Saxe Commins Papers, 1930-1973 (bulk 1945-1960): Finding Aid

Permanent URL: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/pk02c974p

Saxe Commins Papers, 1930-1973 (bulk 1945-1960): Finding Aid

C0718

Princeton University Manuscripts Division

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 1992

Summary Information

Creator:: Commins, Saxe, 1892?-1958.
Title and dates:: Saxe Commins Papers, 1930-1973 (bulk 1945-1960)
Abstract:: This collection consists of the papers of Saxe Commins, concentrating primarily while he was chief editor at Random House (1933-1958). Commins worked with many major writers of the literary world, such as Eugene O’Neill and William Faulkner, as well as Irwin Shaw and Budd Schulberg. Commins also compiled several collections of others' works, such as “The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt” and “Major Speeches of Adlai E. Stevenson.”
Size:: 6.05 cubic feet (17 boxes)
Call number:: C0718
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 Saxe Commins

Saxe Commins was born in Rochester, New York, around 1892. He attended the University of Pennsylvania and received his bachelor's degree in 1913, after which he married Dorothy Berliner, a concert pianist. He began his editing career at Horace Liveright, but soon joined Random House in 1933. He quickly ascended the ranks to become editor-in-chief and, then, senior editor. Commins also acted as the director of the Modern Library series, a division of Random House.

Many of the twentieth-century's greatest authors received help from Saxe Commins on their works. The editor accepted novels and plays by William Faulkner, W. H. Auden, Eugene O'Neill, Sinclair Lewis, Gertrude Stein, and James A. Michener, to name a few. He helped some on their way to the Pulitzer Prize, including O'Neill, Faulkner, and Lewis.

Commins also compiled several collections of others' works. He presented The Major Campaign Speeches of Adlai E. Stevenson in 1933, The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, The Selected Writings of Washington Irving in 1945, The Selected Writings of Robert Louis Stevenson in 1947, a four-volume series entitled The World's Greatest Thinkers with Robert N. Linscott in 1947, and The Basic Writings of George Washington in 1948.

Commins believed that “the role of the editor is to be invisible,” but his editing was an indisputable element of many authors' reputations. He died in his Princeton home in 1958 after a long struggle with heart ailments.

Description

Consists of papers of Commins, compiled primarily while he was chief editor, 1933-1958, at Random House. The author files contain a large section of Eugene O'Neill material, including 60 letters (1920-1948) to Commins; galleys for Morning Becomes Electra, Ah, Wilderness, The Iceman Cometh, Days Without End, and A Moon for the Misbegotten; miscellaneous correspondence; about 160 letters by Carlotta O'Neill; and photographs of the O'Neills. In addition, there are letters to Commins and his wife, Dorothy Commins, by Gertrude Stein, W. H. Auden, Sherwood Anderson, Budd Schulberg, Albert Einstein, S. N. Behrman, Isak Dinesen, Edgar Snow, Bennett Cerf, Robinson Jeffers, Peter van de Kamp, Margaret Mead, and many others. Typescripts and photographs of various authors are also interspersed among the files.

Also present are Commins's typescripts for his lectures, articles, reviews, and short stories, as well as correspondence and papers relating to the publication of The Basic Writings of George Washington, Selected Writings of Robert Louis Stevenson, and The Major Campaign Speeches of Adlai E. Stevenson, all edited by Commins.

Arrangement

Organized into the following series:

Series 1: Author Files (A-Z)
Series 2: Writings of Saxe Commins
Subseries 2A: Editorial Works
Subseries 2B: Articles
Subseries 2C: Short Stories
Subseries 2D: Miscellaneous

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 Maritza Maxwell in 1992. Finding aid written by Maritza Maxwell in 1992.

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 and Cristela García-Spitz on March 23, 2007.

Finding aid written in English.

Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Saxe Commins 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.

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Publishing history

Contents List

Series 1: Author Files

Series Description

Contains, alphabetically by author, correspondence and manuscripts of a variety of writers, including W. H. Auden, Isak Dinesen, Edgar Snow, and Gertrude Stein, that Commins collected during his work as chief editor at Random House. There is also a large section of Eugene O'Neill material, consisting of correspondence between the Comminses and the O'Neills, galleys of O'Neill's major plays, and photographs of the two couples.

Adams, Samuel Hopkins
Box 1, Folder 1
Alexander, Jesse J.
Box 1, Folder 2
Anderson, Sherwood: Correspondence, 1933-1972
Box 1, Folder 3
Anderson, Sherwood: Xerox copies of letters
Box 1, Folder 4
Atherton, Gertrude
Box 1, Folder 5
Atkinson, Brooks
Box 1, Folder 6
Auden, W.H.: Correspondence
Box 1, Folder 7
Auden, W.H.: Xerox copies of letters
Box 1, Folder 8
Auden, W.H.: Manuscript for Age of Anxiety
Box 1, Folder 9
Auden, W.H.: Manuscript for The Magic Flute
Box 1, Folder 10
Auden, W.H.: Newspaper clippings
Box 1, Folder 11
B: General
Box 1, Folder 12
Balabanoff, Angelica
Box 1, Folder 13
Basso, Hamilton
Box 1, Folder 14
Behrman, Samuel: Correspondence
Box 1, Folder 15
Behrman, Samuel: Manuscript for “Berenson”
Box 1, Folder 16
Behrman, Samuel: Manuscript for “The Cold Wind and the Warm”
Box 1, Folder 17
Behrman, Samuel: Manuscript for Duveen
Box 1, Folder 18
Behrman, Samuel: Manuscript for Duveen
Box 1, Folder 19
Behrman, Samuel: Manuscript for Duveen
Box 2, Folder 1
Behrman, Samuel: Manuscript for Duveen
Box 2, Folder 2
Behrman, Samuel: Manuscript for Duveen
Box 2, Folder 3
Behrman, Samuel: Manuscript for “Little Glass of Warmth”
Box 2, Folder 4
Behrman, Samuel: Manuscript for “Max”
Box 2, Folder 5
Behrman, Samuel: Manuscript for “Worchester Account”: Prologue
Box 2, Folder 6
Blotner, Joseph
Box 2, Folder 7
Blotner, Joseph and Gwynn, Frederick
Box 2, Folder 8
Blumenthal, Joseph
Box 2, Folder 9
Bowen, Catherine Drinker
Box 2, Folder 10
Browne, Lewis
Box 2, Folder 11
Burk, John N.
Box 2, Folder 12
Burton: “Arabian Nights”
Box 2, Folder 13
C: General
Box 2, Folder 14
Cerf, Bennett
Box 2, Folder 15
Clarke, Walter van Tilburg: Correspondence
Box 2, Folder 16
Clarke, Walter van Tilburg: Manuscript for Strange Hunting
Box 3, Folder 1
Collins, Carvel
Box 3, Folder 2
Colum, Padraic
Box 3, Folder 2a
Columbia University
Box 3, Folder 3
Commager, Henry Steele
Box 3, Folder 4
Cowley, Malcolm
Box 3, Folder 5
D: General
Box 3, Folder 6
Daley, Arthur
Box 3, Folder 7
Dinesen, Isak: Manuscript for Seven Gothic Tales, pp. 1-209
Box 3, Folder 8
Dinesen, Isak: Manuscript for Seven Gothic Tales, pp. 210-426
Box 3, Folder 9
Dinesen, Isak: Manuscript of Winter's Tales
Box 4, Folder 1
Dinesen, Isak: Manuscript of Winter's Tales
Box 4, Folder 2
Dreiser, Theodore
Box 4, Folder 3
E: General
Box 4, Folder 4
Einstein, Albert: Correspondence
Box 4, Folder 5
Einstein, Albert: Documents and clippings
Box 4, Folder 6
F: General
Box 4, Folder 7
Farrell, James T.
Box 4, Folder 8
Fosdick, Harry Emerson
Box 4, Folder 9
Fowler, Gene
Box 4, Folder 10
Friedrich, Carl J.
Box 4, Folder 11
G: General
Box 5, Folder 1
Geisel, Ted and Helen
Box 5, Folder 2
Gershoy, Leo and Ida
Box 5, Folder 3
Gilson, Elienne J.
Box 5, Folder 4
Graham, George
Box 5, Folder 5
H: General
Box 5, Folder 6
Hopkins, Vivian C.
Box 5, Folder 7
Heubsch, Ben
Box 5, Folder 8
J: General
Box 5, Folder 9
Jeffers, Robinson
Box 5, Folder 10
K: General
Box 5, Folder 11
Kahn, E.J., Jr.
Box 5, Folder 12
Kantor, MacKinlay
Box 5, Folder 13
Klopfer, Donald
Box 5, Folder 14
Kronenberger, Louis
Box 5, Folder 15
L: General
Box 5, Folder 16
Lambert, Gerard
Box 5, Folder 17
Lerner, Max
Box 5, Folder 18
Lewis, Sinclair
Box 5, Folder 19
Liddell Hart, Basil Henry
Box 5, Folder 20
Linscott, Robert N.
Box 5, Folder 21
Lowe, Elias Avery
Box 5, Folder 22
M: General
Box 6, Folder 1
MacGowen, Kenneth
Box 6, Folder 2
Maule, Harry E.
Box 6, Folder 3
Maupassant, Guy de
Box 6, Folder 4
McKeon, Richard P.
Box 6, Folder 5
Mead, Margaret
Box 6, Folder 6
Meriwether, James
Box 6, Folder 7
Michener, James A.
Box 6, Folder 8
Miller, Perry
Box 6, Folder 9
Moore, Merrill
Box 6, Folder 10
Murphy, Gardner
Box 6, Folder 11
New York University
Box 6, Folder 12
Nichols, Dudley
Box 6, Folder 13
O: General
Box 6, Folder 14
Oates, Whitney J. and Virginia
Box 6, Folder 15
O'Hara, John
Box 6, Folder 16
O'Neill: Correspondence about Eugene and Carlotta
Box 7, Folder 1
O'Neill, Agnes
Box 7, Folder 2
O'Neill, Carlotta: Correspondence, 1928-1929
Box 7, Folder 3
O'Neill, Carlotta: Correspondence about Dynamo, 1928-1929
Box 7, Folder 4
O'Neill, Carlotta: Correspondence, 1930-1932
Box 7, Folder 5
O'Neill, Carlotta: Correspondence, 1933
Box 7, Folder 6
O'Neill, Carlotta: Correspondence about Ah! Wilderness, 1933
Box 7, Folder 7
O'Neill, Carlotta: Correspondence about Days Without End, 1933
Box 7, Folder 8
O'Neill, Carlotta: Correspondence, 1934-1942
Box 7, Folder 9
O'Neill, Carlotta: Correspondence, 1945-1950
Box 7, Folder 10
O'Neill, Eugene: Ah! Wilderness - galleys
Box 8, Folder 1
O'Neill, Eugene: Ah! Wilderness - correspondence
Box 8, Folder 2
O'Neill, Eugene: Days Without End - bound galleys
Box 8, Folder 3
O'Neill, Eugene: Days Without End - correspondence
Box 8, Folder 4
O'Neill, Eugene: Dynamo - correspondence
Box 8, Folder 5
O'Neill, Eugene: Emperor Jones
Box 8, Folder 6
O'Neill, Eugene: The Iceman Cometh - music
Box 8, Folder 7
O'Neill, Eugene: The Iceman Cometh - galley proofs
Box 8, Folder 8
O'Neill, Eugene: The Iceman Cometh - corrected proofs
Box 8, Folder 9
O'Neill, Eugene: The Iceman Cometh - correspondence
Box 8, Folder 10
O'Neill, Eugene: A Moon for the Misbegotten - manuscript
Box 8, Folder 11
O'Neill, Eugene: A Moon for the Misbegotten - galleys
Box 8, Folder 12
O'Neill, Eugene: Mourning Becomes Electra - work diary
Box 9, Folder 1
O'Neill, Eugene: Mourning Becomes Electra - outline
Box 9, Folder 2
O'Neill, Eugene: Mourning Becomes Electra - page proofs
Box 9, Folder 3
O'Neill, Eugene: Mourning Becomes Electra - galleys
Box 9, Folder 4
O'Neill, Eugene: Mourning Becomes Electra - galleys
Box 9, Folder 5
O'Neill, Eugene: Mourning Becomes Electra - galleys
Box 9, Folder 6
O'Neill, Eugene: Mourning Becomes Electra - galleys
Box 9, Folder 7
O'Neill, Eugene: Mourning Becomes Electra - bound galleys
Box 10, Folder 1
O'Neill, Eugene: Mourning Becomes Electra - correspondence
Box 10, Folder 2
O'Neill, Eugene: Spithead - correspondence
Box 10, Folder 3
O'Neill, Eugene: Strange Interlude - lawsuit
Box 10, Folder 4
O'Neill, Eugene: Strange Interlude - correspondence
Box 10, Folder 5
O'Neill, Eugene: Thirst - correspondence
Box 10, Folder 6
O'Neill, Eugene: “Tribute to Benjamin De Casseres”
Box 10, Folder 7
O'Neill, Eugene: Correspondence, 1920-1925
Box 11, Folder 1
O'Neill, Eugene: Correspondence, 1927-1930
Box 11, Folder 2
O'Neill, Eugene: Correspondence, 1931-1939
Box 11, Folder 3
O'Neill, Eugene: Correspondence, 1940-1959
Box 11, Folder 4
O'Neill, Eugene: Christmas cards
Box 11, Folder 5
O'Neill, Eugene: Xerox copies of letters
Box 11, Folder 6
O'Neill, Eugene: Tributes to O'Neill
Box 11, Folder 7
O'Neill, Eugene: Pipenight at the Player's Club, 11/10/1957
Box 11, Folder 8
O'Neill, Eugene: Photographs
Box 11, Folder 9
O'Neill, Eugene: Photographs
Box 11, Folder 10
O'Neill, Eugene: Lists
Box 11, Folder 11
O'Neill, Eugene: Newspaper clippings
Box 11, Folder 12
O'Neill, Eugene, Jr.
Box 12, Folder 1
O'Neill, Oona [Oona Chaplin]: Correspondence
Box 12, Folder 2
P: General
Box 12, Folder 3
Paul, Elliot
Box 12, Folder 4
Pegis, Anton C.
Box 12, Folder 5
Pepys, Samuel
Box 12, Folder 6
Princeton University Press
Box 12, Folder 7
Q: General
Box 12, Folder 8
R: General
Box 12, Folder 9
Russell, Lillian
Box 12, Folder 10
S: General
Box 12, Folder 11
Schulberg, Budd: Correspondence
Box 12, Folder 12
Schulberg, Budd: Outline for The Disenchanted
Box 12, Folder 13
Schulberg, Budd: Manuscript of The Face in the Crowd
Box 12, Folder 14
Schulberg, Budd: Manuscript of The Face in the Crowd
Box 12, Folder 15
Schulberg, Budd: Manuscript of “Prize Fight”
Box 13, Folder 1
Schulberg, Budd: Manuscript of “Prize Fight”
Box 13, Folder 2
Shaw, George Bernard
Box 13, Folder 3
Shaw, Irwin
Box 13, Folder 4
Simon and Schuster
Box 13, Folder 5
Snow, Edgar: Correspondence
Box 13, Folder 6
Snow, Edgar: Photographs
Box 13, Folder 7
Spender, Stephen
Box 14, Folder 1
Spewack, Bella and Sam
Box 14, Folder 2
Stein, Gertrude
Box 14, Folder 3
Stewart, George
Box 14, Folder 4
Strachey, John: Correspondence
Box 14, Folder 5
Strachey, John: Manuscript of “James: A Romance”
Box 14, Folder 6
Strachey, John: Manuscript of “The Ton Bomb”
Box 14, Folder 7
Strecker, Edward
Box 14, Folder 8
Sullivan, Frank
Box 14, Folder 9
Sussman, Aaron
Box 14, Folder 10
Swarthmore College
Box 14, Folder 11
Tallmadge, G. Kasten
Box 14, Folder 12
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Box 14, Folder 13
Tisch, William
Box 14, Folder 14
U,V,Y: General
Box 14, Folder 15
Van de Kamp, Peter
Box 14, Folder 16
W: General
Box 14, Folder 17
Wechsler, James A.
Box 14, Folder 18
Weyl, Hermann
Box 14, Folder 19
Wylie, Ida
Box 14, Folder 20
Wylie, Max
Box 14, Folder 21
Yutang, Lin
Box 14, Folder 22

Series 2: Writings of Saxe Commins

Series Description

Contains typescripts of Commins's own works, which include the subseries A. Editorial Works, B. Articles, C. Short Stories, and D. Miscellaneous. His editorial works include correspondence and papers relating to his publications of The Basic Writings of George Washington, Selected Writings of Robert Louis Stevenson, and The Major Campaign Speeches of Adlai E. Stevenson. The miscellaneous section includes his lectures, reviews, and notes.

Subseries 1A: Editorial Works
The Basic Writings of George Washington
Box 15, Folder 1
The Basic Writings of George Washington: part I: The Colonial Period
Box 15, Folder 2
The Basic Writings of George Washington: part II: The Revolutionary Period
Box 15, Folder 3
The Basic Writings of George Washington: Reviews
Box 15, Folder 4
Emanuel Swedenborg
Box 16, Folder 1
The Major Campaign Speeches of Adlai E. Stevenson: Correspondence
Box 16, Folder 2
The Major Campaign Speeches of Adlai E. Stevenson: Introduction, speeches
Box 16, Folder 3
The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt: Correspondence
Box 16, Folder 4
The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt: Reviews, clippings
Box 16, Folder 5
The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt: Notes, summary, price lists
Box 16, Folder 6
The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt: Book covers, announcements
Box 16, Folder 7
The Selected Writings of Robert Louis Stevenson
Box 16, Folder 8
Subseries 2B: Articles
“The Ambiguous They”
Box 17, Folder 1
“America's First Man of Letters; America's First Folk Laureate”
Box 17, Folder 2
“Comment on Bennett Cerf”
Box 17, Folder 3
“The Doctrine of Or Else”
Box 17, Folder 4
“The Editor and the Graphic Arts”
Box 17, Folder 5
“Fragments of a Sketch”
Box 17, Folder 6
“Leap From an Ivory Tower”
Box 17, Folder 7
“The Pathos of Brains”
Box 17, Folder 8
“Poet's Gold”
Box 17, Folder 9
“S. N. Behrman”
Box 17, Folder 10
“Ten Great Unwritten Books”
Box 17, Folder 11
Subseries 2C: Short Stories
“Ghost Story”
Box 17, Folder 12
“Seeds”
Box 17, Folder 13
“Testimonial”
Box 17, Folder 14
“Two Minutes of Silence”
Box 17, Folder 15
Subseries 2D: Miscellaneous
A Guide to Random House Style
Box 17, Folder 16
Lectures
Box 17, Folder 17
Listing of Books - Random House Early Publications
Box 17, Folder 18
Notes
Box 17, Folder 19
Notes on Tolstoy's War and Peace
Box 17, Folder 20
Princeton Orchestra
Box 17, Folder 21
Reviews
Box 17, Folder 22
Selected Bibliography on History of English Literature
Box 17, Folder 23
Speeches
Box 17, Folder 24

Permanent URL: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/pk02c974p

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