Description
Contains personal and business correspondence (ca. 1892-1959); manuscripts of writings; business records; clippings; some
printed pamphlets, many authored by McDevitt; printed ephemera (theatrical, World War II, Panama-Pacific International Exposition,
Socialist Party); other material relating to his wide ranging interests. Principal or significant correspondents include:
Joseph Henry Jackson, Charmain London, H. L. Mencken, William Meredith, Tom Mooney, Veronica Sexton, Upton Sinclair, John
B. (Father) Tabb, and Virginia Wilhelmson. Also includes various ephemera principally of local interest to the San Francisco
Bay Area.
Background
Socialist, bookseller, author. Principal areas of interest included: McDevitt's simplified spelling and shorthand systems;
the antiquarian book trade; socialism and the Socialist Party in San Francisco; contemporary literary figures including Jack
London, Upton Sinclair, Father Tabb, and George Sterling. For additional biographical information see: Roos, Robert de, "An
interview with William McDevitt, LL.M." (The Book Club of California Quarterly Newsletter, Vol. XIX, No. 4, Fall 1954.)
Extent
Number of containers: 4 boxes, 1 carton, 1 oversize folder
Linear feet: 2.65
Restrictions
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head
of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94270-6000. Consent is given on behalf of The
Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright
owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.
Availability
Collection is open for research.