Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Manuscripts
Joan London Papers
- Description
This collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, newspaper clippings, photographs, scrapbooks, and ephemera pertaining to the life and work of Joan London, the daughter of American author Jack London. Since much of London's work focused on her father, many items in the collection specifically relate to the life and writings of Jack London. The collection contains correspondence between Joan and individuals who knew, or were interested in, her father, the notes and drafts used by London in writing her father's biography, and several copies of letters written by Jack London himself.
There is correspondence to and from London scholars and collectors, chiefly dating from the 1960s and 1970s, including Tony Bubka, James E. Sisson, Hensley Charles Woodbridge, Alfred Samuel Shivers, George Tweney, and Franklin Dickerson Walker. Joan was also interested in the life of her paternal grandfather, William Henry Chaney, and the collection contains both manuscripts and notes relating to him. Joan London's unpublished work Jack London and his Times and Visiting Rights Only, published as Jack London and his Daughters, are two of several manuscripts in the collection; the latter specifically addresses Joan's feelings towards her father and her thoughts on her childhood within a single-parent family.
Portions of the collection pertain to London's interest in the Labor movement and her leading role within it, including correspondence with the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, and a letter addressed to Leon Trotsky (1879-1940). The collection also contains a good deal of correspondence between London's coauthor on So Shall Ye Reap, Henry P. Anderson, and the book's publisher (Thomas Y. Crowell, Publishers).
In addition, there is business correspondence, with publishers and agents, including a few documents (contracts, royalty statements), as well as family correspondence.
The collection is a valuable resource for research on Jack London, on Joan London, and on the labor movement in California. There are just two gaps in the collection: the letters from Jack London to Joan London, which were acquired by a private collector; and personal and family papers, particularly those which would provide biographical documentation of Joan London's life.
Notable correspondents and persons represented by 5 or more pieces:
Abbott, Bart: 2 manuscripts, 8 letters, 1 document (Date: 1938, 1971, 1969-1971, 1971) Abbott, Helen: 7 letters (Date: 1965-1971) Anderson, Henry P.: 23 letters, 1 document (Date: 1966-1970, 1970) Arthur, Gavin Chester: 2 manuscripts, 4 letters (Date: 1968, 1966-1970) Bubka, Tony: 5 manuscripts, 53 letters (Date: 1966-1968, 1965-1970) Bykov, Vil Matveyevich: 3 manuscripts, 32 letters (Date: 1967-1970, 1964-1972) Chavez, Cesar E. 1 letter (Date: 1967, October 6). Letter to Joan London briefly mentioning Jack London and a matter relating to farm workers. MI 223. Clemens, Cyril: 5 letters (Date: 1969-1971) Cole, Ella: 11 letters (Date: 1966-1968) Cortez, Carlos: 3 manuscripts, 2 letters (Date: 1961-1965, 1962-1963) Crowell (Thomas Y.) Co.: 66 letters, 1 document (Date: 1963-1970, 1965) Doubleday, Doran and Co.: 36 letters, 21 documents (Date: 1936-1942, 1937-1942). Includes letter to Joan London concerning Jack London and his Times. Mention is made of Irving Stone's biography being written at the same time, and of Charmian (Kittredge) London's response regarding rights and access to papers. MI 342-377. Freeman, A. Wallace: 3 manuscripts, 23 letters (Date: 1968-1971, 1966-1974) Fujiwara, Sakae: 5 letters (Date: 1969-1972) Galarza, Ernesto: 25 letters (Date: 1962-1971) Ghent, William James: 4 letters (Date: 1937). Letters to Joan London mentioning Jack London, Upton Sinclair, Henry Gaylord Wilshire, and the Socialist Party. MI 471-474. Howell (John) Books: 7 letters, 2 documents (Date: 1969-1971, 1971) Jones, Leslie S. A.: 7 letters (Date: 1969-1972) Kettler, Ernestine: 6 letters (Date: 1966-1971) Kingman, Russell: 2 manuscripts, 4 letters (Date: 1969, 1968-1976) Kuntschev, Boschidar: 11 letters (Date: 1967-1969) London, Charmian (Kittredge): 6 letters (Date: 1909-1940) London, Jack: 54 letters (copies) (Date: 1899-[1916]). Includes two letters to Anna (Strunsky) Walling, two of them containing brief annotations by Mrs. Walling. MI 601-640. Macmillan Co.: 6 letters (Date: 1939-1964) Maddern, Merle: 9 letters (Date: 1964-1971) Malamuth, Charles: 1 manuscript, 8 letters (Date: 1965 1964-1965) Miller, Joan (London): 100 manuscripts, 186 letters, 5 documents (Date: 1917-1971 1931-1970 1938-1971) Nelson, Eugene: 11 letters (Date: 1967-1971) North, Richard: 7 letters (Date: 1965-1971). Includes letters to Joan London regarding the discovery of the Jack London cabin in Yukon Territory. MI 984-989. Oittinen, Anna: 6 letters (Date: 1969-1971) Paul (Warren) Associates: 10 letters (Date: 1963-1965) Random House, Inc.: 5 letters (Date: 1965-1967) Seltz, Julie Anne (Abbott): 5 letters (Date: 1970-1971) Shipley, Miriam: 14 letters (Date: 1962-1970) Sinclair, Upton Beall: 3 letters (Date: 1937). Letters to Joan London concerning memories of Jack London. MI 1106-1108. Shivers, Alfred Samuel: 19 letters (Date: 1962-1969) Sisson, James E.: 2 manuscripts, 23 letters (Date: 1971 and n.d. 1967-1970) Sterling, George. 1 letter (Date: 1925 March 5). Letter of reference for Joan London. MI 1141. Turner, Ethel (Duffy): 7 letters (Date: 1968-1969) Tweney, George H.: 1 manuscript, 33 letters (Date: 1968 1966-1971) Untermann, Ernest: 6 letters (Date: 1938-1941). Letters to Joan London concerning Jack London and socialism in the early days of the century. MI 1201-1206. Walling, Anna (Strunsky): 1 letter (Date: 1940 November 8). Letter to Joan London expressing her reaction to Jack London and his Times. MI 1271. Walker, Dale L.: 49 letters (Date: 1966-1971) Washington. University. Press: 26 letters, 3 documents (Date: 1967-1970 1967-1969) Weiderman, Richard: 5 letters (Date: 1968-1970) Wing, Willis Kingsley: 5 letters (Date: 1951) Woodbridge, Hensley Charles: 2 manuscripts, 121 letters (Date: 1966-1968, 1962-1971)
