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Creator
Towne, Charles Hanson, 1877-1949
Call number
MssCol 3014
Physical description
4.7 linear feet (9 boxes)
Language
Materials in English
Preferred Citation

Charles Hanson Towne papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library

Repository
Manuscripts and Archives Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

Charles Hanson Towne (1877-1949) was an author, editor and popular New York celebrity. From 1924 to 1929 he edited many magazines including Smart Set, Delineator, Designer, McClure's, and Harper's Bazaar. He also wrote poetry, novels, plays, travel essays, song cycles, lyrics for musicals and operettas, memoirs, and newspaper columns; taught poetry at Columbia University; and toured with the Broadway hit, Life With Father. Much of his writing celebrated New York City and he was considered to be the quintessential New Yorker. Collection consists of correspondence, writings, financial papers, press clippings, photographs, and ephemera. Correspondence, 1924-1948, contains letters from Towne's friends and fans, many of them prominent in literature and the arts; occasional copies of his replies; and his outgoing letters, 1918-1931. Bulk of the collection is made up of Towne's writings, including manuscripts of poems, plays, stories, essays and newspaper columns. Also, scrapbooks of press clippings, financial correspondence and documents, papers relating to the poetry course he taught at Columbia (including poetry by his students), ephemera, and photographs.

Biographical/historical information

Charles Hanson Towne (1877-1949), was an author, editor, and popular New York celebrity. He moved from Kentucky to New York City with his family at the age of three. Towne began his literary career quite early as the eleven year old "publisher" of the Unique Monthly, a children's magazine written by and for Towne and his friends. After a year at City College, Towne got his first break as an editorial assistant at Cosmopolitan magazine. In 1901 he moved to the Smart Set, a new magazine for a sophisticated urban clientele, where he held numerous positions before becoming editor in 1904. Smart Set was the first of the many important magazines Towne was to edit, including the Delineator (1907-1910), Designer (1910-1915), McClure's (1914-1920), and Harper's Bazaar (1926-1929). In addition to his editorial duties, Towne was a prolific writer. He authored numerous volumes of poetry, novels, plays, travel essays, an etiquette book, song cycles, lyrics for musicals and operettas, and memoirs. Much of his writing celebrates New York City, most notably his work Manhattan: A Poem (1909) and his books of reminiscences. Towne was felt by many to the quintessential New Yorker. From 1931-1937 he wrote a personal and literary column for the New York American, taught a poetry course at Columbia University and in 1940 joined the touring company of the Broadway hit, Life With Father. In 1945 Towne summed up his career with the autobiography, So Far, So Good.

Scope and arrangement

The Charles Hanson Towne Papers contain correspondence, his writings, financial papers, press clippings, photographs, and ephemera. The correspondence, 1922-1948, is arranged alphabetically by name of correspondent, and contains letters from Towne's friends and fans, many of them prominent in literature and the arts. His most frequent correspondents represented in the collection include, Gertrude Atherton, Marie Adelaide Belloc, Major Edward Bowes, Royal Cortissoz, Theodosia P. Faulks, Zona Gale, Ellen Glasgow, Carolyn Wells Houghton, Fannie Hurst, Richard Le Gallienne, Edgar Lee Masters, Somerset Maugham and Edgar P. Snow. Following the incoming letters is a small folder of outgoing letters, 1918-1931. However, some copies of Towne's replies can be found filed with incoming letters.

The bulk of the collection consists of Towne's writings. Nine notebooks contain holograph manuscripts of his poems, plays, stories, essays, and newspaper columns, 1915-1944. Following the notebooks are undated typescripts of many of his works arranged by genre. His writings also appear in the scrapbooks of press clippings.

The remainder of the collection contains financial correspondence and documents, papers relating to the poetry course he taught at Columbia, and additional press clippings, ephemera, and photographs. Among his Columbia papers are poems written by his students, among them, J. D. Salinger.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift of Mrs. Ora Searle, 1949 and purchase from the Carnegie Book Shop, 1949.

Processing information

Melanie A. Yolles, May 1984

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

Alternative form available

Edgar Snow correspondence available on microfilm; New York Public Library