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Samuel McCoy Papers
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Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. 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
McCoy was a novelist, biographer, journalist, children's author, and Princeton graduate (Class of 1905). He wrote many works under the pseudonym Ellery Queen, Jr.
The collection consists primarily of manuscripts and correspondence of McCoy. The manuscripts range from his writings as an investigative reporter in the early 1900s to his later works as novelist, biographer, and children's author under the name of Ellery Queen, Jr. Included are typescripts, outlines, and manuscript notes for three nonfiction works, 10 mystery novels, 25 short stories, approximately 87 articles, several poems, as well as autobiographical and miscellaneous notes. Among the published titles are How Prayer Helps Me, Odyssey of an American Family, The Black Dog Mystery, The Mystery at Pickle Point, and The White Elephant Mystery. Also included are a series of articles about Ireland, and articles on his investigation of the Florida penal system which resulted in the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for the New York World. McCoy's correspondence includes a few letters of such notables as George Ade, John F. Kennedy, Don Marquis, H. L. Mencken, Thornton Wilder, Booth Tarkington; and greater numbers from Guy Pene DuBois, Ella Neely McCoy, Harold Montanye (McCoy's frequent co-author), George Worts, as well as many libraries, institutions, friends, and family. In addition, there are drawings, documents, memorabilia, photographs, two scrapbooks, tearsheets, and reviews by and about McCoy. The section devoted to papers of other persons includes manuscripts and correspondence of George Baker, George Hamid, Ella Neely McCoy (papers and illustrations for her children's books), Ellery Queen, Jr., and Nicol Smith.
Some of the manuscripts and notes found in draft form in the collection came to print in the following publications: two nonfiction works, How Prayer Helps Me (N.Y.: Dial Press, 1955) and Odyssey of an American Family, in collaboration with Hall Roosevelt (N.Y.: Harper & Bros., 1939); six novels as Ellery Queen, Jr., The Black Dog Mystery (N.Y.: Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1941), The Blue Herring Mystery (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1954), The Brown Fox Mystery (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1948), The Red Chipmunk Mystery (Phila.: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1946), The White Elephant Mystery (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1950), and The Yellow Cat Mystery (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1952); two novels as Duff McCoy, Mystery at Pickle Point (Phila.: J.B. Lippincott Co., 1948) and Mystery at Robber's Rock (Phila.: J.B. Lippincott Co., 1950).
Purchased from A. Blinderman on October 14 1961.
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
This collection was processed by Ran Tao in 2004. Finding aid written by Ran Tao in 2004.
No appraisal information is available.
People
Organization
Subject
- American fiction. -- 20th century
- Children's literature, American. -- 20th century
- Detective and mystery stories, American -- 20th century
- Investigative reporting -- Florida. -- 20th century
- Irish question
- Reporters and reporting -- Florida. -- 20th century
- Peonage -- Florida. -- 20th century
- Short stories, American. -- 20th century
Place
Occupation
- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Author
- Ran Tao
- Finding Aid Date
- 2004
- Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
-
Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.
Collection Inventory
Consists of manuscripts for novels, nonfiction, poetry, short stories, and articles.
This series is arranged into seven subseries: Nonfiction, Novels, Short Stories, Articles, Poetry, Autobiographical Manuscripts and Notes, and Miscellaneous Manuscript Notes.
Physical Description11 boxes
Consists of manuscripts for "How Prayer Helps Me," "Odyssey of an American Family," and "Mr. Armistead."
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
Consists of manuscripts for mystery novels.
Arranged alphabetically by title.
Physical Description1 box
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Consists of manuscripts for short stories such as "American Passport," "The Letters of Miss Olive Drab," and "Yukon Sleeper."
Arranged alphabetically by title.
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Consists of manuscripts for articles such as "Ask Your Broker," "A Cure for Murderers," and "The Repossession Man."
Arranged alphabetically by title.
Physical Description6 boxes
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Consists of manuscripts of poetry by Samuel McCoy such as "Ambassador," "Journey Toward Easter," "The Magic Windows," and "To The Mourning Dove."
Arranged alphabetically by title.
Physical Description1 box
1 folder
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Consists of autobiographical manuscripts and notes.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
1 folder
Consists of miscellanous notes, including notes on the Pratt Family.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description2 boxes
3 folders
1 folder
2 folders
Consists of drawings done by or collected by Samuel McCoy.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
3 folders
Consists of correspondence with individuals such as David Chambers, L. Marsden Hubbard, Harold Montanye, and Eleanor Roosevelt.
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
Physical Description11 boxes
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Consists of documents related to Samuel McCoy.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
2 folders
Consists of memorabilia such as Christmas cards, clippings related to the death of Mrs. McCoy, and buttons from the Princeton University Class of 1905.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
2 folders
Consists of photographs of Samuel McCoy and Ella McCoy and subjects such as Egypt and animals.
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Physical Description1 box
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Consists of scrapbooks for the years 1914-1918 and 1928-1929.
Arranged chronologically.
Physical Description1 box
1 box
1 box
Consists of material related to Samuel McCoy as well as material such as the "Nassau Literary Magazine" and "Contemporary Verse."
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description2 boxes
4 folders
1 folder
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2 folders
2 folders
1 folder
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1 folder
Consists of papers of individuals other than Samuel McCoy such as George Baker, Arthur Colton, and Frederick Smith and others.
This subseries is arranged into two subseries: A-Z, and Oversize.
Physical Description2 boxes
Consists of papers of individuals such as Arthur Harris, Ellery Queen, and C. E. Wilson and others.
Arranged alphabetically by author.
Physical Description1 box
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Consists primarily of papers by and regarding Ella Neely McCoy.
Arranged alphabetically by author.
Physical Description1 box
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
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