Arthur and Luce Klein Spoken Arts records
Collection
Call Number: MSS 105
Scope and Contents
The collection is comprised of the business records of Spoken Arts, Inc., whose catalog includes covers a wide range of literary works read by 20th century authors, poets, and other notables.
Dates
- 1924–2009
Creator
Language of Materials
English
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
On July 5th, 2001, Yale University and the Klein Family signed an agreement to establish the Klein Archive as part of the University's Historical Sound Recordings (HSR) Collection.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into six series: I. Project records, II. Program guides and related materials, III. Promotional materials and miscellanous office records, IV. Artist contracts, V. Artist correspondence and related material, and VI. Records on special projects.
Extent
18.35 Linear Feet (44 boxes)
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Overview
The collection is comprised of the business records of Spoken Arts, Inc., whose catalog includes covers a wide range of literary works read by 20th century authors, poets, and other notables.
Biographical / Historical
Founded in 1956 by Dr. Luce and Arthur Klein, Spoken Arts, Inc. was one of the first companies to record the spoken word. The company's first news release clearly stated its mission "to encourage a revival and reevaluation of the importance of the spoken word." In the ensuing years, Spoken Arts became well known for its recordings of 20th century authors and poets reading their own works, including such notables as Arthur Miller, Dorothy Parker, Langston Hughes, Cynthia Ozick, William Butler Yeats, Nadine Gordimer, Pablo Neruda, Gertrude Stein, James Baldwin, Cornelia Otis Skinner, S.J. Perelman, Grace Paley, W. H. Auden, Elie Wiesel, Anais Nin and many others.
The Spoken Arts catalog of over 750 recordings covers a wide range of literature, with subjects from Greek Mythology, Chaucer, Shakespeare, English Literature from the 17th and 18th centuries, English Poetry and Prose from the Romantic and Victorian Ages, Irish Literature, American Classics and Modern Drama, Great Women Writers, Treasuries of Fairy Tales and Folk Tales, Classic Children's Literature, French and Spanish Drama, German Poetry and Prose, Italian Verse, American History and Politics, as well as the Treasury of 100 Modern American poets reading their poems.
See also Spoken Arts Collection, Historical Sound Recordings.
The Spoken Arts catalog of over 750 recordings covers a wide range of literature, with subjects from Greek Mythology, Chaucer, Shakespeare, English Literature from the 17th and 18th centuries, English Poetry and Prose from the Romantic and Victorian Ages, Irish Literature, American Classics and Modern Drama, Great Women Writers, Treasuries of Fairy Tales and Folk Tales, Classic Children's Literature, French and Spanish Drama, German Poetry and Prose, Italian Verse, American History and Politics, as well as the Treasury of 100 Modern American poets reading their poems.
See also Spoken Arts Collection, Historical Sound Recordings.
Processing Information
Collection processed in 2014. Finding aid created in 2019.
- Title
- Guide to the Arthur and Luce Klein Spoken Arts Records
- Author
- written by Mark Bailey. Updated (2019) by Michelle Peralta.
- Date
- February 2019
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
- Sponsor
- This project was supported by a Hidden Collections grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The grant program is made possible by funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Part of the Yale University Music Library Repository
Contact:
120 High Street
PO Box 208240
New Haven CT 06520 US
(203) 432-0497
musicspecialcollections@yale.edu
120 High Street
PO Box 208240
New Haven CT 06520 US
(203) 432-0497
musicspecialcollections@yale.edu