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Creator
Capote, Truman, 1924-1984
Call number
MssCol 469
Physical description
17.1 linear feet (39 boxes, 1 volume, 2 oversized folders); 2 cassettes
Preferred Citation

Truman Capote papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library

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

The papers of Truman Capote consist chiefly of holograph and typescript manuscripts of his works, both published and unpublished. The collection also includes correspondence, printed matter, photographs, artwork, sound recordings, and personal miscellany. Material related to In Cold Blood forms an important part of the collection and reflects Capote's five years of research and involvement in the Clutter murder case upon which the book was based. The bulk of the correspondence consists of letters and postcards from Capote to Andrew Lyndon and to Alvin Dewey and Marie Dewey and letters received from his lover and mentor, Newton Arvin. Other correspondents include Jack Dunphy, Leo Lerman, Donald Windham, Cecil Beaton, John O'Shea, Joseph Fox, Irving Lazar, Alan Schwartz and family members.

Biographical/historical information

Truman Capote was born Truman Streckfus Persons in New Orleans on September 24, 1924, the son of Archulus Persons and Lillie Mae Faulk. After his parents' divorce Capote was sent to live with relatives in rural Alabama. During that childhood stay in Alabama, Capote developed an abiding affection for an elderly cousin named Sook, about whom he wrote in A Christmas Memory and The Thanksgiving Visitor. Capote continued to visit the South throughout his childhood, and his experiences there were reflected in many of his books.

In 1935 Truman changed his surname to that of his newly adoptive father, Lillie Mae Faulk's second husband, Joseph Garcia Capote. Capote was then sent to a series of boarding schools in the East before being enrolled at Greenwich High School in Connecticut in 1939. Catherine Wood, an English teacher at Greenwich, recognized Capote's talents and encouraged him in his writing. Capote published short stories and poetry in the school's literary journal, the Green Witch, and wrote for the school paper. Catherine Wood remained a lifelong friend and mentor to Capote.

Capote graduated from Franklin High School in New York City and, after a short stint as a copy boy at the New Yorker, he turned to writing full time. While living in Alabama with relatives and later in New Orleans, Capote published several short stories and worked on his first novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms, which was published by Random House in 1948.

Over the next ten years Capote continued to write short stories. He also published travel pieces, journalistic articles, and interviews in the New Yorker and other magazines. In 1958 his second novel, Breakfast at Tiffany's, was published. The next year, Capote began research on the Clutter family murders in Kansas. This research formed the basis for In Cold Blood, which first appeared serially in the New Yorker (see Box 31) in 1965 and was published as a book later the same year.

In Cold Blood was well received for the most part, but the new genre it embodied, dubbed the "nonfiction novel" by Capote, engendered some controversy. Like Capote's first two books, In Cold Blood was a best seller. Capote was becoming a celebrity. He appeared frequently on television, and his social life was noted regularly in the press. While literary critics praised his works, Capote's fame arose in large part from his constant presence in the public eye.

Capote published his last novel, Music for Chameleons, in 1950. During the 1970s Esquire published excerpts from a novel in progress, Answered Prayers, which was still unfinished when Capote died on August 25, 1984.

Scope and arrangement

The Truman Capote Papers (ca.1924-1992) consist of holograph manuscripts and typescripts of the author's published and unpublished work, notes and other material related to the works, Capote's high school writings, correspondence, photographs, artwork, personal miscellany, printed material, and scrapbooks.

Holograph and typescript drafts comprise the bulk of the collection, arranged alphabetically by title. Notes, clippings, and other related material (i.e. corrected galleys, dramatic adaptations written by others, notes from editors) may accompany the manuscript. The bulk of the correspondence is made up of letters and postcards, 1947-1972, from Capote to his friend Andrew Lyndon, and letters, 1961-1978, from Capote to Alvin and Marie Dewey. Alvin Dewey, of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, was the principal investigator in the murder of the Clutter family. Another large group of letters, 1947-1949, are from Capote's lover and mentor, Newton Arvin. A small group of additional correspondence includes letters from Jack Dunphy, Leo Lerman, Donald Windham, John O'Shea, Joseph Fox (editor at Random House), Irving Lazar, and Alan Schwartz. There are also letters from Capote family members. Printed matter includes published newspaper and magazine articles by and about Capote and about the Clutter case as well. Photographs are for the most part of Capote, his family and the Deweys, as well as other friends. There are six Polaroid pictures taken by Andy Warhol. One scrapbook, compiled by Marie Dewey, documents the production of the movie In Cold Blood, and includes clippings, memorabilia, and photographs. Artworks include a painting of Capote by E. Fossburgh, several sketches of Capote, posters, prints, and an oil painting of a Studio 54 ticket by Andy Warhol.

The Truman Capote papers are arranged in nine series:

  • Series I. Writings
    1943-1984, undated

    This series contains material related to most of Capote's writings in the form of notebooks, holograph drafts, typescripts, corrected and edited galley proofs, and printed matter. Some titles are accompanied by related material such as clippings, correspondence, research notes, and adaptations of the work for film and stage. The five boxes of material related to In Cold Blood form an important part of the collection, reflecting Capote's five years of research and involvement in the Clutter murder case. The research material includes notes, clippings, interviews, and legal papers gathered by Capote. Files labeled "typescript notes" (see Box 7, f. 11-14) were probably compiled by the writer Harper Lee, a childhood friend of Capote's who assisted him in his Kansas research. Various versions of the manuscript include those with revisions by Capote himself and also those revised by Joseph Fox, Capote's editor at Random House. Clippings document the story of the murders, the investigation, arrest, trial, and execution. Two scrapbooks collected by Alvin Dewey (see: Series VII: Printed Matter and Scrapbooks, Box 28-29) document the case and the book's publication.

  • Series II. High school writings
    1935-1943, undated

    Capote's high school writings include short stories and poems in manuscripts and printed form. This series also includes pre-high school juvenilia.

  • Series III. Correspondence
    1938-1992, undated

    Capote's correspondence is divided into two subseries: Letters by Capote, and Letters by others, which is made up of letters to Capote and correspondence between other figures in Capote's life.

  • Series IV. Photographs
    circa 1924-1972

    This series (circa 1924-1972) contains the earliest material in the collection. Photographs include snapshots and portraits of Capote, his family, and friends. Photographs of Capote's family include pictures of his parents, more distant relatives and Capote as an infant and child. Photographs from the Dewey family represent their friendship with Capote and include photographs sent by Capote in his correspondence to them. A set of mostly oversized publicity photographs of Capote, Alvin Dewey, John Forsythe and others document the filming of In Cold Blood. There is a set of photographs of Capote, Jack Dunphy and others in Italy, taken at the start of Capote's writing career. A series of six Polaroids by Andy Warhol (one dated 1972) are probably the most recent in the collection.

  • Series V. Artwork
    1978, undated

    The artwork includes paintings, sketches and a silkscreen print.

  • Series VI. Personal miscellany
    1970, undated

    This series includes Capote's adoption papers; death certificate; invitations, guest lists, and menus for the Black & White Ball and other parties; financial material; Air France plane tickets for Capote and Jack Dunphy; a hotel bill of Cecil Beaton; and material, printed and in Capote's hand, relating to Capote's attempt to establish an upscale cleaning and domestic services business for his Palm Springs maid and confidant, Myrtle Bennett.

  • Series VII. Printed matter and scrapbooks
    1959-1967, undated

    This series includes loose clippings from magazines and newspapers; reprints of graphic works; three scrapbooks compiled by Alvin Dewey, two of which pertain to the Clutter case; an album compiled by Marie Dewey which documents the production of the movie In Cold Blood, and magazines which feature writings by, articles about, and interviews with Capote, including the issues of the New Yorker in which In Cold Blood first appeared.

  • Series VIII. Duplicate material

    This series includes copy-edited proofs and clean carbon and Xerox typescripts of works represented in the collection by edited versions; duplicate Xerox copies; and book galleys.

  • Series IX. Black and White Ball
    1966-1967

    This series consists of materials related to the Black and White Ball, a party planned by Capote in the summer of 1966 in honor of his friend Katherine Graham, owner of the Washington Post. The masked ball, which was held in the Grand Ballroom of the Plaza Hotel in New York City, became the most talked about social event of the year. The records include the black and white standard composition book in which Capote entered the names and addresses of this guests, and later annotated with the name of the host of the dinner party that each would be invited to attend before the ball. Accompanying the composition book are a carbon typescript list of the guests made from the notebook, an alphabetized and tab-indexed list which was prepared for screening guests at the door, an invitation card annotated by Capote, an admittance card, and a file of newspaper clippings documenting the New York press coverage of the event. In addition, there is an autograph letter from Capote to Elizabeth Davies, who assisted him in arranging the party, regarding his attempts to help her find employment. Some additional materials on the Black and White Ball can be found in Box 27, folder 3.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Alan U. Schwartz, Literary Executor, Truman Capote Estate

Processing information

Compiled by William Stingone, 1996

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

Advance notice required. Apply at http://www.nypl.org/mssref. Microfilm must be used when available.