Main content
John Peale Bishop Papers
Notifications
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
John Peale Bishop was a noted author, poet, and editor. Born in 1892 in Charles Town, West Virginia, Bishop entered Princeton University in 1913, where he edited the Nassau Literary Magazine. Upon graduation in 1917, he published his first volume of poetry, but his literary career was put on hold when he was commissioned in the United States Infantry during World War I. He returned to the United States in 1920 and joined the staff of Vanity Fair, where he later became managing editor. He began publishing his own poetry but met very little success, so he moved to a small town in France with his new wife. However, the European literary scene was similarly unreceptive to Bishop's work, and he returned to the United States a few years later. Among his most known works are Many Thousands Gone, Now with His Love, Minute Particulars, Act of Darkness, and The Hours, an elegy for his dear friend, F. Scott Fitzgerald.
The collection consists of manuscripts, correspondence, documents, drawings, printed materials, and memorabilia of Bishop (Princeton Class of 1917). The collection includes manuscripts of 4 novels, including Act of Darkness and Many Thousands Gone; 26 short stories; about 950 poems; 6 plays; and various anthologies, articles, and book reviews. In addition, there are checklists--spanning many years--of birds Bishop noted seeing, as well as 15 folders of his colored pencil drawings of birds, mostly ducks. There are also architectural drawings for Bishop's house in South Chatham, Mass. Correspondents in the collection include E.E. Cummings, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Archibald MacLeish, Ezra Pound, and Edmund Wilson. Also included is a manuscript of The Hours, and a carbon copy typescript of Selected Poems (120 pp.).
Class of 1917 Collection: Gift of: Landon T. Raymond, Princeton Class of 1917, in 1973.
Postcard to Cecil D. Eby, Sr.: Gift of: Cecil D. Eby, Jr., on March 12, 1998.
Posthumous correspondence related to Bishop's Collected Poems on August 16, 2010.
This collection was processed by Barbara McElroy '81 in 1980. Finding aid written by Barbara McElroy '81 in 1980.
Biography written by Jessica Marati, '08.
In 2022, restrictions on an Ernest Hemingway letter where researchers were required to use surrogates were lifted as part of a restrictions review project.
No appraisal information is available.
Subject
- American fiction -- 20th century
- American poetry -- 20th century
- Bird watching -- Massachusetts -- 20th century
Occupation
- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Author
- Barbara McElroy '81
- Finding Aid Date
- 2002
- Access Restrictions
-
The collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
-
Single copies may be made for research purposes. No further duplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. Inquiries regarding publishing material from the collection should be directed to Special Collections Public Services staff through the Ask Us! form. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.
Collection Inventory
Consists of the novels, short stories, poetry, articles, notes, photographs, post cards, clippings, recipes, maps, architectural plans and more related to John Peale Bishop.
This series is arranged into twenty-two subseries: Novels, Short Stories, Poetry, Drama, Articles, Book Reviews, Anthologies and Projects, Notes, Genealogical Material, Juvenilia, Ornithological Writings and Drawings, Photographs, Post Cards, Recipes, Miscellaneous, Clippings, Maps, Obituaries, Reviews of Bishop, Others' Work, Bibliographical Data, and Architectural Plans for the Bishop House.
Physical Description19 boxes
Consists of manuscripts for novels such as Act of Darkness and Many Thousands Gone, as well as others.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
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Consists of manuscripts for short stories, including "The Great American Phantasmagoria," as well as unfinished and unpublished stories.
Arranged by genre of material.
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Consists of manuscripts of poetry written by John Peale Bishop.
Arranged by section.
Physical Description5 boxes
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Consists of manuscripts for drama such as "Saul at Endor: A Tragedy in One Act" and "The Destiny of Boaz," as well as unfinished manuscripts.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
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Consists of articles written by or about John Peale Bishop.
Arranged by section.
Physical Description5 boxes
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Consists of book reviews on authors such as Archibald MacLeish, Louis MacNeice, and W. H. Auden, as well as others.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
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Consists of works such as New Directions Anthology, American Harvest, and Olivet Conference, as well as others.
Arranged by section.
Physical Description2 boxes
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Consists of miscellaneous notes on manuscripts of works and ideas.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description2 boxes
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With addresses, recipes, class notes, diary entries, etc., including one on being an Indian, illustrated with drawings. Accompanying it is a copy of Ernest Thompson Seton's The Red Book or How to Play Indian (1904), which may have been JPB's model.
Physical Description1 box
Consists primarily of genealogical material of the Bishop family as well as correspondence related to genealogy.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
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Consists of short stories such as "Mr. Brinkley Decides," as well as memorabilia such as a printed program for oratorical and essay contest.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
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Consists primarily of checklists and descriptions of birds.
Arranged chronologically.
Physical Description2 boxes
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Consists of photographs of houses, rooms, and places, as well as family portraits.
Arranged by subject of photograph.
Physical Description1 box
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Includes a 1932 photograph of Alan Tate.
Physical Description1 folder
Contains a photograph of a young JPB, a Carl Van Vechten photograph of an older JPB, and possibly an early photograph of his wife.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
Consists of post cards primarily of America and Europe.
Arranged by subject of post card.
Physical Description1 box
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Consists of various recipes collected by John Peale Bishop.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
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Consists of miscellaneous sketches, invitations, and erotic pencil drawings.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
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Portfolio of undated pencil drawings of male and female subjects.
Physical Description1 folder
Consists primarily of clippings on John Peale Bishop as well as Lindbergh.
Arranged by subject of clipping.
Physical Description1 box
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Consists of 2 maps of New Orleans, a map of Williamsburg, and a hand-drawn map of Paris.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
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Consists of obituaries of John Peale Bishop.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
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Consists of reviews of works such as Act of Darkness and American Harvest, as well as others.
Arranged alphabetically by title.
Physical Description1 box
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Consists of the works of the individuals e. e. Cummings, T. S. Eliot, and Edmund Wilson, Jr.
Arranged alphabetically by author.
Physical Description1 box
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Consists of manuscripts of bibliographic data.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
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Consists of architectural plans for the Bishop House as well as related correspondence.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
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Consists of correspondence with individuals such as Sherwood Anderson, e. e. Cummings, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Marianne Moore, Katherine Anne Porter, and Edmund Wilson, as well as others.
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
Physical Description4 boxes
1 folder
See also Telegram, 1944 under Margaret G. H. Bishop #3
Physical Description1 folder
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See Latimer, J
Physical Description1 folder
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See Rosenfeld, Paul
Physical Description1 folder
See Ruth Campbell
Physical Description1 folder
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1 folder
See also Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
See The Author's League of America, Inc.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
Contains correspondence about JPB.
Physical Description1 folder