Acquisition:	Purchase and Gifts, 1980-1990 (G2131, G8377, R8647)
	Processed by:	Amy E. Armstrong, 2009

Repository:

Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

	Edward "Ted" Augustus Weeks, Jr. was born on February 19, 1898 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Weeks entered Cornell University in 1916 to study mechanical engineering, but after a year the certainty of academic probation prompted him to pursue other pursuits. In 1917 he volunteered as an American Field Service ambulance driver in France during World War I and served for just over a year. When Weeks returned home in 1919, he entered Harvard University and studied English.
	In order to pay tuition, Weeks held a number of jobs, including traveling field hand, dishwasher, and University correspondent for the Boston Evening Transcript. He later became assistant editor of the Harvard Advocate. At the Advocate, Weeks displayed an innate aptitude for editing and published the work of several Harvard students who would later go on to successful writing careers, including Walter D. Edmonds, Oliver LaFarge, Berry Flemming, and composer Virgil Thompson. Weeks edited a particularly notable issue of the Advocate that parodied the prestigious Boston-published magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, leading to a fortuitous meeting with its editor, Ellery Sedgwick. In 1922, Weeks graduated from Harvard University and was awarded a one-year postgraduate Fiske Fellowship to study at Cambridge University. While in England, Weeks subsidized his living as Cambridge correspondent for the Associated Press.
	After returning to the United States, Weeks settled in New York City and sold books for Boni & Liveright, eventually becoming a manuscripts reader for the firm, utilizing a system of speed reading that allowed him to get through dozens of manuscripts in one day. In 1924, Weeks received a letter from The Atlantic Monthly editor Ellery Sedgwick inviting him to interview for a position with his publication. Weeks accepted the position of assistant editor, beginning his near-fifty-year professional association with the magazine and press. In 1925, Weeks married Frederica "Fritzy" Watriss. The couple would later have a daughter Sara Thompson and son Edward Francis.
	Weeks's early success at The Atlantic--in 1927 he recommended publication of a story called "Fifty Grand" by a relatively little-known author named Ernest Hemingway--led to his promotion to editor of the failing Atlantic Monthly Press in 1928. The press, established in 1917 by Ellery Sedgwick, had partnered with Little, Brown and Company in 1925 and published under the Atlantic-Little, Brown imprint. The Atlantic Monthly Press was responsible for soliciting and securing manuscripts, and Little, Brown was responsible for copy editing and publishing. Weeks turned the press around, eliminated debt, and initiated a series of successful manuscript contests. Under Weeks's leadership, Atlantic-Little Brown published many best-selling novels, including Good-bye Mr. Chips, Drums Along the Mohawk, and Mutiny on the Bounty and its sequels; supported the careers of established writers such as Catherine Drinker Bowen, Walter Lippman, and Samuel Eliot Morison; and launched the careers of writers such as Mazo de la Roche.
	In 1938, Ellery Sedgwick retired as editor from The Atlantic Monthly and selected Weeks as his successor, making him the ninth editor of the magazine. Once again Weeks enjoyed success as he revived the magazine with an altered layout, printed more topical articles, established special foreign supplements, included color illustrations, and increased circulation. He also contributed his own essays and wrote the Atlantic's  "Peripatetic Reviewer" column. Twenty-eight years later, the longest tenure of any editor at the magazine, Weeks retired as editor-in-chief but continued his association through his column and as editor emeritus of both the magazine and press for the remainder of his life.
	In addition to his career as editor, Weeks volunteered as chairman of the Massachusetts Committee to Reform Book Censorship during the 1920s, hosted a radio program called Meet Mr. Weeks, wrote or contributed to more than 20 books including several memoirs, assisted with selection of Peabody Award winners, and also found time to pursue his love of fishing. In 1970, his first wife "Fritzy" died and the following year he married former Atlantic colleague, Phoebe Lou Adams.
	Edward "Ted" Weeks died on March 11, 1989 in Thompson, Connecticut at the age of 91.

	Scope and Contents
		The Edward Weeks Papers, 1912-1989 (bulk 1929-1969) consists of professional and personal papers Weeks amassed during his long tenure as editor of The Atlantic Monthly (later The Atlantic) and The Atlantic Monthly Press and contains incoming, outgoing, and third-party correspondence with contributing authors, agents, publishers and readers, memos, reader reports, manuscripts, and galley proofs, as well as associated items such as newspaper clippings, printed material, and some photographs. The bulk of the archive is Weeks's editorial files comprised of his author files and The Atlantic special supplement files. The Papers are organized into five series: I. Editorial Files, 1919-1987; II. Works, 1941-1982; III. Meet Mr. Weeks Radio Show, 1941-1982; IV. Personal Correspondence, 1924-1989; and V. Publications and Printed Matter 1939-1975.
		Series I. Editorial Files documents Weeks's near forty-year long career as editor of The Atlantic Monthly and The Atlantic Monthly Press and is arranged into two subseries: A. Author Files and B. Foreign and Special Supplements. Weeks's author files are a veritable international roster of the mid-twentieth century's most eminent thinkers, news-makers, and Pulitzer Prize-winning authors. Weeks's persistence in soliciting notable writers, poets, artists, composers, statesmen, scientists, historians, actors, and scholars to contribute to The Atlantic Monthly and/or its press is evident through the correspondence, as is his ability to nurture and encourage both established and promising new writers. Subseries B. Foreign and Special Supplements contains files related to three Atlantic special supplement issues. Beginning in 1953, the Atlantic published twenty-one foreign supplements which focused on the economic, social, and artistic aspects of a geographical region. Articles, essays, stories, and poems were typically written by citizens of the country, thus exposing American audiences to a new and diverse range of material. This subseries contains files related to two special foreign supplement issues: Russia (1960) and Yugoslavia (1962). The final special supplement is a memorial tribute to Prime Minister Winston Churchill after his death in 1965. The bulk of this series is comprised of correspondence with potential and actual contributors, translators, agents, publishers, and readers. Manuscript drafts and translations, reader reports, clippings, author biographies, and other related material are also contained in this series. An Index of Other People's Works, which also includes the writings of Edward Weeks spread throughout the collection, can be found at the end of this inventory.
		Edward "Ted" Weeks was not only a successful publisher, but also a prolific writer. Series II. Works includes manuscript drafts, galley proofs, correspondence, fan mail, clippings, reviews, and related material associated with Weeks's books, essays, book reviews, and public lectures. He authored, edited, or contributed to over twenty books on subjects such as the publishing trade, notable books and authors, Boston history, and fishing, and also wrote several memoirs. In addition to writing the Atlantic's "Peripatetic Reviewer" column, Weeks frequently contributed other essays to the magazine and other publications. Not only gifted with the written word, Weeks was a highly sought after public speaker and lecturer. This series is arranged into three subseries: A. Books, B. Atlantic Monthly Essays and Reviews, and C. Other Writings. Books represented in this archive include Great Short Novels: An Anthology (1941), The Open Heart (1955), Jubilee: One Hundred Years of The Atlantic (1958), In Friendly Candor (1959), The Lowells and their Institute (1966), Fresh Waters (1968), My Green Age (1974), and Writers and Friends (1981).
		The Meet Mr. Weeks radio show first aired on NBC Radio in 1939. Through commentary and notable special guests, usually authors, Weeks presented the "human side of literature." Series III. Meet Mr. Weeks Radio Show is comprised of support and listener comment letters and a small amount of promotional material, as well as memos and notes.
		Series IV. Personal Correspondence is comprised of incoming and/or outgoing letters between Weeks and his friends, associates, and brother, John "Jack" Weeks.
		Series V. Publications and Printed Matter includes serials and published pamphlets loose in the collection or moved from their original folder location. If applicable, a separation sheet lists that location. This series is arranged in alphabetical order.
		Correspondent names are listed in the Partial Index of Correspondents located at the end of this finding aid; however, in most cases routine fan mail is not listed in this Index.
	Series Descriptions
		Series I. Editorial Files, 1919-1987 (57.5 boxes)
		Subseries A. Author Files is comprised primarily of Week's correspondence with potential and contributing authors and is organized alphabetically. The majority of correspondents are contained within folders by letter span, with more voluminous files listed by author's last name. In general, file contents have been kept in their original arrangement, with incoming and outgoing letters--if present--interfiled in reverse chronological order. Frequently small slips of paper listing the author's works published by The Atlantic Monthly magazine or press, as well as lists of microfilm rolls (presumably completed as part of a records management system by the company) were paper-clipped to the interior of the original folder. If present, these are at the beginning of the new folder. The volume and contents of the files vary and may contain correspondence, manuscript drafts, galley proofs, page proofs, reader reports, Weeks's reading notes, production material, fan mail and comments from readers, clippings, reviews, dust jackets, promotional material, author biographies, photographs, and internal memos circulated among the magazine, the press, and Little, Brown Publishers.
		Frequently the files are incomplete as they often do not contain the entire span of correspondence--for instance, Weeks's outgoing letters are frequently absent--or all of the manuscripts. Particular authors are heavily represented in the archive, and therefore, these files offer a more complete view of Weeks's editorial process and his relationship with authors, many of whom regarded him as a personal friend as well as an editor. Such letters often reveal intimate details about their life and work. Of particular interest are the files regarding: Catherine Drinker Bowen, award-winning biographer; Mazo De la Roche, Atlantic $10,000 novel contest winner and author of the Jalna series; James Norman Hall and Charles Nordhoff, co-authors of the Mutiny on the Bounty series who lived in the South Pacific; Walter Dumaux Edmonds, author of historical fiction and best-selling novel Drums Along the Mohawk; sibling writers, Edith and Osbert Sitwell; Weeks discovery and best-selling spy novelist, Geoffrey Household; Martha Gellhorn, highly regarded war correspondent and third wife of Ernest Hemingway; Agnes Newton Keith, author of Three Came Home, her memoir about her family's internment at a Japanese POW camp; Nora Waln, a Quaker writer who wrote about living in China and pre-World War II Germany; George Kennan, advisor, diplomat, and originator of "containment" theory; Walter Lippmann, journalist, advisor, and political commentator; Curtis Cate, an Atlantic contributor based in France; and Peter Ustinov, particularly for his amusing illustrated letters.
		In relation to fiction, Weeks's increasingly printed topical and global essays in an attempt to educate Americans and foster discussion, which often sparked controversy and, not surprisingly, a great amount of mail from The Atlantic Monthly's readers. As readers responded to current event pieces, these letters often reveal a great deal about this country's--and indeed the world's--cultural and political climate. For example, during a period of intense anti-Semitism in this country, Weeks published a provocative essay by Albert Jay Nock called "The Jewish Problem in America." The outpouring of letters received from readers led Weeks to publish a series of rebuttals and supports that lasted several months in an attempt to foster a dialogue about Americans' attitude and treatment of the Jews in 1941. When Erle Stanley Gardner, creator of the character Perry Mason, wrote "The Mad Strangler of Boston" in 1964 many readers wrote offering tips and possible solutions for solving the case.
		Subseries B. Foreign and Special Supplements contains material related to special supplements about Russia, Yugoslavia, and Winston Churchill. The Atlantic Monthly published twenty-one special "Foreign Supplements" which contained poetry, essays, and stories about relevant, but largely unfamiliar countries to many Americans. The supplemental issues contained pieces written by contemporary writers from that country and were edited by Weeks or other individuals knowledgeable about the region and included, for example, James Laughlin, William Polk, and Elisabeth Borghese. The inaugural supplement, about India, was published in October 1953 and the following twenty issues brought focus to places such as Japan, Germany, China, Burma, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Weeks commissioned the Russian supplement in the summer 1959 while accompanying Paddy Chayefsky, Alfred Kazin, and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. on a cultural exchange to Russia. The Russian supplement was published in June 1960. The Yugoslav Supplement was commissioned by Weeks in 1960 and edited with the assistance of then Ambassador to Yugoslavia, George F. Kennan, and was published in December 1962.
		Weeks had been planning a special issue about Winston Churchill for many years and had assigned authors to write articles about Churchill. When Churchill died in 1965, Weeks already had all of the material required for a special supplement about him and The Atlantic Monthly was the only American magazine to devote an entire issue to the former British Prime Minister at the time of his death.
		This subseries includes incoming and outgoing correspondence (often with English translations) with writers, translators, publishers, agents, and other individuals relevant to producing the supplement. The subseries also includes authors' biographies, clippings, writings (also often with English translations), memoranda, reader reports, notes, and photographs.
		Series II. Works, 1941-1982 (4 boxes)
		Weeks authored, edited, or contributed to over twenty books and was a frequent contributor to The Atlantic Monthly and other publications; however, only a small sample of Weeks's writings is represented in this archive. Subseries A. Books includes manuscript drafts, galley proofs, correspondence, fan mail, clippings, reviews, and production material related to Great Short Novels: An Anthology (1941), The Open Heart (memoir, 1955), Jubilee: One Hundred Years of The Atlantic (1958), In Friendly Candor (memoir, 1959), The Lowells and their Institute (1966), Fresh Waters (1968), My Green Age (memoir, 1974), and Writers and Friends (memoir, 1981). Manuscript drafts and/or galley proofs are present for In Friendly Candor, The Lowells and their Institute, My Green Age, and Writers and Friends. Correspondence from readers and friends, reviews, and loose clippings are also contained in this series. Two scrapbooks containing letters and clippings for the book, The Open Heart, are present; one of which contains a dust jacket and promotional material for Jubilee.
		Series B. Atlantic Monthly Essays and Reviews primarily contains material regarding a public address Weeks delivered at the 1958 conference of the American Unitarian Association entitled "How Big is One" and published in The Atlantic Monthly. In this piece, Weeks criticizes big business and government and America's embracement of mass culture at the expense of taste, choice, and individualism. Related to this article is a typescript, several copies of the published article, and a large amount of letters from readers. Also included in this series are photocopies of cards listing the titles of books Weeks reviewed, as well as one clipping and review taken from his "Peripatetic Reviewer" column.
		Subseries C. Other Writings largely contains published versions of Weeks's public addresses in the form of pamphlets and articles. This series also contains an article Weeks submitted to Look magazine and a photocopy of a transcript for his appearance with author and folklorist J. Frank Dobie on The University of Texas television series Colloquy in 1961.
		Series III. Meet Mr. Weeks Radio Show, 1941-1982 (0.5 boxes)
		The Meet Mr. Weeks radio show first aired on NBC Radio in 1939. Though the broadcast only lasted two years, Weeks attempted to present what he called the "human side of literature" to American radio audiences. Through this weekly program, Weeks discussed interesting and non-traditional topics and themes related to literature with guests who were notable authors and public figures. With humor and wit, Weeks and his guests explored such topics as the writing process, historical authors and books, the art of letters and diaries, literary forgeries, censorship, small town America, and the challenges faced by women writers. This series is comprised of letters related to the radio program, many of which offer encouragement and support from friends and acquaintances. In addition, there are many comments from the public, as well as written exchanges between Weeks and individual listeners in which he is requesting permission to quote from their letters or use their name on the air. There is a small amount of promotional material, as well as memos and notes.
		Series IV. Personal Correspondence, 1924-1989 (1.5 boxes)
		This series is comprised of incoming and outgoing letters between Weeks and his friends and associates. Though many of the correspondents are authors with whom Weeks worked, the nature of the correspondence is more personal in nature and typically unrelated to his role as editor. There is a large volume of original outgoing letters Weeks sent to his brother, John "Jack" Weeks, between 1971 and 1989. Additionally, there is one bound volume of letters sent to Weeks by friends and acquaintances on the occasion of his 68th birthday. Correspondent names are listed in the Partial Index of Correspondents located at the end of this finding aid.
		Series V. Publications and Printed Matter, 1939-1975 (0.25 boxes)
		Series V. Publications and Printed Matter includes serials and published pamphlets loose in the collection or moved from their original folder location. If applicable, a separation sheet lists that location. Of particular interest is The Atlantic Monthly's special Churchill supplement (1965) and A Descendant of Kings, written by Weeks's aunt, Eliza ("Liz") Gracie Suydam. This series is arranged in alphabetical order.

	Related Collections at the Harry Ransom Center include Ann Bridge, Lillian Hellman, Thayer Hobson, James Jones, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Records, Literary Files Collection, Robert Lowell, Dame Edith Sitwell, Sacheverell Sitwell, and the Mike Wallace Interview Collection.
	Other repositories with material related to Edward Weeks include the Massachusetts Historical Society and Columbia University.

Several books and bound volumes of The Atlantic Monthly have been separated from the collection and are housed in the Ransom Center's Book Collection.

	People
		Weeks, Edward, 1898-1989.
		Sedgwick, Ellery, 1872-1960.
	Organizations
		Atlantic-Little, Brown books.
		Atlantic monthly.
		Atlantic Monthly Press.
		Little, Brown and Company.
	Subjects
		Authors, American--20th century.
		Authors, British--20th century.
		Authors and publishers.
		Editors--United States.
		Journalism--United States.
	Document Types
		Clippings.
		Correspondence.
		Galley proofs.
		Manuscripts.
		Photographs.
		Poems.
		Postcards.
		Publications.
		Scrapbooks.