Scope and arrangement
The Thornton Wilder letters date from 1928 to 1994 and are arranged by recipient. All of the letters are written by Wilder except the letter dated July 14, 1994, which was written by Eleanor Murphy to a Tennessee bookstore owner. This letter is held with the letters from Wilder to Murphy.
Twenty-seven of the letters are addressed to Ann Baumer. The letters date from 1963 to 1967. Many of the letters detail Baumer and Wilder's close friendship. Wilder was working on The Eighth Day while corresponding with Baumer, and mentions the novel in a few of the letters. Clippings from 1968 about Wilder winning the National Book Award for The Eighth Day are also included.
Eight letters are addressed to Eleanor Murphy and date from 1973 to 1994. These letters center around Wilder's novel Theophilus North. Wilder thanks her for her help with the manuscript, ensures that she is paid for it, and makes fun of himself for his handwriting.
The remaining fourteen letters are to various recipients and are dated 1928 to 1968. The letters cover topics that include advice on writing poetry; a refusal to the rights for Our Town; Wilder's use of symbolism in The Cabala; and an evening spent at Georgia O'Keefe's home.
Of particular note are two letters addressed to American newspaper columnist Leonard Lyons and his wife, Sylvia. Lyons was known for his Broadway review column "The Lyons Den" in The New York Post. In the correspondence, Wilder recounts two parties he attended with the Lyons and his perception of an incident at the El Morocco nightclub. Wilder had been written about in a society paper that alleged he had made up a complicated dish in order to baffle the chefs at the club. He defends himself in the letter by writing the complete definition of the dish from his copy of Webster's New International Dictionary. Wilder closes out the letter with an invitation to another party.