Damon Runyon Papers

Collection

Call Number: YCAL MSS 832

Scope and Contents

The Damon Runyon papers contain correspondence, writings, photographs, scrapbooks, films, and other papers documenting the literary and personal activities of American author Damon Runyon. Correspondence consists chiefly of telegrams to Runyon and his second wife, Patrice Amati, from friends and others, and telegrams from Runyon to Patrice dating from the late 1920s through early 1930s. Writings include the work of Damon Runyon, such as drafts of poems and short stories, and writings of others. There are photographs of Damon and Patrice Runyon and numerous American cultural figures from roughly the 1920s through 1940s, including Milton Berle, Jack Dempsey, Al Jolson, Joe Louis, Adele Rogers St. Johns, Walter Winchell, and others. Scrapbooks contain additional correspondence, photographs, and clippings relating to Runyon and his wife, and to Patrice and Richard Coffin. Other materials in the collection include artwork, clippings, financial and legal records, medical and military records, and printed ephemera.

Dates

1876-1985

Creator

Runyon, Damon, 1880-1946

Language

English

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

19-33 (reel-to-reel film): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.

Conditions Governing Use

The Damon Runyon 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 William P. Considine, 1985.

Arrangement

Organied into six series: I. Correspondence, 1918-1980. II. Writings, 1923-1940. III. Photographs, 1888-1967. IV. Scrapbooks, 1917-1980. V. Films, 1933. VI. Other Papers,1876-1985.

Extent

4.71 Linear Feet ((22 boxes) + 15 cold storage, 3 art, 1 broadside folder)

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

http://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/beinecke.runyon

Additional Description

Overview

The Damon Runyon papers contain correspondence, writings, photographs, scrapbooks, films, and other papers documenting the literary and personal activities of American author Damon Runyon.

Alfred Damon Runyon (1884-1946)

Damon Runyon, American journalist and short-story writer, was born 4 October, 1884, in Manhattan, Kansas to Elizabeth and Alfred Lee Runyan, a printer and newspaper publisher. In 1898, Runyon enlisted in the U.S. Army during the Spanish-American War and served in the Philippines. After the war, he worked for a number of newspapers in various small towns in Colorado before he was hired in 1905 as a reporter for the Denver Post. He worked briefly in 1906 as a reporter for the San Francisco Post before returning to Denver to work for the Rocky Mountain News, where he covered sports, crime, and court stories. In addition to his newspaper duties, Runyon wrote short stories and poems for national magazines, including Harper’s and McClure’s. In 1910, Runyon moved to New York to work as a sportswriter for the New York American. Runyon published a collection of poems, The Tents of Trouble, in 1911, and during the 1920’s and 1930’s, he published many short stories. In 1932 he published Guys and Dolls, which was made into a popular Broadway musical and film. Motion picture adaptations of two other stories, “The Lemon Drop Kid” and “Little Miss Marker,” appeared in 1934. Runyon died 10 December 1946 in New York City.

Biographical information taken from the Guide to Literary Masters & Their Works (January 2007).

Processing Information

This collection received a basic level of processing, including rehousing and minimal organization. Descriptive information is drawn in large part from information supplied with the collection and from an initial survey of the contents.

Former call number: Uncat Za Ms 321.

This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for revisions in arrangement and description.