Descriptive Summary
Administrative Information
Biography
Scope and Content
Organization and Arrangement
Indexing Terms
Descriptive Summary
Title: William McFee Papers,
Date (inclusive): ca. 1927-1942
Collection number: 652
Creator:
McFee, William, 1881-
Extent:
1 box (0.5 linear ft.)
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Abstract: William McFee (1881-1961) was born at sea en route to England from India. He was an engineer before becoming a full-time writer
in 1923. He wrote novels, short stories, and essays, almost all of which concerned the sea. He also wrote reviews and columns
for the
New York Sun and
New York Times, and incidental pieces for magazines. The collection consists of holograph manuscripts of McFee's article After Seven Years
and McFee's reviews of the novels
Lives of a Bengal Lancer and
East Southeast.
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including
copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds
the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold
the copyright.
Restrictions on Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Advance notice required for access.
Additional Physical Form Available
A copy of the original version of this online finding aid is available at the UCLA Department of Special Collections for in-house
consultation and may be obtained for a fee. Please contact:
- Public Services Division
- UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections
- Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
- Box 951575
- Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
- Telephone: 310/825-4988 (10:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m., Pacific
Time)
- Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], William McFee Papers (Collection 652). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography
McFee was born on June 15, 1881 at sea en route to England from India; attended schools in London and the East Anglian School,
Bury St. Edmunds, West Suffolk; furthered his education by evening study of technical subjects at Northampton Institute and
by reading at the British Museum; apprenticed in McMuirland's Engineering Shops, London, 1897-ca. 1900, and then worked as
a mechanical engineer; went to sea as junior engineer in 1906, and began to write while at sea, completing two books before
moving to the U.S. to write; served as an engineer in British Navy during World War I; returned to U.S. after the war, working
as an engineer at sea for the United Fruit Company; left the sea and became a full-time writer in 1923, producing novels,
short stories, and essays, almost all of which concerned the sea; became U.S. citizen in 1925; wrote reviews and columns for
the
New York Sun and
New York Times, and incidental pieces for magazines; received honorary MA from Yale University in 1936; elected to National Institute of
Arts and Letters, 1941; died on July 2, 1966 in New Milford, Connecticut.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of holograph manuscripts of McFee's article After Seven Years and McFee's reviews of the novels
Lives of a Bengal Lancer and
East Southeast. In addition there are 86 letters to Harold Kamp, to whom all the above manuscripts were presented, and a mounted clippings
file.
Organization and Arrangement
Arranged in the following series:
- Manuscripts.
- Letters.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
McFee, William, 1881- --Archives.
Authors, American--20th century--Archival resources.