department of Special Collections
- Davidson Library
- University of California, Santa Barbara
- Santa Barbara, CA 93106
- Phone: (805) 893-3062
- Fax: (805) 893-5749
- Email: special@library.ucsb.edu
- URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/speccoll.html
- Processed by:
- Special Collections staff
- Date Completed:
-
04 March 2003
- Encoded by:
- David C. Gartrell
© 2003 Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Robinson Jeffers / Frank H. Armstrong Collection,
Date (inclusive): 1926-1980
Collection number: Mss 53
Creator:
Jeffers, Robinson, 1887-1962
Extent:
1.5 linear feet
(2 oversize boxes and 1 record container)
Repository:
University of California, Santa Barbara. Library. Dept. of Special Collections
Santa Barbara, California 93106-9010
Physical location: Boxes 1-2 (Del Sur Oversize); Box 3 (Annex 2)
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
None.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or
quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given
on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply
permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
Preferred Citation
Robinson Jeffers / Frank H. Armstrong Collection. Mss 53. Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University
of California, Santa Barbara.
Acquisition Information
Donation in memory of Frank H. Armstrong by his sister, Jean (Mrs. Edwin) Corle, and his mother, Mrs. Horace Armstrong, ca.
1971-1972. Subsequent additions by donation and purchase, to ca. 1980.
Biography
The poet Robinson Jeffers was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1887. His father, a Presbyterian minister, saw to it that
the young Jeffers received a classical education, tutoring him in Greek and Latin at an early age. The family spent a good
deal of time in Europe as well, and Jeffers attended several boarding schools in France and Switzerland. In 1903, the family
settled in Los Angeles, California, where Jeffers would soon graduate from Occidental College. In school, Jeffers began submitting
his poems to student publications, and would continue to do so after entering graduate school at the University of Southern
California. After a year of studying literature, however, he returned to Switzerland to study philosophy at the University
of Zurich.
Around this time, Jeffers met Una Kuster, a woman three years older and married to a prominent Los Angeles attorney. As their
friendship deepened over the next few years, they would discover intellectual and emotional connections that led them to fall
in love. Jeffers returned from Zurich to enter medical school at USC. He soon dropped out and enrolled in the forestry program
at the University of Washington in Seattle. After a year, however, he abandoned this course as well and returned to Los Angeles
and Una. Throughout, he had continued to write poetry, mainly derivative love poems to Una that he had privately printed in
1911 under the title
Flagons and Apples. Finally, in 1913, Una was divorced from her husband and immediately married Jeffers. They moved to Carmel and started a family.
Robinson Jeffers' first commercially published work,
Californians, came in 1916, but his reputation did not begin to develop until he found his true voice in
Tamar and Other Poems (1924). Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Jeffers' reputation grew as he explored the philosophy he termed "Inhumanism," which
held that humanity needed to recognize that it held little significance compared with the beauty of the universe. He began
to fall from favor during World War II, and his career was in decline when Una died of cancer in 1950. Jeffers remained at
"Tor House," the rugged retreat on the California coast they had lived at for more than thirty years, until his death in 1962.
Frank H. Armstrong began to collect the works of Robinson Jeffers in 1930, when he was a sophomore at Yale, and within a decade
had acquired most of what was available to the public. Hoping to find rare books or manuscript materials, he opened a correspondence
with Una Jeffers in 1943. Born in 1910 in Winnetka, Illinois, Frank was the son of Horace Armstrong, chairman of the board
of the giant Chicago canned goods corporation Reid-Murdock & Company. After graduating from Yale and attending the Sorbonne
in Paris, Frank Armstrong received a law degree from Michigan Law School in 1936. He then moved to Los Angeles to work as
an attorney for the firm of Mitchell, Silberberg, Roth & Knupp. After the United States entered World War II, Armstrong worked
as a civilian assistant to the Army in Washington D.C., before moving back to Winnetka. Later, he returned to California,
and settled in Palm Springs with his family. His mother moved to Santa Barbara, as did his sister Jean when she married book
collector and author Edwin Corle. When he died in 1969, Frank Armstrong was buried in Santa Barbara Cemetery, and his mother
and sister donated his Robinson Jeffers collection to UCSB.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection contains three portfolios, with correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, magazines, and various pieces
of ephemera related to Robinson Jeffers, such as announcements, broadsides, flyers, and handbills, as well as three large
matted photographic portraits. The bulk of the correspondence is between Una Jeffers and Frank Armstrong. Also included is
a bust of Jeffers by Gordon Newell, an admirer and friend of Jeffers.
Signed, first editions by Jeffers, some also donated by Jean (Mrs. Edwin) Corle, have been cataloged separately and may be
searched on Pegasus, the UCSB University Libraries online catalog. Included is a limited edition (no. 6 of 15) bibliography
printed in 1933 by the Walpole Printing House. There also are fine press items such as
Apology for Bad Dreams, printed on a hand press by Ward Ritchie in Paris, 1930, in a limited edition of only 30 copies.
Related Materials
At UCSB:
Dame Judith Anderson Collection (PA Mss 6), with material on Jeffers' translation of
Medea, which he wrote specifically for the actress.
At other institutions:
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas, Austin.
Series 1.
Scrapbooks/Portfolios
Box 1: 1
Blue Scrapbook
Abstract: [ Mainly correspondence, arranged chronologically]
Box
Aug. 18, 1931. 1 ALS, Robinson Jeffers to Mr. Smith, his publisher's editor, referring to work soon to be published
(Descent to the Dead).
Box
Apr. 5, 1938. 1 ALS, Ward Ritchie to Frank Armstrong, describing "The Apology for Bad Dreams."
Box
May 9, 1939. 1 TLS, Lawrence Clark Powell to Jake Zeitlin, discussing Jeffers' poems "The Cloud" and "Pelicans."
Box
July 3, 1943. 1 TL, Ben Abramson, Argus Book Shop, to Una Jeffers regarding a copy of
House-Dog's Grave for Frank Armstrong, Winnetka, Illinois.
Box
July 16, 1943. 1 ALS, Una Jeffers to Mr. Abramson, offering "Rock and Hawk"
and "One Sundown" ["Winter Sundown"] for a friend.
Abstract: [Gives the history of "Rock and Hawk." Makes an offer of seven other items. The poet is writing; she doesn't know what. Remarks
on the troubled times and his difficulty in writing steadily.]
Box
July 31, 1943. 1 TL, Frank Armstrong to Una Jeffers, suggesting a price for the offered books.
Box
Aug. 4, 1943. 1 ALS, Una Jeffers to Frank Armstrong, commenting on manuscript of "Winter Sundown"
poem.Going to San Francisco for the first time in nine months (before went "at least once a month").
Box
Aug. 10, 1943. 1 TL, [Frank Armstrong] to Una Jeffers, acknowledging receipt of "Rock and Hawk" and asking for "October Weekend."
Remarks on bust of Jeffers by Archie Garner.
Box
Aug. 13, 1943. 1 ALS, Una Jeffers to Frank Armstrong, regarding sale of further items.
Abstract: [Mentions a "box of things" upstairs. Maurice Evans has called Garth in the Pacific for Judith Anderson. Melba Bennett, biographer,
has a house nearby for month; Jeffers disinterested. Una traces family back to 1636. Prefers careful, if colorless record,
for biography.]
Box
Aug. 30, 1943. [Frank Armstrong] to Una Jeffers, commenting on Jeffers items, support for biography, and trip to Ireland where
he visited Cuala press and met Yeats' sister.
Box
Sept. 10, 1943. 1 ALS, Una Jeffers to Frank Armstrong, writing of trip to Irelan
Abstract: [No manuscripts available at present. RJ keeps manuscripts of books intact. Whitney has RS, WPS, C, DJ, and TL through Ruder,
a New York bookseller. They still have
Solstice (151 pages),
Such Counsels, and
Be Angry at the Sun, valued at $500 each.
Cruel Falcon and
Distant Rainfall lent to exhibit and stolen.
Give Your Heart misplaced. Two blimps constantly over today. Landing boats practicing in front of Tor House.]
Box
[1943]. 1 TLS, Frank Armstrong to Una Jeffers, referring to Jeffers books he received from her.
Abstract: [Says he started collecting husband's books in 1930, when he was a college sophomore. Will send a portrait (side view) of
the Jeffers bust by Archie Garner.]
Box
Birthplace of Robinson Jeffers, Ridge Ave., Allegheny, n.d.; Group photo with Jeffers, Una, Donann, and Judith Anderson, n.d.
Box
Jeffers next to Davidson bronze bust, n.d.
Box
With Una in boat, Co. Mayo, Ireland, 1937
Box
Yeats' tower, Co. Galway, Ireland, July 1937.
Box
1 newsclipping "Columbia to Film Two Jeffers Poems," namely "Roan Stallion" and "Thurso's Landing." N.p., n.d.
Box 1: 2
Red Portfolio
Abstract: [Various ephemera relating to Jeffers, arranged chronologically]
Box
Announcement in
Southern California Daily Trojan (USC) that Robinson Jeffers to be present at the Phi Beta Kappa initiation ceremonies, Apr. 25, 1940
Box
Material laid in Jeffers books (mainly clippings of reviews), 1940-1948
Box
Tower Beyond Tragedy - Handbill for production starring Judith Anderson, at the Forest Theatre, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, July 2-5, [1941]
Box
Lonely Eminence - Review of
Be Angry at the Sun and Other Poems, in Saturday Review, Apr. 25, 1942
Box
Rock and Hound (holographic poem, with inscription: - Copied for Frank H. Armstrong - Sincerely, Robinson Jeffers. Tor House,
Carmel, California, September 2, 1943
Box
Lime Kiln Press - Prospectus for
Tragedy Has Obligations, [1973]
Box
First Day Issue envelope and stamp - "American Poet Series, Robinson Jeffers, 1882-1962," stamped Aug. 13, 1973
Box
First Day Issue envelope and stamp - "American Arts Series, Honoring Robinson Jeffers," stamped Jan. 31, 1975
Box
Beilke, Marlan -
Shining Clarity: God and Man in the Works of Robinson Jeffers (prospectus), [1977]
Box
The Condor - Broadside (reproduction of Jeffers poem first appearing in the June 9, 1904 edition of
The Youth's Companion), 1977
Box
Tor House (flyer), ca. 1978
Box
Ward Ritchie and Robinson Jeffers
Abstract: [A printed Ward Ritchie checklist, works by and about Robinson Jeffers, on the occasion of a lecture by Ward Ritchie at California
State University, Long Beach, April 23, 1979, noting that all of these publication are in the Robinson Jeffers Collection
at California State University, Long Beach Library, Department of Special Collections. 15 "Tor House: Lines from Robinson
Jeffers" - Flyer for film by James Eddy Hatch, spoken by Burgess Meredith, [1980]]
Box 1: 3
Green Portfolio
Abstract: [Mainly whole issues of magazines and newspapers in which Jeffers items appeared, arranged chronologically]
Box
Jeffers, Robinson - "Noon" (poem),
The New Republic, July 21, 1926
Box
Harrowed Marrow (cover story, review of Jeffers' book
Thurso's Landing),
Time, April 4, 1931
Box
Robinson Jeffers Honored by College from which He Graduated 30 Years Ago (article on commemoration at Occidental College),
The Carmel Pine Cone, May 3, 1935
Box
Masters, Marcia - "From the hands of World-Famed Poet" (cover story on Jeffers and Tor House),
Los Angeles Times, Sunday Home Magazine, Feb. 2, 1947
Box
Older, Mrs. Fremont - "He Built Her a Tower" (article on Jeffers and his wife Una),
American Weekly, February 25, 1951
Box
look only: seclusion (article on Jeffers and Tor House),
Los Angeles Times, Sunday Home Section, July 20, 1958
Box 2: 1
1 b/w photograph of Robinson Jeffers (inscription on back to Dame Judith Anderson, from Cole Weston; notes negative by Edward
Weston and print by Cole Weston), 1933
Box 2: 2
2 b/w photographs of Robinson Jeffers, by Leigh A. Wiener (gift of Dame Judith Anderson)
Box 3
Bust of Robinson Jeffers, by Gordon Newell, n.d.
