Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Boyd, Ernest Augustus, 1887-1946
2. Bradish, C.R.
3. De Casseres, Benjamin, 1873-1945
4. Dreiser, Theodore, 1871-1945
5. Dudek, J.B., 1890-1963
6. Hanes, Elizabeth Peck
7. Hergesheimer, Joseph, 1880-1954
8. Keller, Albert Galloway, 1874-1956
9. Knopf, Alfred A., 1892-1984
10. Lewis, Sinclair, 1885-1951
11. McClure, John
12. Masters, Edgar Lee, 1868-1950
13. Nathan, George Jean, 1882-1958
14. Pearl, Raymond F.
15. Seamen, H.W.
16. Sterling, George, 1869-1926

Description

1. 48 linear feet (120 boxes and 7 slipcases).

Summary

1. The bulk of the collection is Mencken's correspondence with a wide range of prominent people in the literary, artistic and political world of his time. Remaining papers are literary manuscripts by Mencken and others. Correspondence consists of about 30,000 letters, notes, postcards, and memoranda to and from Mencken. His correspondents include authors, journalists, editors, publishers, politicians, critics, and educators, as well as contributors to The American Language, Smart Set and American Mercury. He also exchanged letters with acquaintances, readers and members of his family. Manuscripts consist of poems and stories written by contemporary authors and two of Mencken's autobiographical works: My Life As Author and Editor, and Thirty-Five Years of Newspaper Work.

Uniform title

1. Baltimore Evening Sun.
2. Musical smart set.
3. American Mercury.

Subject

1. United States > Politics and government > 1901-1953
2. Journalism > Editing
3. Language and languages
4. Mencken, H. L (Henry Louis), 1880-1956
5. Journalism > United States
6. Critics
7. Arts and society
8. Periodicals > United States
9. Arts > Press coverage
10. Journalists
11. Reporters and reporting
12. Authors
13. Criticism
14. United States > Social life and customs > 20th century

Call number

1. MssCol 1962

Access (note)

1. Restricted access;

Additional formats (note)

1. Collection available on microfilm;
2. available on microfilm;

Terms of use (note)

1. Literary rights belong to the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, Maryland.

Source (note)

1. Mencken, H.L.

Biography (note)

1. H.L. Mencken (1880-1956), journalist, author and critic, worked as a reporter and drama critic for the Baltimore Morning Herald from 1899 to 1906. From 1906 to the end of his working career he was at the Baltimore Evening Sun where he wrote the column "Free Lance" in which he expressed his views on literature, politics and society. He was book review editor for the magazine Smart Set from 1908 to 1924 when he started a new magazine, American Mercury, a journal of sociology and politics. He retired from American Mercury in 1933 and concentrated on writing for the Baltimore Sun and encouraging young literary talent. He also wrote books and articles including his classic, The American Language, which he first published in 1918 and continued revising until 1948.

Indexes/finding aids (note)

1. Finding aid available in repository.

Processing action (note)

1. Cataloged

Author

1. Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956.

Title

1. H.L. Mencken papers, 1905-1956.

Additional formats

1. Collection available on microfilm; New York Public Library.
2. Selected correspondence available on microfilm; New York Public Library.
3. J.B. Dudek correspondence, 1923-1956, available on microfilm; New York Public Library.

Restricted access

1. Restricted access; Manuscripts and Archives Division; Permit must be requested at the division indicated.

Terms of use

1. Literary rights belong to the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, Maryland.

Biography

1. H.L. Mencken (1880-1956), journalist, author and critic, worked as a reporter and drama critic for the Baltimore Morning Herald from 1899 to 1906. From 1906 to the end of his working career he was at the Baltimore Evening Sun where he wrote the column "Free Lance" in which he expressed his views on literature, politics and society. He was book review editor for the magazine Smart Set from 1908 to 1924 when he started a new magazine, American Mercury, a journal of sociology and politics. He retired from American Mercury in 1933 and concentrated on writing for the Baltimore Sun and encouraging young literary talent. He also wrote books and articles including his classic, The American Language, which he first published in 1918 and continued revising until 1948.

Indexes

1. Finding aid available in repository.

Connect to:

1. NYPL Digital Collections
2. Finding Aid

Occupation

1. Journalists.
2. Critics.
3. Authors.

Added author

1. Boyd, Ernest Augustus, 1887-1946.
2. Bradish, C.R.
3. De Casseres, Benjamin, 1873-1945.
4. Dreiser, Theodore, 1871-1945.
5. Dudek, J.B., 1890-1963.
6. Hanes, Elizabeth Peck.
7. Hergesheimer, Joseph, 1880-1954.
8. Keller, Albert Galloway, 1874-1956.
9. Knopf, Alfred A., 1892-1984.
10. Lewis, Sinclair, 1885-1951.
11. McClure, John.
12. Masters, Edgar Lee, 1868-1950.
13. Nathan, George Jean, 1882-1958.
14. Pearl, Raymond F.
15. Seamen, H.W.
16. Sterling, George, 1869-1926.

Added title

1. Baltimore Evening Sun.
2. Musical smart set.
3. American Mercury.

Research call number

1. MssCol 1962