Guide to the James Marie Hopper papers, [ca. 1897-1952]
Processed by The Bancroft Library staff
The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
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URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu
© 1997
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Note
Arts and Humanities --Literature --American Literature History --World War I
Guide to the James Marie Hopper Papers, [ca. 1897-1952]
Collection number: BANC MSS C-H 139
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Contact Information:
- Processed by:
- The Bancroft Library staff
- Date Completed:
- ca. 1961
- Encoded by:
- Xiuzhi Zhou
© 1997 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Collection Summary
Collection Title: James Marie Hopper Papers,
Date (inclusive): [ca. 1897-1952]
Collection Number: BANC MSS C-H 139
Origination: Hopper, James, b. 1876
Extent:
Number of containers: 2 boxes, 2 cartons
Repository: The
Bancroft Library.
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Abstract: Mainly manuscripts of his short stories and articles, including those written while foreign correspondent, World War I; some
correspondence; tear sheets; clippings; photographs; copies of poems written by George Sterling and by Nora May French.
Languages Represented:
English
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft
Library as the owner 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
[Identification of item], James Marie Hopper papers, BANC MSS C-H 139, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Material Cataloged Separately
Photographs have been transferred to the Pictorial Collections of The bancrorft Library.
Biography
Among the authors who came to Carmel in 1906 and helped create its fame as a literary and artistic colony was James M. Hopper,
the popular writer more commonly known as Jimmy Hopper. Like many of the other Carmel pioneers, he was a friend of George
Sterling, Upton Sinclair, and Sinclair Lewis, and like them, too, he was a Californian only by adoption. He was born in Paris,
July 23, 1876, and was brought to America at the age of ten. After attending public schools in Oakland, he went to the University
of California, winning fame as quarterback on the football team and as one of the trio that reputedly first stole the Stanford
Axe in 1898. After graduation he studied law at Hastings College of Law and was admitted to the California bar. But, instead
of practising law, he took a job as reporter on the
San Francisco Chronicle. This journalistic experience was followed by a two-year period of teaching in the Philippine Islands, where he gathered material
for his first book,
Caybigan (1906), a collection of' short stories. Upon his return to the United States, Hopper seriously embarked on a writing career,
which he pursued successfully, with several novels, more than 400 stories published in leading popular magazines like
Collier's and the
Saturday Evening Post, and nonfiction, including his syndicated articles as a foreign correspondent at the front during the first World War. Hopper
lived abroad and in the East for many years, but he returned to Carmel eventually, and it was there he died in 1956.
Scope and Content
The Bancroft Library purchased his papers in November 1961 from his widow, Mrs. Elayne Hopper Chanslor. The collection consists
primarily of manuscripts of his short stories and articles, but includes also some correspondence, tear sheets of some of
his published items, clippings, photographs, and copies of poems written by George Sterling and by Nora May French.
A key to the arrangement of the papers and a list of the major correspondents follows.
Box 1
Correspondence, ca. 1897-1952
Letters written to Hopper
Scope and Content Note
Arranged alphabetically by name of correspondent or organization. Single letters have been placed in a correspondence miscellany.
A list of the major correspondents follows the Key.
Letters written by Hopper
Scope and Content Note
Arranged chronologically, 1897-1949. Most of them are addressed to George Sterling and were returned to Hopper in 1952 by Sterling's nephew, Thor Liljencrantz.
There are also several letters written by Hopper to his mother, in French, 1902-1903.
Box 2
Fragmentary notes from World War I correspondent days.
Clippings, primarily concerning George Sterling
Photographs - Removed to Pictoral Collection
[See also Portraint file 4851-4852]
Scope and Content Note
Including some of Hopper, Sterling, Jack London, Fred Bechdolt, Xavier Martinez, Nora May French.
Tear sheets of various published stories and articles
Poems written by George Sterling-mainly typed, signed copies
Poems written by Nora May French-mainly in her hand
Miscellaneous items
Scope and Content Note
Including copy of Hopper's birth announcement; fly leaf of presentation copy of Jack London's
Martin Eden (the rest of the book was burned in the fire that destroyed Hopper's home); twin questionnaire made out by Hopper for the
University of California's twin study in 1934.
carton Ctns. 1-2
Manuscripts of his stories and articles
Scope and Content Note
Arranged alphabetically by title
Group of early stories, written mainly for William C. Morrow's short story class
Correspondence Miscellany (single letters)
California Alumni Association
Letter, Feb. 28, 1949. Signed by Robert Sibley.
Conrad, Joseph, 1857-1924
Coolbrith, Ina Donna, 1842-1928
Letter, n. d. With note written by George Sterling.
Letter, Feb. 24, 1948. Re death of Will Irwin.
Kidd, Alexander Marsden, 1879-
Liliencrantz, Flora (Sterling)
Letter, Mar. 4, 1927. Re George Sterling
Letter, June 22, 1899. Signed by Charles S. Greene.
Greene, Charles Samuel, 1856-1930
See Overland Monthly.
Hawthorne, Hildegarde, 1872-
4 letters, 1904. Signed by Samuel S. McClure and John S. Phillips
Phillips, John Sanborn, 1861-1949
See McClure's Magazine.
Sibley, Robert, 1881-1958
See California Alumni Association
Sterling, George, 1869-1926
