Wallace Stevens Papers: Finding Aid

Finding aid prepared by Huntington Library Staff.

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

Manuscripts Department

The Huntington Library

1151 Oxford Road

San Marino, California 91108

Phone: (626) 405-2191

Email: reference@huntington.org

URL: http://www.huntington.org

Overview of the Collection

Title: Wallace Stevens Papers

Dates (inclusive): 1806-1975

Bulk dates: 1895-1955

Collection Number: mssWAS 1-4262

Creator: Stevens, Wallace, 1879-1955.

Extent: approximately 6,815 items in 86 boxes, 6 loose volumes, 2 oversize folders, and 1 rolled item

Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts Department

1151 Oxford Road

San Marino, California 91108

Phone: (626) 405-2191

Email: reference@huntington.org

URL: http://www.huntington.org

Abstract: This collection contains the papers of Wallace Stevens (1879-1955), one of the foremost American poets of the first half of the 20th century. The collection is comprised primarily of letters written to Stevens, his carbon copy replies, and autograph manuscripts and poems. The crux of the collection is the correspondence between Stevens and his family, scholars, poets, editors, business associates, and friends, and much of it deals with Stevens' poetry. Also included is an extensive collection of genealogical material, in the form of letters, documents, typescripts, and photographs.

Language: English.

Note:

Finding aid last updated on May 22, 2015.

Access

The collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, please visit the Huntington's website: www.huntington.org.

Administrative Information

Publication Rights

The Huntington Library holds the literary rights for materials acquired in the original 1974 purchase from Holly Stevens. Stevens retained the literary rights for items acquired by the Library later in 1975 consisting of WAS 2325, WAS 2326, WAS 2329, WAS 2330, WAS 3850-3859, WAS 3861-3865, WAS 3868-3870, WAS 3872, WAS 3874, WAS 3876-3878, WAS 3880, WAS 3882-3889, WAS 3891-3896, WAS 3898-3902, WAS 3904-3913, WAS 3915-3944, and WAS 3963. Upon the death of Holly Stevens, the rights passed to her son, Peter Hanchak. Please contact the Huntington’s Curator of Literary Manuscripts with any questions.

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Wallace Stevens Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Provenance

Gift of Holly Stevens, 1974. A few of the items catalogued with the collection were gifts from Wilson E. Taylor and Holly Stevens and later purchases from Holly Stevens. These are noted on the individual folders.

2 boxes of addenda chiefly related to Elizabeth (Stevens) McFarland were the gift of Jane M. Wilson, McFarland's daughter, in 1977.

Original Purchase

Processing Information

The collection was processed and a summary report first created on March 29, 1980. In 1998, an initial EAD-encoded finding aid was created. In April 2015, Diann Benti created a box list for the collection and this updated version of the finding aid.

Biographical Note

Wallace Stevens (1879-1955) was one of the foremost American poets of the first half of the 20th century. Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, Stevens retained an interest during his lifetime in his native Berks County, Pennsylvania. His wife, Elsie Viola (Moll) Stevens, came from Reading, and both Stevens and his wife devoted considerable time and energy tracing their family ancestries (primarily in the 1940s).

Though Stevens refused to consider his life a dichotomy, his poetic activities were accomplished while he was holding a full-time position as a legal advisor for the Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company in Hartford, Connecticut, the firm for which he acted as Vice-President from 1934 until his death in 1955.

Stevens began writing verse as a student at Harvard University and had a number of his verses published in the Harvard Advocate and the Harvard Monthly between 1898 and 1900. In 1908 and 1909, Stevens presented his future wife, Elsie Viola Moll, with two little notebooks of poems ( A Book of Verses and The Little June Book) which gathered together short poems Stevens had been experimenting with since leaving Harvard. Between 1914 and 1923, Stevens submitted poems to a number of journals, including Poetry (edited by Harriet Monroe), The Dial and Others (edited by Alfred Kreymborg). In 1923, Stevens' first book of poems, Harmonium, was published. With Harmonium, he began a lifelong association with the publishing firm Alfred A. Knopf Inc. Stevens did, however, offer the Cummington Press, a small fine press, three of his books: Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction (1942), Esthétique du Mal (1945), and Three Academic Pieces (1947). The Alcestis Press, under the direction of Ronald Lane Latimer, printed Ideas of Order (1935) and Owl's Clover (1936).

Stevens was twice awarded the National Book Award: in 1950 for The Auroras of Autumn (1950) and in 1954 for Collected Poems (1954). He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1955.

Scope and Content

This collection contains the papers of American poet Wallace Stevens and is comprised primarily of letters written to Stevens, his carbon copy replies, and autograph manuscripts and poems, as well as family photographs, an extensive collection of genealogical research material on the Stevens and allied families, and some ephemera.

The crux of the collection is the correspondence between Stevens and his family, friends, scholars, poets, editors, and business associates (although there are no letters from the files of Stevens' employer, the Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company). Much of the correspondence deals with Stevens' poetry, or provides biographical or ideological information about Stevens. In addition to the 58 boxes of correspondence, there is an additional series containing xeroxes of Stevens correspondence and manuscripts held by other institutions.

The Stevens family, including Stevens' wife Elsie and their daughter, Holly Bright Stevens, are well represented in the collection, as are Stevens' friends Barbara Church and Henry Hall Church. In addition, there are two boxes of addenda chiefly consisting of documents and photographs related to Stevens' eldest sister Elizabeth (Stevens) McFarland, which were added to the collection in 1977. Other individuals represented in the collection include: E. E. Cummings, Alfred A. Knopf, Robert McAlmon, Thomas MacGreevy, Archibald MacLeish, Marianne Moore, Jose Rodriguez Feo, and John Orley Allen Tate.

In addition to photographs and documents produced by Stevens family members, there are also over 2,000 pieces of genealogical material, in the form of letters, documents and typescripts, that reflect Wallace and Elsie Stevens' interest in tracing their family ancestry beginning in the early 1940s.

Items in the manuscripts and correspondence series have been fully indexed alphabetically and chronologically on cards in the Manuscript Catalogue in the Library.

Related materials in the Huntington Library

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in 10 series:

I. Manuscripts
II. Correspondence
III. Photographs
IV. Honorary Awards
V. Xeroxes
VI. Genealogical Material
VII. Ephemera
VIII. Appraiser's Report
IX. Audio materials
X. Addenda

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Huntington Library's Online Catalog.

Subjects

Stevens, Wallace, 1879-1955 -- Archives.

Poets, American -- 20th century -- Archives.

Reading (Pa.)

Forms/Genres

Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- 20th century.

Manuscripts -- United States -- 20th century.

Poems -- United States -- 20th century.

Contributors

Cummings, E. E. (Edward Estlin), 1894-1962.

Knopf, Alfred A., 1892-1984.

McAlmon, Robert, 1896-1956.

MacGreevy, Thomas, 1893-1967.

MacLeish, Archibald, 1892-1982.

Moore, Marianne, 1887-1972.

Rodríguez Feo, José.

Tate, Allen, 1899-1979.

I. Manuscripts

Physical Description: 9 boxes and 4 loose volumes

Scope and Content Note

The manuscripts consist both of works by others about or to Wallace Stevens, and manuscripts of Stevens' poems, essays, and speeches.

The manuscripts by others include dedicatory poems to Stevens, essays about Stevens (e.g. by Robert M. Pack and Mary Bernetta Quinn), and adaptations and translations of Stevens' poems (e.g. by Renato Poggioli). This series also includes an academic notebook kept by Stevens' grandfather Benjamin Stevens (born 1808) in 1822 (WAS 3965, loose volume).

Notable pieces include:

Hermann Hesse, Zwölf Gedichte (12 autograph poems in German, presented by Hesse to Stevens, each with a watercolor drawing). (WAS 223, loose volume)
[Hywel David Lewis], On Poetic Truth (an essay first published in Philosophy (July 1946), in Stevens' hand). (WAS 4093, in Box 66)

The manuscripts by Stevens are both autograph and typewritten. When Stevens' secretary/stenographer prepared his typescripts, she made 3 copies: an original and 2 carbons. When a carbon copy exists along with the original typescript, it has been catalogued with the original unless it contains annotations or corrections by Stevens. Most of the manuscripts have been published in one of three places: 1) a published work of Stevens, 2) Opus Posthumous, ed. Samuel French Morse, 1957 or 3) Robert Buttel, Wallace Stevens: The Making of Harmonium, 1967. When assigning dates to manuscripts, evidence given by Morse, Buttel, J.M. Edelstein, Wallace Stevens: A Descriptive Bibliography, 1973, and the correspondence have all been weighed.

Notable pieces include:

Adagia: 2 notebooks of aphorisms. 33p. [1930?-1955]. (WAS 70, in Box 1)
A Book of Verses: notebook of 20 early poems. 21p. June 1908. (WAS 24, in Box 2)
Esthétique du Mal: early draft. 16p. [1944]. (WAS 4140, in Box 2)
The Figure of the Youth as Virile Poet: early draft. 33p. [1943]. (WAS 4143, in Box 66: Oversize)
Gloire du Long Disir, Idies: early draft. 23p. [1955]. (WAS 4151, in Box 3)
Journals
- 1898-1899. 1 vol. (WAS 7, in Box 4)
- 1899-1900. 1 vol. (WAS 8, in Box 4)
- 1902-1904. 1 vol. (WAS 9, in Box 4)
- 1905-1912. 1 vol. (WAS 10, in Box 4)
The Little June Book: notebook of 20 early poems. 21p. June 5, 1909. (WAS 25, in Box 6)
Poetic Exercises of 1948: 2 commonplace notebooks. 4p. [1948]. (WAS 72, in Box 6)
The typescript for Selected Poems, a book submitted to Alfred A. Knopf Inc. but never published. 200p. [1950]. (WAS 2997, in Box 7)
Sur Plusieurs Beaux Sujects: 2 commonplace notebooks. 44p. 1932-1953. (WAS 73, in Box 8)

Arrangement

The manuscripts are filed alphabetically by author and then chronologically.

Box 1

Manuscripts, Arsensberg-Stevens (A-"As you leave the Room")

Related Material

Some material is housed separately (see oversize box and loose volumes listed at the end of this series):

Hermann Hesse. Zwölf Gedichte (WAS 223, loose volume)
[Lewis, Hywel David]. On Poetic Truth (WAS 4093, Box 66)
Orphans' Court of Berks County, Pennsylvania. Re-Birth Record of Wallace Stevens, 1945 (WAS 4088, Box 66)
Stevens, Benjamin. Cyphering Book, 1822 (WAS 3965, loose volume)

Box 2

Manuscripts, Stevens ("The Auroras of Autumn"-"Exercise for Professor X")

Box 3

Manuscripts, Stevens ("Farewell Without a Guitar"-"John Crowe Ransom")

Related Material

Some material is housed separately (see list of oversize items at the end of this series):

Stevens Wallace. The Figure of the Youth as Virile Poet (early draft), [1943] (WAS 4143, see Box 66)

Box 4

Manuscripts, Stevens (Journals, 1898-1900)

Box 5

Manuscripts, Stevens (Journals, 1902-1912)

Box 6

Manuscripts, Stevens ("July Mountain"-"Response to National Book Award")

Box 7

Manuscripts, Stevens ("Revolutionists Stop for Orangeade"-"Selected Poems")

Box 8

Manuscripts, Stevens ("Seven Poems")-Taylor

Box 66

Oversize Manuscripts

Folder 1

WAS 2677 Wahle, Jean. Connaître sans Connaiîre [Collection of Verse], 1941, August-October

Folder 2

WAS 4088 Orphans' Court of Berks County, Pennsylvania. Re-Birth Record of Wallace Stevens, 1945 April 19.

Folder 3

WAS 4093 [Lewis, Hywel David]. On Poetic Truth (an essay first published in Philosophy (July 1946), in Stevens' hand).

Folder 4

WAS 4143 Stevens, Wallace. The Figure of the Youth as Virile Poet (early draft), [1943].

Loose volume

WAS 223. Hermann Hesse, Zwölf Gedichte (12 autograph poems in German, presented by Hesse to Stevens, each with a watercolor drawing).

Loose volume

WAS 223. Benjamin Stevens, Cyphering Book, 1822. WAS 223.

Loose volume

WAS 24-25, copy. Bound facsimile of Wallace Stevens, The Little June Book.

Loose volume

WAS 70-73, copy. Bound facsimile of Wallace Stevens' commonplace books: Adagia (WAS 70); From Pieces of Paper (WAS 71); Poetic Exercises of 1948 (WAS 72); Sur Plusieurs Beaux Sujects (WAS 73).

II. Correspondence

Physical Description: 58 boxes

Scope and Content Note

The heart of the collection is the correspondence between Wallace Stevens and his family, scholars, poets, editors, business associates and friends. All of the correspondence (except that relating to genealogy) has been fully catalogued in the Manuscripts Catalogue.

Although there is some correspondence of minor importance, such as friends' greetings while Stevens was convalescing in 1955, most of it has an interest from either a biographical or poetical viewpoint. Many of the letters from Stevens were published by his daughter in Letters of Wallace Stevens, ed. Holly Stevens, 1966. But still unpublished is the other side of the correspondence--to Stevens--amounting to about 2,500 pieces. The bulk of Stevens' letters are carbon copies, with the exception of his letters to Barbara S. Church, Wilson E. Taylor, and Elsie Viola (Moll) Stevens. Stevens began to keep carbon copies regularly only after the early 1940s, so his letters from the earlier period are scarce in the collection. A brief notice of the kinds of correspondence in the collection is given below:

Family Letters

The most significant family figure represented in the correspondence is Stevens' wife, Elsie Viola (Moll) Stevens (1886–1963). Her real name was Elsie Viola Kachel, but when her mother remarried, Elsie took on the surname Moll. Most of the correspondence is from Stevens to Elsie, 1907 (before their engagement) to 1935. (271 pieces; WAS 1776-2047). The principal letters from Elsie are to her stepfather and mother, Lehman W. and Ida Bright (Smith) Kachel Moll and to her half-sister, Dorothy La Rue (Moll) Weidner.

Additional family correspondents include:

Elizabeth (Stevens) MacFarland (1885-1943): Wallace Stevens' elder sister. Daughter: Jane (MacFarland) Stone Wilson.
Garrett Barcalow Stevens a (1848-1911): Wallace Stevens' father.
Garrett Barcalow Stevens b (1877-1937): Wallace Stevens' elder brother. Wife: Sarah Shelley (Stayman) Stevens.
Holly Bright Stevens (1924-1992): Daughter of Wallace and Elsie Stevens. First married name: Hanchak (son: Peter Reed Hanchak). Second married name: Stephenson. Her maiden name is used throughout the collection.
John Bergen Stevens a (1880-1940): Wallace Stevens' younger brother. Son: John Bergen Stevens b. Wife: Anna May Stevens. Daughter: Eleanor (Stevens) Sauer. Husband: John C. Sauer.
Margaretha Catharine (Zeller) Stevens (1848-1912): Wallace Stevens' mother.
Mary Catharine Stevens (1889-1919): Wallace Stevens' younger sister, killed in France during World War I.

Literary Correspondents

The crux of the collection deals with Wallace Stevens' poetry; a majority of the correspondence falls into this category. The following list deals only with some of the correspondents, including those who were important in their own right or important for the quality of the correspondence. The list is by no means complete. Many of the editors of journals, critics and publishers that figure in the collection are not on the following list but may be found alphabetically in the Manuscript Catalogue in the Library. All letters in the list are addressed to or written by Stevens.

Note: Marguerite G. Flynn, whose name figures in some of the correspondence, was Stevens' secretary and stenographer. She personally answered some of Stevens' letters, especially in 1955 when Stevens was hospitalized. Letters written by her are catalogued under her name, not Stevens'.

Henry Hall Church: 102 pieces, 1939-[1947]. (WAS 3366-3467). Stevens to HHC: 94 pieces, 1939-1947, mostly carbons. (WAS 3468-3561). Barbara S. Church: 112 pieces, 1942-1955. (WAS 3563-3674). Stevens to BSC: 148 letters, 1 942-1955, mostly originals. (WAS 3678-3825). The Church-Stevens correspondence is undoubtedly the most important (and numerous) in the collection. Henry Church and Stevens were both interested in French literature and, during the war years when the Churches were unable to spend half the year in their home at Ville d'Avray, France, Stevens saw the Churches frequently and became close friends with them, so that in his correspondence with both Henry and Barbara Church, he frequently and honestly speaks of his personal and literary life.
Edward Estlin Cummings: 4 letters, 1944-1950. (WAS 1-4). Stevens to EEC: 2 carbons, 1947-1950.(WAS 5-6).
Harry Duncan (of the Cummington Press): 61 letters, 1943-1951. (WAS 555-615). Stevens to HD: 9 carbons, 1945-1950. (WAS 616-624).
Katharine Frazier (of the Cummington Press): 19 letters, 1941-1943. (WAS 647-665).
Robert Lee Frost: 1 A.L.S. (and photograph), July 28, 1935. (WAS 365).
Victor Karl Hammer: 32 letters, 1946-1952. (WAS 776-807). Stevens to VKH: 11 carbons, 1948-1951. (WAS 808-818).
Alfred A. Knopf: 64 letters, 1920-1955. (WAS 3084-3147). Stevens to AAK: 44 carbons, 1930-1955. (WAS 3148-3191). The following four individuals are the major associates with Alfred A. Knopf Inc. in the correspondence:
- William Cole: 10 letters, 1951-1955. (WAS 3044-3053). Stevens to WC: 9 carbons, 1951-1955. (WAS 3054-3062).
- Sidney R. Jacobs: 9 letters, 1950-1954. (WAS 3063-3071). Stevens to SRJ: 12 carbons, 1950-1954. (WAS 3072-3083).
- William A. Koshland: 11 letters, 1950-1954. (WAS 3198-3208). Stevens to WAK: 10 carbons, 1950-1955. (WAS 3209-3218).
- Herbert Weinstock: 74 pieces, 1946-1955. (WAS 3219-3292). Stevens to HW: 66 carbons, 1946-1955. (WAS 3293-3358).
Archibald MacLeish: 2 letters, 1925-[1948]. (WAS 1063-1064). Stevens to AM: 1 carbon, Aug. 23, 1948. (WAS 1065).
Harriet Monroe: 10 letters, 1914-1935. (WAS 28-37).
Marianne Craig Moore: 27 letters, 1926-1955. (WAS 41-67).
Samuel French Morse: 7 letters, 1953-1955. (WAS 1266-1272). Stevens to SFM: 3 carbons, 1954-1955. (WAS 1273-1275).
Renato Poggioli: 30 letters, 1947-1954. (WAS 286-315). Stevens to RP: 23 carbons, 1947-1954. (WAS 316-338).
Mary Bernetta Quinn: 12 letters, 1948-1955. (WAS 2621-2632). Stevens to MBQ: 3 carbons, 1948-1954. (WAS 2633-2635).
Hi Simons: 28 pieces, 1937-1945.(WAS 78-105). Stevens to HS: 35 carbons, 1937-1945.(WAS 106-140).
Allen John Orley Tate: 45 pieces, 1941-1949. (WAS 2340-2384). Stevens to AJOT: 21 carbons, 1941-1949. (WAS 2385-2405).
Thornton Niven Wilder: 1 A.L.S., Sep. 12, 1951. (WAS 2524). Stevens to TNW: 1 carbon, Oct. 19, 1951. (WAS 2525).
William Carlos Williams: 13 letters, 1916-1953. (WAS 11-23).

Foreign Correspondence

Although Stevens never travelled abroad (other than to Havana, Cuba), he was always interested to read about foreign places and to correspond with foreigners. Some of the most engaging correspondence is with foreign writers, whose letters with Stevens are among the finest in the collection for the insights they give into Stevens the man and the poet.

Notable correspondents include:

Rosamond (Bates) Cary: 6 letters, 1931-1936. (WAS 2071-2076). Stevens to RBC: 6 carbons, 1935-1936. (WAS 2077-2082). Cary was an American living in Otaru, Japan. Stevens asked her to select a number of Japanese toys and traditional items as gifts for Elsie and Holly Stevens.
Peter H. Lee: 13 letters, 1951-1955.(WAS 1030-1042). Stevens to PHL: 8 carbons, 1954-1955.(WAS 1043-1050). Lee was a Korean poet.
Robert McAlmon: 13 letters, [1921-1924]. (WAS 1150-1162). McAlmon, an American writer living and writing in Europe, wrote some extremely good letters about James Joyce and other literary figures in the 1920s.
Thomas MacGreevy: 39 letters, 1948-1955. (WAS 141-158; 161-180). Stevens to TM: 17 carbons, 1948-1955. (WAS 181-197). MacGreevy was appointed Director of the National Gallery of Ireland in 1950. The MacGreevy-Stevens correspondence brings out Stevens' interest in painting and the other arts.
José Rodriguez-Feo: 51 letters, 1944-1954. (WAS 1588-1638). Stevens to JR-F: 9 carbons, 1948-1955. (WAS 1639-1647). Warm letters from and to Rodriguez-Feo, a young Cuban poet, many concerning the meaning of Stevens' poetry.
Leonard Van Geyzel: 15 letters, 1938-1954. (WAS 2450-2464). Stevens to LVG: 18 carbons and 1 L.S., 1937-1954. (WAS 2470-2488). Van Geyzel was an Englishman working on a tea plantation in Ceylon who read widely in modern literature. Interesting correspondence regarding Stevens' literary and political (World War II) views.
Anatole Vidal: 20 letters, 1935-1940, in French. (WAS 2650-2669). Vidal was the Parisian bookseller who, like his daughter Paule Vidal after his death, provided Stevens with French books and magazines and purchased for Stevens original paintings by contemporary French artists, including Auberjonois, Maurice Brianchon, Roger Callois and Tal Coat. The Anatole and Paule Vidal correspondence is of the utmost importance in defining Stevens' attitudes toward modern art and literature.
Paule Vidal: 80 letters, 1945-1955,in French. (WAS 2806-2885). Stevens to PV: 110 carbons, 1945-1955. (WAS 2886-2995). Paule Vidal took over her father's bookshop in Paris after his death in the early 1940s and continued the correspondence with Stevens.

In addition, there is correspondence regarding tea. Stevens was a connoisseur of fine foods and enjoyed sending away for tea in particular. These letters with the Associated Tea Syndicate (WAS 1170-1176) and the Ceylon Tea Plantation Company (WAS 1346-1349), 1935-1938, give some idea of his personal habits.

Business Associates

The collection does not contain letters from the files of the Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company. The following correspondents were business associates as well as friends:

C.L. Daughtry: 7 pieces, 1943-[1955].(WAS 492-498). Stevens to CLD: 40 pieces, 1931-1955, mostly originals. (WAS 499-538).
Arthur Gray Powell (known as "Judge Powell"): 6 letters, 1940-1950. (WAS 1477-1482).
Wilson E. Taylor: 12 letters, [1939?]-1955, including 5 carbons. (WAS 3837-3848). Stevens to WET: 96 letters, 1933-1955, originals. (WAS 3849-3944).

Arrangement

The correspondence is filed alphabetically by author and then chronologically.

Box 9

Correspondence, Aiken-Barzun

Box 10

Correspondence, Beach-Bynner

Box 11

Correspondence, Cable-Cutler

Box 12

Correspondence, Church Barbara (23 February 1942-15 June 1953)

Box 13

Correspondence, Church, Barbara (24 July 1953-28 July 1955)

Box 14

Correspondence, Church, Henry Hall (13 March 1939-1 June 1943)

Box 15

Correspondence, Church, Henry Hall (5 June 1943-1947)

Box 16

Correspondence, Daigneault-Duncan

Box 17

Correspondence, DuSautoy-Flynn

Box 18

Correspondence, Foner-Greene

Box 19

Correspondence, Gregynog Press-Hannon

Box 20

Correspondence, Harlan-Hyman

Box 21

Correspondence, Knopf-Kwok

Box 22

Correspondence, Indiana University Press-Klees

Box 23

Correspondence, LaFarge-McCord

Box 24

Correspondence, MacFarland-May

Box 25

Correspondence, Mellquist-Moore, M.

Box 26

Correspondence, Moore, N.-Oxford Univ.

Box 27

Correspondence, Pach-Perspective USA

Box 28

Correspondence, Pickerel-Puma

Box 29

Correspondence, Quinn-Riley

Box 30

Correspondence, Roditi-Roughton

Box 31

Correspondence, Saint Paul Athletic Club-Sharp

Box 32

Correspondence, Simons-Sypher

Box 33

Correspondence, Stevens, Anna May-Stevens, Sarah

Box 34

Correspondence, Stevens, Elsie

Box 35

Correspondence, Stevens, Garret Barcalow

Box 36

Correspondence, Stevens, Wallace to Alden-Chef des Services

Box 37

Correspondence, Stevens, Wallace to Church, Barbara S. (1942-1950)

Box 38

Correspondence, Stevens, Wallace to Church, Barbara S. (1951-1955)

Box 39

Correspondence, Stevens, Wallace to Church, Henry Hall

Box 40

Correspondence, Stevens, Wallace to Clarke-Dauphin Shoe Co.

Box 41

Correspondence, Stevens, Wallace to Deimel Linen Mesh-Guy

Box 42

Correspondence, Stevens, Wallace to Hammer-Klees

Box 43

Correspondence, Stevens, Wallace to Knopf-Lowell

Box 44

Correspondence, Stevens, Wallace to McChesney-O'Loughlin

Box 45

Correspondence, Stevens, Wallace to Pack-Quinn

Box 46

Correspondence, Stevens, Wallace to Raj Anand-Shapiro

Box 47

Correspondence, Stevens, Wallace to Stevens, Elsie (1907-February 1909)

Box 48

Correspondence, Stevens, Wallace to Stevens, Elsie (March 1909-June 1909)

Box 49

Correspondence, Stevens, Wallace to Stevens, Elsie (July 1909-1910)

Box 50

Correspondence, Stevens, Wallace to Stevens, Elsie (1911-April 1916)

Box 51

Correspondence, Stevens, Wallace to Stevens, Elsie (May 1916-1935)

Box 52

Correspondence, Stevens, Wallace to Stevens, Holly Bright

Box 53

Correspondence, Stevens, Wallace to Simons-Taylor H.

Box 54

Correspondence, Stevens, Wallace to Taylor, Wilson E.

Box 55

Correspondence, Stevens, Wallace to Thompson-Watkins

Box 56

Correspondence, Stevens, Wallace to Vidal, Paule

Box 57

Correspondence, Stevens, Wallace to Weinstock-Wilder

Box 58

Correspondence, Stevens, Wallace to Williams-Z

Box 59

Correspondence, Tambimutta-Taylor

Box 60

Correspondence, Thirwall-Vidal, Anatole

Box 61

Correspondence, Vidal, Paule-Vinal

Box 62

Correspondence, Wagner-Weinstock

Box 63

Correspondence, Weisenthal-Williams

Box 64

Correspondence, Wilson, Jane MacFarland Stone

Box 65

Correspondence, Wisconsin Players-Zeller, and miscellaneous

Scope and Content Note

The miscellaneous materials consist of:

-----, Alice. 1 letter to Elsie Stevens, 1912 August 2. With a letter from Wallace Steven to Elsie on the envelope. (WAS 2054)
Wallace Stevens financial records, correspondence, and financial notes (67 pieces), 1952-1955. (WAS 4090)
Funeral register for Wallace Stevens, 1955 August 4, with a packet of acknowledgement cards from the funeral and a typewritten list of names. (WAS 4048)

III. Photographs

Physical Description: 245 photographs in 1 box and 1 volume

Scope and Content Note

Includes photographs of Wallace Stevens, his wife, Elsie Stevens, and their daughter, Holly Bright Stevens, as well as well as other family members, friends, and their homes. There is also a photograph album of a Stevens family trip to California and Arizona in 1923 (Folder 38) and a photograph album of members of Elsie Stevens' family (Box 82). Most of the dates for the photographs was provided by Elsie Stevens.

Related Material

Additional photographs of the Stevens family are included in the Addenda (Boxes 68a and 82).

Box 67

Photographs

Folder 1

Wallace Stevens: studio portrait by Bachrach, [1900]

Folder 2

Wallace Stevens: 6 snapshots, [approximately 1922]

Folder 3

Wallace Stevens: snapshot (of a photograph), [approximately 1924]

Folder 4

Wallace Stevens: studio portrait by Blackstone Studios, N.Y., [approximately 1935]

Folder 5

Wallace Stevens: 5 studio portraits by Pack Bros., [approximately 1940?]

Folder 6

Wallace Stevens: studio portrait by Sylvia Salmi, 1943

Folder 7

Wallace Stevens: studio portrait by Sylvia Salmi, 1943

Folder 8

Wallace Stevens: studio portrait by Sylvia Salmi, 1944

Folder 9

Wallace Stevens: studio portrait by John Haley, [approximately 1945]

Folder 10

Wallace Stevens: studio portrait by Sylvia Salmi, 1948

Folder 11

Wallace Stevens: studio portrait by R. Thorne McKenna, June 1952

Folder 12

Wallace Stevens: studio portrait by R. Thorne McKenna, June 1952

Folder 13

Wallace Stevens: snapshot, 1955

Folder 14

Wallace Stevens--interior of home of (735 Farmington Avenue, Hartford, Conn.?): 2 snapshots, [approximately 1916]

Folder 15

Wallace Stevens--exterior and garden of home of (118 Westerly Terrace, Hartford, Conn.): 6 snapshots, 1947-1953

Folder 16

Wallace Stevens & Holly Bright Stevens: studio portrait by Katherine Lee Endero, [approximately 1925]

Folder 17

Wallace Stevens & Holly Bright Stevens: snapshot, Feb. 3, 1929

Folder 18

Wallace Stevens, Holly Bright Stevens & an unidentifiable girl: 3 snapshots, [approximately 1929]

Folder 19

Wallace Stevens, Holly Bright Stevens, and Peter Reed Hanchak: 8 snapshots, [Oct. 1954]

Folder 20

Wallace Stevens & Elsie Viola (Moll) Stevens: snapshot, [approximately 1920]

Folder 21

Wallace Stevens, Elsie Viola (Moll) Stevens & Holly Bright Stevens: 5 snapshots, [approximately 1926-1929]

Folder 22

Elsie Viola (Moll) Stevens & Holly Bright Stevens: 2 snapshots, [approximately 1924]

Folder 23

Elsie Viola (Moll) Stevens & Holly Bright Stevens: studio portrait by Katherine Lee Endero, [1924?]

Folder 24

Elsie Viola (Moll) Stevens: 11 snapshots, [approximately 1915-1920]

Folder 25

Elsie Viola (Moll) Stevens & an unidentifiable woman: snapshot, [approximately 1920]

Folder 26

Elsie Viola (Moll) Stevens & Dorothy La Rue (Moll) Weidner: 3 snapshots, [approximately 1920]

Folder 27

Holly Bright Stevens: 35 snapshots, [approximately 1926-1929]

Folder 28

Holly Bright Stevens: studio portrait by John Haley, 1928

Folder 29

Holly Bright Stevens: studio portrait by John Haley, [approximately 1931]

Folder 30

Holly Bright Stevens & an unidentifiable girl: snapshot, [approximately 1929]

Folder 31

Holly Bright Stevens, Jack M. Hanchak & Peter Reed Hanchak: 2 snapshots, 1944-1947

Folder 32

Holly Bright Stevens & Peter Reed Hanchak: 2 snapshots, 1947-1951

Folder 33

Ida Bright (Smith) Kachel Moll (in front of 231 So. 13th Street, Reading, Pa.): snapshot, [before 1940]

Folder 34

Mary Catharine Stevens--grave of: unmounted print, [approximately 1919]

Folder 35

Edwin Stanton Livingood: cabinet photograph, Apr. 1899

Folder 36

Barbara S. Church--exterior of home of (Ville d'Avray, France): snapshot, June 1939

Folder 37

Barbara S. Church--exterior of home of (Untermberg, Germany): snapshot, [approximately 1948]

Folder 38

Wallace Stevens Family: photograph album--69 snapshots of a trip to California and Arizona, Oct. 23-Nov. 3, 1923, some photographs showing Wallace Stevens. Also: 6 snapshots of Wallace Stevens & Holly Bright Stevens, c. 1934

Folder 39

Stevens Family photographs--5 proof prints of 19th century portraits of Eleanor Hogeland, Elizabeth Stevens, and Elsie Roads, with a price list and envelope for Orren Jack Turner Studios, Princeton, New Jersey, 1943 (7 pieces)

Folder 40

Stevens Family photographs--portraits of Margaretha Catharine Stevens, Wallace Stevens' paternal grandmother and his Aunt Mariah on the front porch of Ivyland, Pennsylvania, and Stevens' Uncle Will, and a negative of Elsie Viola (Moll) Stevens with Holly Bright Stevens (4 pieces)

Folder 41

Stone steps and emblem detail from Zeller's Fort, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania (associated with Wallace Stevens' genealogical research): 5 photographs

Box 82, Volume 1

Elsie Stevens Family photograph album

Scope and Content Note

Album of 40 portraits of family on the side of Elsie Viola (Moll) Stevens. The only photograph identified (by Holly Bright Stevens) is no. 14: Ida Bright (Smith) Kachel Moll & Elsie Viola (Moll) Stevens.

IV. Honorary Awards

Physical Description: 7 folders and 2 loose pieces in 1 box and 2 loose pieces

Box 68

Honorary Awards

Item 1

National Book Award, 1950

Item 2

Columbia University (D. Litt.), June 5, 1952

Item 3

State of Connecticut's resolution expressing the State's pride in Stevens' achievements, February 3, 1955

Item 4

Hartt College of Music (Doctor of Humanities), June 9, 1955

Item 5

Mount Holyoke College (D. Litt.), June 2, 1952

Item 6

Wesleyan University (D. Litt.), June 15, 1947

Item 7

Yale University (D. Litt.), June 13, 1955

Honorary Awards-loose

Loose roll

Bard College (D. Litt.), March 29, 1951

Loose folder

Harvard University (D. Litt.), June 21, 1951

V. Xeroxes

Physical Description: 3 boxes

Scope and Content Note

Copies primarily of correspondence from the late 1930s to the 1950s, with some poetical material, especially in the Ronald Lane Latimer folder.

Conditions of Use

The xeroxes in the box are for reference only; copies may not be made from them. Copies may be obtained by writing to the institution owning the original manuscripts. Indication of the owner has usually been written (by Holly Stevens) on the xerox.

Arrangement

The xeroxes are organized in folders arranged alphabetically by correspondent.

Box 69

Xeroxes, Dempsey, David-Stevens, Wallace. To Sidney R. Jacobs (43 folders)

Box 70

Xeroxes, Stevens, Wallace. To Weldon Kees-James Arthur Powers (19 folders)

Box 71

Xeroxes, Stevens, Wallace. To Mary Bernetta Quinn-Williams, William Carlos (21 folders)

VI. Genealogical Material

Physical Description: 2,557 items in 8 boxes and 2 loose volumes

Scope and Content Note

In the early 1940s, Wallace Stevens began an extensive correspondence to trace his family ancestry. Elsie Stevens also took an active interest in tracing her roots. Over 2,000 pieces of genealogical material resulted, in the form of letters, documents and typescripts. The material dates primarily from the 1940s. Why Stevens took such pains to trace his ancestry is open to speculation, but two possible reasons could be 1) the death of most of his family (i.e. brothers and sisters) in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and 2) Holly Stevens' decision to leave Vassar College without a degree in 1942. Stevens' attempt to define and describe his family could well have been to reassure both himself and his daughter of their heritage.

Arrangement

The genealogical material has been semi-catalogued and is arranged alphabetically.

Box 72

Genealogical Correspondence, A-F

Box 73

Genealogical Correspondence, G-Randolph

Box 74

Genealogical Correspondence, Reichner-Z, including miscellaneous correspondence

Box 75

Bright-Ellsworth families

Box 76

History of the Franks-Uncompiled Material (typescripts)

Box 77

Zeller-Stevens family

Box 78

Miscellaneous

Box 79

Miscellaneous--oversize

Oversize folder

Miscellaneous--oversize (folder)

Scope and Content Note

Folder containing oversize photocopies of a genealogical chart and an agreement to lease a house to Abraham Buckaloo, with a list of his children.

Stevens Family Genealogy

Scope and Content Note

2-volume genealogy (bound xerox copy) compiled by Lila James Roney, Fellow, New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, for Wallace Stevens, 1944.

Loose Volume

WAS 4260 vol. 1. The Stevens Family: Descendants of Steven Jansz: Vol. I Stevens, Bennet, Bergen, Cregier, Du Trieux (217 p.)

Loose Volume

WAS 4260 vol. 2. The Stevens Family: Descendants of Steven Jansz: Vol. II Hogeland, Kroesen, Lupardus, Mol, Nevius, Rapalje, Richaud, Stoothoff (Van Voorhees), Strycker, Suydam (Rijken), Van Der Beek, Van Woggelum, Van Wesel, Viele (270 p.)

VII. Ephemera

Physical Description: 2 boxes

Box 80

Ephemera (folders organized by name)

Scope and Content Note

Mostly printed miscellaneous material related to specific individuals and organizations, with items such as clippings, invitations, programs, various financial receipts and records.

Arrangement

Folders are arranged alphabetically by name.

Folder 1

American Academy of Arts and Letters (& National Institute of Arts and Letters)

Printed materials such as invitations and mimeographed correspondence and announcements.

Folder 2

Blackwell, B.H., Ltd. (firm)

Invoices, 1951-1955, and a book catalog with an autograph scrap by Stevens.

Folder 3

Church, Barbara S.

Folder 4

Church, Henry Hall

Folder 5

Columbia University: items re: 1952 commencement

Folder 6

Columbia University: printed invitation

Folder 7

Duncan, Harry (and the Cummington press)

Folder 8

Gregynog Press

Folder 9

Guthrie, James

Folder 10

Hammer, Victor

Related Material

See also the box of bookplates and plates within Box 83 (listed at the end of this series).

Folder 11

Harvard University

Folder 12

Knopf, Alfred A. Inc.

Royalty statements for Stevens.

Folder 13

Moore, Marianne Craig

Typescript copy of Moore's remarks upon the acceptance of the National Book Award for Poetry, 1952 January 29.

Folder 14

Morse, Samuel French

List of books and pamphlets by Wallace Stevens, 1955 September 16.

Folder 15

Quinn, Mary Bernetta

1 pamphlet.

Folder 16

Simons, Hi

Folder 17

Stevens Family

A folio quire with an autograph notebook by Margaretha Catharine (Zeller) Stevens.

Folder 18a

Stevens, Elsie Viola (Moll)

Folder 18b

Stevens, Elsie Viola (Moll)-Inheritance papers

Folder 19

Stevens, Holly Bright

Folder 20

Stevens, Mary Catharine

Folder 21

Stevens, Wallace: newspaper clippings

Folder 22

Vassar College

Documents related to Holly Bright Stevens, 1941-1942.

Folder 23

Vidal, Anatole & Paule

Various items including receipts and shipping and account records.

Folder 24

Weinman, Adolph Alexander

Newspaper clippings.

Folder 25

Wisconsin Players

Clippings and a 1917-1918 prospectus.

Folder 26

Yale University Library

Acknowledgements of gifts given to the library by Stevens, 1950-1955.

Box 81

Ephemera (loose)

Scope and Content Note

Includes newspaper articles, postcards collected by Stevens, addresses, receipts, etc. Also, photographic prints of Wallace Stevens' collection of paintings and prints.

Box 83, sub-box

Hammer, Victor: Bookplates

Scope and Content Note

Box containing two plates from which Wallace Stevens' bookplates were made, with bookplates.

VIII. Appraiser's Report

Physical Description: 1 box

Box 84

Appraiser's report of Stevens library books acquired in June 1990.

Scope and Content Note

Consists of xerox copies of handwritten note cards and lists.

IX. Audio materials

Physical Description: 1 box and 1 oversize folder

Box 83

Audio cassettes and reel

Stevens, Holly Bright. Speech on Wallace Stevens given at Huntington Library, 1975 April 12 (1 cassette). WAS 4055.

Taylor, Wilson E. Speech on Wallace Stevens given at Huntington Library, 1975 April 12 (1 cassette). WAS 4056.

Wallace Stevens Reading his Poetry (1 cassette, reference copy). WAS 4057b.

"Voice of America." "This is America" series on Wallace Stevens (not speaking) and James T. Farrell (1 reel). WAS 4058.

Oversize folder

Phonograph record and audio cassettes

Wallace Stevens Reading his Poetry (1 phonograph record and 2 cassettes, master). WAS 4057a.

Access Information

The masters do not circulate; use the reference copy in Box 83.

X. Addenda

Physical Description: 2 boxes and 1 volume

Scope and Content Note

Materials chiefly related to Wallace Stevens' eldest sister, Elizabeth (Stevens) McFarland, and the Stevens family, including photographs, vital records, and some printed items that were donated by McFarland's daughter, Jane M. Wilson, in 1977.

Box 68a

Addenda

Scope and Content Note

This box contains a photostat copy of an 1806 letter, a clipping, a brief note by Wallace Stevens, a 1901 Bible, and 27 photographs.

Folder 1

Bergen, Garrett. To Benjamin Stevens (photostat). 1806, Oct. 20

Folder 2