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Max Ewing collection

 Collection
Call Number: YCAL MSS 656
Scope and Contents

The Max Ewing Papers consist of correspondence, writings, sheet music, photographic prints and negatives, photograph albums, scrapbooks, diaries, sound recordings, writings of others, notebooks, printed material, personal papers, and a sculpture. Correspondence includes letters from Ewing to his parents, general correspondence with friends and family, and third party correspondence regarding Ewing. Writings contain autograph manuscript and typescript drafts and printed versions of short stories, poems, essays, and other writings, including typescript drafts, corrected, of Ewing's novel, Going Somewhere. Sheet music contains printed and manuscript music by Ewing. Photographs in the collection are from Ewing's "Gallery of Extraordinary Portraits," "Carnival of Venice," Les amants de Venice," and subjects include Ewing's family and friends. The scrapbooks were made and kept by Ewing and contain reproductions of photographs of notable artists and celebrities; articles by or on Ewing, concerning his professional life as a music editor, musician, photographer, and writer; and reviews of Going Somewhere. Sound recordings are two aluminum instantaneous phonodiscs, "Speak-O-Phone personal phonographs," made by Max Ewing with Berenice Abbott and Doris Ewing. Other papers include Ewing's parents' marriage certificate, diaries, notebooks, legal documents, lists of books read by Ewing, printed material, writings on Ewing by others, and an unidentified head sculpted in clay.

All material was a gift of Doris Ewing, 1943, unless otherwise noted.

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Box 34 (nitrate photographic negatives): Restricted fragile material. Some corresponding prints are available in Box 20. Consult Access Services for further information.

Box 35 (sound recordings): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.

Box 36 (clay bust): Restricted fragile material. Consult Access Services for further information.

Conditions Governing Use

The Max Ewing Collection 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 Doris Ewing (Max Ewing's cousin), Lawrence H. and Roberta Conrad, Alice de la Mar, Mark Lutz, and Carl Van Vechten, 1943. Gift of Doris Ewing and Mildred Henry, 1944. Gift of William John McAfee III, 1950. Gift of Wallace K. Ewing, 1998 and 2003.

Arrangement

Organized into six series: I. Correspondence, 1887-1946. II. Writings, 1927-1933. III. Gallery of Extraordinary Portraits, 1928. IV. Photographs, 1887-1924. V. Scrapbooks, 1922-1923. VI. Other Papers, 1901-2003.

Associated Materials

Printed material received with the collection was removed for separate cataloging and can be accessed by searching Orbis (Yale's Online Catalog).

Carl Van Vechten Papers (Za Van Vechten). Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Dates
1887 - 2003
Majority of material found within 1910 - 1934
Extent
11.45 Linear Feet (36 boxes)
Related Names
Ewing, Max
Language of Materials
English