Scope and Contents
The collection consists of correspondence, writings, photographs, personal papers, printed material, audiovisual material, memorabilia, and artwork that document the life and work of author J. D. McClatchy from his youth to the 2010s. Correspondence is both personal and professional and includes letters from Anthony Hecht, James Merrill, Robert Penn Warren, and Richard Wilbur, among many other prominent figures of twentieth- and twenty-first-century American literature, as well as correspondence relating to the publication of the Yale Review. Writings include drafts, proofs, and other material documenting the works of J. D. McClatchy, as well as journals and travel notebooks. Personal papers include documents, and diaries of Mary Jane McClatchy, mother of J. D. McClatchy.
Dates
- 1900-2012
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Audiovisual materials in boxes 57-59, 65, 67, 103, and 106: Use of originals is restricted. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Boxes 72, 76, 104 (computer disks): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies of electronic files may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Conditions Governing Use
The J. D. McClatchy 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 J. D. McClatchy on the Adele Gutman Nathan Theatrical Collection Fund, the Eugene G. O'Neill Memorial Fund, and the Elizabeth Wakeman Dwight Memorial Fund, 1994-2012; purchased from Chip Kidd on the Edwin J. Beinecke Book Fund, 2018; gift of J. D. McClatchy, 2012.
Arrangement
Organized into eight groupings: November 1994 Acquisition, October 1999 Acquisition, January 2000 Acquisition, August 2000 Acquisition, April 2001 Acquisition, October 2007 Acquisition, June 2012 Acquisition, and November 2012 Acquisition.
Material within this collection has been organized by acquisition reflecting the fact that the collection was acquired in increments over time.
Researchers should note that material within each acquisition overlaps and/or relates to material found in other acquisitions. 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
88.01 Linear Feet ((108 boxes) + 1 art, 2 broadside folders)
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 correspondence, writings, photographs, personal papers, printed material, audiovisual material, memorabilia, and artwork that document the life and work of author J. D. McClatchy from his youth to the 2010s. Correspondence is both personal and professional and includes letters from Anthony Hecht, James Merrill, Robert Penn Warren, and Richard Wilbur, among many other prominent figures of 20th and 21st century American literature, as well as correspondence relating to the publication of the Yale Review. Writings include drafts, proofs, and other material documenting the works of J. D. McClatchy, as well as journals and travel notebooks. Personal papers include documents, and diaries of Mary Jane McClatchy, mother of J. D. McClatchy.
J. D. McClatchy (1945-2018)
J. D. McClatchy was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, in 1945. He was educated at Georgetown and Yale, from which he received his Ph.D. in 1974. He published several books of poetry, including Hazmat (2002) which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and two collections of essays. He also wrote text for several operas. McClatchy taught in the English department at Yale University and served as editor of the Yale Review.
Processing Information
Former call numbers: Uncat ZA MS 417, Uncat ZA MS 632, Uncat ZA MS 650, Uncat MSS 94, Uncat MSS 140, Uncat MSS 984, Uncat MSS 1278, Uncat MSS 1279.
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 acquisition. Further processing was carried out in 2013. 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 finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
- American literature -- 20th century
- American poetry -- 20th Century
- Authors -- United States -- 20th century
- Authors, American -- 20th Century -- Archives
- Born digital
- Critics -- United States -- 20th Century
- Critics -- United States -- 20th Century -- Archives
- Electronic documents
- Hecht, Anthony, 1923-2004
- Librettists -- 20th Century -- Archives
- Librettists -- United States -- 20th Century
- McClatchy, J. D., 1945-2018
- McClatchy, Mary Jane
- Merrill, James, 1926-1995
- Poets -- United States -- 20th century
- Poets, American -- 20th Century -- Archives
- Warren, Robert Penn, 1905-1989
- Wilbur, Richard, 1921-2017
- Yale Review
- Yale University. Department of English
- Title
- Guide to the J. D. McClatchy Papers
- Author
- by Drew Adan and Lisa Conathan
- 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
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.