Scope and Contents
The collection consists of writings, correspondence, and other papers broadly relating to Agnes Boulton. Writings include a typescript for Agnes Boulton's memoir about her marriage to Eugene O'Neill, Part of a Long Story (1958), and a partial typescript of Trouble in the Flesh (1959) by Max Wylie, as well as handwritten and typed notes (perhaps those of Boulton) for story and play ideas. Correspondence includes letters received by Agnes Boulton and extensive correspondence of the Clarence Gordon and other members of the Gordon family (whose connection to Boulton is unclear). Also included are photographs, several diaries and a rent book of E. C. Bundy, newspaper clippings, ephemera, books, and printed material.
Dates
- 1891-1982
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The Agnes Boulton 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 Norman Peck on the Eugene G. O'Neill Memorial Fund, 2008.
Arrangement
The collection is organized into three series: I. Writings, circa 1958-1959. II. Correspondence, 1905-1965. III. Other Papers, 1891-1982.
Extent
3.33 Linear Feet (8 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 writings, correspondence, and other papers broadly relating to Agnes Boulton. Writings include a typescript for Agnes Boulton's memoir about her marriage to Eugene O'Neill, Part of a Long Story (1958), and a partial typescript of Trouble in the Flesh (1959) by Max Wylie, as well as handwritten and typed notes (perhaps those of Boulton) for story and play ideas. Correspondence includes letters received by Agnes Boulton and extensive correspondence of the Clarence Gordon and other members of the Gordon family (whose connection to Boulton is unclear). Also included are photographs, several diaries and a rent book of E. C. Bundy, newspaper clippings, ephemera, books, and printed material.
Agnes Boulton (1893-1968)
Agnes Boulton, who was Eugene O'Neill's second wife and a writer of popular novels and short stories, was born on 19 September 1893. After Boulton and O'Neill met in New York City in the fall of 1917, they moved to Provincetown early in 1918, and were married on 12 April of that year. They spent the following fall and winter at Boulton's house in West Point Pleasant, New Jersey, and then in May 1919 moved to the former Coast Guard station (Peaked Hill Bar) in Provincetown, which was purchased for them by O'Neill's father from the writer Mabel Dodge Luhan. On 30 October 1919, their son, Shane Rudraighe, was born in Provincetown.
In the fall of 1922, the O'Neills moved to Brook Farm in Ridgefield, Connecticut, and then two years later, to Bermuda. Their daughter, Oona, was born in Bermuda on 14 May 1925. The family divided their time between Brook Farm and Bermuda (where they later bought a house, Spithead). In the summer of 1926, they rented a cottage in Belgrade Lakes, Maine, where they were visited by Boulton's daughter from her first marriage, Barbara Burton, and by O'Neill's son from his first marriage, Eugene O'Neill, Jr. It was in Belgrade Lakes that O'Neill renewed his acquaintance with Carlotta Monterey, who had starred in the 1922 New York production of his playThe Hairy Ape. From that point on, O'Neill divided his time between New York and Bermuda, and between Carlotta and Boulton. In 1928, O'Neill made his choice and left on 10 February with Carlotta for Europe. Boulton tried to save the marriage, but she and O'Neill finally divorced in July 1929.
Boulton wrote a memoir about her marriage to O'Neill, Part of a Long Story (1958), as well as a novel, The Road is Before Us (1944). Boulton later remarried, but she and her third husband were subsequently separated. Boulton died on 25 November 1968 in West Point Pleasant, New Jersey.
For further information, see Boulton's memoir, Part of a Long Story (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1958).
Biographical note is drawn from the finding aid for the Agnes Boulton Collection of Eugene O'Neill, YCAL MSS 122.
In the fall of 1922, the O'Neills moved to Brook Farm in Ridgefield, Connecticut, and then two years later, to Bermuda. Their daughter, Oona, was born in Bermuda on 14 May 1925. The family divided their time between Brook Farm and Bermuda (where they later bought a house, Spithead). In the summer of 1926, they rented a cottage in Belgrade Lakes, Maine, where they were visited by Boulton's daughter from her first marriage, Barbara Burton, and by O'Neill's son from his first marriage, Eugene O'Neill, Jr. It was in Belgrade Lakes that O'Neill renewed his acquaintance with Carlotta Monterey, who had starred in the 1922 New York production of his playThe Hairy Ape. From that point on, O'Neill divided his time between New York and Bermuda, and between Carlotta and Boulton. In 1928, O'Neill made his choice and left on 10 February with Carlotta for Europe. Boulton tried to save the marriage, but she and O'Neill finally divorced in July 1929.
Boulton wrote a memoir about her marriage to O'Neill, Part of a Long Story (1958), as well as a novel, The Road is Before Us (1944). Boulton later remarried, but she and her third husband were subsequently separated. Boulton died on 25 November 1968 in West Point Pleasant, New Jersey.
For further information, see Boulton's memoir, Part of a Long Story (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1958).
Biographical note is drawn from the finding aid for the Agnes Boulton Collection of Eugene O'Neill, YCAL MSS 122.
Processing Information
This collection received a basic level of processing, including simple preservation and organization. Information included in the Description of Papers note and Collection Contents below 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.
- Title
- Guide to the Agnes Boulton Papers
- Author
- by Jennifer Meehan and Santana Haight
- Date
- 2008
- 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
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