Manuscripts

Ranch Notes

Description: An extremely rich source of material about the construction of the Jack London Ranch, including many notes written by Jack London or Eliza Shepard about the farm, clippings London culled about farming and ranching, a few notes about the Wolf House, and material about London's ill-fated investment in eucalyptus trees.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1866-1977.
Call number: mssJL
Creator: London, Jack (1876-1916)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: The nucleus of the collection was purchased by Henry Huntington from Charmian London in 1925. Additional groups of material were acquired by both gift and purchase from Mrs. London and later from literary executors Irving Shepard and I. Milo Shepard over many years. Further material has been acquired from other sources; the provenance of these items is noted on the individual folders.

People

Manuscripts

Articles about celebrities or people Jack London knew. Included are Gertrude Atherton, Rex Beach, Hobart Bosworth, William Chaney, Samuel Clemens, Ina Coolbrith, William Ellsworth, Anatole France, Henry Frick, Finn Frolich, Hilda Gilbert, Emma Goldman, Wilfred Gribble, George Heinold, Johnny Heinold, James Hopper, Martin Johnson, Charmian Jeanne London, Elizabeth Maddern London, Sybil London, Joan London Miller, Joseph Noel, Jake Oppenheimer, Herbert Heron Peet, Charles Piper, Eliza Shepard, James Shepard, Upton Sinclair, Ninetta Springer, George Sterling, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Ernest Untermann.

mssJL

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Jack London papers

Manuscripts

The 622-box Jack London Collection could properly be termed the author's personal archive, because of its size and completeness. With only a few exceptions, the collection contains autograph or typescript versions of almost everything Jack London wrote. Included in the archive are most of the London correspondence files; his literary notes, documents, and contracts; memos and letters regarding the operation of his Sonoma County Beauty Ranch; most of his personal and family papers; his financial records; and his library and photograph collection. The majority of the pieces range in date from 1903 to 1917. The collection includes addenda consisting of a variety of materials acquired from the estate after the initial cataloging of the collection, including publication files and Shepard family materials.

mssJL

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Harvey Taylor File

Manuscripts

The Harvey Taylor File documents the relationship between Harvey Taylor (who for a time was bibliographer, then supposed agent for the London estate) and Charmian London. The two-box file consists entirely of letters, mostly between Charmian Kittredge London and Harvey Taylor. A few letters from Eliza Shepard are also included. At the request of the Jack London estate, the Harvey Taylor files (Boxes 435-436) were restricted until the death of Harvey Taylor; they were opened for research on March 30, 1993.

mssJL

Jack London Ranch, eucalyptus trees

Manuscripts

Grove of eucalyptus trees on Jack London Ranch.

mssJL JLP 89

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Photographic Prints

Manuscripts

The photographs are all original (either contemporary prints made prior to 1917 or later prints made from the original negative). Each print is individually numbered with a "JLP" prefix and filed in its own envelope. Included in this section are a number of photographs of Elizabeth Wiley Baxter; Marshall and Louis Bond; Romaine Fielding; Hawaiian scenes (such as Diamond Head); Jack London Ranch scenes (including the cottage where the Londons lived, the dam and lake, eucalyptus fields, Jack London's gravesite, and the vineyards); George Wharton James; Martin Johnson; Dayelle and Willard Kittredge; Charmian London (over 31 photographs from 1879-1940); Elizabeth May Maddern London; Flora Wellman London; Jack London (over 54 photographs from 1896-1916); John London; Joan London Miller; New York, New York; Edward Biron Payne; Virginia Prentiss; Ninetta Wiley Eames Payne Springer; Louis Edwin Stevens; Vallejo, California; Venice, Italy; Vera Cruz, Mexico; Wake Robin Lodge (in Glen Ellen, California); Anna Strunsky Walling; and Jack London's Wolf House, as well as an array of South Sea Island photographs, some featuring Jack London's yacht Snark.

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Ranch and Barn Scrapbook

Manuscripts

A few receipts, drawings, and addresses of persons connected with the building of the Jack London Ranch.

mssJL

Ranch Notes

Opening Hours

Admission Info and Tickets

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People

Jack London papers

Harvey Taylor File

Jack London Ranch, eucalyptus trees

Photographic Prints

Ranch and Barn Scrapbook