Putnam, Phelps, 1894-1948
Dates
- Existence: 1894 - 1948
Biography
Born in Massachusetts in 1894, Putnam Phelps attended Philips Exeter Academy before enrolling at Yale. A member of the secret society Skull and Bones, Putnam has been named among the Renaissance generation at Yale, which includes Stephen Vincent Benét, Henry R. Luce, Archibald MacLeish, Cole Porter, and Thornton Wilder. Following graduation, Putnam traveled to Europe and worked a series of jobs, including a period as an assistant editor for The Atlantic Monthly Press and writing advertising copy for an insurance company. Putnam’s first book of poems, Trinc, was published in 1927. Following publication of Trinc, Putnam set to work on an epic, to be titled "The Earthly Comedy," which would recount modern life and feature characters such as Bill Williams and his alter ego Bigelow Hasbrouck. The publication of The Five Seasons (1931) features these characters and marks the beginning of Putnam’s work towards producing "The Earthly Comedy". Putnam never completed the work before his death in 1948, however, thwarted perhaps by ill health (asthma and alcoholism) and the paralyzing ambition of his plans. As F.O. Matthiessen acknowledges in his essay “To the Memory of Phelps Putnam,” “he sketched a poem too vast ever to be able to shoulder the weight of writing it”.
Putnam married twice, to Ruth Peters and Una Fayerweather, and had numerous affairs, including trysts with Katharine Hepburn and painter Russell Cheney.
Found in 6 Collections and/or Records:
Russell Cheney papers
The collection consists of correspondence, ephemera, artwork, photographs, and computer media by or relating to American painter Russell Cheney.
Farwell Knapp papers
Papers relating to Phelps Putnam and Una Putnam, 1948 October 13-1964 July 24, undated
Papers relating to Phelps Putnam and his wife Una Putnam. The collection includes: two typescript letters and one autograph manuscript postcard, signed, to Una Putnam, concerning Phelps Putnam and personal amtters; three drawings by unidentified artists, including a possible sketch of Phelps Putnam; and six black and white photographs, by unidentified photographers, depicting Phelps Putnam, Una Putnam, and unidentified men and women.