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Morley-Cain papers
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Held at: Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections [Contact Us]370 Lancaster Ave, Haverford, PA 19041
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Christopher Darlington Morley (1890-1957), was born in Haverford, Pennsylvania, to Frank Morley and Lilian Janet Bird Morley. In 1900 the family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, but Morley returned to Haverford when he enrolled at Haverford College in 1906. There, he published in the school's Haverfordian, was on its editorial board, edited his class yearbook, helped write, produce, and act in plays, and was a member of the cricket and soccer teams. After graduating in 1910 as valedictorian of his class, he became a Rhodes Scholar at New College, Oxford University, where he studied modern history. Returning to the United States, Morley began a versatile career as poet, novelist, essayist, critic, and editor, supporter of theatrical ventures, book-club judge, and friend of neglected old writers and emerging new ones. In 1914 he married Helen Booth Fairchild; they had four children. They moved to Philadelphia in 1917, and moved permanently to Roslyn Heights, Long Island, in 1920. Morley's career began with an editorial position at Doubleday, Page and Co., publishers, on Long Island, New York. He also edited the Ladies' Home Journal, and cofounded and edited the Saturday Review of Literature. Morley wrote for many papers, including the Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger and the New York Evening Post. Though he thought of himself as a poet first, Morley was a prolific author of novels and poetry, publishing his first book of poems in 1912 while he was at Oxford. In total, Morley published at least ten books of verse, and many novels including Kitty Foyle (1939), which made the bestseller list and was the basis of a 1942 movie starring Ginger Rogers and The Man Who Made Friends With Himself (1949). Morley wrote introductions and prefaces for works by other authors such as Walt Whitman, H.H. Munro, William Shakespeare, and Laurence Sterne, and edited material by Whitman, Sir Francis Bacon, and his close friend, humorist Don Marquis. In addition to volumes of published essays, Morley gave countless lectures, some of which were published. Morley was involved in the Book-of-the-Month Club and cofounder of the Baker Street Irregulars, a club for lovers of Sherlock Holmes.
The collection includes correspondence and manuscripts.
The correspondence consists of two series: one business, the other personal. The former series is composed chiefly of letters from Christopher Morley. Many are letters of thanks for correspondence as well as about manuscripts sent to him for publishing in his "Bowling Green" column or other publications. The business correspondence was on acidic, crumbling paper and has been photocopied onto acid-free paper. The latter series includes letters primarily written by Christopher Morley to his secretary, Helen Hare, later Cain, which refer heavily to his literary work, to personal friends, such as Buckminster Fuller and personal philosophy. Among other items, there is a telegram and copies of letters from Ginger Rogers.
Christopher Morley's manuscripts include poems, essays, novelettes, chapters from his books, and aphorisms.
The arrangement of the correspondence is chronological; there is manuscript material that accompanies some of the correspondence.
The Morley-Cain papers were donated to Special Collections, Haverford College by Helen Hare Cain through Steven Rothman in 1990.
Processed by Janela Harris; Completed September, 2014. Revised by Allison Hall; Completed in May, 2020.
People
Subject
- Publisher
- Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections
- Finding Aid Author
- Janela Harris
- Finding Aid Date
- September 14, 2014
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open to research use.
- Use Restrictions
-
Standard Federal Copyright Law apply (U.S. Title 17).
Collection Inventory
1 boxes
Folders in this box are arranged by date.
Folder 1: 1938
Folder 2: 1939
Folder 3: 1940-1943
Folder 4: 1944-1945
Folder 5: 1946
Folder 6: 1947
Physical Description1 boxes
Folders in this box are arranged by date.
Folder 1: 1948
Folder 2: 1949-1950
Folder 3: 1951-1957
For a paper concerning a letter from Christopher Morley to Louise Thomas, see Coll. 811, 1991 for:
Benjamin Levy's "Christopher Darlington Morley: An American Man of Letters, Letter of 1 April 1951 from Christopher Morley to Louise Thomas," written for History 361.
Physical Description1 boxes
1 boxes
By C.S. Lewis; interview w/ CDM by S. Salzenkor (?)
Chapters include:
26: The Trestle
27: Plenty of Time
28: Soufflée Potatoes
29: Postscript