Permanent URL: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/d504rk34t
Struthers Burt Papers, 1845-1957 (bulk 1911-1954): Finding Aid
C0039
Sturthers Burt on his ranch in Wyoming
One Washington Road
Princeton, New Jersey 08544 USA
Phone: (609) 258-3184
Fax: (609) 258-2324
rbsc@princeton.edu
http://www.princeton.edu/~rbsc
Published in 1997
©2007 Princeton University Library
Summary Information
- Creator:
- Burt, Maxwell Struthers, 1882-1954.
- Title and dates:
- Struthers Burt Papers, 1845-1957 (bulk 1911-1954)
- Abstract:
- Struthers Burt was a noted poet, prose writer and rancher in the first half of the twentieth century. The collection includes various copies of some of Burt’s own works, correspondence with family and friends from his days at Princeton University, and assorted materials about his family and genealogy.
- Size:
- 15.5 linear feet (27 boxes, 4 oversize flat boxes, 2 cartons)
- Call number:
- C0039
- Location:
- Princeton University Library. Department of Rare Books and Special Collections.
Manuscripts Division.
Princeton, New Jersey 08544 USA - Language(s) of material:
- English.
- Storage note:
- This collection is stored onsite at Firestone Library.
Biography of Struthers Burt
[Maxwell] Struthers Burt (1882-1954), author, dude rancher, poet, was the patriarch of an American literary family. Burt married Katharine Newlin, whom he had met while studying at Oxford, in 1912. While living in Wyoming, both took up writing and both become very successful, penning short stories, novels, screenplays, poetry, and nonfiction. Much of their work was based on their experiences in the vast wilderness of the West. Their first child, Nathaniel Burt (Class of 1936), was born in 1913 and also became a well-known writer.
While living in Wyoming, Burt was a dude wrangler on the Bar BC Ranch, which he had co-founded in 1912; these experiences led to perhaps his most famous book The Diary of a Dude Wrangler, published by Scribner's-Burt's main house-in 1924.
Burt wrote short stories prolificly through the 1920s, authoring 37 different tales, most published in high-class fiction and poetry magazines like Scribner's, Collier's, or The Saturday Evening Post. As he grew older, Burt shifted his writing towards novels, critical pieces, and “subjective histories”, including Malice in Blunderland, Philadelphia, Holy Experiment, and Powder River; Let 'er Buck.
In the late 1920s Burt grew tired of an active dude ranch, and wanted a quieter place in which to write. In 1929 he bought two old ranches, merged them, and formed the Three Rivers Ranch, a Burt family retreat for the next half century.
Despite local opposition, Burt supported the establishment of a national park in the Jackson Hole/Teton Mountain area. Burt helped enlist the financial backing of John D. Rockefeller and his Snake River Land Co., which made the Grand Teton National Park a reality. Burt agreed to sell the Three Rivers Ranch to Rockefeller (who would later give the land to the government) at cost, in exchange for a 50-year lease on that property. The Three Rivers Ranch is now part of Grand Teton Park, having reverted to the Park Service in 1980.
Although raised a Philadelphian, Burt spent much of his time later in life at the Three Rivers Ranch or at his winter estate, Hibernia, in Southern Pines, North Carolina.
Struthers Burt Chronology
- 1882: Born in Baltimore on October 18
- 1898-1900: Reporter for the Philadelphia Times
- 1900: Entered Princeton University
- 1904: Graduated from Princeton
- 1904-1905: Studied at the University of Munich
- 1905-1906: Studied at Merton College, Oxford
- 1906-1908: Taught English at Princeton
- 1912: Co-founded the Bar BC Ranch married Katharine Newlin
- 1913: Son, Nathaniel Burt (Class of 1936) was born
- 1915: Published first short story, “Water-Hole,” in Scribner's
- 1920: Won the O. Henry Memorial Prize for “Each in His Generation”
- 1924: Published The Diary of a Dude Wrangler
- 1929: Formed the Three Rivers Ranch in Moran, Wyoming
- 1935: Published Malice in Blunderland
- 1938: Published Powder River; Let 'er Buck
- 1945: Published Philadelphia, Holy Experiment
- 1954: Died in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on August 29
Description
The collection consists of manuscripts, typescripts, and proofs of some books ( Along These Streets (NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1942), The Delectable Mountains (NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1927), Diary of a Dude-Wrangler (NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1924), Ink & Blood (NY: The Heritage Press, 1946), Philadelphia: Holy Experiment (NY: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., 1945), Powder River: Let 'Er Buck (NY: Farrar & Rinehart Inc., 1938)), plays, short stories, essays, and poems ( War Songs (NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1942), When I Grew Up To Middle Age (NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925)) of Burt (Class of 1904), as well as notebooks containing his ideas for stories, novels, and articles. The collection also includes correspondence from editors, friends, and associates, notably Max Perkins, James Boyd, and other Princetonians, and signed copies of an author's manifesto, written by Burt in 1941 and circulated to well-known American authors, urging U.S. aid to England. The main family members represented in the correspondence are Julia Burt, Nathaniel Burt, Katharine Newlin Burt, and Alice Burt Riley.
Among various documents in the collection are wills, contracts, awards, and photographs of Burt and his family, as well as genealogical material about the Burt, Farmer, and Lehman families, mainly gathered by Mary Theodora Burt. The collection also houses three boxes of tear sheets and magazines, some of Katharine Newlin Burt's manuscripts, typescripts (mainly of her short stories), and notebooks, plus small collections of the papers of Jean Brooke Burt, Nathaniel Burt, and others.
Arrangement
Organized into the following series:
- Series 1: Works
- Subseries 1A: Books
- Subseries 1B: Plays
- Subseries 1C: Short Fiction
- Subseries 1D: Short Nonfiction
- Subseries 1E: Poetry, Miscellaneous Writings
- Series 2: Notebooks
- Series 3: Correspondence
- Subseries 3A: Personal
- Subseries 3B: Family
- Series 4: Documents
- Series 5: Photographs
- Series 6: Geneology
- Series 7: Printed Material
- Subseries 7A: Tear Sheets
- Subseries 7B: Magazines
- Series 8: Papers of Others
- Subseries 8A: Katharine Newlin Burt
- Subseries 8B: Jean Brooke Burt
- Subseries 8C: Burt - Noyes
Access and Use
Access
Collection is open for research use.
Restrictions on Use and Copyright Information
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. Permission to publish material from the collection must be requested from the Associate University Librarian for Rare Books and Special Collections. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.
Processing and Other Information
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Colin Campbell '98 in 1997. Finding aid written by Colin Campbell '98 in 1997.
Descriptive Rules Used
Finding aid content adheres to that prescribed by Describing Archives: A Content Standard.
Encoding
Machine-readable finding aid encoded in EAD 2002 by Techbooks, Cristela García-Spitz, and Diann Benti on April 6, 2007. Created from MARC record via MarcEdit and XSL stylesheets in 2007.
Finding aid written in English.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Struthers Burt Papers, Box and Folder Number; Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
Subject Headings
These materials have been indexed in the Princeton University Library online catalog using the following terms. Those seeking related materials should search under these terms.
- Princeton University. Class of 1904.
- American fiction -- 20th century.
- American poetry -- 20th century.
- Authors and publishers -- United States -- 20th century.
- Dude ranches -- Wyoming -- 20th century.
- Stories, American -- 20th century.
- Photoprints.
- Contracts
- Fiction
- Manifestoes
- Notebooks
- Poets, American
- Dude ranchers -- Wyoming -- 20th century.
- Novelists, American -- 20th century.
- Burt, Katharine Newlin, 1882-1977.
Browse other finding aids related to the following terms:
Contents List
Series 1: Works
Subseries 1A: Books
Along these Streets
Box 1-2 Blood and Ink
Box 3, Folder 1 - 2 The Delectable Mountains
Box 3, Folder 3 - 4 The Diary of A Dude Wrangler
Box 3, Folder 5 Festival
Box 3, Folder 6 - 7 Philadelphia: Holy Experiment
Box 4 - 5 Powder River: Let 'er Buck
Box 6 proof sheets
Box 7 Escape from America
Box 7, Folder 1 Malice in Blunderland
Box 7, Folder 2 They Could Not Sleep
Box 7, Folder 3 book jackets
Box 7, Folder 4 Subseries 1B: Plays
Mumbo Jumbo
Box 8, Folder 1 play (untitled)
Box 8, Folder 2 Subseries 1C: Short Fiction
The Adamantine Spindle
Box 9, Folder 1 Angel in Stone
Box 9, Folder 2 Artists
Box 9, Folder 3 Bad Blood
Box 9, Folder 4 Camera Obscura
Box 9, Folder 5 Dancing Boy
Box 9, Folder 6 Dude Wrangler, no. II. Hidden Trails
Box 9, Folder 7 Dude Wrangler, no. IV. Tired Man
Box 9, Folder 8 Duello
Box 9, Folder 9 The Fawn
Box 9, Folder 10 Force of Habit: The Story of Philadelphia Cinderella
Box 9, Folder 11 Freedom
Box 9, Folder 12 Full Harvest
Box 9, Folder 13 Groomed for Marriage
Box 9, Folder 14 The Group
Box 9, Folder 15 Guns to the South
Box 9, Folder 16 Honeysuckel
Box 9, Folder 17 House of Beauty
Box 9, Folder 18 Ice Pack
Box 9, Folder 19 John Euth Parleys (Not so dumb)
Box 10, Folder 1 Lonely Women
Box 10, Folder 2 Masquerade
Box 10, Folder 3 Music at Ragusa
Box 10, Folder 4 Quaker Sprites
Box 10, Folder 5 Respect
Box 10, Folder 6 Singing Quarter
Box 10, Folder 7 So Ingenuous
Box 10, Folder 8 Staris
Box 10, Folder 9 Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On
Box 10, Folder 10 Summer
Box 10, Folder 11 Table Manners
Box 10, Folder 12 Tales of Dude Wrangler
Box 10, Folder 13 Tomorrow and Tomorrow
Box 10, Folder 14 Uncle Henry: The Get Away
Box 10, Folder 15 Unexpected Embrace (The Stuffed Shirt and the Lady)
Box 10, Folder 16 Way . . . Mountain Time
Box 10, Folder 17 When His Ships Came In
Box 10, Folder 18 You Are All Pardoned
Box 10, Folder 19 Subseries 1D: Short Nonfiction
And So They Came Home
Box 11, Folder 1 And You Worry Me, Mr. Priestly
Box 11, Folder 2 Are You a Democrat?
Box 11, Folder 3 The Avoidance of Being American
Box 11, Folder 4 The Broken South
Box 11, Folder 5 Cabbages and Toadstools
Box 11, Folder 6 Common Sense and Russia
Box 11, Folder 7 Confession
Box 11, Folder 8 Conversation between an American and an English Friend
Box 11, Folder 9 Democracy for Everyone
Box 11, Folder 10 The European Complex
Box 11, Folder 11 The Failure of Democracy
Box 11, Folder 12 Farewell Romance
Box 11, Folder 13 For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People
Box 11, Folder 14 Furor Britannious
Box 11, Folder 15 Gallie Calm
Box 11, Folder 16 God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Box 11, Folder 17 Green and Fancy Grocers (The Facts of Life)
Box 11, Folder 18 Head I Win, Tails you Lose
Box 11, Folder 19 Honor Bound
Box 11, Folder 20 How America Lives: The Live Oak Trees and Meet the Beltzhoovers of Natchez, Miss.
Box 11, Folder 21 Human With a Difference
Box 11, Folder 22 I Want To Go Ranching, But . . .
Box 11, Folder 23 Jackson Hole and the Tetons
Box 11, Folder 24 Liberty
Box 11, Folder 25 Lost Liberal
Box 11, Folder 26 The Most Unforgettable Character I've Even Met
Box 11, Folder 27 Mr. Smith (book review by Struthers Burt)
Box 11, Folder 28 No Gentlemen Present
Box 11, Folder 29 Ob-Scenic America (Obsenic Scenery)
Box 12, Folder 1 On Scott Fitzgerald
Box 12, Folder 2 An Open Letter in Answer to the Open Letter of Ilya Ehrenburg
Box 12, Folder 3 Our Jail
Box 12, Folder 4 Our Weight in Wildcats
Box 12, Folder 5 Owen Wister
Box 12, Folder 6 Perfect Truth
Box 12, Folder 7 The Phantom of the Ranges
Box 12, Folder 8 The Sealed Verdict
Box 12, Folder 9 Ships, and Shoes, and Sealing Wax
Box 12, Folder 10 The Subtle Land
Box 12, Folder 11 Surprise Number 3
Box 12, Folder 12 Tabloids and Truthful Tales
Box 12, Folder 13 Tendencies in Present Day Literature
Box 12, Folder 14 These Standardized United States
Box 12, Folder 15 This Can Be America
Box 12, Folder 16 This Subtle Land
Box 12, Folder 17 To Much Pot (Too Rich a Mixture)
Box 12, Folder 18 Wanted, A Butler
Box 12, Folder 19 What the Intelligensia Ought to Know
Box 12, Folder 20 Where'e the Canyon, Parts I and II
Box 12, Folder 21 Who Are They Talking About
Box 12, Folder 22 Why Hate the Jews
Box 12, Folder 23 Wood Choppers of Nass
Box 12, Folder 24 Your Old Men Shall Dream Dreams, Your Young Men Shall See Visions
Box 12, Folder 25 Subseries 1E: Poetry, Miscellaneous Writings
A - Z
Box 13, Folder 1 War Songs
Box 13, Folder 2 untitled poems and fragments of poems
Box 13, Folder 3 manuscript fragments
Box 13, Folder 4 manuscript fragments
Box 13, Folder 5 Series 2: Notebooks
notes for the Adamantive Spindle
Box 14, Folder 1 notes for Festival, The Inn, Ladies Home Journal articles
Box 14, Folder 2 notes for Mrs. Phoenix, Owen Wister
Box 14, Folder 3 miscellaneous notebooks
Box 15 Series 3: Correspondence
Subseries 3A: Personal
A - G
Box 16 H - S
Box 17 T - U
Box 18, Folder 1 W - Z
Box 18, Folder 2 unidentified correspondence
Box 18, Folder 3 author's manifesto
Box 18, Folder 4 letter of sympathy
Box 18, Folder 5 Subseries 3B: Family
Atteberry, George (son-in-law)
Box 19, Folder 1 Burt, Julia (later Atteberry)
Box 19, Folder 2 Burt, Julia
Box 19, Folder 3 Burt, Julia
Box 19, Folder 4 Burt, Katharine Newlin
Box 19, Folder 5 Burt, Nathaniel
Box 19, Folder 6 Riley, Alice Burt
Box 19, Folder 7 miscellaneous family correspondence
Box 19, Folder 8 Series 4: Documents
contracts
Box 20, Folder 1 wills
Box 20, Folder 2 miscellaneous, including oversize
Box 20, Folder 3 Series 5: Photographs
Photographs
Box 21 Series 6: Geneology
Geneology
Box 22 Series 7: Printed Material
Subseries 7A: Tear Sheets
fiction to 1926
Box 23, Folder 1 fiction from 1927
Box 23, Folder 2 nonfiction, 1920-1924
Box 24, Folder 1 nonfiction, 1925-1929
Box 24, Folder 2 nonfiction, 1930-1934
Box 24, Folder 3 nonfiction, 1935-1939
Box 24, Folder 4 nonfiction, 1940-1944
Box 24, Folder 5 This is America (from Ladies Home Journal)
Box 24, Folder 6 This Can Be America (from Ladies Home Journal)
Box 24, Folder 7 nonfiction, 1945-1951
Box 24, Folder 8 nonfiction, misc.
Box 24, Folder 9 publicity
Box 24, Folder 10 memorabilia
Box 24, Folder 11 Subseries 7B: Magazines
Magazines
Box 25 Series 8: Papers of Others
Subseries 8A: Katharine Newlin Burt
The Beautiful House
Box 26, Folder 1 Beauty in Breakstone Valley
Box 26, Folder 2 The Blunder Baby
Box 26, Folder 3 Blind Man's Bluff
Box 26, Folder 4 The Cat
Box 26, Folder 5 Conjure Night (Dark Night)
Box 26, Folder 6 A Corner of the Housetop
Box 26, Folder 7 Deep Sand
Box 26, Folder 8 The Far Away Girl
Box 26, Folder 9 Heartbreak Homestead
Box 26, Folder 10 How Different From Us
Box 26, Folder 11 Hungry
Box 26, Folder 12 In The Cool of the Day
Box 26, Folder 13 Interference
Box 26, Folder 14 The Listener
Box 26, Folder 15 The Little Black Swan
Box 26, Folder 16 Little Lucy
Box 26, Folder 17 Lost Eyes
Box 26, Folder 18 Love Against Alexis
Box 26, Folder 19 Morning Sacrifice
Box 27, Folder 1 Old Loyalty
Box 27, Folder 2 The Open Casement
Box 27, Folder 3 Pine Seskin (Grandma Bett's Bullet, Last Bullet)
Box 27, Folder 4 Silver Apples
Box 27, Folder 5 - 6 A Space of Flowers (Abracadabra)
Box 27, Folder 7 Triggerfinger
Box 27, Folder 8 The Wind Blows
Box 27, Folder 9 untitled
Box 27, Folder 10 unlabeled
Box 27, Folder 11 notebooks and printed material
Box 28, Folder 1 printed matter
Box 28, Folder 2 Subseries 8B: Jean Brooke Burt
poetry
Box 29, Folder 1 stories
Box 29, Folder 2 The Girl
Box 29, Folder 3 notebooks
Box 29, Folder 4 Subseries 8C: Burt - Noyes
Nathaniel Burt (son): Make My Bed
Box 30, Folder 1 Nathaniel Burt: notes, address book
Box 30, Folder 2 A. F. Burt
Box 30, Folder 3 Nathaniel Burt (grandfather)
Box 30, Folder 4 Walter Gilkyson
Box 30, Folder 5 Joan Greeves
Box 30, Folder 6 Wallace Irwin
Box 30, Folder 7 Katherine Merill: This I Can Never Be
Box 30, Folder 8 Mary Holmes Newlin
Box 30, Folder 9 Alfred Noyes
Box 30, Folder 10 unidentified persons
Box 30, Folder 11
Permanent URL: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/d504rk34t