mss0099_0864.xml Finding aid for John Clellon Holmes letter to Shirley Allen 1953 June 23 University of Delaware Library, Special Collections University of Delaware Library
Newark, Delaware 19717-5267 Phone: 302-831-2229 Fax: 302-831-6003 URL: http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/
Date encoded (2010 April 8) Finding aid encoded 2010 April 8 English John Clellon Holmes letter to Shirley Allen1953 June 23 Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library
Newark, Delaware 19717-5267 Phone: 302-831-2229 Fax: 302-831-6003 URL: http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/
 Holmes, John Clellon, 1926-1988. John Clellon Holmes letter to Shirley Allen1953 June 23 MSS 099, F864 1 item (4 p.) American author John Clellon Holmes typed this four-page letter to his future wife, Shirley Allen. Materials in English. University of Delaware Library - Special Collections Source

Purchase, December 2009.

 Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

 Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library, http://www.lib.udel.edu/cgi-bin/askspec.cgi

 Citation

MSS 099, F864, John Clellon Holmes letter to Shirley Allen, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.

 Shelving Summary Box 60, F864: Shelved in SPEC MSS 099 manuscript boxes Processing

Processed and encoded by Anita Wellner, April 2010.

 Biographical Notes

American writer and educator John Clellon Holmes, author of novels, short stories, essays, and poems, was best known as a chronicler of the ideology and lifestyle of the "Beat generation writers."

Holmes's semi-autobiographical novel Go, published by Scribner in 1952 and later in England as The Beat Boys , is considered to be the first published novel depicting the Beat generation.

Born March 12, 1926, in Holyoke, Massachusetts, Holmes died on March 30, 1988, in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.

Shirley Allen married Holmes on September 9, 1953. She was his second wife.

Contemporary Authors Online (reproduced in Biography Resource Center). http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioR (accessed April 2010).

Scope and Content Note

American author John Clellon Holmes typed this four-page letter to his future wife, Shirley Allen.

Holmes's letter was written from St. Louis, Missouri, where he was visiting Jay and Fred Landesman. Holmes, who had previously contributed to Jay Landesman's periodical, Neurotica, and knew the brothers from New York City, offered his current observations on the Landesmans. Holmes also described at length the town of St. Louis, with which he was less than impressed. His letter continued with comments on the short stories of Fitzgerarld which he had recently read and ended with words of endearment for his future wife.

 Selected Search Terms Personal Names Holmes, John Clellon, 1926-1988--Correspondence. Allen, Shirley--Correspondence. Topical Terms Novelists, American--20th century--Correspondence. Beat generation--20th century--Correspondence. Authors, American––Correspondence. Geographic Names Saint Louis (Mo.)--History--20th century. Form/Genre Terms Correspondence. Personal Contributors Allen, Shirley, correspondent. Related Materials in this Repository

This item forms part of MSS 099 Miscellaneous Literary and Historical Manuscripts.

MSS 099 F902, John Clellon Holmes letters to Richard Douglass

 Detailed Contents List 60 F864 John Clellon Holmes letter to Shirley Allen1953 June 23