Scope and Contents
The collection consists of material created and accumulated by Maynard Mack in the course of his scholarly and teaching activities, including extensive documentation relating to his research on Alexander Pope and Shakespeare. Research and writing files include notes, copies of archival material, card files, lists, drafts, page proofs, printed material, and related material. Teaching files include notes, lectures, and course material. Correspondence consists largely of single letters to Mack from literary figures, including James Angleton, Richard Eberhart, William Empson, Robert Graves, Allen Tate and Eudora Welty, as well as a small group of correspondence with Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren and two letters from T. S. Eliot to Helen Gardner and Robert Nichols. Other papers relate more broadly to Mack's activities and involvement with various professional organizations and projects.
Dates
- 1928-1997
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Access to original audiovisual recordings is restricted. Consult the Beinecke Library Access Services department for information about reference copies.
Conditions Governing Use
The Maynard Mack 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
Gift and bequest of Maynard Mack, 1994-2014.
Arrangement
Organized into six series: I. Correspondence, 1928-1991. II. Shakespeare Research, Writing, and Teaching, 1941-1979. III. Alexander Pope Research and Writing, 1936-1993. IV. Other Teaching Files, 1941-1973, 1993, V. Professional Papers and Other Research Material, 193850-1997. VI. August 2014 Acquisition, 1940-1984.
Extent
62.49 Linear Feet ((133 boxes) + 2 broadside folders, 6 cold storage)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Abstract
The collection consists of material created and accumulated by Maynard Mack in the course of his scholarly and teaching activities, including extensive documentation relating to his research on Alexander Pope and Shakespeare. Research and writing files include notes, copies of archival material, card files, lists, drafts, page proofs, printed material, and related material. Teaching files include notes, lectures, and course material. Correspondence consists largely of single letters to Mack from literary figures, including James Angleton, Richard Eberhart, William Empson, Robert Graves, Allen Tate and Eudora Welty, as well as a small group of correspondence with Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren and two letters from T. S. Eliot to Helen Gardner and Robert Nichols. Other papers relate more broadly to Mack's activities and involvement with various professional organizations and projects.
Biographical Overview
Maynard Mack received his B.A. in 1932 and his Ph.D. in 1936, both from Yale, and joined the English Department there in 1936, rising to become Sterling Professor of English in 1965. A scholar of Shakespeare, Pope, and twentieth-century literary criticism, Mack has authored a number of works, including King Lear in Our Time (1965) and Alexander Pope: A Life (1986).
Processing Information
Collection 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.
This collection received a basic level of processing, including rehousing, at the time it was acquired by the library, and received further organization and description in 2010. Includes material formerly classed as Uncat MSS 296.
Information included in the Description of Papers note and Collection Contents section is drawn from information supplied with the collection and from an initial survey of the contents. Folder titles appearing in the contents list below are often based on those provided by the creator or previous custodian. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. Otherwise, folder titles are supplied by staff during initial processing.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
- Angleton, James, 1917-1987
- Audiovisual materials
- Brooks, Cleanth, 1906-1994
- Eberhart, Richard, 1904-2005
- Educators -- United States
- Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888-1965
- Empson, William, 1906-1984
- English drama
- English literature
- English poetry
- Graves, Robert, 1895-1985
- Mack, Maynard, 1909-2001
- Pauker, John
- Poets, English -- 18th century -- Biography
- Pope, Alexander, 1688-1744
- Scholars -- United States
- Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
- Tate, Allen, 1899-1979
- Warren, Robert Penn, 1905-1989
- Welty, Eudora, 1909-2001
- Yale University -- Faculty
- Title
- Guide to the Maynard Mack Papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- by Jennifer Meehan, Annalise Hennessey
- Date
- 2007-05-21. Revised: June 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.