Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Ross, Harold Wallace, 1892-1951
2. Shawn, William

Description

1. .33 linear feet (1 box).

Summary

1. Records consist of miscellaneous memos and correspondence; promotional brochures and artifacts illustrated by New Yorker artists; tearsheets of advertisements; typescripts of copy for "Inside the New Yorker," a weekly public relations newsletter consisting of press releases describing future articles, reactions to past articles, sales, and authors; and corrected galleys of "Talk of the Town" for the issue of October 14, 1985. "Inside the New Yorker" copy is accompanied by notes from Editor Williams Shawn. Memos include copies of William Shawn's resignation letter of February 12, 1987, and the March 8, 1985 announcement of the magazine's merger with Advanced Publications Inc.

Uniform title

1. New Yorker (New York, N.Y. : 1925)

Subject

1. New Yorker (New York, N.Y. : 1925)
2. Advertising
3. American literature -- Periodicals
4. American periodicals
5. Caricatures and cartoons
6. Editors -- United States
7. Journalism -- United States
8. Periodical editors -- United States
9. Periodicals -- United States
10. Periodicals -- Publishing
11. Public relations
12. New York (N.Y.) -- Newspapers, periodicals and journalism

Call number

1. MssCol 4801

Access (note)

1. Restricted access;

Source (note)

1. Barrett, Sara

Biography (note)

1. Weekly magazine founded in New York City in 1925 by Harold W. Ross, Jane Grant, Alexander Woollcott and Raoul Fleischman. Ross, a former newspaper writer, convinced Fleischman, heir to a fortune derived from yeast and bakery businesses, to provide funds to establish a sophisticated, humorous publication aimed at a cosmopolitan audience. The first issue appeared on February 17, 1925. The New Yorker's signature editorial style was defined during the late 1920s by Ross, Grant, fiction editor Katharine White, and art director Rea Irvin, who designed the layout, typeface, and famous Eustace Tilley symbol. Prominent authors associated with the magazine's early years include E. B. White, James Thurber, Wolcott Gibbs, Edmund Wilson and Dorothy Parker. During the early 1930s, The New Yorker maintained an aloof, casual tone towards social issues associated with the economic depression, remaining primarily a humor magazine. Stronger emphasis was placed on serious journalism beginning in 1936, as non-fiction editor St. Clair McElway cultivated the talent of such writers as Joseph Mitchell, A. J. Liebling, Brendan Gill, Philip Hamburger and Emily Kahn. McKelway's successor, William Shawn, convinced Harold Ross to devote much attention to World War II.

Indexes/finding aids (note)

1. Finding aid available in repository and on internet.

Processing action (note)

1. Cataloged.

Author

1. New Yorker Magazine, Inc.

Title

1. New Yorker public relations department materials, 1932-1988.

Restricted access

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

Biography

1. Weekly magazine founded in New York City in 1925 by Harold W. Ross, Jane Grant, Alexander Woollcott and Raoul Fleischman. Ross, a former newspaper writer, convinced Fleischman, heir to a fortune derived from yeast and bakery businesses, to provide funds to establish a sophisticated, humorous publication aimed at a cosmopolitan audience. The first issue appeared on February 17, 1925. The New Yorker's signature editorial style was defined during the late 1920s by Ross, Grant, fiction editor Katharine White, and art director Rea Irvin, who designed the layout, typeface, and famous Eustace Tilley symbol. Prominent authors associated with the magazine's early years include E. B. White, James Thurber, Wolcott Gibbs, Edmund Wilson and Dorothy Parker. During the early 1930s, The New Yorker maintained an aloof, casual tone towards social issues associated with the economic depression, remaining primarily a humor magazine. Stronger emphasis was placed on serious journalism beginning in 1936, as non-fiction editor St. Clair McElway cultivated the talent of such writers as Joseph Mitchell, A. J. Liebling, Brendan Gill, Philip Hamburger and Emily Kahn. McKelway's successor, William Shawn, convinced Harold Ross to devote much attention to World War II.
2. After the war, circulation increased dramatically as The New Yorker became a truly national publication. Harold Ross died in 1951 and was succeeded as Editor by William Shawn, who continued to broaden the magazine's outlook and raise its standards for literary and investigative journalism. Shawn maintained Ross' meticulous editorial standards, reading every word of each issue before appeared. Even the copy and content of advertisements was subject to editorial review. Advertising sales peaked in the late 1960s, then gradually declined through the 1970s and 1980s, despite the magazine's formidable literary reputation. In 1985 The New Yorker was purchased by Advance Publications, Inc., owner of the Conde Nast magazine group. A highly controversial change of leadership took place in 1987, when William Shawn was fired and Robert Gottlieb was named Editor. Gottlieb resigned in 1992, and was succeeded by former Vanity Fair Editor Tina Brown, who left the magazine in 1998 and was succeeded by David Remnick.

Indexes

1. Finding aid available in repository and on internet.

Connect to:

1. Finding Aid

Added author

1. Ross, Harold Wallace, 1892-1951.
2. Shawn, William.

Added title

1. New Yorker (New York, N.Y. : 1925)

Research call number

1. MssCol 4801