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Creator
Foster, Jeanne Robert, 1879-1970
Call number
MssCol 1051
Physical description
7 linear feet (15 boxes)
Language
Materials in English
Preferred Citation

Foster-Murphy collection, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library

Repository
Manuscripts and Archives Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply
Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online.

Jeanne R. Foster (1879-1970), creator of the collection, was an American poet, assistant editor of The Review of Reviews and American editor of Transatlantic Review. She met a significant group of writers, poets and artists through John Quinn who was a New York lawyer, collector of modern art and active patron of the arts. The Foster-Murphy Collection reflects the artistic and, to a lesser degree, the political ferment of the period from 1907 to the 1920s. The bulk of the collection consists of letters to Jeanne R. Foster, John Quinn, William Butler Yeats and others, from artists, art dealers, writers, editors, poets, musicians, and scholars. The remainder of the collection is composed of diaries kept by Foster from 1920 to 1925; typescripts of articles, lectures and poems by Foster and others; photographs (a few by Brancusi); newsclippings; and memorabilia.

Scope and arrangement

The bulk of the collection consists of letters to Jeanne R. Foster, John Quinn, William Butler Yeats and others, from artists, art dealers, writers, editors, poets, musicians, and scholars, including Constant in Brancusi, Jacob Epstein, Ford Madox Ford, Douglas Hyde, James Joyce, Lady Augusta Gregory, Walter Pach, Jules Pascin, Ezra Pound, Albert Shaw, Elisabeth Corbet (Lolly) Yeats and Susan Mary (Lily) Yeats (proprietors of Cuala Press and Industries), Jack Yeats (like his father an inveterate illustrator of his own letters), John Butler Yeats (a notable collection of c. 130 letters written from New York City, many illustrated), and William Butler Yeats. The remainder of the collection is composed of diaries kept by Mrs. Foster during the period 1920-1925, typescripts of articles, lectures, and poems by Mrs. Foster and others, a few Brancusi photographs, news-clippings, and memorabilia. The original filing order of the collection, consisting of one alphabetical sequence by author/ subject, has been maintained.

Administrative information

Custodial history

Jeanne R. Foster gave the bulk of her collection and her personal papers to William M. Murphy, American scholar and biographer of John Butler Yeats and the Yeats family. The New York Public Library acquired the collection from Murphy in 1983.

Source of acquisition

November 16, 1983, Received from William M. Murphy (Purchase and gift)

Processing information

Accessioned by Richard Salvato, revised 4/22/85. Additions Accessioned by Richard Salvato, November 15, 1991

Using the collection

Location

Manuscripts and Archives Division
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room, Third Floor, Room 328

Access restrictions

Brancusi photographs (#32-37) are restricted; readers are required to use сору prints unless they have obtained permission from curator to see originals.

Alternative form available

Letters and documents of Lily and William Butler Yeats available on microfilm; New York Public Library