A Guide to the Papers of
Walter Van Tilburg Clark
Collection NC527

Scope and Content

Walter Van Tilburg Clark, 1909-1971, was a western author, the editor of the Alfred Doten diaries, a lecturer at the University of Nevada-Reno, and a writer-in-residence at the University of Nevada-Reno, between 1962 and 1971. The collection contains notes for class and public lectures; manuscripts of, and notes about Clark's term papers, short stories, articles, and novels, both published and unpublished; scrapbooks containing material related to published works, such as dust jackets, letters received, reviews, and articles about Clark; business and literary related correspondence including letters to former students such as author David Madden; personal correspondence, primarily to Clark's wife Barbara Frances Morse Clark, son Robert M. Clark, and Robert Cole Caples; marginalia, and loose-leaf notes in books used in preparation for class lectures; published works by former students; and memorabilia such as diplomas and certificates

Calendar of his papers in the Special Collections Department, University of Nevada, Reno Library. Compiled, 1972, by Robert M. Clark; revised, 1979, by Kenneth J. Carpenter.

The literary rights to the writings of Walter Van Tilburg Clark remain with the family estate, of which Robert Clark is the executor. Therefore, copying of any of the papers with the intention of publishing should not be done without the permission of Robert Clark.

Note: Many of Clark’s published materials, including a songsheet for “City of Trembling Leaves” may be found in the Department’s Modern Authors collection.

Box 1

527/1 Manuscripts, Typescripts, Notes
527/1/1 Notes for class and public lectures. These notes are usually in outline form, and-ten on small memo-pad sheets or index cards.
527/1/1/1 On writing, style. Reed College, 1953?
/2 Class lectures, draft and typed copy final exam, English 270 course, Stanford U., Spring, 1954.
/3 On "Character and Time in Western Fiction," with use of Jouquin Murietta legend as illustration, n.d.
/4 On "The Writer in the West," Writer's Conference, U. of Wyoming, summer, 1950.
/5 On "All Together Separately, Please," on teaching of English, probably U. of Washington, 1953.
/6 On creative writing for high school students, Havre Conference for Montana high school teachers, approximately 1953-56.
/7 On "Writing as Self Discovery," U. of Utah, summer, 1949 or 50.
/8 On "Tragedy, Old and New," U. of Utah, summer, 1949 or 50.
/9 On "Creative Writing as Instrument of English Teaching," Montana State Teacher's Association, October, 1954.
/10 Introductory lecture for course on Contemporary American Literature, n.d.
/11 "The Place and the Tale," first version of talk using Julia Bullette story as illustration of turning historical fact or legend into fiction. Used at U. of Missouri, U. of Arkansas, summer, 1952.
/12 "The Place, the Purpose and the Story," second version of Julia Bullette, used several times.
/13 "Notes Toward Conference Talk," on fictional techniques, perhaps Writer's Conference, U. of Montana, summer, 1955.
/14 "The Story as Discovery," n.d., winter, 1955 or later.
/15

On "Toward the Outside: Vision and Method in the Modern American Short Story," used at Stanford, n.d., U. of Nevada, April, 1962.
/16 "The First Two R's," on usefulness of creative writing in teaching, n.d.
/17 "Writing in the West," extended notes of 81/2 x 11, with illustrative use of Vail story drawn from WPA guidebook to Nevada, p. 261.
/18 For Faulkner panel, Montana, summer, 1954 or 1955.
/19 "Wee Willie Goes to Comp Class," includes 11 pp. partial text, story-lecture for Four C's Conference, Los Angeles, March, 1963.
/20 "Sleeping on the Grave," apparently later version of (17), used in Oakland, 1957. Clipping from the San Francisco Chronicle in another category covers this lecture.
/21 For Short Story Panel, Montana, 1954.
/22 For Novel Workshop, U. of Utah, 1949 and/or 1950.
/23 "Queens of the Comstock," two sets of notes, final version of (11) and (12), used at Montana, summer, 1964, and probably at Wesleyan Univ., 1961.
/24 "The Cowboy," U. of Nevada, Reno, summer, 1970. Includes 2 pp. legal-size transcription from Alfred Doten journals on branding techniques in Nevada's Reese River Valley.
/25 Miscellaneous class notes:
  1. 3 pp. list "Classics in Development of Novel" and "Rewarding Short Novels," for S.F. State Craft of Fiction course, approximately 1957-61.
  2. 2 pp. fiction course notes, including introductory maxims in creative writing, approximately 1957-1961.
  3. 1 p. on Canto XXVII, Dante's Inferno.
  4. 3 pp. "add notes" for class presentation on The Turn of the Screw.
  5. 1 p. Yeats' "Among School Children."
  6. 3 pp. notes on Moby Dick.
  7. 1 p. Porter's "Flowering Judas."
  8. Notes on stories in Understanding Fiction.
/26 Four college term papers by W.V.T.C., with comments by instructors (1929-30): "John Milton, Philosopher," 19 pp., holograph; "Mark Twain in Nevada," 3 pp., typescript; "The People," 11 pp., holograph; "Growth of the Spirit," 14 pp., typescript.
527/1/2 Miscellaneous Non-Fiction.
527/1/2/1 "The End of the Illusion," 3 pp. typescript, ink revisions, giving W.V.T.C.'s reaction to contemporary west, apparently in response to some survey of writers' opinions, n.d., approximately 1956-62.:
/2 Outline, two 9 pp. ink drafts for preface to paperback edition of The Travels of Jamie McPheeters, with letter from New American Library requesting preface, d. July 10, 1968. Tentative title, "On Making History into Fiction," preface not completed.
/3 3 pp., ink draft of letter to U. of New Mexico Press, commenting on and urging publication of N. Scott Momaday's The Way to Rainy Mountain.
/4 "Desert Dilemma," 4 pp. carbon typescript of review of The Shoshoneans, text Edward Dorn, photographs Leroy Lucas. n.d., probably published, approximately 1967.
/5 "Sancho and the Don Ride Again, in Even More Dubious Doings," review of R. L. Taylor's Two Roads to Guadalupe. 7 pp. pencil draft, 4 ½ pp. carbon typescript. Perhaps published. approximately 1964.
/6 "Tonopah? Where's Tonopah?" 22 pp. ink mss. with revisions; carbon typescript, for "Introduction" to Lady in Boomtown, by Mrs. Hugh Brown, American West Publishing Co., 1968. Written in June, 1968.
/7 "A Forward" to Platt & Munk edition of Bret Harte stories, 1964. Preliminary notes; 5 ink drafts; original typescript of version not used; carbon typescript final version.
/8 "Introduction" to Time books edition of Guthrie's The Big Sky, 1964. 17 pp. ink mss. with one rejected start, revisions; carbon typescript final version.
/9 "In a Rich Vein," 5 pp., 2 drafts, ink and carbon typescript, 2 pp. of remarks on The Mining Frontier, edited by Marvin Lewis and published by U. of Oklahoma Press. Appears to be response to publisher's request for comments on advance copy. n.d., approximately 1962-68.
/10 "The Authority of the Governess," 4 pp. extended notes and para­graphs for critical article on James' The Turn of the Screw, n.d., never completed.
/11 2 pp. pencil notes, preliminary to suggestions for revisions to Robert Laxalt on his In a Hundred Graves, U. of Nevada Press, 1972. n.d., approximately 1970.
527/1/3 "On learning to look: a note on the working life of Robert Cole Caples." Materials for the introduction to the catalogue for a 1964 retrospective exhibition of the paintings of Caples, W.V.T.C.'s life-long friend and prototype for Lawrence Black in The City of Trembling Leaves. Includes letter and answered questionnaire with biographical information from R.C.C.; sketches and scraps of original memos from R.C.C.; pencil draft of introduction; carbon typescript; list of pictures in exhibition with notes by W.V.T.C.
527/1/4 Projected novel, Admission Day. 8 ½ x 11 Livewire notebook with loose-leaf pages with cast, plot prospectus, other preliminary notes; 21/2 pp. of start, 3 other brief, ink starts; another loose-leaf cast of characters, 3 pp. notes; two penciled starts on new sheet, both 5 pp.; large number of starts, pencil, on unlined yellow paper; 3 pp. memo notes, "New Organization notes for Admission Day." n.d., approximately 1950-54.
527/1/5 Projected Novel, The Man in The Hole:
  1. 3 8 ½ x 7 Spiral notebooks with 106 pp. pencil mss. "Walter V.T. Clark, Virginia City, April, 1951" inscribed on notebooks II and III. II includes 4 pp. loose notes, cast of characters, speculations on possible sections of novel.
  2. 10 x 8 Montana notebook, inscribed first "Walter V.T. Clark The Man in The Hole I" and then "Notes-The Man in The Hole." Various starts on novel, some loose-leaf, longest 10 pp., variations between third and first person narrator; list of characters with some prototypes identified.
  3. 8 ½ x 7 Spiral notebook with many loose-leaf additions, including scheme for parallels between novel and Holy Week, "argument" of novel, 15 pp. draft of opening.
  4. 8 ½ x 7 sheets torn from notebook, inscribed "check draft" and "Second check draft," both starts on novel, first 5 pp., second 13 pp.
  5. 7 pp. pencil on small new sheet, a prose-poem written much later than the other materials, entitled "Prospectus of a tale about to be resumed," plus 1 p. memo note.
527/1/6

Projected Novel, Way Station:

  1. 8 ½ x 11 Livewire notebook inscribed "Way Station I, Walter V.T. Clark" with 4 ½ pp. pencil beginning of novel; 3 pp. pencil beginning; loose-leaf beginning, 20 pp.; loose-leaf note on cast.
  2. 7 x 8 ½ Livewire notebook, inscribed "Walter Clark Way Station I," with cast of characters on inside cover; two starts, one pen, one pencil, many pages scratched out; notes at end straightening out dates of action, genealogy of characters; 30 pp. altogether.
  3. 8 ½ x 11 Livewire notebook inscribed "Way Station I," cast of characters, many starts on novel, some loose-leaf, longest approximately 9 pp., many reworkings of opening paragraph.
  4. 8 x 10 Montana notebook, probably earlier than (c), with various starts on novel, some loose-leaf, longest 8 pp.
  5. Assorted notes, diagram of ranch house to be used, map of ranch and surrounding area, 41/2 pp. loose-leaf start.
  6. None of the notebooks are dated. This is the novel that occupied W.V.T.C. off and on through most of the 1950s.

527/1/7 Unfinished short stories. None of the fragments are dated, probably most date from the 1950s, some possibly from the 1960s
527/1/7/1 3+ pp , “The Approach to the Pyramid”
/2 9 pp. pencil, title undecided, possibly "The Cat," "Mrs. Greene," "A Tiger in the House," "The Constant suitor"; new start, 2 pp.. entitled "Indian Summer."
/3 Two pencil drafts, 3+ pp. each, entitled, "The Old Man."
/4 4 pencil pp. inscribed "Old Tom Connover & the house and lilacs"; possibly an offshoot from The Man in the Hole and related to 527/1/7/3.
/5 4 pp. pencil, "The Doubles Player."
/6 Notes, 2 pp. start, "Mormon Flat" or "A Serpent in the Sky," with later notes on possible expansion into novel.
/7 1 p. pencil, "Beside the Sacred Water." Possibly related to 527/1/7/3.
527/1/8 Published Short Stories, Typescripts.
527/1/8/1 Letters from agent, Frances Pindyck, to publisher Bennett Cerf, February 7 and February 10, 1944, including list of 19 stories for possible published collection; 1 p. listing by W.V.T.C. for stories he was considering for The Watchful Gods volume, approximately 1950.
/2 Carbon typescript, "A Letter to the Living."
/3 Carbon typescript, "Prestige," inscribed "19 Albany St.," this crossed out and "Virginia City, Nev." written.
/4 Carbon typescript, "The Ascent of Ariel Goodbody."
/5 Carbon typescript, "The Pretender," inscribed "19 Albany St., Cazenovia, New York" and "rewrite" on front page, "Pyramid, Nev., July, 1937" and "Essex, Aug. 1940" on back.
/6 Typescript, "Personal Interview," inscribed "Indian Springs Ranch, Las Vegas, Nevada." Considerable differences from published version.
/7 Carbon typescript, "The Rise and the Passing of Bar," marked "Second Draft."
527/1/9 Unpublished Short Stories, Typescripts.
527/1/9/1 "A Dream of Woman," 9 pp. inscribed "East Lake Rd., Cazenovia, December, 1937."
/2

"Introduction to the Master," 9 pp. inscribed "East Lake Rd., Cazenovia, December, 1937."
/3 "Learning is Fire," 26 pp. inscribed "Cazenovia."
/4 Carbon typescript, "Nocturne in a Canyon," 13 pp. inscribed "unprinted" on front, "Walter V.T. Clark" at end. "Canyon" inserted for "Cat-House."
/5 "Between Joseph and God," inscribed "The New Yorker."
527/1/10 Writing Notes. A 6 x 8 Sterling notebook, with notes for possible stories and novels, lists of possible articles as well as fiction. Some loose-leaf sheets. Shows in particular W.V.T.C.'s developing ideas for a series of novels and stories centering on the imaginary town of Gold Rock, Nevada, to include 527/1/5, 527/1/4, and 527/1/6 above. n.d., approximately 1950s.

Box 2

527/1/11 Alf Doten Materials.
527/1/11/1 "Alf Doten in Como," materials for article published in Nevada Highways and Parks, XXIV (October, 1964). Two pencil drafts, 25 pp. each; 1 p. revision notes; carbon typescript of final version.
/2 4 pp. single-space typed notes for talk at Storey County High School Commencement, Virginia City, Nev., June 4, 1964, on "Mark Twain in Alf Doten.
/3 "Enterprise Locals." 1 pp. notes; 11 pp. typed notes with excerpts from Doten journals for speech to Western History Association, U. of Oklahoma, Oct. 30, 1964; other notes, outlines, excerpts from journals, and "brief" for Oklahoma newspapers before the talk.
 
(W.V.T.C. materials contained in the Alfred Doten Collection, NC8. Two boxes contain 14 ledgers of holograph copies of Clark's edited version of the Doten journals taken from the transcript done by Mary Anne Jaffe; holograph copies of edited newsletters, list of appendix items, notes on background data, and research and bio­graphical notes, all dealing with the Doten journals, with loose holograph notes laid in. Six notebooks of preparation for The Delegation from Pluckville, a work which was never written, based on the Doten journals. Loose holograph notes are laid in the transcripts done by Mary Ann Jaffe from the original Doten diaries. Also included are W.V.T.C.'s "Prospectus" quoted in the preface to the published journals, many notes and rejected starts, correspondence with various people, including Robert Laxalt, Director of the University of Nevada Press, miscellaneous clippings, photographs, and genealogical material on the Doten-Doty family, and transcriptions from the journals relating to medical matters extracted for Dr. Fred Anderson. Robert Morse Clark's notes on and transcriptions of parts of the journals are included.)
 
527/1/12 "The Watchful Gods" and "Willis and the Holy Water."
527/1/12/1 7 x 81/2 Your Money's Worth notebook, including:
  1. Draft, complete, of story "Willis and the Holy Water," pencil with blue pencil revisions, 3 pp. start, then 39 pp. n.d. 1946 or 1947, probably the first. Unpublished.
  2. First draft, "The Little Gods, The Watchful Gods," pencil with very few revisions, 65 pp. approximately 1946.
/2 6 x 9 Record notebook, inscribed "Walter V.T. Clark Little Gods-second draft"; ink with many inked revisions, filling notebook; loose-leaf typing sheets, hand-written, numbered 204-210 taking story to conclusion; two memo pad sheets of inserts. n.d., late 1949, January, 1950.
/3 "The Little Gods, The Watchful Gods," Record notebook inscribed "Walter V.T. Clark." Washoe Valley, August, 1947. First draft.
527/1/13 Water. 272 pp. typescript of completed novel, fastened by clasps in Leland Hayward Agency folder, hand-drawn title and section-head pages, inscribed "Walter Van Tilburg Clark, Essex, New York." Cannot be dated with certainty, but written before The Ox-Bow Incident, possibly as early as 1934-35, more probably 1936 or 1938.
527/1/14 Unfinished Novel, a later reworking of 527/1/13, possible titles Jason, Water, Floodgates, Water from Snow, The Long Life and Birth of Jason White.
527/1/14/1 600+ pp. counting both sides, handwritten on loose-leaf lined binder paper, few revisions, going up to chapter 59.
/2 5 x 7 hardbound Scribble-in notebook, inscribed "The Dam" on cover, "Walter V.T. Clark" on inside cover, tentative titles with "The Dam" crossed out; 9 projected "books" with characters and scenes listed for the first 6; 4 hand-drawn maps of Nevada, Gold Rock Territory, the town of Gold Rock, the Great Windy Valley; ink mss. nearly fills book, up to chapter 20, or two chapters into the projected second "book." n.d. Evidence that 527/1/14/1 may have been started in Indian Springs, fall 1941 or spring, 1942, and that 527/1/14/2 is a rewrite started on return to Cazenovia, 1942 or 1942 at the latest.
/3 7 x 8 1/2 Spiral notebook with notes for novel up through Book 5, lists of ship and sailing terminology, drawings of type of sailing ship used in novel.
527/1/15 "Reno-The State City." 6 k 10 Record notebook inscribed "Reno" on cover, "Walter V.T. Clark, Washoe Valley, Nevada" on inside cover, approximately 68 pp. with revisions, mss. draft for article published in Rocky Mountain Cities, Ray B. West, ed., 1949.
527/1/16 Notes on own Published Works, Mss..
527/1/16/1 6 x 10 Record notebook, inscribed "Walter V.T. Clark," 23 pp. draft, very few revisions, for story "Chuangtse and the Prince of the Golden Age"; 6 loose-leaf pp. of earlier version; 1 p. outline for talk in which story used as illustration.
/2 17 pp. with many revisions, draft for "The Ghost of an Apprehension," an article discussing "The Portable Phonograph."
/3 Carbon typescript of "Introduction" to Time edition of The Ox-Bow Incident, dated May 20, 1962, from Larkspur, Calif.
/4 8 ¼ pp. pencil draft of letter to agent with observations on The Ox-Bow Incident for Italian edition. n.d., after 1962.
/5 4 pp. notes for talk on "The Watchful Gods," given at U. of Southern California Library School, March 22, 1963.
/6 4 pp. letter, not sent, "told too much," on The Track of the Cat, in answer to a letter from a women's literary club, not dated, but fall, 1951, or spring, 1952; 4 pp. notes for talk on novel, with bookmarks indicating sections to read during talk.
/7 7 pp. expanded outline for talk "Story into Film" on The Ox-Bow Incident; notes used at speech. n.d., given at San Francisco State, 1957, 8 or 9.
/8 2 pp. outline for analysis of "The Fish Who Could Close His Eyes," n.d.
/9a 9 pp. notes "Digging the Well" for talk on "The Indian Well" at U. of Nevada Art Festival, April 20, 1967.
/9b Reel to Reel tape of WVTC reading “The Indian Well”, April 20, 1967.
/10 8 pp. notes for luncheon talk on The Anonymous," San Francisco, May 4, 1957.
/11a l p. note for introduction to reading of "The Wind and the Snow of Winter," U. of Nevada, October, 1967.
/11b Reel to Reel tape of WVTC reading "The Wind and the Snow of Winter". October 19, 1967.
/12 4 pp. notes for talk on The Track of the Cat, n.d. includes page on "Some of Writing Problems and Concerns."
/13 Copy of The Ox-Bow Incident, Signet, 1954, with ms. comments by W. V. T. C.
527/1/17/1 "The Professor and the Writer." Originally a lecture for San Francisco State semantics series, July 15, 1959; later published as an article in Chrysalis, Spring, 1962. 34 pp. pencil, with revisions, draft for lecture.
/2 Mimeograph copy of lecture with pencil revisions. 25 pp.
/3 86 pp. pencil, in Collegiate Filler Pad, draft of expanded version of article, written summer-fall, 1961.
/4 72 pp. typescript with penciled revisions.
/5 76 pp. carbon typescript, final version for article, with letter from the editor of Chrysalis, March 23, 1962.
527/1/18 The Queen is a Powerful Piece, complete, unpublished novella.
527/1/18/1 135 pp. ink, first draft, inscribed "Walter Clark, Washoe Valley, 1946" on cover of green Scrap Book in which written, "Lewers Ranch, Washoe Valley, January 9, 1947" at conclusion; hand-drawn illustrations at front, close; loose-leaf illustrations of symbolic chess arrangement used in story, for possible dust-jacket; 2 pp. of chess games, in standard chess notation, used in story.
/2 225 pp. typescript, with blue pencil revisions, inscribed "Walter Van Tilburg Clark, Washoe Valley, Nevada, March '47"; 1 p. "check sheet for final typescript revision"; 1 p. list of frequently-used words to be decreased in revision; 1 p. list of the cast and "chief problems in last version"; 2 pp. timetables, one of national and international events during course of story, other of central character's life; 1 p. "Notes on Reading of Second Draft"; chess notation records of the two games played in work.

Box 3

527/1/19 Ambrose, The Chess-Playing Poodle, complete, unpublished novella. Two 12 x 7 ½ & Record notebooks, 189 pp. ink mss. with some revisions in ink. Inscription in each, "Walter V.T. Clark, Washoe Valley, June 1947."
527/1/20 The Angel and the Judge, unfinished novella. Two 71/2 x approximately 10 Sterling notebooks, the first with 101 pp. both sides, pencil, the second 5 pp. n.d., probably late 1946.
527/1/21 Poetry
527/1/21/1 15 ½ pp. typescript of narrative poem in blank verse, "Strange Hunting," that was the genesis for The Track of the Cat. Inscribed at close with address "307 Colchester Ave., Burlington, Vermont," this crossed out and "Essex, New York" put in, suggesting written late spring, 193
/2 Trilogy for Tired Lovers. 103 pp. typescript, bound in hard covers by W.V.T.C., with his own drawn and colored illustrations at front of each of three short plays, part verse, part prose, called "Pattern," "The Wooing of Harlequin," and "Little Light of Love." With an inscription to wife, dated "Christmas 1933."
/3 approximately 10 pp. typescript, hand illustrated, "The Temple: Colors in a Faith," inscribed "For Barbara, Walt." n.d., 1931-33.
/4 8 x ¼ hardbound notebook, inscribed "Occasionals I Walter Van T. Clark 1931-," poems printed in ink, apparently final copies, no revisions, indications which poems published; 68 poems, mostly short, including poems published in Stanford, Nevada, and Vermont University literary magazines, and four which appeared, some with slight changes, in Ten Women in Gale's House. Since this notebook includes transcriptions of earlier poems, some may date before 1931, probably none later than 1933.
/5 8 x 10 ¼ hardbound notebook, inscribed "Occasionals II Walter V.T. Clark," poems printed in ink as in 427/1/21/4, 50 poems, several of them 8-15 pp. narrative poems, including "Strange Hunting" (427/1/21/1), and "Pattern" (427/1/21/2), and in­cludes rest of poems published in Vermont magazine, Poetry, and American Poetry Journal. n.d., probably 1933-1935.
/6 7 ½ x approximately 10 Compositions notebook, inscribed "Walter Van Tilburg Clark Occasionals III 1933-1939," and inside "Drippings from the pen-commencing October 1933--filled November 1940." Ink printed copies as 527/1/21/4 and 527/1/21/5, a few erasures. 63 poems, several very brief poem-plays, songs for plays. Contains, loose, an envelope with football scores and a few lines; list of possible titles for book of poems on bottom of one page; various poems in 427/1/21/4, 427/1/21/5, and 427/1/21/6 are marked with an "x" in red pencil and/or a checkmark which may indicate those W.V.T.C. thought most likely for inclusion in one or more books of poetry.
/7 7 ½ x approximately 10 Compositions notebook, inscribed "W.V.T. Clark Aug. 1941-" on cover and inside cover, "The critical and war- poems in section 'Propitiation of the Dark Gods'." Many of these poems show several revisions; 75 poems, mostly short lyrics and ballads again, many dated, most written at Indian Springs, Nevada, 1941-42; includes drafts of "Prayer for the Evil Days," "In Tombstone Town," and "The Sweet Promised Land of Nevada," all subsequently used in The City of Trembling Leaves.
/8 7 ½ x approximately 10 Compositions notebook inscribed "Vol. V Walter Van Tilburg Clark Sword Singer The Tale of Tristram," and on first page, "written during July-Nineteen Thirty One-in La Jolla, California"; 176 pp. ink, printing, this the poem used as part of Master's thesis, U. of Nevada, 1931.
/9 8 x 10 ½ hardbound notebook, inscribed "Vol. VII The Burial of Kitty Hemming and other poems-Walter Van Tilburg Clark 1931-32"; 165 pp. printed in ink, no revisions, with table of contents, illustrated title page for each of 7 narrative poems, including "Ten Women in Gale's House"; an eighth, "The Stone Woman," has been removed.
/10 8 x 101/2 a hardbound notebook inscribed "The Great Comer & other Poems Walter V.T. Clark." n.d., probably 1932 or 1933, same "book" arrangement as 427/1/21/9, but only 1 poem, "The Great Comer," 26 ½ pp. ink, printing.
/11 Drafts of poems, often quick jottings, incomplete and never worked on, ranging from early 1950s to 1971.
/12 Typescript of eight poems: Centurian, You; Armistice Day, Parade; The Stone Woman; The Great Comer; Brother Bones; A Path; Benedict Morales' Wife and Carl Andread, Philosopher. 88 numbered leaves. Preceded by a 3 p. letter, holograph, to Robert and Virginia Caples. Burlington, Vermont, December 15, 1933. Bound.
/13 "Monograph Concerning the Rare Sokeye Original of Undetermined Date - Man with Protruding Tongue." Holograph. 5 numbered pp. n.p., n.d.
/14 Reel to reel tape. Clark’s Story “The Indian Well” read in simplified English by William Reynolds for the voice of America.
527/1/22 Marginalia in student texts.
527/1/22/1 Autograph, various thoughts, aphorisms, printed inside front and back covers of Leaves of Grass, The Modern Student's Library, Scribner's, 1922, apparently used at U. of Nevada, 1927-31.
/2 Autograph, aphoristic thoughts printed inside front and back covers and over blank pages of Twentieth-Century Poetry, edited by Drinkwater, Canby and Benet, Riverside Press, 1930. Like 527/1/22/1, probably a college text.

Box 4

527/2 Personal-Teaching, Literary- Business, Clippings
527/2/1 Autobiographical and bibliographical statement, chronological chart; 10 pp. carbon typescript; this written in January, 1964, to be mimeo­graphed and used in answer to the usual biographical queries from students, fans; some ink revisions and additions; 9 pp. copy of mimeographed version, with W.V.T.C.'s inked additions to the bibliography.
527/2/2 Teaching, University of Nevada, Reno, 1965-69.
527/2/2/1 7 ½ x 9 ½ notebook inscribed "Class Records Spring '65 through Spring '69," including records for both creative writing classes and National Defense Education Act Institutes, summers of 1965, 66, 67. In back of notebook, list of creative writing "Maxims" and observations "On Viewpoint," introductory guidelines given to writing students the first day of class.
/2 8 x 10 ¼ National notebook with class records, creative writing, fall, 1969. These records usually include a list, under the name of the student, of the pieces received, with comments about them.
/3 Mimeographed student "anthology" from NDEA Institute, 1967, with brief remark by W.V.T.C. on p. 4.
/4 Handwritten mss. and typescript for "Suggestions for the Development of a Creative Writing Program" for Nevada. n.d., probably1968.
/5 Contracts and correspondence with the University of Nevada. 1951-1974.
527/2/3 Other Class Records.
527/2/3/1 7 ½ x 9-3/4 notebook, class records from Wesleyan University creative writing classes, fall, spring, 1960-61.
/2 7 ½ x 9-3/4 notebook, records of creative writing classes at San Francisco State College, fall, spring, 1961-62.
527/2/4 Fiction Contest Judging.
527/2/4/1 8 x 10 ¼ National notebook with notes, synopsis of entries, ratings with commentaries for:
  1. Delta Novel Awards, 1962, 1963.
  2. Spur Award in Western Fiction, 1967.
  3. Pen Women's short story contest, 1969.
  4. Reno High School poetry contest, 1969.

Also notes, in notebook and loose-leaf, on John Hawkes' books, made for discussion of student doctoral dissertation.

/2 Letters to, from Dick Kennedy on 1963 Delta contest.
/3 Carbon typescript of final judging letter for Hopwood Fiction contest, 1963, with ratings, commentary on entries.
/4 Memo pad notes, mss. comments for Hopwood "minor" entries, typescript for comments of "major" entries, Hopwood contest, 1967.
527/2/5 22 photographs, mainly duplicates of publicity photographs used for dust jackets, etc., from 1939 to 1970, including photos from Cazenovia, Washoe Valley and Virginia City, Montana and California; also photo, publicity blurb on flyer from U. Omaha Writer's Conference. Photos transferred to photo archives as #2269.
527/2/6 (Box 10) Scrapbook--The Ox-Bow Incident. Scrapbook started at the date of publication, includes dust-jackets, reviews by major and minor newspapers, articles about W.V.T.C. from the local Cazenovia and regional papers, script of radio broadcast about book, letters from fans, some clippings about the movie. Includes reviews from N.Y. Times, New Yorker, Saturday Review, N.Y. Herald Tribune, Boston Transcript.
527/2/7 (Box 10) Scrapbook--The City of Trembling Leaves. Started at date of publication, includes dust-jacket, letters received, reviews, including those by N.Y. Times, Saturday Review, Yale Review, Atlantic Monthly, Nation, New Yorker, as well as typescript of review by Wallace Stegner for the Virginia Quarterly, and the review, by a priest, for a Catholic publication, which W.V.T.C. felt came the closest to seeing what he was after.
527/2/8 (Box 10) Scrapbook--The Track of the Cat. Started at date of publication, (Oversize) includes dust-jacket, photographs of Lewer's Ranch, Washoe Valley, Nevada, where novel was written, letters, with one from William Carlos Williams giving his reaction to the book, and a strange correspondence with a prototypical Hollywood producer, newspaper pieces on the dramatic production by the Reno Little Theatre, loose clippings, including story, photo, of black panther gone berserk in some zoo, reviews include those from the New Yorker, Herald Tribune, Times, Christian Science Monitor, Saturday Review, S.F. Chronicle, Yale Review, Time.
527/2/9 Material for scrapbook on The Watchful Gods and Other Stories, letters, mostly clippings of reviews including Times, Nation, Saturday Review, New Yorker, S.F. Chronicle.
527/2/10 Account Books. Two 7 ½ x 12 hardbound Journal ledgers, I apparently started in 1940, II a duplication with rearrangement as particular accounts became too long. Both inscribed "Writing Accounts," cover­ing 1940-1963, lists fees and royalties received for fiction, original, reprints, etc., and organization or magazine received from, reviewed, and income from other sources, summer conferences, talks, etc.
527/2/11 Miscellaneous business correspondence, literary business.
527/2/11/1 Correspondence on plagiarism of Ox-Bow by Lion Books' Ramrod, 1956:
  1. Letter to Saxe Commins, Random House editor, from Hardin Goodman, who discovered plagiarism, March 8, 1956.
  2. Letter from Commins to W.V.T.C., March 15, 1956.
  3. Letter from agents to W.V.T.C., April 4, 1956.
  4. Letter from agents to W.V.T.C., June 13, 1956, including copy of Random House lawyer's letter to Lion Books citing page numbers of passages involved; W.V.T.C.'s notes on suggested restitution.
/2 Concerning adaptations of published works (1955-1970):
  1. Letter from agent on proposed S.F. State adaptation of Ox-Bow for theatre, April, 1956, includes sheaf of W.V.T.C.'s notes on script.
  2. Letter from agent on CBS TV adaptation of "Hook," December, 1955.
  3. Letter from CBS, including Variety blurb on "Hook" adaptation, March, 1956.
  4. Letter from R. Morin, April 30 (1963), on movie adaptation of "The Indian Well," W.V.T.C.'s synopsis of answer on envelope.
  5. Letter from Schaum Piano School to publish ballad "The Sweet Promised Land of Nevada," November 30, 1970, W.V.T.C.'s synopsis of answer.
/3 Correspondence from others concerning contest judgings, talks, a board to select literary figures for medals (1967-70).
/4 Requests for articles, stories--usually with synopsis of intended reply or response by W.V.T.C. on envelope (1965-70):
  1. From Boy's Life: February 16, 1970, to W. Van Tilling Clarke; April 2, 1970, to Walter Van Tilburg Clark.
  2. From J. Golden Taylor, Western Am. Lit. Assoc., March 19, 1969, for paper and talk to Assoc.
  3. From American West, Nov. 23, 1968, on project of editing selections from American Mercury.
  4. From Wallace Stegner, for American West, on writing preface for Lady in Boomtown, May 2, 1968.
  5. From American West, May 10, 1968, on preface.
  6. From Esquire, March 14, 1969.
  7. From Henry Taylor, U. of Utah Press, for contribution to commemorative essays for B. Gheislin, Nov. 4, 1970.
  8. From Swallow Press, June 13, 1969.
  9. From Reader's Digest, October 22, 1965.
  10. From American West, thanking for preface, suggesting article on H. L. Davis, Mercury editing, August 29, 1968.
  11. From Maine State Library, February 4, 1964
/5 Correspondence from Duncan Emrich and Library of Congress concerning gift of mss. of Cat and City; information bulletin of Library, Feb. 20, 1950, with description of manuscripts; photograph of Library display of mss.
/6 Concerning critical, biographical, bibliographical pieces:
  1. Letter from Mr. Max Westbrook, doing critical book on W.V.T.C., May 4, 1963.
  2. Letter from Westbrook, August 9, 1968.
  3. Letter from Mrs. H. James Malloy, concerning her dissertation on W.V.T.C. at Northwestern U., April 8, 1968.
  4. Letters from A. R. Kitzhaber and Don MacRae, U. of Oregon, concerning use of Ox-Bow in high school lit textbook, includes proposed revisions to avoid word "nigger," October, 1969.
  5. Letter from John Milton, South Dakota Review, following interview with W.V.T.C., August 28, 1969.
  6. Letter from editor of Presenting Moonshine, newsletter for book collectors, requesting permission to publish a letter, November 9, 1969.
/7 Writing business, 1950-1971:
  1. Correspondence on and contracts with agents, 1962-65, 1965-68, 1968-71.
  2. Letter from agent with copy of British outlet's refusal to publish both unabridged City and Gods, October, 1950.
  3. Formal permission to edit Doten journals from Random House, December 13 and December 19, 1961.
  4. Xerox copy, letter from foreign agent, September 27, 1962.
/8 Copies of contracts with U. of Nevada, Reno: teaching contracts, Doten editorial appointment, tenure, letter accepting resignation for illness from chairman of English Department (1962-1971).
/9 Letters from former students for recommendations, including Rockefeller Foundation recommendation for William East-Lake, Guggenheim information from Oakley Hall, a request to help fight dismissal from teaching post by former student (1957-70).
/10 Autographed story from former student, David Madden, 1966.
/11 Copy Author's Guild Constitution, envelope, September 5, 1944.
/12 Mimeographed copy of letter written, post-1962, by member of department opposing changes in S. F. State Creative Writing program. Makes brief mention of W.V.T.C.'s role in building program. W.V.T.C.'s note on back.
/13 Miscellaneous correspondence, contracts, etc., 1946-.
527/2/12/1 Newspaper clippings about, honorary items, 1949-1971.
  1. Clip from Record, newspaper of N.Y. State Buffalo, on, with photo of, library display of W.V.T.C.'s books, July 14, 1954.
  2. Clip, N.Y. Times (June 6, 1953?) on W.V.T.C.'s resignation, U. of Nevada, in protest of autocratic administration.
  3. Photo-clip, Reno newspaper, W.V.T.C. receiving honorary degree at U. of Nevada.
  4. Clip, photo, "Honors for Clark, Heyns," Nevada State Journal, June 2, 1969, concerning honorary degree.
  5. Clip, "Clark Dissects the Novel," by Luther Nichols, "The Book Corner," S.F. Examiner, April 18, 1957, reporting gist of lecture given in Oakland.
  6. Clip, "A New Audience for 'The Ox-Bow Incident'," by William Hogan, "A Bookman's Notebook," S.F. Chronicle, 1960?. Photo.
  7. Clip, "Author Clark to Address Friends of Library Dinner," Nevada State Journal, n.d. (approximately October, 1967).
  8. Page, Publisher's Weekly, October 1, 1949, on Author's Day in Virginia City, Nevada, photo.
  9. “Nevada Hits New Bonanza in Books Playing Host to Best Selling Authors,” clip from Manchester, Conn., Evening Herald, October 19, 1949, with photo of W.V.T.C. on front porch of home in Virginia City.
  10. Page, Oakland Tribune, October 9, 1950, with untitled biographical paragraph on W.V.T.C. as teacher in Virginia City.
  11. Letter from Goodwin Knight, Governor of California, October 6, 1958, official congratulations on W.V.T.C.'s selection as one of “Ten Best Western Writers” and receipt of honorary degree from Colgate.
  12. Offer of spurious honorary degree from "North American University." (Send $50, no need to attend ceremony.)
  13. Clip, photo and long caption, Reno newspaper, about upcoming reading of "The Indian Well" for Arts Festival, n.d., approximately April, 1967.
/2 Clips, various newspapers including Reno and N.Y. Times, obituaries (November 11-13, 1971); copy of remarks made at funeral by family attorney and personal friend, Leslie B. Grey; memorial remarks by friend and colleague Dr. Charlton Laird in Arts and Sciences Bulletin, U. of Nevada.
527/3 Personal Correspondence
527/3/1 A "collection" of Christmas cards using the watercolor paintings of Merrill A. Bailey, most with notes from the Baileys, close friends in Cazenovia, a few from other people; most undated, late 1940's, 1950's.
527/3/2 (Box 13) Letters from Dee Herrmann, Missoula, Montana, May 17, 1966; a letter from Jim Green, Arizona State U., May 9, 1968, requesting W.V.T.C.'s support on change of dissertation topic.
527/3/3 (Box 13) Letter, copy of lease for house in Reno, from brother, Dr. David G. Clark, February 15, 1963.
527/3/4 Letters to, from Reno Pump Supply, May, 1963, objecting to shoddy equipment, repair work, dunning; huffy answer from company.
527/3/5 (Box 13) Letters to wife, Barbara Frances Morse Clark (169 letters, of varying length, many of them quite long).
  • 1932 - 1 letter, from Carmel, California
  • 1935 - 3 letters, from Nyack, Blauvelt, New York
  • 1937- 7 letters, from Albuquerque, New Mexico; Reno, Nevada
  • 1940- 1 letter, from.Cazenovia, N.Y.
  • 1941- 4 letters, from Cazenovia, N.Y.; Edgartown, Mass.
  • 1950- 12 letters, from Salt Lake City, Utah; Laramie, Wyoming
  • 1951- 21 letters, from Iowa City, Iowa
  • 1952- 52 letters, from Iowa City, Iowa; Omaha, Nebraska
  • 1953- 27 letters, from Eureka, California; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; Missoula, Montana
  • 1954 - 33 letters, from Missoula, Montana; Palo Alto, California
  • 1957 - 5 letters, from Virginia City, Nevada
  • 1964 - 3 letters, from Salt Lake City, Utah; Missoula, Montana
527/3/6 (Box 5) Letters to son, Robert Morse Clark:
  1. From Laramie, Wyoming, to Virginia City, Nevada, July 6, 1950.
  2. From Reno, Nevada, to Vandenburg AFB, California, February 6,1 1965.
  3. Letter to daughter, Barbara Ann Clark, from Laramie, Wyoming, to Virginia City, Nevada, July 6, 1950.
527/3/7 Letters to Saxe Commins, editor, Random House:
  1. From Virginia City, Nevada, January 31, 1950, preceding submission of The Watchful Gods. Xerox copy.
  2. From Missoula, Montana, June 9, 1956. Xerox copy.
  3. Note from Mrs. Saxe Commins to W.V.T.C., March 22, 1970, about possible publications of the letters. [Envelope was empty, note missing.]
527/3/8 Letter to agent, Mrs. Phyllis Jackson, from Virginia City, 'Nevada, January 27, 1971, concerning large check for renewal of paperback rights, legal matters. Xerox copy.
527/3/9 Letters, March, 1968, from Jack Gottlieb requesting permission to adapt Ox-Bow as an opera libretto. Included is a vita of Gottlieb.
527/3/10 (Box 5) Letters to Robert Cole Caples (44 letters):
  • 1956 - 4 letters from Missoula, Montana; Mill Valley, California
  • 1960 - 1 letter, from Middletown, Conn.
  • 1961 - 1 letter, from Larkspur, California
  • 1962 - 3 letters, from Reno, Nevada
  • 1963 - 4 letters, from Reno, Nevada
  • 1964 - 3 letters from Reno, Nevada
  • 1966 - 2 letters, from Reno, Nevada
  • 1967 - 2-letters, from Reno, Nevada
  • 1968 - 1 letter, from Reno, Nevada
  • 1969 - 4 letters, from Virginia City, Nevada
  • 1970 - 3 letters, from Virginia City, Nevada
  • 1971 - 16 letters, from Virginia City, Nevada
527/3/11 (Box 13) Xerox copies of letters from Charlton G. Laird Collection pertinent to Walter Van Tilburg Clark.

Box 5

527/3/12 Letters from Clark to David Madden advising and providing guidance on Madden’s writings, 1961-1971. 16 items.
527/3/13 Letter from Clark to friend, Muriel, regarding his visit to San Francisco, Spring 1932, and Greta Basin Magazine featuring that letter, Spring 1997.
527/4 Marginalia and Notes Most of the marginalia and loose-leaf notes in the following books are part of preparation for using the book in a class, and not personal response for W.V.T.C.'s own use, though this occurs occasionally. Thus the marginalia are predominately noting structural, technical devices, or summarizing the action of a passage or section, and underlinings are mainly of passages W.V.T.C. saw as particularly important for technical or thematic considerations. “Bookmarks” usually signal pages to be read for illustration of points in lecture, discussion. Abbreviations used in the listings: m = marginalia, u = underlining, b = bookmarks, a = autograph, W.V.T.C.'s name inscribed. Items of particular importance as indications of W.V.T.C.'s methods of teaching, thoughts on fiction and poetry or things in general, or influence on his own work are marked with an *.
527/4/1 Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. New York: Pocket Books, 1952. a; extensive m, u; b; 16 pp. notes: cast, class discussions, scene, general notes, chapter synopsis, class approach, final session.
527/4/2 Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. New York: Pocket Books, 1951. Extensive m, u; b; 26 pp. notes: cast, on Bronte family, treatment, on W.H. as center and source of violence and Thrushcross Grange of peace and manners, synopsis, craft of the book. (Notes from two different preparations.)
527/4/3 Cather, Willa. Death Comes for the Archbishop. New York: Knopf, 1945. a; m; b; 32 pp. notes: general notes, outline of short approach to novel, the characters of Father Latour and Father Joseph as the formulative principle of the book, introduction to Willa Cather.
527/4/4 Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer. New York: New American Library, Signet edition, 1953. a; extensive m, u, both stories; introduction by Albert J. Geurard underlined; 5 pp. notes: Secret Sharer discussion (used at U. of Montana), general notes (used at S.F. State). Also Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer. Signet classic, 21st printing, n.d. m, u, for "Heart of Darkness" only; 3 pp. notes, treatment, outline of H.D. (used at U. of Montana); 11 pp. notes: add notes, funneling all rest into concluding scene, light and dark pattern, wind-up (used at S.F. State).
527/4/5 Conrad, Joseph. The Nigger of the "Narcissus". New York: Harper & Bros., 1951. Harper's Modern Classics Edition. a; extensive m, u; one passage introduction by Morton Zabel under­lined; list of Conrad's works, order of the Marlowe stories on inside cover; 3 pp. organizational notes for discussions of novel (earlier notes); 11 pp. notes: treatment, general notes, cast and synopsis, notes toward treatment, wind-up (used at S.F. State).
527/4/6 Cozzens, James Gould. Guard of Honor. New York: Permabooks, 1952. a; m and u in only one chapter; 7 pp. notes: cast, points for discussion, summary analysis.
527/4/7 Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage. New York: Pocket Books, 1951. Extensive m, u; b; notes on inside cover; 26 pp. notes: approach to novel, synopsis, RB and symbolism, topics for class papers, notes for discussion of papers, add notes (used at S.F. State).
527/4/8 Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage. New York: Washington Square Press, 1964. Extensive m, u; 9 pp. notes: approach, out­line summary (used for 1965 NDEA Institute, U. of Nevada).
527/4/9 The Creative Reader. R. W. Stallman and R. C.. Waters, eds. `New York: Ronald Press, 1954. m, preparatory analysis on: Thurber, "The Catbird Seat"; Joyce, "A Little Cloud"; Colette Audry, "The Gloves"; Conrad, "Amy Foster"; Crane, "The Upturned Face" and "The Open Boat"; Faulkner, "The Bear"; Welty, "A Still Moment"; James, "Paste"; Shakespeare, "The Tempest" (very brief); Whitman, "When Lilacs Last...."; notes on structure of poems, scansion of poetry, introduction to fiction writing; classroom discussions; typescript syllabus for NDEA Institute lit class, summer, 1965, with class notes. (This text often used in introductory creative writing classes as well as the NDEA Institutes.)
527/4/10 Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. New York: Modern Library. Modern Library College Editions, 1950. a; extensive m, u; b; underlining and marginal remarks in introduction by E. J. Simmons; 22 pp. notes: class discussion, subjects for papers, line of discussion, notes on author, background of novel, particulars of D's method, cast and synopsis (early notes, cu. 1950-54); 17 pp. notes: cast, treatment, general notes, last session, topics, themes and devices (later notes, S.F. State).
527/4/11 Faulkner, William. The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying. New York: Modern Library, 1946. a; extensive m, u; b; 35 pp. notes, As I Lay Dying: introduction to author and novel, approach to novel, synopsis, topics for papers, add notes, comments on characters, AILD as allegory, outline of treatment, final class (notes appear to be from at least three different preparations, earliest probably early 1950's); 1 p. note on parts III and IV of The Sound and the Fury.

Box 6

527/4/12 Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Bantam Books, 1945. a; extensive m, u; b; cost list inside cover; 11 pp. notes: synopsis, outline for treatment, short treatment.
527/4/13 Forster, E. M. Howard's End. New York: Vintage Books, 1954. a; m; u; 18 pp. notes: General notes, general considerations on Forster, plans for classes.
527/4/14* Forster, E.. M. A Passage to India. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Harbrace Modern Classics Edition, n.d. a; extensive m, u; b; flyleaf notes on "Jainism"; general notes on dedication page; notes on special verbal oppositions and ironies, the central pattern on back of title page. 11 pp. notes: cast, treatment, and chapter summaries, compare PI to Howard's End on theme of "right feeling," outline for discussion, thematic lines to be traced, technical consideration, add notes. (This novel used as text in special version of "Craft of Fiction" course at S.F. State concerning mysticism in fiction.)
527/4/15 Guthrie, A. B., Jr. The Big Sky. New York: Pocket Books, 1952. a; slight m, u; 13 pp. notes: synopsis, general, topics for papers, ideas on mountain man, mountain man as unique figure.
527/4/16* Hardy, Thomas. The Return of the Native. New York: Pocket Books, 1953. a; extensive m, u; b; 21 pp. notes: cast, order of treatment, synopsis, general notes, "Process in Analysis of Book," fate and accident alive.
527/4/17 Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. New York: Modern Library, 1930. a; m; u; b; 29 pp. notes: treatment, synopsis, add notes, approach to Hemingway, on "The Killers," short treatment, general notes.
527/4/18* Highlights of Modern Literature: A Permanent Collection of Memorable Essays From The New York Times Book Reivew. Francis Brown, ed. New York: New American Library, mentor edition, 1954. a; table of contents marked; essays with m and u, often extensive; W. H. Auden, "The World that Books Have Made"; Arthur Mizener, "What Makes Great Books Great"; E. Brown, "The Search for a Story to Tell"; Ivor Brown, "In Praise of Clarity"; Lloyd Frankenberg, "How Clear is Clarity?"; Alan Pryce-Jones, "The Novelist in a World Awry"; Robert Gorham Davis, "At the Heart of the Story is man"; Eliz. Janeway, "What's American and What's British in the Modern Novel"; Manes Sperber, "Search for a Miraculous Paradox"; Stephen Spender, "The Modernist Movement is Dead"; Louis Kronenberger, "On Critics, Pedants and Philistines" and "A Time to Speak Words of Praise"; K. A. Porter. "The Calm, Pure Art of Willa Cather"; David Daiches, "Enduring Wisdom from a Poet Sage." 6 pp. notes: topics for class papers, outlines for discussions. (Used as text, possibly at U. of Montana, 1954-56, but many of the marginal remarks reflect personal reaction, agree­ment or disagreement.)
527/4/19 The House of Fiction: An Anthology of the Short Story. Caroline Gordon and Allen Tate, eds. New York: Scribner's, 1954. a; stories marked: Flaubert, "A Simple Heart," 1 p. note; Melville, "Benito Cereno," 2 pp. notes; Poe, "The Fall of the House of Usher," slight m; James, "The Beast in the Jungle," m, u, 2 pp. notes; Porter, "Old Mortality," m, 1 p. note. 1 p. introductory notes for Faulkner, Thomas Mann, Crane; 2 pp. outline for "Craft of Fiction" course, S.F. State, for which this test was used. (Notes in 20 below.)
527/4/20 The House of Fiction, etc. Gorton and Tate, eds. New York: Scribner 1960. Paperback edition. a; table of contents marked, with note about "Young Love" from Modern Essays as introductory piece. Stories marked: Flaubert, "A Simple Heart," m, u; Chekov, "On the Road," m, u; De Maupassant, "The Story of a Farm Girl," m, u; James, "The Beast in the Jungle," u, extensive m, 1 p. note; Kafka, "The Hunter Gracchus," 2 pp. notes; Crane, "The Open Boat," m, extensive u, 2 pp. notes; Frank O'Connor, "Guests of the Nation," m, u; Porter, "Old Mortality," m, u; Faulkner, "Spotted Horses," m, u, 1 p. note; Hemingway, "The Killers," m, u, 1 p. note. 4 pp. notes: outline of general intentions of course, introductory maxims on writing as imagination, connection with real world; 1 p. note covering other stories in volume. (Used in creative writing course, U. of Nevada, 1965-70.
527/4/21 Huxley, Aldous. After Many a Summer Dies the Swan. New York: Avon Books, 1954. a; annotated cast list following title page; extensive m, u; b; 41 pp. notes: treatment, Huxley and the Novel of Idea, synopsis, wind-up. (Notes covering at least two different preparations. This novel used in unfavorable comparison with Passages to India in course on fictional treatment of mysticism.)
527/4/22 Huxley, Aldous. Point Counter Point. New York: Modern Library, n.d. a; m; u; b; 39 pp. notes: order of treatment, cast, organ­ization, synopsis, tracing a thesis.

Box 7

527/4/23* Hudson, W.H. Green Mansions. New York: Modern Library, 1944. a; extensive m, u up to p. 107; 11 pp. notes: synopsis, cast, special materials for discussion, wind up. (Used in course on mysticism, and novel which was life-long personal favorite and literary cause.)
527/4/24 Hudson, W. H. Green Mansions. New York, Toronto, etc.: Bantam Books. Bantam Pathfinder edition, 1965. Cast list inside cover, extensive m, u up to p. 107; 11 pp. notes: cast, order of presenta­tion of novel, summaries and analysis up to chapter 8, wind-up, add notes. (Used for NDEA Institute, U. of Nevada, 1966.)
527/4/25* An Introduction to Haiku. Harold G. Henderson, ed. New York: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1958. a; no marginalia, some poems checked; inside front and back cover list of "General principles of poetry inherent in Haiku." (Used increasingly through later years as introduction to poetry writing.)
527/4/26 James, Henry. The Ambassadors. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1948. a; extensive m; u; b; 14 pp. notes: treatment, add note, Strether as central, technique, class papers, wind-up. (Favorite James novel for use in Craft of Fiction and similar courses.)
527/4/27 James, Henry. The American. New York, etc.: Rinehart & Co. Rinehart paperback edition. a; extensive m, u; b; 18 pp, notes: synopsis and study points, intention, cast, chapter summaries, topics for papers. (Used in novel courses, especially in the early 1950s.)
527/4/28 James, Henry. Daisy Miller and an International Episode. New York: Penguin Books, 1947. a; slight m on "Daisy Miller" only; 6 pp. notes: DM as introduction to Jamesian method, introduction to James' writing of the middle years.
527/4/29 James, Henry. The Golden Bowl. New York: Grove Press. Evergreen Books paperback, n.d. a; m and u only in concluding chapters; 3 pp. notes: cast, general technical considerations, summaries and analysis of same chapters as marked; notes on envelope on points to watch in reading and preparation; copy on article "Symbolism in James' 'The Golden Bowl'," by James L. Spencer, from Modern Fiction Studies. (This novel being considered for future classes.)
527/4/30 Melville, Hermann. Typee and Billy Budd. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1958. A Dutton Everyman Paperback. a; slight m, "Billy Budd" only; 8 pp. notes, "Billy Budd"; general approach indicating illustrative passages to read, general notes for class presentation.
527/4/31* Modern Essays. Russel Nye, ed. Chicago, etc.: Scott, Foresman & Co., 1953. a; table of contents marked; essays containing m and u; Charles S. Brooks, "On the Difference Between Wit and Humor"; E. S. Martin, “Writing”; E. M. Forster, "What I Believe"; Theordore Dreiser, "Secrecy-Its Value"; Randolph Bourne, "A Philosophy of Handicap," 1 p. note; S. Leacock, "My Remarkable Uncle"; Hans Zinsser, "Young Love" (this essay used in talk about difference between fiction and non-fiction, with W.V.T.C. making illustrative changes, some of which are marked); Aldous Huxley, "Selected Snob­beries"; Thomas Mann, "Sleep, Sweet Sleep," 2 pp. notes; A. J. Nock, "The Disadvantages of Being Educated," 1 p. note; D. H. Lawrence, "Whistling of Birds," 1 p. note; O. Spengler, "What Statesmen Must Know"; A. N. Whitehead, from "Universities and Their Function," 1 p. note (W.V.T.C. in general agreement with Whitehead on this topic); selections from The New Yorker's "Talk of the Town," 1 p. note; selections from newspapers; P. Gallico, "His Majesty the King," 1 p. note; E. B. White, "Once More to the Lake," 2 pp. notes; B. Atkinson, from "Once Around the Sun," 1 p. note; C. S. Lewis, "Screwtape Letter, No. 23," 1 p. note; George Orwell, "Reflections on Gandhi"; Albert Camus, "The Wind at Djemila." Notes on class business, topics for writing, order of essays to be read, etc. Brief notes for talk "Making a Story" using "Young Love." (Used as Freshman Composition text, U. of Montana.)
527/4/32 Porter, Katherine Anne. Pale Horse, Pale Rider. New York: Modern Library, 1949. a; m, u in "Noon Wine" and "Pale Horse, Pale Rider"; notes on cast, NW, back of title page; 2 pp. notes on introduction to K. A. Porter and NW; 4 pp. notes on PHPR: synopsis, lecture notes, topics for papers, intention in story. (Used at Stanford, 1954, in comparison with E. Welty.)
527/4/33* Problems in Reading and Writing. Henry W. Sams and W. F. McNeir, eds. New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1950. a; table of contents marked; essays which contain m, u; B. Franklin, from The Autobiography; G. G. Nathan and H. L. Mencken, "What all Americans Most Desire"; S. Lewis, "Dinner with the Babbits"; J. Dos Passos, "Three Kinds of Success"; W. C. H. Whetham, "Empiricism and Imagination"; W. Harvey, "On the Motion of the Heart...."; N. P. Gist and L. A. Halbert, "Personality Traits of Urban and Rural Persons"; Donald Davison, "Brother Jonathan and Cousin Roderick"; C. H. Sears, "City Man Looks at His City"; H. Garland, "A Visit to the West"; O. W. Holmes, "Freedom of Speech"; "Freedom of the Press"; J. M. Woolsey, "Censorship for Morals"; Supreme Court Decision, Bridges vs. California; James Harvey Robinson, "Kinds of Thinking," ex­tensive m, u (a man whose thought W.V.T.C. often mentioned, in agreement); J. A. Peddiwell, "The Saber-Tooth Curriculum," ex­tensive m, u; K. R. H. Hutchins, "Education for Freedom," extensive m, u; H. M. Jones, "The American Scholar once more," extensive m, u; W. R. Inge, "The Idea of Progress"; Will Durant, "Is Progress a Delusion?"; Wilson D. Wallis," The Nature of Progress"; section on controversy between Rivera and Rockefeller; J. Thurber, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"; screenplay of Mitty movie; Goldwyn's "Letter to Life"; Thurber's "Letter to Life"; John Stuart Mill, "Three Disciplines." 4 pp. notes on section "Objectives of Edu­cation," syllabus for freshman composition course, U. of Nevada, fall, 1952; draft of questions for final. (Marginalia here often reflects personal response and opinion, especially in Education section.)

Box 8

527/4/34* Short Story Masterpieces. Robert Penn Warren and Albert Erskine, eds. New York: Dell Books, 1954. a; table of contents marked with the general illustrative point each story offers, i.e., “Open Winter” - “place and character”; little m or u, but brief note at head of most stories; list on inside front cover, "with each story discuss..."; most extensive m on: Anderson, "The Egg"; Cheever, "Torch Song"; Conrad, "An Outpost of Progress"; Fitzgerald, "Winter Dreams"; O'Connor, "My Oedipus Complex"; Steinbeck, "Flight"; E. Taylor, "A Red-Letter Day"; P. Taylor, "A Spinster's Tale." Separate 1 p. notes on "Winter Dreams," "My Oedipus Complex," and James' "The Tree of Knowledge." 1 p. note, " Intro to 115-215" (Craft of Fiction course, S.F. State); 1 p. note, the inner plot or Intention into Structure.
527/4/35* Six Great Modern Short Novels. No editor listed. New York: Dell Books, 1954. Table of contents marked with order of presentation; m and u, often extensive, for: Joyce, "The Dead"; Melville, "Billy Budd," 6 pp. notes; Gogol, "The Overcoat," 1 p. note; Faulkner, "The Bear," 1 p. note. 2 pp. notes for Introductory Talk on Novel.
527/4/36 Steinbeck, John. In Dubious Battle. New York: Modern Library, 1939. a; m; u; b; 12 pp. notes: cast and chapter summary, the situation pattern, the characters, individual factors in the pattern. (Notes appear to have been made early.)
527/4/37 Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Modern Library, n.d. a; m; u; b; 14 pp. notes: thematic chapters, treatment, cast, synopsis, major theme and secondary theme, conclude.
527/4/38 The Story: A Critical Anthology. Mark Schorer, ed. New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1950. a; extensive m and u of James' "The Turn of the Screw," and the three critical comments on the novel­ette which follow; two batches, memo sheet notes.
527/4/39* Ten Modern Masters. Robert Gorham Davis, ed. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1959. a; table of contents marked; m and u in: Anderson, "Death in the Woods"; Chekov, "The Student," 1 p. note, and "The New Villa," 1 p. note; Faulkner, "The Old People," 1 p. note; Joyce, "The Dead," 2 pp. notes; Lawrence, "The Horse Dealer's Daughter," 3 pp. notes; K. Mansfield, "The Man Without a Temper­ament," 3 pp. notes; Frank O'Connor, "Judas," 1 p. note, and "Uprooted," 2 pp. notes. 1 p. class note; 1 p. "story starters, exploratory." (Used in creative writing classes, U. of Nevada, 1965-69.)
527/4/40 The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha. E. A. Burtt, ed. New York: New American Library. A Mentor Religious Classic, 1955. a; b; some passages checked, slight u, no m. (Used in course on mysticism in fiction.)
(527/1/22/2) Twentieth-Century Poetry. Drinkwater, Canby and Benet, eds. Cambridge, Mass.: Riverside Press, 1930. Text used as student by W.V.T.C. at U. of Nevada. Front and back covers and blank pages covered with printed aphoristic thoughts, adages, etc. Autograph. ALSO LISTED WITH MANUSCRIPTS.
527/4/40 Warren, Robert Penn. All the King's Men. New York: Modern Library, 1953. Extensive m, u; 44 pp. notes, mainly outlines for class lectures on novel.
(527/1/22/1) Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. New York, etc.: Scribner's, 1922. The Modern Student's Library. a; some underlining; in­side front cover, front and back sheets, inside back cover filled with ink-printed poems, aphorisms, thoughts, etc. ALSO LISTED WITH MANUSCRIPTS.
527/4/42 Welty, Eudora. Selected Stories of Eudora Welty. New York: Modern Library, 1954. a; m and u for: "A Memory," 1 p. note; "Old Mr. MarbleHall," 1 p. note; "Death of a Traveling Salesman," 1 p. note; "A Curtain of Green," 1 p. note. 7 pp. notes: note on several of stories not marked, introduction note on "Curtain of Green," suggested paper topics, points for closer consideration.
527/4/43* The Wisdom of Laotse. Lin Yutang, ed. New York: Modern Library, 1948. a; b; checkmarks on sections to read; 2 newspaper clippings (1 article, 1 cartoon); 2 pp. notes, "Prep. Discussion on Mysticism" for course on mysticism in fiction. (This book of great personal interest to W.V.T.C.; pp. 265-270 used as basis for short story/ moral fable "Chaungtse and the Prince of the Golden Age.")

Box 9

527/4/44 Woolf, Virginia. To the Lighthouse. New York: Modern Library, 1937. a; extensive m, u; b; 42 pp. notes: cast, approach to novel, synopsis, treatment, suggested paper topics, comparison Woolf and Joyce, add notes, general notes, last session, notes on examination. (Notes are from at least two different preparations of the novel.)
527/4/45 James, Henry. The Turn of the Screw. New York: Dell, 1956. General notes (Turn of the Screw and Daisy Miller).
527/4/46 Gordon, Caroline, and Tate, Allen, eds. The House of Fiction: An Anthology of the Short Story. New York: Scribner. General notes.
527/4/47 Faulkner, William. Light in August. New York: Modern Library, 1950. Extensive marginalia. Notes.
527/4/48 Carpenter, W. W. The Teacher and Secondary School Administration. Ginn, 1931. Cartoons by W.V.T.C. inside covers and on end papers.
527/5 Works of Former Students
527/5/1 Deck, John. Greased Samba, and Other Stories. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, c. 1970. 247 pp. Inscribed by the author.
527/5/2 Sara. Where mist Clothes Dream, and Song Runs Naked. New York: McGraw-Hill, c. 1955. First edition. 200 pp. Inscribed by the author.
527/5/3 Gaines, Ernest J. Catherine Carmier. New York: Atheneum, 1964. 248 pp. First edition. Inscribed by the author.
527/5/4 Hillman, Richard. Ports and Players. Philadelphia: Dorrance, c. 1966. 185 pp. Inscribed by the author.
527/5/5 Levitin, Sonia. Journey to America. Illustrated by Charles Robinson. New York: Atheneum, 1970. 150 pp. First edition. Inscribed by the author, and a note from the author to Water V. T. Clark laid in.
527/5/6 Carpenter, Don. Hard Rain Falling. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, c. 1966. 308 pp. First edition. Inscribed by the author.

Box 10

527/6 Memorabilia
527/6/1
  1. Diploma, dark blue case with gold lettering, "Reno, Nevada High School Diploma of Graduation," June 15, 1926. Includes "Military Training Certificate" signifying completion of course in Junior Division, ROTC, from September 5, 1923, to June 4, 1926, pre­sented June 15, 1926, qualifying W.V.T.C. as 2nd Lieutenant in the organized reserves.
  2. Diploma, blue case with gold lettering, "University of Nevada," Bachelor of Arts Degree, May 11, 1931. Includes "Program for Commencement Day" and notification of W.V.T.C.'s election to Phi Kappa Phi Scholastic Fraternity, September 23, 1930.
  3. Diploma, blue case with gold lettering, "University of Nevada Walter Van Tilburg Clark," Master of Arts in English degree, December 19, 1931.
  4. Blue case with silver lettering, "University of Nevada," and state seal, Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters, June 7, 1969. Includes commencement program.
  5. Rolled scroll on large parchment, Honorary Degree, Doctor of Letters, Colgate University, June 9, 1958. Includes typescript of presentation statement by Strang Lawson, and typed and signed statement on official Colgate stationery of the President of the University, apparently also made on the presentation.
  6. Certificate, Phi Kappa Phi Honorary Scholastic Fraternity.
  7. Wooden plaque, 14" x 10", "Silver Quill" Award from the Reno Press Club. Mounted silver-plated? quill and engraved metal plaque with inscription.
  8. Certificate, approximately 16" x 13", framed, Honorary Life Membership in the Western Literature Association, "Presented at the Fourth Annual Meeting held at Provo, Utah, October 9, 1969." (Not quite true; W.V.T.C. unable to attend meeting.)
  9. Holy Bible, Red Letter Edition, inscribed W.V.T.C. by his father.
  10. Re-Wa-Ne. Reno High School Year Books, 1923, 1925-26. Many signatures.
  11. Thoreau, Henry. Wild Apples. Boston, 1923. Inscribed to "Dad" from W.V.T.C. Christmas, 1923.

Box 11

527/6/2 Academic gown, hood, "W.V.T.C." stitched initials inside, Nevada, Colgate, Doctor of Letters colors.
Addenda An adaptation of The Track of the Cat for the stage can be found in the Reno Little Theater collection. #277/3/CT3 (NC277 Box 6).