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Creator
Watson, James S. (James Sibley), 1894-1982
Physical description
31 Manuscript Boxes
Language
English
Preferred Citation

The Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. Requests for reproduction and/or permission to quote must be made in writing to the Curator and be accompanied by permission from the appropriate estate.

Repository
Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply
Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online.

While the letters and documents in this collection range from 1920 to 1972, the bulk of the material was written between 1920 and 1929. It includes 6 manuscript boxes of incoming correspondence, predominantly Dial-related or addressed to Hildegarde Watson. The most common form of the remaining 24 boxes is carbon typescript. About a quarter of the collection consists of letters and papers of Marianne Moore. The collection also includes considerable work by Kenneth Burke in the form of letters and typescripts. In addition, one box holds letters from artist Gaston Lachaise and photographs of him and his work. Another contains the correspondence of Norman Charles to Hildegarde Watson, many regarding his efforts to assist her in getting her memoir of poets and artists published.

Biographical/historical information

In 1919, Scofield Thayer (1890?-1982) and James Sibley Watson, Jr. (1894-1982) bought The Dial, an incarnation of the magazine founded by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Margaret Fuller in 1840. An advocate of modernist writers, The Dial proved to be one of the most influential journals of the 20th century. Between 1920 and 1929, it published work by writers such as Gertrude Stein, Paul Valéry, Thomas Mann and Marcel Proust. Its famous November 1922 issue featured T. S. Eliot's "The Waste Land," William Butler Yeats' "The Player Queen," drawings by Pablo Picasso, "Many Marriages" by Sherwood Anderson, and a "Paris Letter" by Ezra Pound.

Scofield Thayer served as editor until 1925 when he left the magazine for health reasons. At that time, Marianne Moore (1887-1972), the 1924 recipient of The Dial Award, took over editorial control with J. S. Watson as publisher. Kenneth Burke (1897-1993) served as an editorial assistant at The Dial, and then as Music Critic from 1927-29.

The magazine discontinued publication in 1929 due to financial reasons.

Scope and arrangement

While the letters and documents in this collection range from 1920 to 1972, the bulk of the material was written between 1920 and 1929. It includes 6 manuscript boxes of incoming correspondence, predominantly Dial-related or addressed to Hildegarde Watson. The most common form of the remaining 24 boxes is carbon typescript. About a quarter of the collection consists of letters and papers of Marianne Moore. The collection also includes considerable work by Kenneth Burke in the form of letters and typescripts. In addition, one box holds letters from artist Gaston Lachaise and photographs of him and his work. Another contains the correspondence of Norman Charles to Hildegarde Watson, many regarding his efforts to assist her in getting her memoir of poets and artists published.

Scofield Thayer's Dial-related papers are at Yale University.

The James Sibley Watson/The Dial Papers are arranged in nine series:

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

The Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature purchased the James Sibley Watson Papers from Mrs. Nancy Watson Dean in 1986.

Processing information

Lola Szladitis, Patrick Lawlor and Diana Burnham.

Related Material

Yale University

Using the collection

Location

Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Third Floor, Room 320

Conditions Governing Use

Publication rights are held by the authors of the letters, or by their estates.

Access restrictions

Access to thequalified scholars and researchers through the Office of Special Collections, Room 316. Permission to microform or photocopy any writings by, or photographs of, Dr. James Sibley Watson, Jr. and Hildegarde Lasell Watson must be obtained in advance from the executor of their estate, Dale Davis, The Sigma Foundation Inc., 155 South Main Street, Fairport, NY 14450. A separate copyright must be taken out when publishing. For permission to microform or photocopy any writings by or photographs of Marianne Moore, permission should be requested from the poet's niece, Miss Marianne Craig Moore, 58 Walton Drive, West Hartford, CT 06107. Permission to reproduce materials written by other persons must be obtained from the authorized copyright holder for that individual.