Bernard Augustine De Voto papers, 1918-1955 (inclusive), 1944-1951 (bulk), bulk 1944-1951

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Summary

Creators:
De Voto, Bernard Augustine
Abstract:
Bernard DeVoto (1897-1955) was a novelist, historian, critic, and editor. His collection includes correspondence, typescripts and galley proofs of 19 major works, 166 articles, 25 short fiction and non-fiction papers, broadcasts, speeches, lectures, and other papers. The correspondence (1948-55) with Harper's magazine relates to DeVoto's column "The Easy Chair", and includes letters from the magazine to senders of letters of condolence, and letters concerning DeVoto. Includes research material used in DeVoto's literary writings and in his work relating to politics, conservation and reclamation, free speech, national parks, and Western Americana. Correspondents include many of the leading persons in contemporary literature, politics, education, and the arts.
Extent:
63 Linear Feet
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item] Bernard Augustine De Voto Papers, M0001, Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Background

Scope and content:

The DeVoto Papers contain Bernard DeVoto's correspondence date from 1918 until his death in November 1955. The bulk of the correspondence was written between 1944 and 1951. The collection also includes manuscript, typescript and galley proof copies of nineteen major works, 166 articles, 25 short fiction and non-fiction items, and about 44 broadcasts, speeches and lectures.

Of primary interest is DeVoto's research material used in his literary output and in his life-long work in many fields, including politics, conservation and reclamation, free speech, the national park systems and Western Americana.

Correspondents include many of the leading figures in contemporary literature, politics, education and the arts. A partial list of the correspondents is included in the Optional Section of this register.

Biographical / historical:
Chronology
Date Event
1897
Born, January 11, Ogden, Utah.
1902
Began schooling at Sacred Heart Academy, Ogden.
1910
Entered Ogden High School.
1914
Graduated Ogden H.S.; entered University of Utah.
1915
Entered Harvard College as a sophomore.
1917
Enlisted U.S. Army, to 1919.
1920
Harvard graduation; return to Ogden.
1922
Appointed as Instructor, Northwestern University.
1923
Married Helen Avis MacVicar.
1924
The Crooked Mile.
1925
"Ogden: The Underwriting of Salvation."
1926
The Chariot of Fire.
1927
Writer's Handbook, A Manual of English Composition.
Moved to Lincoln, Mass.
1928
The House of Sun-Goes-Down.
1929
Began part-time teaching at Harvard; instructor and tutor, 1929-1934; lecturer, 1934-36.
1930
Americana Deserta
Editor of Harvard Graduate's Magazine, 1930-32.
Birth of a son, Gordon King.
1932
Mark Twain's America.
1934
We Accept With Pleasure.
1935
Harper's Magazine.
1936
The Saturday Review of Literature; moved to New York City. Forays and Rebuttals.
1937
Awarded honorary Litt. D. by Middlebury College.
1938
The Saturday Review of Literature;
1939
Troubled Star.
1940
Mark Twain in Eruption
Birth of a son, Mark
Rain Before Seven.
Minority Report.
1942
New England Quarterly
Year of Decision: 1846.
Advance Agent.
Awarded honorary Litt. D. by Kenyon College.
Mark Twain at Work.
1944
The Woman in the Picture.
The Literary Fallacy.
Strange Fruit
1946
Trip West in summer led to conservation work.
The Portable Mark Twain
1947
Editor in chief of the History Book Club.
Mountain Time.
Across the Wide Missouri.
1948
Across the Wide Missouri.
1950
The World of Fiction.
1951
The Hour.
1952
Attacked by Senator Joseph McCarthy.
The Course of Empire.
1953
Journals of Lewis and Clark
Won National Book Award for best non-fiction of 1952.
1955
The Easy Chair.
1956
Women and Children First.
Acquisition information:
Purchased from the estate of Bernard DeVoto, 1956; supplemented by gifts from various sources.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:
Natural resources.
National parks and reserves -- United States.
Mormons -- Utah -- History.
Liberty.
Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Conservation of natural resources.
Indians of North America.
Historians.
Educators.
Authors.
Galley proofs.
Lectures.
Speeches.
Photoprints.
Articles.
Manuscripts (literary).
Maps
Names:
Little, Brown and Company.
Brinton, Clarence Crane
Bruner, Jerome Seymour.
Brooks, Van Wyck
Bowen, Catherine Drinker
Briggs, L. B. R.
Brandt, Carl.
Carlyle, Thomas
Carhart, Arthur Hawthorne
Chamberlain, T. G.
Catton, Bruce
Buley, R.
Buck, Pearl S. (Pearl Sydenstr
Canby, Henry Seidel
Bundy, McGeorge.
Crane, Hart
Mirrielees, Edith Ronald, 1878-1962
Davis, Elmer.
De Voto, Bernard Augustine
Chandler, Raymond
Church, Frank
Collins, Carvel Emerson
Cozzens, James Gould
Fadiman, Clifton
Farrell, James T. (James Thoma
Faulkner, William
Fischer, John
Dobie, J. Frank (James Frank. 1888-1964.)
Douglas, Paul Howard
Edmonds, Walter Dumaux
Edsall, John Tileston
Hurlbut, B.
Howard, Joseph Kinsey
Hoover, J. Edgar (John Edgar)
Holbrook, Stewart Hall
Ickes, Harold L. (Harold LeCla
Hillyer, Robert Silliman
Higginson, Thomas Wentworth
Hicks, Granville
Fisher, Dorothy Canfield
Knopf, Alfred A.
King, G.
Kern, Jerome
Jones, Howard Mumford
Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Bai
Huxley, Aldous
Hutchinson, W.
Mansfield, Mike
Lindsay, Vachel
Lattimore, Owen
Kubie, Lawrence Schlesinger
Lark, C. T.
Merk, Frederick
Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis),
McCord, David Thompson Watson,
Mein, F.
Bliven, Bruce
Marx, Groucho
Mattingly, Garrett
Brooks, Paul,
Schlesinger, Arthur Meier
Lewis, Sinclair
Wylie, Philip
Willkie, Wendell L. (Wendell Lewis)
Wolfe, Thomas
Melville, Herman
Wecter, Dixon
Van Doren, Mark
Untermeyer, Louis
Twain, Mark, 1835-1910
Stout, Rex
Stevenson, Adlai E. (Adlai Ewing)
Stein, Gertrude
Stegner, Wallace, 1909-1993
Stearns, Harold T. (Harold Tho
Stassen, Harold Edward
Spillane, Mickey
Saltonstall, Leverett
Lodge, Henry Cabbot
Sandburg, Carl, 1878-1967
Rhodes, Eugene Manlove
Robeson, Paul
Pratt, Fletcher
Pulitzer, Joseph
Porter, C.
Pound, Ezra
Paine, Albert Bigelow
Adams, Ansel, 1902-1984
Perkins, Maxwell E. (Maxwell Evarts)
Murdock, Kenneth Ballard
O'Neill, Eugene
Barrett, Frank.
Morrison, Theodore, 1901-1988
Beebe, Lucius.
Moss, Frank E.
Alsop, Joseph, 1910-1989
Morgan, Dale Lowell
Balch, E.
Morison, Samuel Eliot
Places:
United States -- Politics and government -- 1953-1961.
United States -- Politics and government -- 1933-1945.
United States -- Politics and government -- 1929-1933
United States -- History -- 1865-1921.
United States -- History -- 1849-1877.
North Africa.
Italy -- Civilization -- 476-1268.
United States -- Politics and government -- 1945-1953.
West (U.S.) -- History.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research with the exception of the boxes originally numbered 175, 176, and 177, which are closed to researchers. Please page materials at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.

The family notes located in 1/22/466 are not to be copied although they may be read.

Terms of access:

While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item] Bernard Augustine De Voto Papers, M0001, Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Location of this collection:
Department of Special Collections, Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-6004, US
Contact:
(650) 725-1022
specialcollections@stanford.edu
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