MsC 503

Manuscript Register

THE PAPERS OF JOHN LEGGETT

Collection Dates: 1933 -- 1987
(Bulk Dates: 1970s)
5 linear ft.

This document describes a collection of materials held by the
Special Collections Department
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1420
Phone: 319-335-5921
Fax: 319-335-5900
e-mail: lib-spec@uiowa.edu

Posted to Internet: January 2002

Addenda: 1986, 1988, 2003, 2012

Acquisition Note: These materials were donated to the University of Iowa Libraries by John Leggett from 1970 to 2003.

Access and Restrictions: This collection is open for research. However, copyright to the work of William Saroyan is controlled by the William Saroyan Foundation; and some photocopies among the Saroyan research files are marked to prevent further photocopies being made from them.

Photographs:Boxes 4, 10

Audio Material: Box 3

Digital Surrogates: Except where indicated, this document describes but does not reproduce the actual text, images and objects which make up this collection. Materials are available only in the Special Collections Department.

Copyright: Please read The University of Iowa Libraries' statement on "Property Rights, Copyright Law, and Permissions to Use Unpublished Materials"

Use of Collections: The University of Iowa Libraries supports access to the materials, published and unpublished, in its collections. Nonetheless, access to some items may be restricted by their fragile condition or by contractual agreement with donors, and it may not be possible at all times to provide appropriate machinery for reading, viewing or accessing non-paper-based materials. Please read our Use of Manuscripts Statement.

Biographical Note

John Leggett was born November 11, 1917, in New York, NY. He was the son of Bleecker Noel and Dorothy (Mahar) Leggett. Leggett attended Andover, received an A.B. at Yale University in 1942, and served in the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1942 -- 1945, becoming a lieutenant. He married Mary Lee Fahnestock in 1948, with whom he had three children. They divorced in 1986, and Leggett married Edwina Bennington of San Francisco.

Leggett was an editor and publicity director for Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts from 1950 -- 1960 and an editor at Harper & Row Publishing in New York from 1960 -- 1967. In 1969 Leggett became a professor of English and the director of the Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, serving in those capacities until 1987.

Leggett's published writings include Wilder Stone, The Gloucester Branch, Who Took the Gold Away, Ross and Tom: Two American Tragedies, and Gulliver House. His most recent book is A Daring Young Man: A Biography of William Saroyan (New York: Knopf, 2002), and his research files and drafts for it constitute the 2003 Addendum.

Scope and Contents

The Legget Papers primarily document Leggett's published books, stories and other writings, but the files for the Writers' Workshop period, 1969 -- 1987, contain significant correspondence files and notable letters are found among drafts and reseach materials as well. The collection contains two unpublished William Saroyan manuscripts.

Box List

Box 1

John B. Hemesath's interview with John Leggett, November 1975

Not the Very Button -- unpublished

Typescript draft -- with corrections (2 folders)

Typescript draft -- with corrections -- carbon (2 folders)

"Small Change" -- unpublished

Typescript draft -- with corrections

"Tokyo Rose"

Correspondence, 1976

Notes

Background/research materials, 1944 --1976

First typescript draft -- with revisions -- carbon (2 copies)

Second typescript draft -- with revisions -- carbon

Semi-final typescript draft -- with revisions -- carbon

Typescript draft -- carbon

Typescript draft -- with revisions -- 2 photocopies

Article in New York Times Magazine, December 1976

"The Tutor" -- unpublished

Typescript draft -- with corrections

Who Took the Gold Away

Printer's typescript -- with revisions -- photocopy (3 folders

Gulliver House

First draft, notes, and revisions, July 25, 1975

Draft and revisions, Fall 1977 (2 folders)

Typescript -- unrevised [July 6, 1978] (2 folders)

Typescript -- unrevised [July 6, 1978]

Critical comments and notes

Critical comments, draft, and revisions

Box 2

Gulliver House, cont.

Drafts and revisions (3 folders)

Drafts and revisions (6 folders)

Drafts and revisions

Handwritten notes, drafts, and revisions (3 folders)

Notes, drafts, and revisions

Notes -- miscellaneous

Galley proof

Box 3

Gulliver House, cont.

Master proofs

Original manuscript

Ross and Tom

Audio Tapes (2 folders)

Correspondence

1964 -- 1967, including a letter from Wallace Stegner

1968

1969

January -- May 1970, including letters from Wallace Stegner

June -- December 1970, including a letter from Wallace Stegner

1971 -- 1974, including letters from Wallace Stegner and Merle Miller

Undated

Correspondence regarding permission to quote or paraphrase, 1973

Lockridge, Ross

Clippings, 1947 -- 1948

Obituaries, 1948, and correspondence with his widow

Box 4

Ross and Tom, cont.

Correspondence, 1933 -- 1947. Photocopy copies of letters by Ross Lockridge, Jr.

Correspondence, 1946 -- 1948. Photocopy copies of letters between Lockridge and his publisher

Early compositions and academic records, 1929 -- 1948 (photocopies)

Interviews

Notes relating to Lockridge

Photographs

Publishers miscellaneous items

Heggen, Tom

Clippings, 1946 -- 1963

Obituaries, medical reports, and autopsy, 1949 -- 1972

Correspondence, 1946 -- 1948. Photocopies of letters by Tom Heggen

Correspondence, 1945 -- 1947. Photocopies of letters between Heggen and his publisher

Early compositions, 1936 -- 1947

Interviews. (2 folders)

"Mister Roberts" playbill, 1949

Notes relating to Heggen -- including some correspondence, 1949 -- 1968

Miscellaneous background and research material -- not directly related to Lockridge or Heggen (2 folders)

Outline. Typescript with corrections

Opening and "Ross" section. Typescript with corrections and revisions

Opening and "Ross" section. Typescript with corrections and revisions

"Ross" section

Typescript -- with corrections and revisions (photocopy)

Typescript -- with corrections and revisions (with carbon)

"Tom" section

Typescript pages -- with corrections and revisions. (4 folders)

Box 5

Ross and Tom, cont.

"Tom" section, cont.

Typescript pages -- with corrections and revisions

Typescript drafts (3) -- with corrections and revisions

Typescript draft by Lee Leggett -- with corrections, revisions, and notes

Typescript draft -- with notes added by Lee Legget

Typescript -- second draft -- with corrections and revisions (2 folders)

Partial typescript draft

Early draft (incomplete) -- with numerous corrections and revisions

First complete typescript draft -- with corrections and revisions (2 folders)

Typescript draft copy -- with corrections and revisions (2 folders)

Typescript draft carbon -- with corrections and revisions (4 folders)

Typescript draft carbon -- with corrections (4 folders)

Box 6

Ross and Tom, cont.

Typescript -- final revision with corrections (3 folders)

Typescript -- final revision epilogue with corrections

Printer's typescript -- with corrections

Printer's typescript -- with corrections (3 folders)

Page proofs

1986 Addendum

"Metamorphosis of the Campus Radical"

Correspondence, 1971

Research material

Holograph notes and tentative incomplete drafts

Typescript of early drafts and notes

Early typescript draft, with corrections and revisions (titled: The Hulk)

Galley proof

Published copy. New York Times Magazine, January 30, 1972

Making Believe

Correspondence, 1981 -- 1984

Research material

Incomplete holograph drafts, notes, and character sketches (2 folders)

Incomplete holograph drafts, notes, and character sketches

Typescript drafts of incomplete and revised chapters, with notes (3 folders)

Box 7

Making Believe, cont.

Typescript drafts of incomplete and revised chapters, with notes (3 folders)

Typescript drafts of chapters submitted to others for critiques, including criticisms

Typescript draft of revisions sent to the editor, together with the editor's comments

Tentative early draft, with critiques by colleagues and students (3 folders)

Tentative early draft

Typescript drafts of chapter #1

Typescript drafts of chapter #1 (3 folders)

Typescript drafts of chapter #2

Typescript drafts of chapter #3

Typescript drafts of chapter #4

Typescript drafts of chapter #4

Typescript drafts of chapter #5

Typescript drafts of chapter #6

Typescript drafts of chapter #7

Typescript draft of chapter #9

Typescript draft of chapter #12

Typescript draft of chapter #13

Typescript drafts of chapter #15

Typescript draft of chapter #15a

Box 8

Making Believe, cont.

Typescript drafts of chapter #16, with notes and criticisms by others

Typescript draft of chapter #17

Typescript drafts of chapter #18

Typescript draft of chapter # 19

First draft typescript (titled: Train)

Early typescript drafts (titled: Roy Train) (2 folders)

Typescript draft, pp.1 -- 300 (2 folders)

Typescript draft pp. 301 -- 356

Typescript draft (3 folders)

Penultimate typescript draft, pp. 1 -- 150

Penultimate typescript draft pp.151 -- 391 (2 folders)

Final typescript draft (3 folders)

Page proof (2 folders)

Box 9

Making Believe, cont.

Printer's copy (3 folders)

1988 Addendum

"All Right" by Blair Fuller. Photocopy of a short story

Authors Guild Bulletin 1964 -- 1969

Bell, Marvin, 1972 -- 1914

Biographical material about John Leggett

"The Conspiracy" by John Leggett. Typescripts of a short story

"China Diary" by John Leggett

Galley proofs of an article for Horizon

Correspondence

1954 --1965, including letters from Rex Stout, Vance Bourjaily, and John V. Lindsay

1966, including a letter from McGeorge Bundy

1967, including a letter from Vance Bourjaily

1968, including letters from Sterling Lord and Rex Stout

January -- June 1969, including letters from Louis S. Auchincloss, Vance Bourjaily, George Starbuck, John Hersey, and Sterling Lord

July -- December 1969, including letters from Joshua Logan and John V. Lindsay

1970, including letters from Sterling Lord, Louis S. Auchincloss, George Roy Hill, Richard Yates, John C. Gerber, and Jerzy Kosinski

1971, including letters from John C. Gerber, John Barth, Willard L. Boyd, Sterling Lord, and Daryl Henderson

1972, including letters from Curtis Harnack, Bruce Bliven, Sterling Lord, Morty Sklar, Vance Bourjaily, and Paul Engle

1973, including letters from Sterling Lord, Seymour Krim, D.C. Spriestersbach, Oakley Hall, Gail Godwin, and Willard L. Boyd

1974, including letters from Sterling Lord, George Roy Hill, Oakley Hall, Louis S. Auchincloss, James A. Michener, Dick Clark, Harold E. Hughes, Gail Godwin, Joshua Logan, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., Robert Anderson, Willard L. Boyd, Angus Wilson, William Styron, Philip Roth, Seymour Krim, Wallace Stegner, Budd Schulberg, Bruce Bliven, and Curtis Harnack

1975 -- 1976, including letters from Gail Godwin, John C. Gerber, Willard L. Boyd, Vance Bourjaily, and R.V. Cassill

1977, including letters from Sterling Lord, James A. Michener, and John Irving

1978, including letters from Sterling Lord, Vance Bourjaily, and Richard Lloyd-Jones

Box 10

Correspondence, cont.

1979, including letters from Sterling Lord and Marvin Bell

1980 -- 1981, including letters from Sterling Lord, Richard Lloyd-Jones, James McPherson, Marvin Bell, and Charles M. Schulz

1982, including letters from John Updike, Sterling Lord, Laurence Lafore, and James O. Freedman

1983

1984, including letters from Marvin Bell, Berkley Bedell, James McPherson, Sterling Lord, Angus Wilson, Doris Grumbach, Brooks Landon, and Richard Lloyd-Jones

January -- June 1985, including letters from Doris Grumbach, Richard D. Remington, and Gail Godwin

July -- December 1985, including letters from John Updike, James O. Freedman, Gail Godwin, and John Ciardi

January -- May 1986, including letters from Robert Anderson, Louis S. Auchincloss, Oakley Hall, and Nicholas Meyer

June -- December 1986, including letters from Nicholas Meyer, James O. Freedman, Sam Becker, and Willard L. Boyd

1987

Undated, including letters from Sterling Lord, Louis S. Auchincloss, and Maxwell Perkins

Undated, including letters from Richard Lloyd-Jones, Angus Wilson, Vance Bourjaily, and Marvin Bell

"Dengue" by Richard Wiley. Typescript of a short story

"Expectations" by John Leggett. Typescripts and published version of an article

"Fiction" by John Leggett. Typescripts of an article

Fiction Workshop at the University of Iowa, 1972 -- 1973

Gloucester Branch by John Leggett

Royalty statement, reviews, etc., 1966, 1973

Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Application, correspondence, etc., 1966 -- 1967

Gulliver House by John Leggett. Miscellaneous notes and revisions, 1977

"An Imaginary Garden Recollected in Term of Toads" by John Givens. Short story

"Leggett's California Trip" by John Leggett. Typescripts, 1960

"Letter from the Midwest" by John Leggett. Typescript of an article

Literary agents. Notes clippings, etc., 1966 -- 1967

"The Little Flames of Genius" by John Leggett. Typescripts of a short story

Making Believe by John Leggett. Incomplete typescript

"Mrs. Neily" by Mary Lee Leggett. Typescript

Notes regarding a trip to Egypt, taken by John Legget

O'Zark, Seamus. Fiction written for Leggett's GFW class,1973

P.E.N. Membership lists, 1965 -- 1966

Photographs

"Picnic" by J. Chris Anderson. Typescript of a short story

Publishing and writing. Miscellaneous notes articles, etc., 1951 -- 1964

Reviews written by John Leggett, 1970 -- 1986

Ross and Tom by John Leggett

Miscellaneous notes

Reviews, 1974

"Running and Gunning the Muse on Publisher's Row" by John Leggett

Typescript of a short story

Unidentified typescripts

"The Wasp Novel" by John Leggett. Typescripts of an article

"What the Young are Thinking Tonight. A Report From Iowa City" by John Leggett. Photocopy of an article

Who Took the Gold Away by John Leggett. Typescripts (possibly of jacket copy)

Wilder Stone by John Leggett

Condensed version of the novel published in the Newark Sunday Times, September 25, 1960

Contract, 1964

Correspondence, 1959 -- 1964

Miscellaneous typescript pages and notes

Reviews, 1960

"The Writers' Workshop" by John Leggett. Typescript of an article

"Writing a Roman a Clef" by John Leggett. Typescripts of an article with correspondence, 1979

"You Take the Easy Road to Success in Writing" by John Leggett. Article published in Harpers, vol. 232, #1389 (Feb. 1966) pp. 49 -- 52

Clippings and articles

Correspondence, 1961 -- 1978

"Doors." Short story

2003 Addendum: Drafts and Research files for A Daring Young Man: A Biography of William Saroyan (New York: Knopf, 2002)

Box 1, folder

1. 1990 draft of first 75 pages for June discussion with Nan Talese, Doubleday Books.

2. 1995 draft, lightly revised in pencil by JL, pages 1-185 (Chapters I-VIII).

3. ----, pages 186-393 (Chapters IX-XV),

4. ----, pages 394-583 (Chapters XVI-XX)

5. 1995 draft, returned by Fran Kiernan, unmarked, pages 1-185 (Chapters I-VII)

6. ----, pages 196-382 (Chapters VIII-XIII)

Box 2

1. ----, pages 383-534 (Chapters XIV-XVI)

2. ----, pages 535-688) Chapters XVII-XX)

3. 1995 draft, returned by Alan D. Williams, heavily revised, pages 1-152 (Chapters I-V)

4. ----, pages 153-336 (Chapters VI-X)

5. ----, pages 356-540 (Chapters XI-XV) [sic: continuous but lacking pages 337-355]

6. ----, pages 541-782 (Chapters XVI-XX)

Box 3

1. 2001 draft, moderately revised in pencil by JL, prelims to page 187 (Chapters I-IX) and notes on sources.

2. ----, pages 188-416 (Chapters X-XVII)

3. ----, pages 417-488 (Chapters XVIII-XX)

4. Setting Knopf ms., partially typeset, mostly computer printout, heavily copy edited, pages 1-205 (Chapters I-IX)

5. ----, pages 206-395 (Chapters X-XVI)

6. ----, pages 396-502 (Chapters XVII-XX), plus notes and illustration captions

Box 4

1. ----, photocopies of illustrations used and considered; returned by Knopf

2. ----, photographs and negatives, mostly used as illustrations

3. Correspondence with publishers, agents, lawyers, Saroyan Foundations and others

4. ----, 1988

5. ----, 1993

6. ----, 1996

7. ----, 1997

8. ----, 1998

9. ----, 2001

10. ----, 2002

Box 5

Research materials, including correspondence, clippings, JL transcripts of entries from Saroyan’s journals, photocopies, notes on interviews, etc. JL folder labels noted here; folder’s with JL notes have been retained:

1. Miscellany
1. Psych – Army Record
3. Saroyan – Leggett (contents relate primarily to the Fred Finch Orphanage)
4. Acquaintance
5. Papa (i.e., Ernest Hemingway), Kay Boyle
6. Story magazine
7. Nathan, [George Jean]
8. Esquire magazine
9. Matson, [Harold]
10. Sourian, [Peter]
11. Takoohi [Saroyan]
12. Yvor’s ‘31 [Yvor Winter and Janet Lewis], [Mark] Schorer ’32
13. Henry [Saroyan], Archie [Minasian], Mehran [Soroyan]
14. Hairenik [Association, Boston]
15. Critics [of WS works]

Box 6
1. [WS] Plays
2. Irwin [Shaw]
3. MGM- LA – B’Way – Hirschfield
4. Random House/Harcourt
5. Bill [i.e., WS] Psych-Med[ical]
6. Saroyan [Foundation]
7. Ross [Bagdassarian], Armen [Bagdassarian]
8. Aram [Saroyan]
9. Lucy [Saroyan]

Box 7
1. Carol [Saroyan]
2. [WS] Journal
3. WS [Journal] 1942-1946

Box 8
1. WS [journal] 1947-1981

Box 9

1. The Secret of Lily Dafon or The Paris Comedy. 1959. Typescript drafts by WS, heavily edited. See Leggett ADYM, pages 315-321 for an account of this work.

2. Settled Out of Court, a play by Henry Cecil. Rewritten and retitled by WS as Fair Trial at Gunpoint, 1959. Typescript drafts by WS, heavily edited. See Leggett ADYM, pages 318-320 for an account of this work.

Mailing wrappings for both manuscripts, with WS notes dated 1967, have been retained.

Box 10

Script for A Western Awakening from the University of Wyoming production. Inscribed to Sam Becker, who was in the play and whose script this is: "For Sam Becker with thanks for a fine Hawk Harrap & all good wishes. Bill Saroyan." Laid in is a tear sheet from a publication with a photograph of a scene from the play with Sam Becker identified, along with a program from the play. Also included are photocopies of photographs of the play, clippings about the play, a photocopy of the program, and an essay by Becker recalling his part in the play and how Saroyan became the de facto director of the play. Donated by Sam Becker.


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THE PAPERS OF JOHN LEGGETT