Scope and Contents
The collection consists of research material, writings, correspondence, audiocassettes, printed material, personal papers, financial papers, photographs, and other papers, documenting the work of James R. Mellow as an art critic, a book reviewer, and a literary biographer, shedding particular light on his biographies of Gertrude Stein, Nathaniel Hawthorne, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Walker Evans.
Dates
- 1940-1999
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Box 34-35 (audiocassettes): Use of originals is restricted. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Box 34-35 (audiocassettes): Use of originals is restricted. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Conditions Governing Use
The James R. Mellow 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 of Augie Capaccio, 1999-2007.
Arrangement
Organized into three groupings: I. April 1999 Acquisition. II. November 2003 Acquisition. III. October 2007 Acquisition.
Material within this collection has been organized by acquisition reflecting the fact that the collection has been acquired in increments over time.
Researchers should note that material within each acquisition overlaps with and/or relates to material found in other acquisitions. For instance, correspondence and writings can be found in all three groupings. In order to locate all relevant material within this collection, researchers will need to consult each acquisition described in the Collection Contents section.
Researchers should also note that similar material can be arranged differently in each acquisition, depending on how the material was organized when it was received by the library.
Material within this collection has been organized by acquisition reflecting the fact that the collection has been acquired in increments over time.
Researchers should note that material within each acquisition overlaps with and/or relates to material found in other acquisitions. For instance, correspondence and writings can be found in all three groupings. In order to locate all relevant material within this collection, researchers will need to consult each acquisition described in the Collection Contents section.
Researchers should also note that similar material can be arranged differently in each acquisition, depending on how the material was organized when it was received by the library.
Extent
40.87 Linear Feet (53 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Overview
The collection consists of research material, writings, correspondence, audiocassettes, printed material, personal papers, financial papers, photographs, and other papers, documenting the work of James R. Mellow as an art critic, a book reviewer, and a literary biographer, shedding particular light on his biographies of Gertrude Stein, Nathaniel Hawthorne, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Walker Evans.
James R. Mellow (1926-1997)
James R. Mellow was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1926, and attended Northwestern University. Beginning in 1950, he wrote about art and literature for Commonweal, ARTnews, and Arts Magazine, eventually becoming editor of the latter. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was an art critic for The New York Times. Mellow's books of literary biography include: Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein & Company (1974), Nathaniel Hawthorne in His Times (1980), Invented Lives: F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald (1984) and Hemingway: A Life Without Consequences (1992). He also wrote a biography of the photographer Walker Evans, which was published posthumously in 1999.
Mellow died at his home in Rockport, Massachusetts in 1997.
Mellow died at his home in Rockport, Massachusetts in 1997.
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, and competing priorities. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections as they are acquired, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.
This collection received a basic level of processing, including rehousing and minimal organization, at the time of initial acquisition. Further description was carried out in 2011. Various acquisitions associated with the collection have not been merged and organized as a whole. Each acquisition is described separately in the contents list below, titled according to month and year of acquisition.
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 collection includes material formerly classed as: Uncat ZA MS 623, Uncat MSS 615, and Uncat MSS 978.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
This collection received a basic level of processing, including rehousing and minimal organization, at the time of initial acquisition. Further description was carried out in 2011. Various acquisitions associated with the collection have not been merged and organized as a whole. Each acquisition is described separately in the contents list below, titled according to month and year of acquisition.
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 collection includes material formerly classed as: Uncat ZA MS 623, Uncat MSS 615, and Uncat MSS 978.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
- Art criticism -- United States
- Art critics -- United States
- Art critics -- United States -- Archives
- Audiocassettes
- Authors, American -- 19th century
- Authors, American -- 20th Century
- Biographers -- United States
- Biographers -- United States -- 20th Century -- Archives
- Evans, Walker, 1903-1975
- Fitzgerald, F. Scott (Francis Scott), 1896-1940
- Fitzgerald, Zelda, 1900-1948
- Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804-1864
- Hemingway, Ernest, 1899-1961
- Mellow, James Robert, 1926-1997
- Photographs
- Stein, Gertrude, 1874-1946
- Title
- Guide to the James R. Mellow Papers
- Author
- by Jennifer Meehan
- Date
- 2007
- 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.