The H. L. Mencken Collection began in 1944 with a gift from George Stewart of six TLsS to the Princeton Library. In the same year, the Library purchased 288 Mencken letters to Ernest Boyd and numerous others to Madeline Boyd. The bulk of the collection, including the typed transcripts of Mencken's correspondence, were acquired for the Library by Julian Boyd and added to by him over several decades. August Mencken, Edward Naumberg, Elbridge Colby, Nat Weiner, and others also contributed many Mencken letters.

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 October 2, 1995.

During 2022, restrictions on galley proofs and card files were lifted as part of a restrictions review project.

No appraisal information is available.

People

• Boyd, Julian P. (Julian Parks) (1903-1980)

Subject

• Critics -- United States. -- 20th century
• Editors -- United States -- 20th century
• Journalists -- United States. -- 20th century
• Quotations. -- Dictionaries

Publisher

Manuscripts Division

Finding Aid Date

2002

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

No reproduction or digital photography of Boyd's copies (paper or microfilm) of Mencken letters is permitted. Otherwise, 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.