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Manuscripts

George Sterling papers

Description

This collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, photographs and watercolors pertaining to the life and work of George Sterling. Contents include 544 pieces of correspondence; 116 manuscripts; 3 photographs; and 2 watercolors.

Much of the correspondence in the collection is between Sterling and other American writers and poets, who discuss their own work and the work of other individuals. Almost all of the correspondence in the collection by Sterling is addressed to his friend, and fellow author, Jack London (1876-1916). The collection contains manuscripts written by Sterling as well as manuscripts by Ambrose Bierce and others. Most of the collection's manuscripts are poems, although the section also contains epigrams, diaries, vocabulary aids and prose. The photographs within the collection are of Sterling and his friends and associates, and all of the collection's watercolors were painted by Sterling.

Subjects addressed within the collection include Ambrose Bierce, American poetry (1915-1925), Prohibition (with frequent mention in H. L. Mencken's letters), and European description and travel (chiefly in the early letters of Herman George Scheffauer).

Correspondents and authors include: William Rose Benét, Ambrose Bierce, Witter Bynner, Margaret Smith Cobb, Sidney Bert Cooksley, Ina Donna Coolbrith, Countee Cullen, Benjamin De Casseres, May S. Greenwood, James Hopper, Rolfe Humphries, Robinson Jeffers, Leslie Nelson Jennings, Sinclair Lewis, Vachel Lindsey, Charmian London, Jack London, Samuel Loveman, William Somerset Maugham, Henry Louis Mencken, Leo Bergin Mihan, John Gneisenau Neihardt, Joseph O'Carroll, John Myers O'Hara, Louis Alexander Robertson, Theodore Roosevelt, Carl Sandburg, Herman George Scheffauer, George Ansel Sterling, Charles Hanson Towne, Grace Wallace, Herbert George Wells, Edward Lucas White, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Gaylord Wilshire, and Audrey Wurdemann.

Persons represented by five or more pieces:

Bynner, Witter: 5 pieces, 1913-24 Cobb, Margaret Smith: 34 pieces, 1923-26 Coolbrith, Ina Donna: 26 pieces, 1907-26 De Casseres, Benjamin: 8 pieces, 1926 Greenwood, May Snowdrop: 65 poems 1917-26 Hopper, James: 5 pieces, 1926-28 Humphries, Rolfe: 6 pieces, 1924-25 Jeffers, Robinson: 12 pieces, 1924-26 Jennings, Leslie Nelson: 45 pieces, 1917-22 London, Jack: 18 pieces, 1902-16 Loveman, Samuel: 19 pieces, 1915-26 Mencken, Henry Louis: 63 pieces, 1916-26 Neihardt, John Gneisenau: 50 pieces, 1912-25 Sterling, George: Poems: 43 to Miscellaneous persons: 5 To London: 72 (1910-16) Mihan, Leo Bergin: 5 pieces, 1924-26 O'Carroll, Joseph: 9 pieces, 1923-26 O'Hara, John Myers: 5 pieces, 1911-16 Robertson, Louis Alexander: 7 pieces, 1904-08 Scheffaeur, Herman George: 57 pieces, 1904-21 White, Edward Lucas: 5 pieces, 1925 Wilcox, Ella (Wheeler): 5 pieces, 1914-15

Some notable items include:

Benet, William Rose. 1921, Nov. 17. About Sterling's verse. Coolbrith, Ina. 1907, Feb. To Blanche Partington. He is the best boy in the world as well as one of its few great poets... Jeffers, Robinson. 12 letters, mostly about poetry. 1924-26 Lindsey, Vachel. 1913, June 1. Long letter on his own career and poetry. London, Jack. 1916, Mar. 7. Critique of severl short stories by Sterling. London, Jack. 1908, Feb. 10. And I speculate and speculate, trying to make you out, trying to lay hands on the inner side of you... Mencken, Henry L. 63 letters, containing numerous references to Prohibition O'Hara, John Myers. 1911, May 7. Letter of praise and criticism. Osbourne, Lloyd. 1895, Oct. 24. Advising Sterling against a proposed adventure to Samoa. Scheffauer, Herman George. 1904, June 19. Description of visit to St. Louis fair. Scheffauer, Herman George. 1904, Sep. 8. Description of trip through Scotland and England Scheffauer, Herman George. 1904, Dec. 20. Letter of 52 pages, octavo, describing trip through Germany and France. His letters are of above average interest. Sterling, George. Letters to Jack London. 1910-1916. Sterling, George. Notebook containing vocabulary aid. c.1915. Sterling, George. 1919, Apr. 9. To W. S. B. Braithwaite. Draft of a letter of protest over the misprinting of his poems.
Type
Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Date
1895-1927
Call number
mssGS
Creator
Sterling, George (1869-1926)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance
Purchased from Thor Liliencrantz, June 30, 1955.
Associated people
Benét, William Rose, (1886-1950.)
Bierce, Ambrose, (1842-1914?)
Bynner, Witter, (1881-1968.)
Cobb, Margaret Smith. (1903-)
Cooksley, Sidney Bert, (1841-1928.)
Coolbrith, Ina D. (1903-1946.)
Cullen, Countee, (1873-1945.)
De Casseres, Benjamin, (1876-1956.)
Greenwood, May S. (1887-1962.)
Hopper, James, (1892-1972.)
Humphries, Rolfe. (1885-1951.)
Jeffers, Robinson, (1876-1916.)
Jennings, Leslie N. (1887-1976.)
Lewis, Sinclair, (1874-1965.)
Lindsey, Vachel. (1880-1956.)
London, Charmian. (1881-1973.)
London, Jack, (1870-1944.)
Loveman, Samuel, (1856-1910.)
Maugham, W. Somerset (1858-1919.)
Mencken, H. L. (1878-1967.)
Mihan, Leo Bergin. (1876-1927.)
Neihardt, John G., (1877-1949.)
O'Carroll, Joseph. (1866-1946.)
O'Hara, John Myers, (1866-1934.)
Robertson, Louis Alexander, (1850-1919.)
Roosevelt, Theodore, (1861-1927.)
Sandburg, Carl, (1911-1960.)
Scheffauer, Herman George,
Sterling, George Ansel.
Towne, Charles Hanson,
Belasco, Grace Wallace.
Wells, H. G.
White, Edward Lucas,
Wilcox, Ella Wheeler,
Wilshire, Gaylord,
Wurdemann, Audrey,
Find out more
View in the Library catalog(Opens in new tab)
View in the Online Archive of California(Opens in new tab)

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