Summary
Overview
Preston Beyer Collection of John Steinbeck
1939-1995 (mostly 1970-1990)
8.0 linear feet, in 19 boxes
Princeton University. Library. Dept. of Rare Books and Special Collections
Manuscripts Division
One Washington Road
Princeton, New Jersey 08544 USA
Abstract
Consists of correspondence, manuscripts, and ephemera by and relating to John Steinbeck collected by Preston Beyer, cofounder of the John Steinbeck Society of America. Included is a large amount of correspondence (circa 1939-1993) of Beyer with bibliographers, critics, collectors, biographers, universities, friends, and relatives concerned with the life and works of John Steinbeck.
Description
Description
The collection consists of correspondence, manuscripts, and ephemera by and relating to John Steinbeck collected by Preston Beyer. Included is a large amount of correspondence (circa 1939-1993) of Beyer with bibliographers, critics, collectors, biographers, universities, friends, and relatives concerned with the life and works of John Steinbeck. Some of these correspondents are Gwendolyn and Elaine Steinbeck (former wife and widow, respectively), Carlton Sheffield (Steinbeck's roommate at Stanford), John Hargraves, Adrian H. Goldstone, Robert J. Demott, John Ditsky, Warren G. French, author of John Steinbeck's Fiction Revisited (1994), Tetsumaro Hayashi, author a A New Steinbeck Bibliography, 1971-1981 (1983), Roy S. Simmonds, Nelson Valjean, and Robert Wallsten, editor, with Elaine Steinbeck, of Steinbeck: A Life in Letters (1994). Also present is correspondence with university libraries containing collections of Steinbeck books and manuscripts, such as San Jose State University and Ball State University.
Original Steinbeck material includes 26 cards and letters (1951-1967), some written by his secretaries, to Lemuel and Shirley Ayers, Preston Beyer, Mary Bradford, one to Martin Luther King (March 31, 1965), June Hunderson, and a few others. In addition, there is a photograph (1962) of Steinbeck taken by Carlton Sheffield, a three-page, typed, signed article entitled "Rationale," and a signed copy of his Nobel Prize acceptance speech (1962). Related materials include a holograph review (1939) by George Stevens of Steinbeck's Uncovered Wagon, and a script (1954) for a dance-drama adaptation by John H. Jones of Steinbeck's The Pearl.
Collection Creator
Biography
Preston Beyer was a businessman and cofounder (1966) of the John Steinbeck Society of America.
Collection History
Acquisition
Gift of Lynne B. Sagalyn, Barbara A. Rice, and Marilyn S. Shuffler.
Archival Appraisal Information
These items were not kept with the manuscript portion; they were separated out and put with the main book collection:
"Pacific Weekly, A Western Journal of Fact and Fiction," pub. Nov. 9, 1936, vol. V, no. 19, contains JS's story "Breakfast" (1 p.), later used in The Grapes of Wrath.
"Vanderbilt Clinic by John Steinbeck," a report for the friends and supporters of the Hospital, pub. March 1947.
"The Monterey Beacon, The Literary Magazine of the West," June 22, 1935, vol. 1, no. 44, stamped "This Book Belongs to Carol and John Steinbeck," contains JS's story “The Snake."
"The Smoker's Companion," March 1927, 2 photostat copies of JS's[?] story "The Gift of Iban" by John Stern (pseud.?), also photostat of the table of contents (2 pp.), order form for the copy from the New York Public Library, & letters to the National Assoc. of Tobacco Distribution in search of this story.
Dinner program in honor of Carl Sandburg on his 85th birthday, and the publication of his book of poems Honey and Salt, June 6, 1963, the guest list includes Mr. & Mrs. John Steinbeck.
Note: See the curator of the Rare Books Division for information concerning the Preston Beyer Collection of John Steinbeck books and related published material.
Access and Use
Use Restrictions
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. Permission to publish material from the collection must be requested from the Associate University Librarian for Rare Books and Special Collections. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.
Preferred Citation
Preston Beyer Collection of John Steinbeck; 1939-1995 (mostly 1970-1990), Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
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