Department of Special Collections and University Archives
McFarlin Library. University of Tulsa.  2933 E. 6th St.  Tulsa, OK.  74104-3123 (OKT - OkTU)

Caroline Gordon - Allen Tate correspondence

Collection 1978-015

Dates:  1938-1970.

Extent:  (1 box).

Level of Description:  Item level.

Name of creator(s):  Various.

Date of creation:  Unknown.

Scope and Content:  Consists of 50 autograph and typescript letters from Gordon to Robert Lowell and/or Jean Stafford (undated but probably c1940s) as well as 37 autograph and typescript letters and postcards from Allen Tate to Jean Stafford and/or Robert Lowell (dating from 1938-1970).  The Tate correspondence includes:  a carbon copy typescript to Dr. Merrill Moore concerning Lowell's mental health; a carbon copy typescript letter of concern about Lowell to Lowell's mother; a carbon copy typescript letter of recommendation for Lowell to the Dean of St. John's College, Annapolis, Maryland; a signed typescript draft of an article, "The Function of the Critical Quarterly;" and mimeograph typescript drafts of "Genus Homo" and "Something Woman, Something Man" with autograph revisions.

Administrative/Biographical History:  The correspondence is organized into four categories: a) Gordon to Robert "Cal" Lowell; b) Gordon to Jean Stafford; c) Gordon to Jean Stafford and Robert "Cal" Lowell; and d) Tate to Jean Stafford and/or Robert "Cal" Lowell.  The Tate correspondence follows the Gordon correspondence in its own chronological sequence, followed by the Tate writings.

Access and Copyright:

Language and Scripts:  English.

Finding aid/Inventory:  Finding aid is available online.

Provenance/Source of Acquisition:   Purchased from J. Howard Woolmer in the late 1970s.

Date(s) of description:   Milissa Burkart, Mar 1994.

Access Points:

Subject Headings 

 
Personal names 

Corporate names

Places
 

Inventory

Dear Robert:  Allen is fishing on Lake Ontario with his brother....Typed and signed letter, 1s.

Dear Cal:  I forgot that poor Edward Smithwick who stood by me so nobly.  Will you please give him his dollar....Typed letter, 1s.

Dear Cal:  I write you because you wrote me last, and because you seem more concerned than Jean about the unhappy situation that arose before I left....Typed letter, 1s.

Dear Jean:  Here is a letter which Manson wants sent on to Cal, if possible....Handwritten letter, 2s.

Dear Jean:  In a hurry and can't find any paper.  I have just written Linscott that I think you are obviously a born writer....Typed and signed note, 1s.

My dear Jean:  It is outrageous that I have been so slow in writing you but I have simply been up to my ears in a number of things--including Allen's family who have been with us en masse....Typed and signed letter, 2s.

Dear Jean:  Glad you like the S.C.  You know how it is right after you publish a book....Typed and signed letter, 2s.

Dear Jean:  While I think of it McIlvaine's "One Thousand Varieties of Mushrooms" is certainly out of print....Typed and signed letter, 2s.

Dear Jean:  Here is a cheque for fifty dollars which you lent me last year....Typed and signed note, 1s.

Dear Jean:  What a fine manifestation of Christmas spirit!  The little spoon is a darling....Typed and signed letter, 3s.

Dear Jean:  Allen hasn't yet had a chance to read your story, but I have.  I like it and hope he will print it....Typed letter, 3s with handwritten note attached.

Dear Jean:  Your letter came today.  I am sorry to hear that Yaddo is not all perfection....Typed letter, 2s.

Dearest Jean:  We did suck on country pleasures childishly for something like three weeks, but Fate has a way of putting a period to these halcyon stretches....Typed and signed letter, 1s.

Dear Jean:  It is simply indecent that I haven't sent Fannie and the toaster before this....Typed letter, 2s.

Dear Jean:  Thanks for your telegram.  We were sorry to seem to be hurrying you but the situation was a bit complicated about quarters....Typed letter, 2s.

My dear Jean:  We are glad to have some news of you.  I wish they would hurry and decide whether or not Cal is to have the job....Typed letter, 1s.

Dear Jean:  How perfectly grand it is about the book.  I feel like shouting....Typed letter, 1s.

Dear Jean:  A thousand thanks for the beret.  I know what a nuisance those little jobs are....Typed letter, 2s.

Dearest Jean:  That is certainly a blow about the infection.  I suppose that by this time you have seen the Albany man....Typed letter, 1s.

Dearest Jean:  Like Huck Finn, I always liked dead people and done all I could for them, but I am off Cousin Lawrence in this world and the next....Typed letter, 2s.

Dear Jean:  Sorry you all couldn't come but we'll be in Thursday.  Would you be an angel and ask the Mark Van Dorens over after dinner?....Typed letter, 1s.

Dear Jean:  Yes, do come out this week end....Handwritten note, 1s.

Dearest Jean:  If you all were going to be at Dam Mills a month longer, or if it were not so far away, I'd trek right up....Typed letter, 1s.

Dear Jean:  I am certainly thankful you are feeling better.  But I am thankful, too, that you didn't make the trip to New York....Typed letter, 1s.

Dear Jean:  I have wanted to write to you every day but things have been pretty hectic here.  Mrs. Lowell, aside from being a dreadful person, must be a little mad....Typed letter, 1s.

Dear Jean:  I am wondering whether you are still at Black Rock or have gone to New York....Typed letter, 1s.

Dear Jean:  There doesn't seem to be any paper in this house and nobody brings home any.  Fannie and I were both awfully glad to get your letter....Typed letter, 1s.

Dear Jean:  I wrote you hurriedly, in some confusion--trying to direct the activities of Mrs. Byer, Aunt Mary and Nancy while I wrote....Typed letter, 1s.

Dearest Jean:  I have been trying for weeks to get a chance to sit down to the typewriter but you know at what a swift clip life moves on the mountain....Typed letter, 1s.

Dear Jean:  Your experiences in the Potter's Field strike a chill to my heart....Typed letter, 1s.

Dear Jean:  Mildred broke away and got back here last Tuesday, to Allen's great relief and hers....Typed letter, 1s.

Dear Jean:  The house sounds divine.  [What] a contrast to the one you'll get here....Typed letter, 1s.

Dear Jean:  Your landlady, Mrs. G. W. Goodson, departs Wednesday (Sept 5) for her home....Typed letter, 2s.

Dearest Jean:  I have been wanting to write you more fully but haven't had a chance till now.  I don't know that you will want to come to Sewanee in October....Typed letter, 1s.

Dear Jean:  I am glad you all didn't buy the place across the narrows.  You might have got drowned....Typed letter, 3s.

Dearest Jean:  I have been wanting to write you but there has not been a minute to spare until very recently.  But both Manny and Nancy are here....Typed letter, 2s.

Dearest Jean:  I have been meaning to write you everyday but have been so distracted I couldn't get around to it.  I am so distressed to hear the news about your brother....Typed letter, 1s.

Dear Jean:  It was dreadful of me not to have told you before this that I got the ear rings, and was very grateful....Typed letter, 2s.

Dear Jean:  Here is fifty of that hundred I owe you.  I must repeat:  it is certainly fine to have rich friends who can lend you a hundred bucks at the drop of a hat....Typed letter, 2s.

Dear Jean:  I wish to God we had taken that house at Silver Springs.  Five bedrooms....Typed letter, 2s.

Dearest Jean:  I've just discovered that there's no paper so have to use the back of this letter [A & S Lyons, Inc. to Caroline Gordon].  I've been trying to write to you all week....Typed letter, 1s.

Dear Max [Perkins]:  I have been following respectfully and at a great distance--in Stark's foot-steps and have been going to art school for my vacation....Typed letter, 1s.

Dear Jean and Cal:  Nancy and Allen got tired of having me [tottering] about, with this and that ailment and have shipped me off to New York for a vacation....Handwritten and signed letter, 2s.

Dear Jean and Cal:  Here I am, with my sainted aunt, aboard the Tennessean, which is eight hours late....Handwritten and signed letter, 1s.

Dear Jean, dear Cal:  We've been anxious for news and were glad when your letter came today.  Cousin Lawrence's letter is an extraordinary performance....Typed letter, 1s.

Dear Jean and Cal:  I suppose I ought to have written sooner but there has been nothing to report except that I have survived....Typed letter, 1s.

Dear Jean and Cal:  I should have written you before this but if I had I would hardly have known what to tell you....Typed letter, 1s.

Dear Jean and Cal:  We are wondering how you both are and whether you are still in the mood for Monteagle....Typed letter, 1s.

Dear Jean and Cal:  I got to Bronxville all right and was cordially received by the appointment committee....Typed letter, 1s.

Dearest Jean and Cal:  Ten minutes ago I was walking along the road, simply furious with St. Francis of Assissi, but in those ten minutes he has reinstated himself as my favorite saint....Typed letter, 2s.

Dearest Jean and Cal:  I've just finished talking with you and get the idea that Damariscotta Mill is a fur [sic] piece--it took two hours to get the call through....Typed letter, 2s.

Moore, Dr. Merrill from Allen Tate.  17 Apr 1940.  Carbon copy typed letter in reference to Robert Lowell's mental health, 1s.

Buchanan, Scott (Dean, St. John's College, Annapolis, Maryland) from Allen Tate. 17 Mar 1945.  Dear Scott:  Robert Lowell tells me that he is interested in a job at St. John's and that you seem interested in him....Carbon copy typed letterS, 1s.

Lowell, Mrs. R. T. S. [Robert's mother] from Allen Tate. 17 Apr 1940.  My dear Mrs. Lowell:  A few days before Robert was married he brought Jean down to see us; and since the wedding I have been so greatly concerned about his future welfare that I have at last decided to write to you....Carbon copy typed letter, 1s.

Stafford, Jean from Allen Tate.  5 Feb 1938.  My dear Miss Stafford:  Mr. Ransom told me about you last summer, and I am glad to get your letter....Handwritten and signed letter, 1s.

18 Dec 1944.  Dear Jean:  Manny's address is 111 St. Paul St....Handwritten and signed postcard.

4 May 1942.  Dear Jean and Cal:  We are expecting you all again this Thursday on the same train....Handwritten and signed letter, 1s.

19 Nov 1943.  Dear Jean:  I wish there were something we could do for you at this distance, but I am convinced that you should have a lawyer right there in New York....Typed and signed letter, 2s.

10 Dec 1943.  Dear Jean:  I am sending Cal's proof back to Duncan via you, thinking you might wish to compare my corrections with yours....Handwritten and signed letter, 1s.

31 Dec 1943.  Dear Jean:  Manson asked me to send this on.  Nancy will probably be married on Monday here....Handwritten note, 1s.

15 Feb 1944.  Dear Jean:  I'm afraid Caroline won't come:  she has begun art lessons at the Phillips Gallery....Handwritten and signed letter, 1s.

25 Apr 1944.  Dear Jean:  I'm at the office and I haven't your new address; so this goes by way of Harcourt....Handwritten and signed letter, 1s.

9 May 1944.  Dear Jean:  I will arrive in N.Y. (Gramercy Park Hotel) on Sunday....Handwritten and signed letter, 1s.

8 Jul 1944.  Dear Jean:  Your letter with Peter's story arrived about 30 minutes before we left Washington, and I've only now read the story....Handwritten and signed letter, 1s.

24 Jul 1944.  Dear Cal:  I am sending you Ruggles' book on Hopkins which I hope you will be able to review as soon as possible....Typed and signed letter, 1s.

5 Aug 1944.  Dear Cal and Jean:  Between the Porch and the Altar is beautifully written but I don't think it is successful....Typed and signed letter, 1s.

17 Aug 1944.  Dear Cal:  I like all your revisions in  The Dead in South Germany, but I like this new title even less than The Dead in Germany....Typed and signed letter, 1s.

25 Aug 1944.  Dear Cal:  I am using the new version of Colloquy in Black Rock  and substituting The Dead in Europe for The Dead in Germany as a title for the other poem....Typed and signed letter, 1s.

7 Sept 1944.  (Midred Haun, Editorial assistant to Allen Tate).  We are enclosing a card for your convenience in sending us a biographical sketch to run in October issue's Notes on Contributors....Typed and signed letter, 1s.

15 Sept 1944.  Dear Cal:  I have been studying your To Herman Melville, and I reluctantly decided against it....Typed and signed letter, 1s.

23 Oct 1944.  Dear Jean:  Many thanks for the cheque, which I didn't want, but am keeping because it's money and I always need it....Handwritten and signed letter, 2s.

23 Oct 1944.  Dear Cal:  I've just written to Jean acknowledging the cheque, which is too big; I hope you will help her find the exact amount, so that I can return some of it....Handwritten and signed letter, 2s.

13 Nov 1944.  Dear Cal:  Couldn't you and Jean (if she's back) and the Erskine's come to town Sunday....Handwritten and signed postcard.

17 Nov 1944.  Dear Lowells:  I will arrive Sunday between 4 and 5 at Murray Hill Hotel.  Handwritten and signed note, 1s.

5 Jan 1945.  Dear Jean:  Please send me Peter's address.  I want to send him his copy of the Jan. issue....Handwritten and signed postcard.

17 Mar 1945.  Dear Cal:  I'm glad to hear from you.  Caroline would have written to Jean days ago but she has been snowed under....Handwritten and signed letter, 1s.

27 Apr 1945.  Dear Cal & Jean:  I will probably see you all up there before here....Typed and signed letter, 1s.

13 Jun 1945.  Dear Jean and Cal:  We thought you were at least going to write us your plans....Typed and signed letter, 1s.

18 Jun 1945.  Dear Jean and Cal:  My letter crossed yours to Caroline in the mail.  Miss Carrie is away at Lulie's funeral....Typed and signed letter, 1s.

9 Aug 1945.  Dear Jean:  I like THE PRESENT very much indeed, in fact, better than any story of yours I ever read....Typed and signed letter, 1s.

17 Oct 1945.  Dear Jean and Cal:  Caroline has left me--permanently.  I hope you will come down as soon as you can and keep me company....Typed and signed letter, 1s.

17 Oct 1945.  Dear Jean and Cal:  Mr. Underwood, who handles the renting of Sewanee houses, just came in and showed me a letter he had written to Mrs. Goodson, in which he advised her not to try to rent her house in winter....Typed and signed letter, 1s.

1 Dec 1945.  Dear Jean:  I have kept this money much too long.  I do appreciate you lending it to me....Handwritten and signed letter, 1s.

22 Dec 1945.  Dear Jean:  I am very glad that you wrote to me.  Everybody feels wretched, and that can be of no satisfaction to anybody....Typed and signed letter, 1s.

30 Jan 1946.  Dear Cal:  The society hostess is acting in good faith this time:  I will be there....Handwritten and signed letter, 1s.

30 Apr 1965.  Dear Jean, Of course I will tell the Rockefellers to give you money.  I hope they will give you a lot of it....Handwritten and signed letter, 1s.

8 Mar 1969.  Dear Jean, I'm beholden unto you....Handwritten and signed letter, 1s.

14 Jun 1970.  Dear Madam [Jean], I live not in this world, and I never know who gets what prize....Handwritten and signed letter, 1s.

1 Dec 1970.  Dear Jean, I am saddened by the news that you can't be in N.Y. on the 9th....Handwritten and signed letter, 1s.