Edwin Booth papers , 1946-1981

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Booth, Edwin
Title
Edwin Booth papers
Dates
1946-1981 (inclusive)
Quantity
31 linear feet, (60 containers, 59 volumes)
Collection Number
Coll 184
Summary
Edwin Booth (1906-1980) was a writer of Western fiction. The Edwin Booth Papers contain personal and professional literary correspondence with authors who were contemporaries of Booth, as well as literary manuscripts. The manuscript series contains manuscripts of novels and short stories. The collection also includes published copies of Booth's novels and anthologies of short stories. Booth wrote American westerns as well as mystery literature.
Repository
University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives
UO Libraries--SCUA
1299 University of Oregon
Eugene OR
97403-1299
Telephone: 5413463068
spcarref@uoregon.edu
Access Restrictions

Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.

Additional Reference Guides

See the Current Collection Guide for detailed description and requesting options.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Historical NoteReturn to Top

Edwin Booth, who also wrote under the names Don Blunt and Jack Hazard, was born in 1906 in Beatrice, Nebraska. He attended public schools in Nebraska and Iowa before moving to Colorado, where he studied civil engineering at Colorado College. During summer vacations Booth drove a milk truck, worked as a postal clerk, and guided tourists through Colorado's Cave of the Winds. In New Mexico, he worked as a ranch hand. After moving to California, Booth worked in a chain grocery store while studying accounting. He later started his own accounting firm which supported him until he became established as an author of westerns and mystery stories. In the 1960s, Edwin Booth was an officer in Western Writers of America, an organization of writers dedicated to the advancement and promotion of literature about the American West.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection includes correspondence concerning Booth's work as a writer, including letters to and from Bill Cox, Noel Loomis, Merle Costiner, and Thomas Thompson, all of whom were writers of westerns.

The collection also includes 56 book length manuscripts, most with first, second and final drafts; 121 story length manuscripts, most with early and final drafts; some unidentified manuscript fragments; and one folder of reference material.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Authors, American--20th century
  • Detective and mystery stories, American--Authorship
  • Western stories--Authorship

Personal Names

  • Booth, Edwin
  • Costiner, Merle
  • Cox, William R. (William Robert), 1901-1988
  • Loomis, Noel M., 1905-1969
  • Thompson, Thomas, 1913-1993

Geographical Names

  • West (U.S.)--In literature

Form or Genre Terms

  • Manuscripts for publication
  • Western stories