Special Collections Department
Jack Butler Yeats Correspondence
Manuscript Collection Number: 150
Accessioned: Purchase, March 1984.
Extent: 64 items ( .1 linear ft.).
Content: Correspondence and documents.
Access: The collection is open for research.
Processed: Rvised August 1992 by Anita A. Wellner.
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Special Collections, University of Delaware Library
Newark, Delaware 19717-5267
(302) 831-2229
Table of Contents
Biographical Note
In 1888 he attended the Westminster School of Art and later developed a career as a successful illustrator. His work appeared in such publications as Boy's Own Paper, Judy, and Vegetarian. He also illustrated a large number of broadsheets, many of which were published by Cuala Press, a small enterprise run by his sisters Elizabeth and Lily Yeats. In 1912 Yeats' drawings and paintings of Life in the West of Ireland were published by Maunsel.
Until about 1910 Yeats worked mainly as an illustrator and with watercolors; then he began to focus on oil painting. In 1913 five of Yeats' oil paintings were shown in the famous Armory exhibition in New York City. Following this showing Yeats concentrated on oil paintings depicting the life and landscapes of Ireland, as well as scenes of Celtic myths. His paintings contributed to the upsurge of nationalist feeling in the arts that followed the winning of Irish independence.
As a writer Jack B. Yeats contributed for many years to the British magazine, Punch, under the pseudonym, "W. Bird." Books written and illustrated by Yeats include: A Little Fleet (1909), Sligo (1930), The Amaranthers (1936), and La la Noo (1943).
Sources:
Chilvers, Ian and Harold Osborne (eds.). The Oxford Dictionary of Art. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. p.545.Drabble, Margaret (ed.). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. Fifth edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985. p.1093.
Palmer, Helen M. and E.T. Williams (eds.). The Dictionary of National Biography, 1951-1960. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971. pp.1087-1088.
Related Collections
Ms 99 Miscellaneous Manuscripts
F292 ALS (1930 Jun 16) from Yeats to Lady Gregory
F348 8 letters and notes (1906-1920) from Yeats
to Elkin Matthews
Ms 153 Cuala Press Collection
Consists of a letter (1907) from Yeats to Mr. Mathews,
bookplates autographed by Yeats, hand-colored cards and
broadsides illustrated by Jack Yeats.
Ms 212 Lennox Robinson Papers
Consists of an ALS (1930 Sep 8) from Jack Yeats to
Robinson, transcripts of 8 letters (1905-1919) from
Yeats to John Quinn, and an introduction to the Jack
Yeats chapter of the anthology being written by
Robinson.
Scope and Content Note
Yeats' letters report his disputes with publishers over the American rights to Padraic Colum's The Big Tree of Bunlahy, for which Yeats provided the illustrations. The letters also discuss his own literary works, including The Amaranthers, The Charmed Life, and The Careless Flower; and the terms for the illustrations for the sequel to Patricia Lynch's The Turf Cutter's Donkey.
Also included in the correspondence as enclosures are copies of a "Memorandum of Agreement" between Jack B. Yeats and MacMillan & Co. and a copy of an "understanding" between the Society of Authors and MacMillan.
The letters are arranged in chronological order in eight folders.
Contents List
F1 Correspondence, 1934 May-June
1934 May 4 ALS to MacMillian & Co. 1 p
May 10 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
enc: ALS from MacMillan to
Yeats (copy handwritten by
Yeats) 1 p
May 18 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
May 24 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
enc: ALS from MacMillan to
Yeats (copy handwritten by
Yeats) 2 p
May 30 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
Jun 8 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
Jun 20 ALS to Miss Patee (Children's
Book Dept. of MacMillan) 1 p
enc: ALS from Miss Patee to
Yeats (copy handwritten by
Yeats) 1 p
Jun 25 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
F2 Correspondence, 1934 July
1934 Jul 3 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
encs: two ALSs from Yeats to
MacMillan and two ALSs from
MacMillan to Yeats (all
copies handwritten by Yeats) 4 p
Jul 13 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
Jul 17 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
enc: TLS (c) from MacMillan
to Yeats 3 p
Jul 17 ALS to MacMillan & Co. 1 p
Jul 19 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
enc: TL (c) from Brett to
Yeats 1 p
Jul 25 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
enc: Copy of document,
"Understanding" between the
Society of Authors and
MacMillan & Co. signed by
Yeats 1 p
F3 Correspondence, 1934 Aug-Dec
1934 Aug 13 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
Aug 15 "Memorandum of Agreement"
between Yeats and MacMillan
concerning The Big Tree of
Bunlahy, signed by Yeats 2 p
Aug 15 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
Aug 17 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
Sep 17 ALS to Miss Bromley 1 p
Sep 30 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
Dec 30 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
F4 Correspondence, 1935 Apr-Oct
1935 Apr 4 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
enc: ALS from Raymond
Crossett (Curtis Brown Ltd)
to Yeats (copy handwritten
by Yeats) 1 p
Jun 5 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
Jun 6 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
Jun 12 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
Sep 20 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
Oct 20 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
F5 Correspondence, 1936-1937
1936 May 4 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
Oct 14 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
Nov 9 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
1937 Aug 13 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
Aug 21 ALS to "Dear Sir" 1 p
Oct 22 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
enc: ALS from John Deltmers
to Yeats (copy handwritten
by Yeats) 1 p
F6 Correspondence, 1938-1941
1938 Jan 19 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
1939 Jan 7 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
1940 May 11 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
1941 May 6 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
May 24 ALS to Mr. Griffin 2 p
Jun 30 ALS to Mr. Griffin 1 p
Jul 14 ALS to Mr. Griffin 1 p
F7 Correspondence, 1942-1948
1942 Feb 5 ALS to Mr. Robarts 1 p
1945 Sep 25 ALS to "Dear Sir" (someone
from the Society of Authors) 2 p
1948 May 27 ALS to Miss Barber 1 p
Jun 7 ALS to Miss Barber 2 p
Jun 19 ALS to Miss Barber 1 p
enc: TLS (c) from Miss
Barber to Yeats 1 p
Aug 10 ALS to Miss Barber 1 p
F8 Correspondence, 1950-1955
1950 Jun 22 ALS to Miss Barber 2 p
Jul 14 ALS to Miss Barber 1 p
1954 Sep 18 ALS to Miss Barber 1 p
1955 Nov 15 ALS to Miss Barber 1 p
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