Permanent URL: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/fq977t79q
Willard Thorp Papers, 1886-1981 (bulk 1930-1970): Finding Aid
C0292

Princeton University Manuscripts Division
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 1993
©2007 Princeton University Library
Summary Information
- Creator:
- Thorp, Willard, 1899-1990.
- Title and dates:
- Willard Thorp Papers, 1886-1981 (bulk 1930-1970)
- Abstract:
- The Willard Thorp Papers consists of material which reflects the long careers of American educators, authors, and literary critics Willard and Margaret Thorp. Willard's papers (1923-1981) include correspondence, writings, class lecture notes, documents, journals and diaries, printed matter, photographs, and papers of others during his writing and teaching years at Princeton University. Margaret's papers (1917-1960) include writings, correspondence, journals, notebooks, and family sketchbooks and photographs.
- Size:
- 14.1 linear feet (26 archival boxes, 5 half-size archival boxes, 1 oversize flat box)
- Call number:
- C0292
- 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 William Willard Thorp
William Willard Thorp (1899-1990), literary historian, editor, educator, author, and critic, was born on April 20 in Sydney, New York. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Hamilton College in 1920, received an A.M. the following year from Harvard, and his Ph.D. in 1926 from Princeton University. That year he joined the faculty of Princeton and advanced from instructor of English in 1926 to the Holmes Professor of Belles Lettres in 1952, and was chairman of the English department from 1958-1963.
During his years at Princeton, Willard Thorp published a number of books, innumerable literary reviews and essays in philogical journals, and established himself as an editor. Included among his books are The Triumph of Realism in Elizabethan Drama (1928), Lives of Eighteen from Princeton (1946), A Southern Reader (1955), and American Writing in the 20th Century (1960). One of his best-known essays is "The Well of English, Now Defiled, or, Why Johnny Can't Write," a humorous piece with serious undertones in which Thorp laments the state of affairs of college writing. He edited with Howard Lowry the Oxford Anthology of English Poetry (Oxford University Press, 1935), and with various others edited Herman Melville, Representative Selections (American Book Company, 1938), and the widely-used Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (Oxford University Press, 1948), Literary History of the United States (first published in 1948), and Great Short Works of American Realism (Harper, 1968).
Aside from his literary accomplishments and his popularity with undergraduates, one of Willard Thorp's greatest contributions to Princeton University was the development in 1942 of the special program in American civilization, now called the American Studies Program. He directed this for the first thirteen years, and strove to bring American civilization to light through studying culture, institution, intellectual tradition, and relationships among groups. The program grew until it included faculty and undergraduates from nine cooperating departments. One of the special interest courses taught by Thorp in this program was "The Age of Dryden."
Willard Thorp also kept busy traveling to various universities as a visiting professor. He went to the University of Virginia in 1947, was the Anderson Visiting Professor at the Rice Institute in 1952-1953, and taught summers at the University of Hawaii, University of Washington, Seattle, and Duke University.
Thorp retired from Princeton University in 1967, remaining in Princeton until his death at age 90 in 1990. He was honored in 1972 with the establishment of the Willard Thorp Thesis Prize in American Civilization, and in 1978 was awarded an L.H.D.
Willard Thorp Chronology
- 1899: Born in Sidney, New York, on April 20
- 1920: A.B., Hamilton College
- 1921: A.M., Harvard University
- 1921-1924: instructor, then became assistant professor, Smith College
- 1926: Ph.D., Princeton University
- 1926-1928: instructor in English, Princeton University
- 1928: published The Triumph of Realism in Elizabethan Drama, Princeton University Press
- 1928-1939: assistant professor, Princeton University
- 1930: married Margaret Farrand on June 12
- 1931-1932: Fellow, American Council of Learned Societies
- 1932: published Poetry of the Transition, 1850-1914 with Thomas M. Parrott, Oxford University Press
- 1934: published Songs from the Restoration Theater, Princeton University Press
- 1935: published Oxford Anthology of English Poetry with Howard Lowry, Oxford University Press
- 1936: summer professor, University of Hawaii
- 1938: published Herman Melville, Representative Selections, American Book Company
- 1939-1944: associate professor, Princeton University
- 1944: published Modern Writing with Margaret Farrand Thorp, American Book Company
- 1944: professor, Princeton University
- 1944-1949: Fellow of American Letters, Library of Congress
- 1946: published Lives of Eighteen from Princeton, Princeton University Press
- 1947: Honorary Litt. D. from Hamilton College
- 1948: published Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, Oxford University Press
- 1950-1957: member of the editorial board, American Literature
- 1952: Holmes Professor of Belles Lettres, Princeton University
- 1952-1953: Anderson Visiting Professor, Rice Institute, Texas
- 1954-1957: executive council, Modern Language Association
- 1955: published A Southern Reader, Alfred A. Knopf
- 1958-1959: president, American Studies Association
- 1958-1963: chairman, Department of English, Princeton University
- 1960: published American Writing in the Twentieth Century, Harvard University Press
- 1960: L.H.D. from Kalamazoo College
- 1966-1967: Guggenheim fellow
- 1967: retired from Princeton University
- 1968: published Great Short Works of the American Renaissance, Harper
- 1968: published Great Short Works of American Realism, Harper
- 1990: died in Princeton, February 15, at 90 years old
Biography of Margaret Farrand Thorp
Margaret Louise Farrand Thorp (1891-1970), scholar, author, critic, and journalist, was born in East Orange, New Jersey, on December 3, 1891. She graduated from Smith College in 1914, received her M.A. from Smith in 1926, and her Ph.D. from Yale in 1934.
After receiving her B.A., Margaret worked on the staff of The Independent under the editorship of Hamilton Holt. A firm believer in the cause of the Allies, she was eager to get to France to serve in any way she could. The American Fund for French Wounded accepted her, and in late October 1917 she sailed for France on the Rochambeau. Once there, she edited The Weekly Bulletin issued by the Fund Cooperating with the American Red Cross for circulation in the United States. (Alice B. Toklas was one of its frequent contributors.) In her spare time Margaret worked in the canteens and as an unofficial nurse's aide in several hospitals. In March 1918 she transferred to the American Red Cross where she continued to do publicity work until after the Armistice. She was also a special correspondent to the Newark Evening Times and wrote faithfully in her own journals, recording all her experiences.
After returning from France, between 1921 and 1929, Margaret was Director of Publicity and Assistant Professor of English at Smith College. Also during this time she was a regular contributor to such publications as The Smith Alumnae Quarterly, the Christian Science Monitor, Scribner's Magazine, and the New York Evening Post. In 1929 she went to Yale to earn her Ph.D., and on June 12 of the following year married Willard Thorp, then an assistant professor at Princeton University.
Although Margaret did not continue teaching after her marriage, she continued to pursue her writing career. In 1937 she published Charles Kingsley, 1819-1875 with Princeton University Press. In 1969 Yale University Press published her popular film study, America at the Movies. In 1944 she collaborated with Willard on a textbook, Modern Writing, followed by another biography, Female Persuasion: Six Strong-Minded Women in 1949. Later writings include Neilson of Smith (1956), The Literary Sculptors (1965), and Sara Orne Jewett (1966).
In 1957 Smith College made Margaret Thorp an honorary Doctor of Letters. She died in Princeton on October 2, 1970, at the age of 79. She was a niece of Beatrix Farrand, Princeton's landscape artist.
Description
The collection consists of papers reflective of both Willard and Margaret Thorp's careers as authors and critics, Willard's years as a professor of English at Princeton University, and Margaret's early career in journalism. The bulk of the collection dates from the years (1930-1970) when they published the majority of their articles, reviews and books, gave their speeches, and when Willard taught his classes and was acting chairman of Princeton's English Department.
Willard's papers consist mainly of correspondence with professional colleagues; friends, particularly Allen Tate and Caroline Gordon, but also including T. S. Eliot, William Meredith, James Meriwether, Robert Penn Warren, Robert Lowell, Archibald MacLiesh, and John Berryman; organizations, such as the Modern Language Association, and the Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni; and publishers of his works, including the American Book Company, Charles Scribner's Sons, and the J. B. Lippincott Company. Much of the correspondence relates to books he wrote or contributed to, such as Modern Writing, The Lives of Eighteen from Princeton, Great Short Works of American Realism, and A Southern Reader. There are also manuscripts of articles and speeches Willard wrote, as well as class lecture notes of the courses he taught at Princeton (1932-1967), miscellaneous material regarding a senior poetry seminar, several diaries, publisher's contracts, photographs, printed matter, papers of others, and four recording of conversations with Thorp. Included is an album of original poems dedicated to Willard by seven Princeton poets, presumably his former students. A later accession consists of over 100 offprints of articles by contemporary literary scholars and critics; many of these pamphlets are inscribed to Thorp.
Margaret's papers consist of drafts of Charles Kingsley, 1819-1875 and Female Persuasion: Six Strong-Minded Women, speeches, articles, notebooks, correspondence with Allen Tate and Caroline Gordon, Vivienne Heigh (Mrs. T. S. Eliot), family letters and correspondence with her publishers, and family sketchbooks and photographs.
Arrangement
Organized into the following series:
- Series 1: Papers of Willard Thorp
- Subseries 1A: Correspondence
- Subseries 1B: Writings
- Subseries 1C: Journals and Address Book
- Subseries 1D: Documents (Awards, Certificates, Contracts, Genealogies, Etc.)
- Subseries 1E: Photographs
- Subseries 1F: Printed Matter
- Subseries 1G: Papers of Others
- Subseries 1H: Recordings
- Series 2: Papers of Margaret Thorp
- Subseries 2A: Writings and Lectures
- Subseries 2B: Correspondence
- Subseries 2C: Journals and Notebooks
- Subseries 2D: Sketchbooks
- Subseries 2E: Photographs
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.
Acquisition and Appraisal
Provenance and Acquisition
Willard and Margaret Thorp both donated their works to Princeton University in installments over the years 1948-1989; when Margaret died in 1970, Willard donated her work as well as his own. A small amount of material in Willard's correspondence and documents sections are photostats (the location of the originals is unknown) and, for preservation purposes, some old newspaper clippings have been Xeroxed and the originals destroyed.
Processing and Other Information
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Jennifer Lindabury and Karla J. Vecchia in 1993. Finding aid written by Jennifer Lindabury and Karla J. Vecchia in 1993.
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 Amy E. Armstrong on June 15, 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); Willard Thorp 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.
- Gordon, Caroline, 1895-1981
- Tate, Allen, 1899-1979
- Modern Language Association of America.
- American poetry -- 20th century.
- American poetry -- Study and teaching -- New Jersey -- Princeton -- 20th century.
- Authors and publishers -- United States -- 20th century -- Correspondence.
- Critics -- United States -- Correspondence.
- American diaries -- 20th century.
- Correspondence.
- Notebooks.
- Photographs.
Browse other finding aids related to the following terms:
Contents List
Series 1: Papers of Willard Thorp
Subseries 1A: Correspondence
Subseries Description
The majority of Willard Thorp's material consists of general correspondence and correspondence related to his writings (fan mail, publication, etc.). A small amount of family letters begins the section, followed by the correspondence reflecting his long-standing friendships and working relationships with Allen Tate, James Meriwether, William Meredith, Robert Lowell, T.S. Eliot, Bink Noll, Galway Kinnell, John Berryman, Louis Coxe, Archibald MacLiesh, Robert Penn Warren, Carl Sandburg, and Elizabeth Bishop. He also corresponded with a host of students and colleagues, including Jesse Bier, Andrew Hook, Sam Monk, Jim Kempf, and James Brogan, on both personal and business levels. There is correspondence regarding his books, including A Southern Reader (1955), the Oxford Anthology of English Poetry (1935), Moby Dick (1948), and Thorp's other Melville works, and two works of which Willard wrote the introductory paragraph: Great Short Works of American Realism (1968) and Henry David Thoreau's Walden. There is correspondence regarding his honorary degree at the June 6, 1978, Princeton University commencement, his term on the Phi Beta Kappa Nominating Committee (1949-1957), the Higher Learning in the United States Conference at Princeton's graduate college (June 14-18, 1956), the Sixteenth Annual Faculty-Alumni Forum Program (June 8, 1967) (Willard served as moderator), and the Modern Language Association of American (executive council, 1954-1957); correspondence with publishers, such as Signet Classics, American Book Company, and Alfred A. Knopf (with whom Willard corresponded personally); recommendations of students and colleagues; and notes of a senior seminar.
Family Letters
Box 1, Folder 1 A (General)
Box 1, Folder 2 Alfred A. Knopf, 1952-1955
Box 1, Folder 3 American Book Company
Box 1, Folder 4 American H-Arr
Box 1, Folder 5 American Issues to The American Literary Record (revision) correspondence, 1954-1961
Box 1, Folder 6 The American Studies Association (ASA)
Box 1, Folder 7 Arvin, Newton, 1938-1948
Box 1, Folder 8 Asb-Assel
Box 1, Folder 9 The Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni
Box 1, Folder 10 Ast-Au
Box 1, Folder 11 B-Bar
Box 1, Folder 12 Beard, James, 1964-1976
Box 1, Folder 13 Bed-Ber
Box 1, Folder 14 Bezanson, Walter, 1951-1969
Box 1, Folder 15 Biddle, Katherine, 1946-1963
Box 1, Folder 16 Biddle, Livingston, 1943-1963
Box 1, Folder 17 Bie-Ble
Box 1, Folder 18 Blo-Bowe
Box 1, Folder 19 Blickensderfer, Joseph P.: The United States Quarterly Book List, 1944-1956
Box 1, Folder 20 Bowman, Heath
1931-1936
Box 2, Folder 1 1937-1944
Box 2, Folder 2 1945-1976
Box 2, Folder 3 Boy-Bre
Box 2, Folder 4 Brice, Ashbel, 1971-1975
Box 2, Folder 5 Briggs, Grace, 1963-1967
Box 2, Folder 6 Broderick, Francis L. (Frank), 1943-1968
Box 2, Folder 7 Brogan, Jim, 1965-1971
Box 2, Folder 8 Broo-Bru
Box 2, Folder 9 Bu-But
Box 2, Folder 10 C (General)
Box 2, Folder 11 Cartwright, Levering, 1966-1981
Box 2, Folder 12 Cas-Chapl
Box 2, Folder 13 Chapman, Robert, 1942-1965
Box 3, Folder 1 Chas-Cow
Box 3, Folder 2 Cowley, Malcolm, 1944-1985
Box 3, Folder 3 Coxe, Louis O.
1942-1955
Box 3, Folder 4 1956-1969
Box 3, Folder 5 and Robert, 1970-1985
Box 3, Folder 6 Cra-Cre
Box 3, Folder 7 Crimmins, Thomas, 1943-1945
Box 3, Folder 8 Cro-D
Box 3, Folder 9 E-Eg
Box 4, Folder 1 Eight American Authors correspondence, 1954-1956
Box 4, Folder 2 Eliot, Thomas Stearns, 1931-1960
Box 4, Folder 3 Eliot, Thomas Stearns
Box 4, Folder 4 Els-Fr
Box 4, Folder 5 "Fox, Frederick, March 16-17, 1964
Box 4, Folder 5a "Fugitives" Reunion-Nashville, TN, May 3-5, 1956
Box 4, Folder 6 Fur-Garr
Box 4, Folder 7 Gary, Franklin, 1963-1977
Box 4, Folder 8 Ge-Gra
Box 4, Folder 9 Great Short Works of American Realism: introduction by Willard Thorp, 1967-1968
Box 4, Folder 10 Gree-Gw
Box 5, Folder 1 H-Hac
Box 5, Folder 2 Hale, Emily, 1956-1967
Box 5, Folder 3 Ham-Haw
Box 5, Folder 4 Hayford, Harrison, 1952-1970
Box 5, Folder 5 Hayw-Hell
Box 5, Folder 6 Hendricks, Walter, 1946-1957
Box 5, Folder 7 Henn-High
Box 5, Folder 8 Higher Learning in the United States Conference: Princeton University Graduate College, June 14-18, 1956
Box 5, Folder 9 Hil-Hin
Box 5, Folder 10 Hoffman, Daniel, 1963-1965
Box 5, Folder 11 Holland, Laurence B., 1942-1944
Box 5, Folder 12 Holm-Holv
Box 5, Folder 13 Honorary Degree: Princeton University Commencement, June 6, 1978
Box 5, Folder 14 Hook, Andrew, 1962-1976
Box 5, Folder 15 Hop-Hors
Box 5, Folder 16 Horton, Phillip, 1931-1950
Box 5, Folder 17 Hos-K
Box 5, Folder 18 Kempf, Jim, 1967-1972
Box 6, Folder 1 Ken-Kr
Box 6, Folder 2 La Fay, Howard, 1944-1950
Box 6, Folder 3 Lac-Lew
Box 6, Folder 4 Lil-Lip
Box 6, Folder 5 The Lives of Eighteen from Princeton correspondence, 1946-1947
Box 6, Folder 6 Library of Congress Fellows in American Letters, 1944-1951
Box 6, Folder 7 Lo-Mack
Box 6, Folder 8 MacLiesh, Archibald, 1937-1962
Box 6, Folder 9 MacN-Martin, Bob
Box 6, Folder 10 Martin, Jay, 1962-1970
Box 6, Folder 11 Mas-McD
Box 6, Folder 12 McElroy, John, 1967-1973
Box 6, Folder 13 McElv-Mee
Box 6, Folder 14 Melville, Herman: correspondence relating to works, 1935-1959
Box 6, Folder 15 Meredith, William
1940-1944
Box 7, Folder 1 1945-1968
Box 7, Folder 2 1969-1981
Box 7, Folder 3 Meriwether, Jim, 1958-1983
Box 7, Folder 4 Mes-Mi
Box 7, Folder 5 Moby Dick correspondence before publication (Oxford University Press), 1941-1947
Box 7, Folder 6 Moby Dick correspondence after publication (Oxford University Press), 1946-1951
Box 7, Folder 7 Modern Language Association of America (MLAA)
Box 7, Folder 8 The Modern Language Association of America (MLAA) Executive Council, 1954-1957
Box 7, Folder 9 Monk, Sam
1931-1947
Box 7, Folder 10 1948-1970
Box 7, Folder 11 1971-1981
Box 8, Folder 1 undated
Box 8, Folder 2 Monro-Ni
Box 8, Folder 3 Noll, Bink, 1950-1986
Box 8, Folder 4 Nor-Os
Box 8, Folder 5 An Oxford Anthology of English Poetry correspondence, 1950-1956
Box 8, Folder 6 P-Pe
Box 8, Folder 7 Phi Beta Kappa National Nominating Committee, 1949-1957
Box 8, Folder 8 Pi-Princeton P
Box 8, Folder 9 Princeton University, 1926-1984
Box 9, Folder 1 Princeton University Press-Rea
Box 9, Folder 2 Recommendations
Box 9, Folder 3 Rei-Rub
Box 9, Folder 4 Ruckeyser, Muriel, 1940-1956
Box 9, Folder 5 Rudd, Bob, 1958
Box 9, Folder 6 Rushton lectures-Birmingham-Southern College, Nov 1956
Box 9, Folder 7 Rushton, Pete, 1942-1947
Box 9, Folder 8 Rut-Sal
Box 9, Folder 9 Sandburg, Carl, 1950-1959
Box 9, Folder 10 Sav-See
Box 9, Folder 11 Senior Seminar, 1965-1966
Box 9, Folder 12 Seymour, Sy L, 1941
Box 9, Folder 13 Shain, Charles, 1946-1976
Box 9, Folder 14 Shaine, F. M.
Box 9, Folder 15 Shapiro, Karl, 1946-1961
Box 9, Folder 16 She-Shu
Box 9, Folder 17 Signet Classics correspondence, 1960-1962
Box 9, Folder 18 Sim-Sin
Box 9, Folder 19 Sixteenth Annual Faculty-Alumni Forum Program, June 8, 1967
(Thorp's notes for remarks as moderator)
Box 9, Folder 20 Sk-Soc
Box 9, Folder 21 A Southern Reader correspondence, 1949-1952
Box 10, Folder 1 A Southern Reader correspondence with Thomas Bledsoe, Alfred A. Knopf Publishers, 1954-1955
Box 10, Folder 2 A Southern Reader reviews, notices, and correspondence, 1953-1956
Box 10, Folder 3 Sp
Box 10, Folder 4 Stegner, Wallace, 1941-1945
Box 10, Folder 5 Stev-Stone
Box 10, Folder 6 Stovall, Floyd, 1951-1974
Box 10, Folder 7 Str-Stub
Box 10, Folder 8 Stutesman, John, 1944-1948
Box 10, Folder 9 Sue-Taf
Box 10, Folder 10 Tate, Allen
1939-1949
Box 10, Folder 11 1950-1955
Box 10, Folder 12 1956-1970
Box 10, Folder 13 1971-1974
Box 11, Folder 1 Tay-Thom
Box 11, Folder 2 Thoreau, Henry David: Walden-correspondence relating to introduction by Willard Thorp
Box 11, Folder 3 Thorp, Christina, 1960-1984
Box 11, Folder 4 Thorp, J-U
Box 11, Folder 5 Unidentified Persons
Box 11, Folder 6 University of Washington, 1958-1959
Box 11, Folder 7 V-Ve
Box 11, Folder 8 Vincent, Howard, 1945-1963
Box 11, Folder 9 Vogel, Bill, 1931
Box 11, Folder 10 Vogel, Joe, 1938-1942
Box 11, Folder 11 Wainwright, Alexander, 1940-1970
Box 11, Folder 12a W
Box 11, Folder 12 Warren, Robert Penn ("Red"), 1944-1981
Box 11, Folder 13 Wat-Way
Box 11, Folder 14 Weaver, Bill, 1950-1951
Box 11, Folder 15 Webster, J. Carson, 1972
Box 11, Folder 16 "The Well of English, Now Defiled, or Why Johnny Can't Write"- Princeton Alumni Weekly, September 26, correspondence, 1958-1966
Box 11, Folder 17 Wells-White
Box 11, Folder 18 Whiton, A.S. (Pete), 1943-1945
Box 11, Folder 19 Whitt-Z
Box 11, Folder 20 Subseries 1B: Writings
Subseries Description
Includes articles, speeches, contributions to books, and class lecture notes in draft and note form, including "Americana Proving Ground" ( Princeton Alumni Weekly, May 3, 1940), "The Colleges and the Selective Service Act," drafts of "Historical Note" (introductory chapter to Herman Melville's White Jacket), and a checklist of his published writings compiled by Stephen V. Justice (1983). Speeches include "Reading Walden" at the Eleventh Yale Conference on the Teaching of English (April 9-10, 1965), "The Tradition of American Literature at Princeton," a dedication of the Music Building, Princeton University (May 2, 1964), and "English Section II" at the Modern Language Association (1953). Class lecture notes also include lists of students' names and grades. These undergraduate and graduate courses (1932-1967) included Victorian Poets, the Victorian Age, the Age of Dryden, American Literature, Twentieth-Century Literature, the American Novel, and Henry James.
1. Articles, Etc.
"Americana Proving Ground", May 3, 1940
Article and quiz, Princeton Alumni Weekly
Box 12, Folder 1 "The Colleges and the Selective Service Act"
Box 12, Folder 2 Melville, Herman:
White Jacket
"Historical Note" by Willard Thorp (first draft)
Box 12, Folder 3 "Historical Note" by Willard Thorp (second draft), July 21, 1967
Box 12, Folder 4 Revisions of section of reviews
Box 12, Folder 5 "The Published Writings of Willard Thorp: A Checklist"
compiled by Stephen V. Justice
Box 12, Folder 6 2. Speeches
Speeches and articles
Box 12, Folder 7 Speech-"Reading Walden"-Eleventh Yale Conference on the Teaching of English, April 9-10, 1965
Box 12, Folder 8 Speech-"Right Forms for American Studies?"-Joint Session of the Modern Language Association and American Studies Association, NYC, December 28, 1964
Box 12, Folder 9 Speech-"The Tradition of American Literature at Princeton"
Box 12, Folder 10 Speech at the Dedication of Music Building-Princeton University, May 2, 1964
Box 12, Folder 11 Speeches-"English Section II" -Modern Language Association, 1953
Box 12, Folder 12 Tribute to Willard Thorp, M.D. Anderson Visiting Professor-Rice University-by the Owen Wister Literary Society, 1952
Box 12, Folder 13 Material used by Willard Thorp in compiling an article for the New York Times Magazine, June 8, 1941.
Primarily numerous responses to questionnaires sent by Thorp to 1941 college graduates, with a few notes by Thorp.
Box 12, Folder 14 3. Class Lecture Notes
Victorian Poets Lecture Notes (undergraduate), 1932-1952
Box 13, Folder 1-17 American Literature Lecture Notes (undergraduate), 1936-1964
Box 13, Folder 18-42 American Literature Lecture Notes, 1940-1966
Box 13, Folder 43-69 Henry James Lecture Notes, 1967 (spring term)
Box 13, Folder 70 Subseries 1C: Journals and Address Book
Subseries Description
Willard's numerous journals reflect his personal thoughts and philosophies as well as recount travels in Europe. One contains travel expenses; another, writings in French and French vocabulary lists; a third, a selection of handwritten powms by Louis Coxe, Franklin D. Reeve, William Meredith, Bink Noll, Galway Kinnell, George Garrett, and Bruce Berlind, given to Willard on retiring from Princeton in June, 1967. There are loose journal entries (1978-1981), loose notes in French, and a journal kept by Willard and Margaret (entries by each) in England, the summer of 1930. One address book includes loose business cards and addresses.
Viaduct Exercise book, (undated)
Box 14 Viaduct Exercise book, (undated)-in French
Box 14 Cahier-100 Pages, (undated)
Box 14 Address Book
Box 14 The Spiral Notebook, (undated)
Box 14 Note Book, (undated)
Box 14 Journal (undated)-"No! Destroy" written on cover
Box 14 Notebook-on inside cover: "A record of the friendship and indebtedness of certain poets whose good fortune gave them access, at Princeton University, to the human and intellectual generosities...property of Willard Thorp. June 1967"
Box 14 Journal-first entry dated June 29, 1923
Box 14 Journal entries, 1978-1981
Box 14, Folder 1 Journal kept by Willard and Margaret: England, summer, 1930
Box 14, Folder 2 Notes in French
Box 14, Folder 3 Subseries 1D: Documents (Awards, Certificates, Contracts, Genealogies, Etc.)
Subseries Description
Contains (in alphabetical order) various awards and certificates, including those from the New Jersey Civil War Centennial Commission (1965) Encyclopaedia Brittanica for being a distinguished contributor, the New Jersey Association of Teachers of English Author Award for "American Humorists" (1965), and Thorp's Doctor of Humane Letters from Kalamazoo College (June 1960). Others are oversize and located in Box 30.
Awards and Certificates
Box 15, Folder 1 Biography and Bibliography
Box 15, Folder 2 Contract for Redburn
Box 15, Folder 3 Family Genealogy
Box 15, Folder 4 Grades
Box 15, Folder 5 J. B. Hubbell Award of the American Literature Group, Modern Language Association of America, 1972
Box 15, Folder 6 Retirement-Honorary Dinner and Article
Box 15, Folder 7 Vitas
Box 15, Folder 8 TMs copy, 1956, General examination, Dept. of English, Princeton University, and memo regarding exam by James Thorpe.
Box 15, Folder 9 Diplomas, 80th birthday memento, photostats of ship's records (1839) relating to Melville (?)
Box 30 [oversize] Subseries 1E: Photographs
Subseries Description
Consists of two bound photo albums of Willard's travels in England and France, and loose pictures of Bob and Louis Coxe, Vicki Mahaffey, Bruce Redford, Allen Tate and Caroline Gordon, family photographs, birthday parties, accepting awards at Princeton, Thorp's houses, portraits, and his summer professorship at the University of Virginia (1947).
Photo Albums (2)
Coxe, Bob - Visit, June 18, 1982
Box 16, Folder 1 Coxe, Louis and family
Box 16, Folder 2 Mahaffey, Vicky and Chris Dennis with Amanda Margaret Dennis, April, 1982
Box 16, Folder 3 Miscellaneous photographs
Box 16, Folder 4 Redford, Bruce (graduate student)-family commencement party, 1981
Box 16, Folder 5 Tate, Allen and Caroline (Gordon)
Box 16, Folder 6 Thorp, Willard
birthday parties
Box 16, Folder 7 family photographs
Box 16, Folder 8 houses
Box 16, Folder 9 portraits, 1940-1981
Box 16, Folder 10 Princeton L.H.D., 1978
Box 16, Folder 11 retirement party - Lowrie House, May 16, 1967
Box 16, Folder 12 Visiting professor - Rice University, 1952-1953
Box 16, Folder 13 University of Virginia, Summer 1947
Box 16, Folder 14 World War II at home
Box 16, Folder 15 Subseries 1F: Printed Matter
Subseries Description
Includes much of Willard's writings, including reviews, articles, as well as invitations, brochures, and catalogs.
"American Writing in the Twentieth Century" - reviews, 1960-1961
Box 17, Folder 1 Annuals, Journals, and Contributions to Books
Box 17, Folder 2 "As the College Man Sees the War"- The New York Times Magazine, March 23, 1941
Box 17, Folder 3 Bulletins, reprints of articles, etc., 1922-1960
Box 17, Folder 4 Invitations, brochures, book catalogs, etc.
Box 17, Folder 5-6 Journals, newspapers, etc.
Box 17, Folder 7 "The Lives of Eighteen from Princeton"-reviews
Box 18, Folder 1 Newspapers, 1936-1961
Box 18, Folder 2 Princeton Alumni Weekly articles, 1940-1965
Box 18, Folder 3 Reviews
1930-1949
Box 18, Folder 4 1950-1960
Box 18, Folder 5 1961-1970
Box 18, Folder 6 1971-1981
Box 18, Folder 7 University of Hawaii-Summer session, 1936
Box 18, Folder 8 Subseries 1G: Papers of Others
Subseries Description
Includes poems by James Beard, Louis Coxe, Robert Penn Warren, and Allen Tate, among others, as well as a collection of offprints of articles by contemporary literary scholars and critics inscribed to Thorp.
Beard, James-edition of James Fenimore Cooper letters
Box 19, Folder 1 Buell, Tom-"Long Distance Winter"
Box 19, Folder 2 Coxe, Louis O.-poems
Box 19, Folder 3 Rushton, J. P.-Journal in School of Military Government-Princeton, 1944
Box 19, Folder 4 Tate, Allen-inscribed copy of "The Fugitive"
Box 19, Folder 5 Warren, Robert Penn-poems
Box 19, Folder 6 Miscellaneous Papers of Others
Box 19, Folder 7 Offprints of Articles by Others, 1916-1970
Consists of approximately 110 offprints of articles by a wide range of literary critics and scholars; many of the pamphlets are inscribed by the author to Thorp. A complete list, showing author, article title, journal where published, and date (year), is kept in the box.
Box 32 Subseries 1H: Recordings
Subseries Description
Consists of four reel-to-reel tapes of conversations of Thorp.
Four reel-to-reel tapes of conversations with Thorp.
Box 31 Series 2: Papers of Margaret Thorp
Subseries 2A: Writings and Lectures
Subseries Description
Consists of Margaret's writings and lectures, including drafts of Charles Kingsley, 1819-1875 and Female Persuasion: Six Strong-Minded Women, notes of her subjects' lives, articles in various journals, magazines, and newspapers (1919-1924), such as The Smith Alumnae Quarterly, the Christian Science Monitor, Scribner's Magazine, and the New York Evening Post, and lectures on her writings, such as "The Lily and the Bloomer."
"American Fund for French Wounded, Weekly Bulletin"-Margaret Thorp, editor-No. 1-18, November 21, 1917-March 22, 1918
Box 20, Folder 1 "American Pioneers and Robert Herrick"- The Landmark, October, 1931
Box 20, Folder 2 Articles in various journals, magazines, and newspapers, 1919-1924
Box 20, Folder 3 The Domestic Manners of the English-Willard and Margaret Thorp (drafts)
Box 20, Folder 4 "Domestic Manners of the English"- Atlantic Monthly, September, 1934
Box 20, Folder 5 "The Female as Artist"
Box 20, Folder 6 Female Persuasion: Six Strong-Minded Women
Beecher, Catherine
Box 20, Folder 7 Blackwell, Elizabeth
Box 20, Folder 8 Bloomer, Amelia
Box 20, Folder 9 Child, Lydia Maria
Box 20, Folder 10 Greenwood, Grace (Sara J. Lippincott)
Box 20, Folder 11 McCord, Louisa S.
Box 20, Folder 12 Stowe, Harriet Beecher
Box 21, Folder 1 Swisshelm, Jane Grey
Box 21, Folder 2 Illustrations
Box 21, Folder 3 Others
Box 21, Folder 4 Preface
Box 21, Folder 5 Reviews and letters, 1949-1951
Box 21, Folder 6 Reviews (note forms)
Box 21, Folder 7 Yale University Press, (1943-1949)
Box 21, Folder 8 "Hauteville House"
Box 21, Folder 9 "Henry the Eighth: A Literary Sidelight"- The Landmark, December 1931
Box 21, Folder 10 Charles Kingsley, 1819-1875:
Dissertation-Yale University (p. 1-200), 1934
Box 21, Folder 11 Dissertation-Yale University (p. 201-end), 1934
Box 22, Folder 1 Drafts
Box 22, Folder 2-3 Kingsley's letters (transcripts), 1852-1873
Box 22, Folder 4 Letters, 1931-1945
Box 22, Folder 5 Margaret Thorp's notes of Macmillan family letters as they relate to Charles Kingsley
Box 22, Folder 6 Notes on John Henry Newman (in relation to Charles Kingsley)
Box 22, Folder 7 Notes on Kingsley's articles and reviews
Box 22, Folder 8 Photos and illustrations
Box 22, Folder 9 Reviews, 1937
Box 22, Folder 10 The Lily and the "Bloomer" lecture
Box 22, Folder 11 "Magistrate's Court, Bermuda"
Box 22, Folder 12 "The Saints' Tragedy"-notes
Box 22, Folder 13 "Shakespeare and the Fine Arts"
Box 22, Folder 14 Strong-minded Women lecture
Box 22, Folder 15 "Udolpho and Childe Harold"- Modern Languages Notes, April 1930
Box 22, Folder 16 Subseries 2B: Correspondence
Subseries Description
Includes family letters (1886-1957), letters from Caroline Gordon and Allen Tate (1942-1962), and Vivienne Heigh (Mrs. T. S. Eliot) (1931-1932).
Eliot, Vivienne Heigh (Mrs. T.S. Eliot), 1931-1932
Box 22, Folder 17 Family Letters, 1886-1957
Box 22, Folder 18 Tate, Allen and Caroline, 1942-1962
Box 22, Folder 19 Subseries 2C: Journals and Notebooks
Subseries Description
Consists of journals and notebooks Margaret used to research the lives of people in her biographies. Also includes her diary kept in France during World War I (three copies, 1917-1918) and two other diaries, one kept in France in 1923 and one kept in London, July 9, 1927-August 30, 1927.
Notebooks (2)
Notes of Charles Kingsley's letters (loose)
Box 23, Folder 1 Notebook-leather cover
Box 24 Notebook-paper cover
Box 24 Notebook-composition-labelled "Ft. Dix Library Chronicle"
Box 24 Diary kept in France during World War I, 1917-1918
(copy 1, with photographs)
Box 24, Folder 1 (copy 2)
Box 24, Folder 2 (copy 3)
Box 24, Folder 3 Diary kept in France: 1923, and exercises in French
Box 24, Folder 4 Diary kept in London: July 9, 1927-August 30, 1927, and notes
Box 24, Folder 5 Subseries 2D: Sketchbooks
Subseries Description
Sketchbooks (late 1800s-early 1900s) are in various media (pencil, colored pencil, watercolor), presumably by a family member (many of them pre-date her birth) of Europe, including figures and landscapes.
"The Heatherley" note book- dated 1927-1928
Box 25 "The Bainbridge" sketch book- dated 1909
Box 25 Sketchbook-tan cloth cover-dated 1889
Box 25 Sketchbook-tan cloth cover-dated 1888
Box 25 Sketchbook-tan cloth cover- undated
Box 25 Sketchbook-grey cloth cover- dated 1909-1927
Box 25 Sketchbook-green cover
Box 25 Sketchbook-burgundy cover
Box 25 Sketchbook-green and yellow cover- dated 1923-1925
Box 25 "Newark Academy" sketch books (3)
Box 25 Loose-leaf sketches (2)-on House of Commons stationery
Box 25 Subseries 2E: Photographs
Subseries Description
Consists of (family) photographs. One album (dated) contains photographs of Margaret and her family when she was a child, and numerous bound, undated albums of unidentified persons.
Photograph album-black cover-dated 1899
Box 26, Folder Photograph album-tan cover
Box 26 Photo-in blue velvet frame
Box 27 Photo-in black wood frame
Box 27 Photo album-brown leather cover
Box 27 Photo-in large purple velvet frame
Box 28 Photo-in small purple velvet frame
Box 28 Photo-in small brown wood frame
Box 28 Portrait photo-Sarony
Box 28 Photo album-brown leather cover
Box 28 Photo album-brown leather cover
Box 29 Family photographs
Box 29, Folder 1
Permanent URL: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/fq977t79q