Inventory of the Lucius Morris Beebe Collection, 1921-1966

Processed by Sarah Logue & Ellen Halteman; machine-readable finding aid created by James Ryan

California State Railroad Museum Library

111 "I" Street

Sacramento, California 95814

Phone: (916) 323-8073

Fax: (916) 327-5655

Email: csrmlibrary@csrmf.org

URL: http://www.csrmf.org/library.html

Inventory of the Lucius Morris Beebe Collection, 1921-1966

Collection number: MS 61

California State Railroad Museum Library

Sacramento, California

Contact Information:

California State Railroad Museum Library
111 "I" Street
Sacramento, California 95814
Phone: (916) 323-8073
Fax: (916) 327-5655
Email: csrmlibrary@csrmf.org
URL: http://www.csrmf.org/library.html

Processed by:: Sarah Logue & Ellen Halteman
Encoded by:: James Ryan

Descriptive Summary

Title: Lucius Morris Beebe Collection,

Date (inclusive): 1921-1966

Collection number: MS 61

Creator: Beebe, Lucius Morris, 1902-1966

Extent: 9 cartons

Repository: California State Railroad Museum Library

Sacramento, California 95814

Shelf location: Big Four Building or off-site storage. Please contact the Library in advance of your visit.

Language: English.

Administrative Information

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to the California State Railroad Museum. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Senior Curator. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the CSRM 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], Lucius Morris Beebe Collection, MS 61, California State Railroad Museum Library, Sacramento, California.

Collection Description

Letters, manuscripts, galleys, clippings, ephemera, and biographical material relating to the newspaper society columnist, publisher, and railroad historian Lucius Morris Beebe.

Historical Background

Lucius Beebe (December 9, 1902 Wakefield, Massachusetts - died February 4, 1966 Hillsborough, California) began his literary career at the New York Herald Tribune in 1929, achieved his own column in 1933, and went on to write articles for such periodicals as Town & Country, Gourmet, Playboy, Esquire, Trains, and the San Francisco Chronicle, to name a few. Beebe and Charles Clegg (1916-1979), his partner and co-author of half of his thirty-four books, bought their first private car, "The Gold Coast," in the late 1940s. The two lived and traveled aboard "The Gold Coast" from 1948 to 1950; the car is now part of the collection of the California State Railroad Museum. They later purchased another private car, "The Virginia City." They moved to Virginia City, Nevada in 1949, and in 1952 took over publishing and editing the newspaper The Territorial Enterprise, where Samuel Clemens had his roots. Beginning in 1960, they spent part of each year at their home in Hillsborough, south of San Francisco, where Beebe died in 1966. His thirty-year career as an author, combined with his eccentric personality, earned him an international reputation. Charles Clegg described Beebe as a "highly civilized nineteenth-century gentleman" possessing an "outrageous personal majesty," known by the world as a "wit and flamboyant gourmet."

Related Collections

Upon Clegg's death in 1979, working files, photographs and selected works of art held by Beebe and Clegg were distributed to various institutions, including: Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, California Nevada Historical Society, Reno Colorado Railroad Museum, Golden DeGolyer Collection, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas Denver Public Library New York Public Library Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Most of the Beebe and Clegg negatives, literary and photographic rights are held by Charles Clegg's sister, Ann Holloway.

There is some Beebe family material held by the Lucius Beebe Memorial Library, 345 Main Street, Wakefield, Massachusetts 01880 (781) 246-6334.

Related collections at CSRM: MS 16, Gerald M. Best Papers, correspondence with Lucius Beebe. MS 34, Arthur Detmers Dubin Papers, correspondence with Lucius Beebe. Photographic portrait file

Biographical Information:

Box 1, Folder 1-16

Lucius Beebe. Arranged by year

Folder 17-19

Charles Clegg. Arranged by year

Folder 20

Clippings, n.d., 1949- 1963.

Folder 21

Private car "Virginia City"

Folder 22

Miscellany

Correspondence (Incoming and outgoing are filed together.)

Box 2, Folder 1

Abbott, Morris W.

Ahrens, John P.

Alexander, Ed (Alexander Railroad Museum)

Armitage, Merle

Aydelott, G.B. (President, D & RGW)

Barker, Lee (Doubleday & Co., Inc.)

Folder 2

Barriger, John W.

Folder 3

Behrend, George

Benton, Genevieve K. (M.H. De Young Memorial Museum)

Best, Gerald M.

Bird, Major (Russell & Bird)

Breen, Tom (Manager, News & Public Affairs, KCRA- TV)

Folder 4

Calvert, E. Preston (Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Co.)

Campbell, Douglass (Vice-President, New York Central)

Cerf, Bennett

Cochrane, Kent W.

Comstock, Homer G.

Crowell, Gordon S.

DeGolyer, Everett L., Jr.

Dexter, Lorraine (Mrs. Byron Dexter)

Dietze, W.A. (Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific)

Folder 5

Dubin, Arthur Detmers

Duke, Donald

Folder 6

Eastin, Kent D. (Eastin-Phelan Corp.)

Eastlick, John T. (Public Library, City and County of Denver)

Ehernberger, Jim

Folder 7

Fairchild, Wilma B. (Editor, The Geographical Review)

Fessenden, Robert E. (Oregon Historical Society)

Fisher, CCharles E.

Fowles, Edward (Duveen Brothers)

Fra[vert], John B.

Freeze, Alys (Public Library, City and County of Denver)

Fuller, Allyn (Treasurer, Canaan Savings Bank)

Folder 8

Glass, Gwen (Doubleday & Co.)

Goit, Charles W. (Kent Productions, Inc.)

Graves, Roy D.

Griffiths, Hank

H (The Daily Press)

Hale, Robert

Haley, E.J.

Hancocks, Robert (Assistant Editor, Bureau of News, Southern Pacific)

Hanke, L.F. (Executive Assistant, Public Relations, Burlington Lines)

Folder 9-14

Hardy, Grahame

Folder 15

Hartman, Jesse E.

Hastings, Philip R., M.D.

Henry

Hiney, Harlan Ted

Hungerford, John B.

Folder 16

Jackson, Richard B.

Jensen, Oliver (Editor, American Heritage Publishing Co.)

Johnson, A.W.

Joslyn, David L.

Jukes, Fred

Folder 17

Kalisher, Simpson

Kindig, Richard H.

Kneiss, Gilbert H.

Kratville, William M.

Kuhler, Otto A.

Folder 18

La Barbera, Joseph J. (Title Insurance and Trust Co.)

Lane, Helen (Harper & Bros.)

Lehman, Edward W. (First Vice-President, W.H. Miner, Inc.)

Le Massena, Bob

Lenske, Harold A. (Assistant Public Relations Officer, Chicago & North Western)

Lunt, A[?]

Folder 19

Maney, Richard

Maxwell, John W.

May, Edward L.

McGrath, Timothy F. (Ewing Galloway)

Mercier, Louis F.V. (Picture Editor, Holiday)

Middleton, William D.

[Morgan], David P. ( Trains)

Folder 20

Newhall, Scott (Executive Editor, San Francisco Chronicle)

[North], Morgan (Howell-North Books)

O'Hara, John

Perlman, A.E. (President, New York Central)

Perry, Otto C.

Pontin, H.W. (Rail Photo Service)

Folder 21

Repp, Stan

Richardson, Robert W.

Ritner, Peter V. (Editor, Trade Department, The Macmillan Co.)

Rockwell, Norman

Rockwood, Albert W. (Deland & Rockwood)

Rung, A.M. (Director, Public Relations, Chicago, Burlington & Quincy)

Russell, Donald J. (President, Southern Pacific Company)

Folder 22

Sanborn, Dan (Sanborn Photo Service)

Schwarzkopf, Chet

Scott, Duncan A. (Publisher, Bon Appetit)

Sell, Henry B. (Editor, Town & Country Magazine)

Folder 23

Shaughnessy, Jim

Shaw, Frederic

Shea, James G. (General Public Relations Manager., Southern Pacific)

Folder 24

Sills, Carlton T. (Advertising & Publicity Manager, Denver & Rio Grande Western)

Sprague, Marshall

Steinheimer, Richard

Steinmayr, W.R. (Purchasing Agent, The Pullman Co.)

Stewart, J.G. (Sunday Dept., The New York Times)

Stringham, Paul

Suppes, Michael J. (Production Manager, Rinehart & Co.)

Suprey, Leslie V.

Folder 25

Thierot, Charles De Young (Editor & Publisher, San Francisco Chronicle)

Thode, Jack

Thompson, Joe R. (Amerine Thompson Werner)

Thrall, Walt (The Westerner Motel)

The Transcript, Literary Editor

Folder 26

White, Katharine S. (Mrs. E.B. White, The New Yorker)

Withall, Albert P. (President, W.H. Miner,)

Wood, Don

Wornom, Douglas Craig

Wurm, Ted G.

Folder 27

Correspondence. Letterhead

Folder 28

Correspondence. Unidentified

Folder 29

Correspondence. Christmas Cards. Beebe/Clegg

Folder 30

Personal. Financial Records

Folder 31

Personal. Financial Records. Estate of Lucius Beebe

Folder 32-35

Personal. Financial Records. Estate of Charles Clegg: Property; Property appraisal; Appraisal notes

Newspaper and Magazine Articles (Arranged by year)

Box 3, Folder 1

Gold Rush Railroad," [ This Week], [Sep. 9, 1945].

Folder 2

Narrow Gauge Holiday," reprinted from Holiday, Mar. [1947].

Folder 3

Priceless Publicity" (Letter to the Editor), Reno Evening Gazette, Jun. 24, 1950, [p.4].

Folder 4

"Private Varnish," Town & Country, Aug. 1954, pp. 74- 75, 99-102.

Folder 5

"Nevada's Golden Railroad," Railroad Magazine, Jan. 1955, pp. 10-21, 56-57.

Folder 6

"Gourmet Tour of San Francisco," Holiday, Jun. 1956, pp. 64-65, 67, 69, 117-121.

Folder 7

"The Florence and Cripple Creek Line," Railroad Magazine, Aug. 1958, pp. 23-29.

Folder 8

"Reno," Holiday, Nov. 1958.

Folder 9

"The Sincere Sinning of the One Sound State," Saturday Review, Oct. 20, 1962, pp. 48-49, 63.

Folder 10

"How the Overland Limited Came to the Southern Pacific," The California Historical Society Quarterly, Mar. 1963, pp. 33-38.

Folder 11

Miscellaneous articles (8), San Francisco Chronicle / Examiner, n.d. and 1965-1966.

Publications: Books (Arranged by title)

Box 4, Folder 1

Bibliography of Beebe's publications

Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg. The Age of Steam: A Classic Album of American Railroading. New York: Rinehart & Company, 1957.

Folder 2

Advertisements

Folder 3

Caption copy

Folder 4-6

Manuscript

Lucius Beebe. The Big Spenders. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Co., 1966.

Folder 7

Reviews

Box 5

Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg. Cable Car Carnival. Oakland, California: Grahame Hardy, 1951.

Folder 1

Advertisements

Folder 2

Corrections to manuscript

Folder 3

Galley proofs

Folder 4

Layout - typeset

Folder 5

Manuscript

Folder 6

Proof copy

Folder 7

Reviews

Folder 8

Unbound printed copy

Box 6

Lucius Beebe. The Central Pacific & the Southern Pacific Railroads. Berkeley: Howell-North Books, 1963.

Folder 1

Advertisement

Folder 2-4

Manuscript

Lucius Beebe. Comstock Commotion: The Story of the Territorial Enterprise and Virginia City News. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1954.

Folder 5

Advertisements

Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg. Hear the Train Blow: A Pictorial Epic of America in the Railroad Age. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1952.

Folder 6

Advertisements

Lucius Beebe. Highball: A Pageant of Trains. New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 1945.

Folder 7

Advertisements

Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg. Legends of the Comstock Lode. Oakland, California: Grahame H. Hardy, 1950.

Folder 8

Manuscript

Folder 9

Reviews

Lucius Beebe. Mansions on Rails: The Folklore of the Private Railway Car. Berkeley, California: Howell-North Press,1959.

Folder 10

Advertisements

Lucius Beebe, with photographs by Charles Clegg. Mixed Train Daily: A Book of Short Line Railroads. New York: E. P.Dutton & Company, 1947

Folder 11

Advertisements

Lucius Beebe. Mr. Pullman's Elegant Palace Car. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1961.

Folder 12

Manuscript

Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg. Narrow Gauge in the Rockies. Berkeley, California: Howell-North Press, 1958.

Folder 13

Galley proofs

Folder 14

Manuscript

Fleming, Howard. Narrow Gauge Railways in America. Edited by Grahame Hardy and Paul Darrell; foreword by Lucius Beebe. Oakland, California: Grahame H. Hardy, 1949.

Folder 15

Advertisements

Folder 16

Reviews

Lucius Beebe. The Provocative Pen of Lucius Beebe, Esq. San Francisco: Chronicle Publishing Company, 1966.

Folder 17

Advertisements

Kneiss, Gilbert. Foreword by Lucius Beebe. Redwood Railway: A History of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad and Predecessor Lines. Berkeley, California: Howell-North, 1956.

Folder 18

Advertisements

Box 7

Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg. Rio Grande: Mainline of the Rockies. Berkeley, California: Howell-North Books, 1962.

Folder 1

Galley proof

Folder 2

Photograph captions

Box 8

Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg. San Francisco's Golden Era: A Picture Story of San Francisco before the Fire. Berkeley, California: Howell-North Books, 1960.

Folder 1

Advertisements

Territorial Enterprise (periodical)

Folder 2

Advertisement

Lucius Beebe. 20th Century. Berkeley, California: Howell-North Books, 1962.

Folder 3

Corrections to manuscript

Folder 4-7

Layout proof

Box 9

Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg. U.S. West: The Saga of Wells Fargo. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1949.

Folder 1

Advertisements

Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg. Virginia & Truckee: A Story of Virginia City and Comstock Times. Oakland, California: Grahame H. Hardy, 1949.

Folder 2

Advertisements

Folder 3

Dust jacket

Folder 4

Galley proofs

Folder 5

Manuscript

Folder 6

Reviews

CSRM has copies of all of these titles, including limited editions, autographed, and inscribed editions.