Correspondence with Van Wyck Brooks, 1917-1961.

Format:

Other

Author/Creator:

Brooks, Charles Van Wyck.

Contributor:

Brooks, Eleanor Stimson.

Brooks, Gladys.

Mumford, Lewis, 1895-1990.

Brooks, Inez Helena Seibert, 1914-1988.

Selver, Charlotte.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

385 items (837 leaves)

Contained In:

Van Wyck Brooks Papers. Folders 3260-3294

Place of Publication:

1917-1961.

Biography/History:

Charles Van Wyck Brooks was the son of American writer Van Wyck and Eleanor Stimson Brooks, born in California in 1912. After attending Williston Academy in Massachusetts, he attended Harvard University. Charles spent his post-college years traveling, engaging in literary work for the Federal Writers Project and translating the private journals of Henri Frederic Amiel (published 1935). In 1936, he married young modernist painter Inez Helena Seibert, and the two lived in France for several years (1937-1939). On returning to the United States, they moved to California, where they had a son, Peter (b. 1940). Charles tried, unsuccessfully, to publish a novel, The Fishing Party (1941-1942), and then turned to carpentry. After a divorce in 1949, he returned east to Connecticut and New York City, where he met Charlotte Selver, his second wife, with whom he was to run workshops in Sensory Awareness. He died in 1991.

Summary:

Contains autograph letters between Charles Brooks and his parents, ranging from his childhood to after his second marriage. During the years of each of his marriages, Charles Brooks's letters often contain notes from his wife (Inez Seibert during 1936-1944 or so and Charlotte Selver in 1961), and are usually addressed to both of parents (or to his father and stepmother, Gladys Brooks, from 1947 onwards). This correspondence covers events in the Brookses' lives, Van Wyck Brooks's literary work, Charles Brooks's attempts to establish a literary career, and the Brookses' artistic and literary acquaintances. Contents also include a letter from Lewis Mumford advising Charles on how to pursue a possible career in architecture (1946), and several assorted newspaper clippings concerning people of the Brookses' acquaintance.

Notes:

Contains 186 items (366 leaves) from Van Wyck Brooks, 180 items (449 leaves) from Charles Brooks, 2 items (5 leaves) from Eleanor Stimson Brooks, 1 item (1 leaf) from Charlotte Selver and 1 item (1 leaf) from Lewis Mumford.

OCLC:

184906794