An Inventory of His Book-of-the-Month Club Materials at the Harry Ransom
Center
Creator:
Morley, Christopher,
1890-1957
Title:
Christopher Morley Book-of-the-Month Club
Materials
Dates:
1925-1955,
undated
Extent:
44 document boxes (18.30 linear feet), 1 galley folder
(gf)
Abstract:
The Christopher Morley Book-of-the-Month
Club Materials consist mainly of pre-publication bound galleys and page proofs of
works
examined by Morley acting as a member of the Club’s Selecting Committee. Several manuscripts
and a small amount of correspondence are also
present.
Call Number:
Manuscript Collection
MS-54224
Language:
English
Access:
Open for research.
Researchers must
create an online Research Account and agree to the Materials Use Policy before using
archival materials.
Use Policies:
Ransom Center collections may contain material with sensitive or confidential information
that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers
are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable
living
individuals represented in the collections without the consent of those individuals
may have
legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy
may
arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be
deemed
highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the Ransom Center and The University
of
Texas at Austin assume no responsibility.
Restrictions on Use:
Authorization for publication is given on behalf of the University of Texas as the
owner of
the collection and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright
holder
which must be obtained by the researcher. For more information please see the Ransom
Center's Open Access and Use Policies.
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation:
Christopher Morley Book-of-the-Month Club Materials (Manuscript Collection MS-54224).
Harry
Ransom Center, The University of Texas at
Austin.
Acquisition:
Purchase, 1959
(unnumbered).
Processed by:
Katie Salzmann, Angela Courtney, Traci Marlowe, James Thompson, and Joan Sibley, 1994;
updated 2025
This material is part of the Christopher Morley Collection. In 2025, to comply with
a
new content management system, this material was assigned a new collection number
(changed from MS-02921 to MS-54224) and
a new EAD number (changed from 01432 to 01556).
Scope and Contents
The Christopher Morley Book-of-the-Month Club Materials consist mainly of pre-publication
bound galleys and page proofs of works examined by Morley acting as a member of the
Club’s
Selecting Committee, 1925-1955. Several manuscripts and a small amount of correspondence
are
also present. These materials were originally accessioned as part of Morley's library
in
1959. However, because they represent pre-publication states of text, they were subsequently
transferred to be added to the large collection of Morley’s manuscripts, correspondence,
and
other papers. This inventory supplements the finding aid for the Christopher Morley
Collection.
The Book-of-the-Month Club materials have been arranged alphabetically by author and
title.
The format of the items has been indicated only when they represent other than galleys
or
page proofs. Notable among the manuscripts is the corrected typescript of the second
half of
George Santayana’s The Last Puritan, the first half of which
is owned by the University of Virginia's Alderman Library. Also of special note is
a very
heavily marked paste-up of Bruce Rogers’ Paragraphs on
Printing.
Only a few items of correspondence are present, including single letters from Blanche
Knopf
and Don Marquis. The Index of Correspondents at the end of this inventory includes
all
correspondent names and the locations of the letters. There is substantial correspondence
in
the Christopher Morley Collection between Morley and various representatives of the
Book-of-the-Month Club (about 130 items, 1925-1955), often with commentary concerning
specific books.
For further information about Morley and his collection and library at the Ransom
Center,
see:
Ashby, Anna Lou. A Publishing History of Christopher Morley. Dissertation, University
of
Texas at Austin,
1974.
Ashby, Anna Lou. "The Writer as Bookman: Christopher Morley's
Library."
Library Chronicle 2 (November, 1970)
Bracker, Jon. "The Christopher Morley Collection."
Library Chronicle VII, No. 2 (Summer, 1962).
