Scope and arrangement
The Earl and Camilla McGrath papers document 20th Century cultural history, the couple's exceptional social life, Earl's writings, and his careers as a music executive and art dealer. The collection is comprised of three series: Camilla's files; Earl's files; and their shared correspondence.
The Camilla and Earl McGrath papers are arranged in three series:
-
1910s-2007
The Camilla McGrath series occupies the bulk of the collection and includes 103 large bound photograph albums, dating from 1948 to 1999; files of loose photographs and ephemera related to the albums; and a few personal files.
Camilla McGrath created each page of the albums herself, affixing photographs she shot, clippings, and other ephemera together in a scrapbook style. She occasionally included commercially-produced travel photographs, as well as photographs shot by others. Copious handwritten captions, in either Italian or English, identify people, places, and dates. Though they often feature the social interactions of leading personalities in the arts, literary, and entertainment worlds, Camilla considered the albums to be personal mementos, and did not accept offers to publish or exhibit them during her lifetime. The formally well-executed photographs show celebrities candidly, often in relaxed and happy moods. Besides famous faces, the albums also depict Camilla's family; visits home to Italy, her skiing trips, and other travel; Earl McGrath in a variety of settings; the couple's pets; and other personal souvenirs. Most photographs are black and white snapshots, shot with a variety of camera types over the decades.
An alphabetical index, which exhaustively lists notable individuals appearing in the albums from 1948 to 1993, is available as an additional resource.
Files of loose photographic prints, contact sheets, slides, negatives, and ephemera related to Camilla's albums include duplicates or enlargements of those prints appearing in the albums and some family photos that pre-date the albums. Files of loose photographs are present for the few years that are missing albums. Camilla continued to take pictures until her death, but stopped making albums in 1999. Related ephemera in these files typically includes: newspaper and magazine clippings, theater programs, tourist pamphlets, maps, and ticket stubs.
Camilla's personal files include selected calendars from the 1960s through the 2000s; reference information regarding her camera equipment and general technical information about photography; miscellaneous notes; philanthropic concerns; Pecci-Blunt family wills, trusts, and estate documents; and copies of Camilla's own will.
-
1950s-2015
The Earl McGrath series includes files of writings; files relating to his time as a music executive; a few files on his career as an art dealer; and some personal files.
Writings files document Earl's creative output and professional work as a screenwriter. These files are arranged alphabetically and date from the 1950s until about 1970, and include unpublished poems, unpublished prose, and screenplays. Screenplays are the result of Earl's work in New York for 20th Century Fox and freelance work in Los Angeles. These files hold notes, treatments, draft scripts, typescripts, contracts, invoices, and some business correspondence. Several files of manuscripts written by Earl's friend, author Terry Southern, are also included in this section.
Music files, arranged alphabetically and dating from about 1970 to 1985, include files from Earl's tenure at Atlantic Records, where he worked with The Rolling Stones, Peter Tosh, and others. Numerous files document McGrath's efforts on behalf of Rolling Stones Records, a subdivision of Atlantic. His later independent music production work under the name Earl McGrath Music Company, where he continued to work with Jim Carroll, is also represented. Files hold business correspondence; publicity and paparazzi photographs; contracts and other legal papers; tour itineraries; invoices, invitations, documents about television appearances of musicians he managed; press releases; charts and radio airplay statistics; and record sales figures.
The few files in the collection relating to the Earl McGrath Art Galleries in Los Angeles and New York City are incomplete and date from 1978 to 2013. They include legal documents, sales records, correspondence, invoices, and a few artists' resumes.
Earl's personal files include an address book, miscellaneous ephemera, wills, medical information, and financial documents.
-
1950s-2016
The bulk of the correspondence files are arranged chronologically, with a few files of letters from notable individuals such as Jack Kerouac, Jasper Johns, Cy Twombly, Ahmet Ertegun, Jerry Brown, and Diana Vreeland arranged separately by name. Letters addressed to Earl, to Camilla, to the couple jointly, and a few outgoing letters are also included. There are files of correspondence between Earl and Camilla, mostly from the early years of their relationship; files of wedding invitations received by the McGraths; and files of condolence letters Earl received upon Camilla's death.