- unitid
-
{"value"=>"MssCol 3324", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"3324", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1939-2000", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1939/2000"}
- date_inclusive_start
-
1939
- date_inclusive_end
-
2000
- keydate
-
1939
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Alec Wilder papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"simple", "value"=>".3 linear feet (1 box"}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"The <span class=\"corpname\">New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division.</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Alec Wilder (1907-1980), the composer and songwriter, lived at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City for most of his life. He wrote several hundred popular songs, composed sonatas, operas, a concerto, and a ballet, and was the author of one book and co-author of another. The collection contains incoming letters to Alec Wilder from fifty-eight friends and acquaintances (including John Cheever, Harper Lee, S. J. Perelman, and Frank Sinatra), letters from Wilder to his friend and collaborator William Engvick; correspondence between Engvick and Wilder's biographer, Desmond Stone and James Dean's biographer, Val Holley and others; and printed matter concerning Wilder."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"<p>Alec Wilder Papers, 1939-2000, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.</p>"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Wilder, Alec", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Alexander LaFayette Chew Wilder was born on February 16, 1907, in Rochester, New York. He grew up in New Jersey, Long Island, and New York City, and attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, where he studied composition and counterpoint. His career as a composer began in 1930, when he was one of the co-writers of the song “All the King's Horses” for the musical revue <span class=\"emph\">Three's a Crowd.</span></p> <p>Over the next fifty years, Wilder wrote several hundred popular songs, among them “It's so Peaceful in the Country,” “I'll Be Around,” and “All the Cats Joined In.” (Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Marlene Dietrich, and Anita O'Day are among the artists who recorded Wilder songs.) He also composed sonatas for the bassoon, flute, and tuba, works for the piano, a concerto for saxophone and chamber orchestra, five operas, and a ballet; and published two books: <span class=\"emph\">Letters I Never Mailed</span>(1975), and, with James T. Maher, <span class=\"emph\">American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900-1950</span>(1972).</p> <p>Wilder lived at the Algonquin Hotel in Manhattan for nearly fifty years. He died of lung cancer in Gainesville, Florida, in December 1980.</p>"}
- custodhist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Alec Wilder's collaborator of many years, William Engvick, not only saved and gave to the New York Public Library his correspondence from Wilder, but was also primarily responsible for the preservation of the letters to Wilder that comprise Series 1 of this collection. As Engvick recalled it in a letter to the New York Public Library:</p> <p>The collection began when I found that Wilder had discarded a letter from Albert Schweitzer in my waste basket. When I criticized his cavalier discard, Wilder said, \"Why not? I had read it.\" After that, he gave most of his more interesting correspondence to me.</p> <p>Engvick donated these letters to Wilder to the Library in October 1994. In 1995, he added to the collection over thirty letters from Alec Wilder to him, and a folder of printed items. Since 1998, he has donated his correspondence about Wilder with Desmond Stone, Val Holley, and others.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>This collection consists of about 200 letters and several folders of printed material, mostly clipings of articles and newsletters by and about Alec Wilder. Series 1 consists of incoming letters from various people to Wilder, preserved by William Engvick; Series 2 contains letters from Wilder to Engvick; Series 3 is printed matter; Series 4 consists of the correspondence between Wilder and Stone, and Engvick and Holley; and Series 5 contains letters to Engvick from Stone, Dudley Frasier, Ronald Prather, and Thomas M. Hampson.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Alec Wilder papers are arranged in five series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/3324#c716830'>Series 1. Letters to Alec Wilder.</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The nearly 100 letters in this series were written between 1947 and 1972, with the bulk of them dating from 1955 to 1972. (There is also a clipped <span class=\"emph\">New York Times</span>obituary from 1992 for the actress and director <span class=\"persname\">Margaret Barker.</span>) Many of these letters, such as those from <span class=\"persname\">Harper Lee</span> and <span class=\"persname\">Muriel Spark</span>, are brief, polite acknowledgments of fan letters from Wilder about their work; others, such as the correspondence from <span class=\"persname\">Peter DeVries</span> and <span class=\"persname\">Frank Sinatra</span>, are more substantive, lengthy, and personal. In most cases, the letters concern the correspondents' or Wilder's achievements in the fields of literature, music, and drama.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/3324#c716911'>Series 2. Letters from Alec Wilder to William Engvick.</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>These letters date from 1939 to 1979, and mainly concern their musical collaborations and related topics. Engvick has also included his comments on them, on separate typed sheets of paper.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/3324#c716933'>Series 3. Printed Matter.</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Folder 13 contains clippings of articles by and about Alec Wilder, 1941-1994. Materials created after Wilder's death include Vols. 1-6 of the newsletter <span class=\"title\">Friends of Alec Wilder.</span></p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/3324#c716935'>Series 4. Desmond Stone/Val Holley materials</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Correspondence between Engvick and Wilder's biographer, Desmond Stone, 1986-1997 (ten folders); copies of two letters from Alec Wilder to a fan, Donald Velsey, 1977 and 1980; correspondence between Engvick and Val Holley, 1992-1993; and printed matter, including a copy of Edward Gorey's <span class=\"title\">The Bug Book</span>, signed by Gorey and given to Wilder.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/3324#c716942'>Series 5. Additions to the Collection</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Letters to William Engvick from Dudley Frasier, 1963-1965; additional letters from Desmond Stone, 1996-1997 (including copies of his correspondence with others); letters from Ronald E. Prather regarding his work on an article \"The Popular Songs of Alec Wilder\" and a bio-bibliography of Wilder, 1990-1992; and a letter from Thomas M. Hampson enclosing a letter containing biographical information about Wilder.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>These papers are contained in two boxes. Series 1, letters to Wilder from various people, are filed alphabetically by correspondent; Series 2, letters from Wilder to William Engvick, are filed chronologically; and Series 3, clippings and other printed items concerning Wilder, is also arranged chronologically, as is the correspondence is Series 4 and 5.</p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Gift of William Engvick, <span class=\"date\">1994-2000</span>.</p>"}
- sponsor
-
{"value"=>"Encoding funded by the generous support of the Gladys Krieble Delmas\n Foundation."}
{"value"=>"Encoding funded by the generous support of the Gladys Krieble Delmas\n Foundation."}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Laura K. O'Keefe; machine readable finding aid created by APEX data services and revised by Chatham Ewing and Melanie Yolles.</p>"}
- altformavail
-
{"value"=>"<p>Letters to Alec Wilder (box 1) available on microfilm; New York Public Library; *ZL-497</p>"}
- date_start
-
1939
- date_end
-
2000