Scope and Contents
Notebooks, journals, writings, correspondence, personal papers, and printed material, as well as computer and audiovisual media, by or relating to writer Martha McPhee. Collection materials document McPhee's writing process, as well as her relationships with her family including her sister Laura McPhee, mother Pryde Brown, father John McPhee, husband Mark Svenvold, and others; her experience in a blended family; her childhood near Princeton, New Jersey; her trips to Italy in her youth; and her adult life in New York City.
Dates
- 1906-2019
- Majority of material found within 1970-2019
Creator
Language of Materials
In English. Some materials in Italian.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Boxes 48-49 (digital media): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies of electronic files may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Boxes 50-53 (audiovisual material): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Boxes 54-55: Restricted until after the death of John McPhee. For further information consult the appropriate curator.
Box 56: Restricted until January 1, 2060. For further information consult the appropriate curator.
Boxes 48-49 (digital media): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies of electronic files may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Boxes 50-53 (audiovisual material): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Boxes 54-55: Restricted until after the death of John McPhee. For further information consult the appropriate curator.
Box 56: Restricted until January 1, 2060. For further information consult the appropriate curator.
Conditions Governing Use
The Martha McPhee Papers is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Chris Calhoun Agency on the Frederick W. and Carrie S. Beinecke Fund for Western Americana, 2022.
Arrangement
Organized into eight series: I. Notebooks and Journals, 1972-2019. II. Writings, 1976-2019. III. Correspondence, 1970-2019. IV. Personal Papers, circa 1906-2011. V. Printed Material, 1910-2013. VI. Computer and Audiovisual Media, circa 1996-2011. VIII. Restricted Papers.
Born-digital materials are arranged as a single format subseries within Series VI. Computer and Audiovisual Media, and original order has been maintained. No further arrangement work has been done.
Born-digital materials are arranged as a single format subseries within Series VI. Computer and Audiovisual Media, and original order has been maintained. No further arrangement work has been done.
Extent
21.96 Linear Feet (56 boxes)
7.724 Gigabytes
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Overview
Notebooks, journals, writings, correspondence, personal papers, and printed material, as well as computer and audiovisual media, by or relating to writer Martha McPhee. Collection materials document McPhee's writing process, as well as her relationships with her family including her sister Laura McPhee, mother Pryde Brown, father John McPhee, husband Mark Svenvold, and others; her experience in a blended family; her childhood near Princeton, New Jersey; her trips to Italy in her youth; and her adult life in New York City.
Biographical / Historical
Martha McPhee (born 1965) is an American novelist. She is the daughter of literary journalist John McPhee (born 1931) and his first wife photographer Pryde Brown (born 1935). She is also the sister of novelist Jenny McPhee, photographer Laura McPhee, and architectural historian Sarah McPhee. Following Pryde Brown’s marriage to psychologist Dan Sullivan in 1969, the McPhee children grew up on a farm outside of Princeton, New Jersey, with their younger half-sister, Joan Sullivan, and their stepfather's children from his first marriage.
McPhee graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Bowdoin College in 1987 and received her Master of Fine Arts in Fiction from Columbia University in 1997. She received a National Endowment for the Arts grant to complete her first novel, Bright Angel Time (1997). Her second novel, Gorgeous Lies (2002), was a finalist for the National Book Award. Her other novels include L’America (2006), Dear Money (2010), and An Elegant Woman (2020). She has been a professor in the English Department at Hofstra University since 2002.
McPhee married poet and writer Mark Svenvold (born 1958) in 1996. The couple and their two children, Ana Livia Svenvold McPhee and Jasper Svenvold McPhee, live in New York City.
McPhee graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Bowdoin College in 1987 and received her Master of Fine Arts in Fiction from Columbia University in 1997. She received a National Endowment for the Arts grant to complete her first novel, Bright Angel Time (1997). Her second novel, Gorgeous Lies (2002), was a finalist for the National Book Award. Her other novels include L’America (2006), Dear Money (2010), and An Elegant Woman (2020). She has been a professor in the English Department at Hofstra University since 2002.
McPhee married poet and writer Mark Svenvold (born 1958) in 1996. The couple and their two children, Ana Livia Svenvold McPhee and Jasper Svenvold McPhee, live in New York City.
Separated Materials
Printed material received with the collection was removed for separate cataloging and can be accessed by searching the library’s online catalog.
Processing Information
Collections are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.
These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards. For more information, please refer to the Beinecke Manuscript Unit Processing Manual.
Computer files were accessioned by the Yale University Digital Accessioning Support Service (DASS). Born digital archival material acquired on media by Yale University Library repositories is accessioned through the DASS prior to researcher use. For more information on the DASS and the actions taken during its accessioning work, click here: Born Digital @ Yale: Digital Accessioning Support Service.
These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards. For more information, please refer to the Beinecke Manuscript Unit Processing Manual.
Computer files were accessioned by the Yale University Digital Accessioning Support Service (DASS). Born digital archival material acquired on media by Yale University Library repositories is accessioned through the DASS prior to researcher use. For more information on the DASS and the actions taken during its accessioning work, click here: Born Digital @ Yale: Digital Accessioning Support Service.
- American literature -- 20th century
- American literature -- 21st century
- Audiovisual materials
- Authors -- United States -- 20th century
- Authors -- United States -- 21st century
- Authors, American -- 20th century -- Archives
- Authors, American -- 21st century -- Archives
- Born digital
- Brown, Pryde, 1935-
- Children of authors -- United States
- College students -- Maine
- Columbia University -- Graduate Students
- Computer files
- Graduate students -- New York (State)
- Italy -- Description and travel
- McPhee family
- McPhee, Laura
- New York (N.Y.)
- Notebooks
- Photographs
- Princeton (N.J.)
- Scrapbooks
- Stepfamilies -- United States
- Svenvold, Mark, 1958-
- Teenagers -- New Jersey
- Women -- New York (N.Y.)
- Women authors
- Title
- Guide to the Martha McPhee Papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Sarah Lerner
- Date
- January 2023
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.