The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the John Stewart Carter Papers 1922-1976
© 2012 University of Chicago Library
| Title: | Carter, John Stewart. Papers |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1922-1976 |
| Size: | 5.5 linear feet (11 boxes) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | John Stewart Carter (1911-1965) was an Oak Park-born professor and author. The collection contains correspondence, notes, manuscripts, typescripts, grant applications, and acclaim surrounding Carter's award winning novel, Full Fathom Five, with the bulk of the material dating between 1960 and 1965. The papers primarily document Carter's career as an author, however there are documents relating to his educational, personal and professorial life. |
The collection is open for research.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Carter, John Stewart. Papers, Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.
John Stewart Carter, (b. March 26, 1912, d. October, 1965), was born and lived most of his life in Oak Park, Illinois. Carter was an author who published two short stories, several poems and a successful novel titled Full Fathom Five. When Carter was a boy the Hemingway family were neighbors and his father was a colleague of Dr. Hemingway. Influenced by the life of Ernest Hemingway, both John Stewart Carter and his brother Albert Howard Carter aspired to become authors. John Stewart Carter was a poet, author and a professor of English at Chicago Teachers College.
Carter achieved his Bachelor's Degree from the years 1927-1931 at Northwestern University, where he studied English and wrote several pieces for the student literary publication, A Miscellany. Carter also studied English at Harvard University from 1931-1932. He then came back to Chicago to work on his Masters Degree and Ph.D., both in English, from 1935 to 1941at the University of Chicago. Carter studied James Shirley and wrote a critical edition of his seventeenth century play, The Traitor.
While completing his studies at the University of Chicago, Carter worked at the Chicago YMCA College as a night reference librarian. In the last year of his research, he was hired at Chicago's Teachers College. He worked at the Teachers College as a professor of English until his death in 1965. During World War II, he served a five-year tour of duty in the Navy as a lieutenant and resumed his position at Chicago's Teachers College upon his return.
Carter was married to a woman named Marie and they had two daughters named Elizabeth and Ann. In 1956, Carter applied for and received a Ford Foundation Grant to research and write a critical work about Edgar Allen Poe. The family followed Carter to Iran in 1961 and 1962 where he was a Fulbright Professor of American Literature at the University of Tehran.
Carter wrote short many stories during his educational career and in the 1950's and 1960's he began to write poetry as well. Carter's only novel, Full Fathom Five, was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1964. The novel is about an upper class Chicago family and is told through the perspective of the youngest member of the clan. It is comprised of three parts, the first two of which were published first as short stories in The Kenyon Review under the titles "The Keyhole Eye" and "To a Tenor Dying Old" in the autumn of 1962 and 1963 respectively.
Full Fathom Five was well received and critically acclaimed. Carter received a literary fellowship from Houghton Mifflin for the publication. Carter died only a year after the publication of his first novel in October 1965 after struggling with his health and an eye condition for much of his life. After Carter's death, a selection of his poetry was published titled, Poems: An Handful with Quietness.
The John Stewart Carter Papers are organized into four series: Series I: Personal; Series II: Correspondence; Series III: Writings; and Series IV: Literary Note Cards. The collection contains news clippings, correspondence, notes, manuscripts and typescripts of published and unpublished literary works, and copies of published works dating between 1922 and 1965, with the bulk of the material dating between 1960 and 1965. The papers primarily document Carter's writing career.
Series I, Personal, contains material related to Carter's education, including early writings done during Carter's time at Northwestern University all titled "College Assignments" and arranged alphabetically with each works given title. Biographical information, grant information and papers relating to his work life as a professor at Chicago's Teacher College and University of Tehran are also included.
Series II, Correspondence, contains incoming mail, arranged chronologically under each subseries. The series is broken into four subseries; Publisher Correspondence, Personal Correspondence, Miscellaneous Correspondence and Professional Correspondence. Subseries 1, Publisher Correspondence is arranged chronologically, with publishers of his major works (Kenyon Review and Atlantic Monthly) set aside from that chronology. Subseries 2, Personal Correspondence, contains chronologically ordered letters, with some of Carter's more prolific correspondents including his brother Albert Howard Carter and Ray Johnson, an artist, kept at together at the end of the subseries. There is also one folder containing outgoing mail sent by Carter to various recipients, most of whom are family. Subseries 3, Miscellaneous Correspondence, contains mail sent after Carter's death, correspondence with translators and archival repository requests for Carter's papers. Subseries 4, Professional Correspondence, contains mail relating to his tenure at Chicago Teachers College and drafts of poetry sent to other authors and poets for comment.
Series III, Writings, consists of four subseries; the first is dedicated to Carter's poetry which he largely wrote after 1950. Carter had an organizational system in which the poems were arranged alphabetically with multiple drafts and many also included submission lists. This order and arrangement has been maintained in the subseries. The second subseries contains: typescripts, manuscripts, publication information, original artwork, fan letters and acclaim surrounding the publication of Full Fathom Five. The third subseries contains: typescripts, manuscripts, publication information and original artwork related to the publication of the short stories "The Keyhole Eye" and "To a Tenor Dying Old." The fourth subseries contains unpublished short stories as well as notes, manuscripts and typescripts of Carter's work on Edgar Allen Poe and James Shirley.
Series IV contains literary note cards of versification and personal notes.
Series I: Personal |
Subseries 1: Biographical |
| Box 1 Folder 1 | Biographical articles, 1965-1966 |
| Box 1 Folder 2 | Articles mentioning John Stewart Carter, 1963-1967 |
| Box 1 Folder 3 | Saved event programs and publications, 1964-1976 |
| Box 1 Folder 4 | Ephemera, Undated |
| Box 1 Folder 5 | Photographs, Circa 1950 |
Subseries 2: Education |
| Box 1 Folder 6 | Undergraduate Notes and Ephemera, 1931-1932 |
| Box 1 Folder 7 | Northwestern University, MS: A Miscellany, literary student publication, 1929-1930 |
| Box 1 Folder 8 | College Assignments, Plays and Prose, 1929-1932 |
| Box 1 Folder 9 | College Era, Untitled Plays, Notes and Prose, 1929-1932 |
| Box 1 Folder 10 | College Assignments, "An Affair of No Importance," circa 1930 |
| Box 1 Folder 11 | College Assignments, "Beatrice Hastings," circa 1930 |
| Box 1 Folder 12 | College Assignments, "The Comedy of Humors and the Comic Spirit," 1932 |
| Box 1 Folder 13 | College Assignments, "Dearly Beloved," circa 1930 |
| Box 1 Folder 14 | College Assignments, "Escape," circa 1930 |
| Box 1 Folder 15 | College Assignments, "The Incurable Romantics," 1929 |
| Box 1 Folder 16 | College Assignments, "The Little Kingdom," 1930 |
| Box 1 Folder 17 | College Assignments, "Pleasures of the Restoration," 1929 |
| Box 1 Folder 18 | College Assignments, "Quelue Chose Distinguee," circa 1930 |
| Box 1 Folder 19 | College Assignments, "This Road that Awaits Me," circa 1930 |
| Box 1 Folder 20 | College Assignments, "The Shibboleth of Lizzie French," circa 1930 |
| Box 1 Folder 21 | College Assignments, "The Silver Princess," circa 1930 |
| Box 1 Folder 22 | College Assignments, "Wedding March," circa 1930 |
| Box 1 Folder 23 | College Assignments, "The Woods of Arcady," circa 1930 |
| Box 1 Folder 24 | College Era Writings and Drawings, circa 1930's |
Subseries 3: Work Life |
| Box 1 Folder 25 | Syllabi and Reading Lists, 1960-1963 |
| Box 1 Folder 26 | Evaluation of American Studies Program in Tehran, 1961-1962 |
| Box 1 Folder 27 | Fulbright in Tehran, 1959-1962 |
| Box 1 Folder 28 | Teachers College Faculty Documents, 1961-1962 |
| Box 1 Folder 29 | Literary Critiques, circa 1930's |
| Box 1 Folder 30 | Literary Critiques, circa 1950's |
| Box 1 Folder 31 | Ford Foundation Grant, 1954 |
| Box 1 Folder 32 | Authors organizations, 1958 |
Series II: Correspondence |
Subseries 1: Publisher Correspondence |
| Box 2 Folder 1 | General Publisher Correspondence, 1930-1939 |
| Box 2 Folder 2 | General Publisher Correspondence, 1950-1959 |
| Box 2 Folder 3 | General Publisher Correspondence, 1960-1969 |
| Box 2 Folder 4 | Kenyon Review, Editor Robie Macauley, 1963-1965 |
| Box 2 Folder 5 | Alfred A. Knopf and the Atlantic Monthly (Publishers of The Keyhole Eye), 1963-1964 |
| Box 2 Folder 6 | New Yorker rejection letters, 1935-1939 |
| Box 2 Folder 7 | Poetry rejection letters, 1961-1964 |
Subseries 2: Personal Correspondence |
| Box 2 Folder 8 | Outgoing Correspondence, 1955-1964 |
| Box 2 Folder 9 | General Personal Correspondence, 1930-1939 |
| Box 2 Folder 10 | General Personal Correspondence, 1940-1949 |
| Box 2 Folder 11 | General Personal Correspondence, 1950-1959 |
| Box 2 Folder 12 | General Personal Correspondence, 1960-1969 |
| Box 2 Folder 13 | Ray Johnson Correspondence, 1964-1965 |
| Box 2 Folder 14 | Fulmer Moody Correspondence, 1933-1935 |
| Box 2 Folder 15 | Carrie [?] Correspondence, circa 1960's |
| Box 2 Folder 16 | Earl [?] Correspondence, 1956-1960 |
| Box 2 Folder 17 | Albert Howard Carter Correspondence, circa 1950-1960's |
| Box 2 Folder 18 | Works by Albert Howard Carter [1 of 2], circa 1950's |
| Box 2 Folder 19 | Works by Albert Howard Carter [2 of 2], circa 1950's |
| Box 2 Folder 20 | Friend and Acquaintance Address List, undated |
Subseries 3: Miscellaneous Correspondence |
| Box 3 Folder 1 | Post Death Correspondence, 1965-1971 |
| Box 3 Folder 2 | Translator Correspondence, 1965 |
| Box 3 Folder 3 | Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1964 |
| Box 3 Folder 4 | Archival Repository Requests, 1965-1969 |
Subseries 4: Professional Correspondence |
| Box 3 Folder 5 | General Professional Correspondence, 1939-1965 |
| Box 3 Folder 6 | Professorial Correspondence, 1961-1964 |
| Box 3 Folder 7 | Correspondence, Regarding Poetry, 1960-1964 |
Series III: Writings |
Subseries 1: Poetry |
| Box 3 Folder 8 | "Acrophile," 1964 |
| Box 3 Folder 9 | "Amaryllis Belladonna," circa 1960's |
| Box 3 Folder 10 | "Antiphon," 1963-1964 |
| Box 3 Folder 11 | "Arithmetic," circa 1960's |
| Box 3 Folder 12 | "Assorted Ornaments," 1961-1962 |
| Box 3 Folder 13 | "Backyard," 1924 |
| Box 3 Folder 14 | "Beach Weed," 1960-1964 |
| Box 3 Folder 15 | "Before the Shepherds Came," 1961-1964 |
| Box 3 Folder 16 | "Change of Bells," 1960-1964 |
| Box 3 Folder 17 | "Cherry Orchard," circa 1960's |
| Box 3 Folder 18 | "Child Drawing," 1960-1963 |
| Box 3 Folder 19 | "Chinoiserie," 1960 |
| Box 3 Folder 20 | "Conversation," 1960-1964 |
| Box 3 Folder 21 | "Corpse Song," 1961-1963 |
| Box 3 Folder 22 | "Dawn Song," 1960-1964 |
| Box 3 Folder 23 | "Day Before the Burgeoning," 1960-1961 |
| Box 3 Folder 24 | "Dimensions," 1963-1964 |
| Box 3 Folder 25 | "Dinner Party," 1961-1964 |
| Box 3 Folder 26 | "Elegy Written in a Suburban Cemetery," circa 1950's |
| Box 3 Folder 27 | "Elegy Written in Montparnasse," 1961-1962 |
| Box 3 Folder 28 | "Elegy Written on the Leaning Tower," 1961-1964 |
| Box 3 Folder 29 | "Epigram," 1963-1964 |
| Box 4 Folder 1 | "Firenze," 1962-1963 |
| Box 4 Folder 2 | "For T.K.M.," 1945 |
| Box 4 Folder 3 | "Four," 1963-1964 |
| Box 4 Folder 4 | "Frozen Men," 1963-1964 |
| Box 4 Folder 5 | "Grand Baroque," 1960-1963 |
| Box 4 Folder 6 | "Great Books," 1926 |
| Box 4 Folder 7 | "Grocery Store," 1922 |
| Box 4 Folder 8 | "Historic America," 1960-1964 |
| Box 4 Folder 9 | "In Holy, High Meshed," circa 1960's |
| Box 4 Folder 10 | "Klavierstuck," 1961-1964 |
| Box 4 Folder 11 | "Landscape with Figure," 1960-1964 |
| Box 4 Folder 12 | "Last Night of Summer," circa 1950's |
| Box 4 Folder 13 | "Madam, May I Present," 1963 |
| Box 4 Folder 14 | "March Beach," 1961-1964 |
| Box 4 Folder 15 | "March Garden," 1961-1962 |
| Box 4 Folder 16 | "Melt of Nuns," 1961-1964 |
| Box 4 Folder 17 | "A Metaphysical Inquiry," 1963 |
| Box 4 Folder 18 | "Mouse House," 1960 |
| Box 4 Folder 19 | "Mr. di Paolis and the Shades," 1960 |
| Box 4 Folder 20 | "Mr. R. Browning-Bishop Orders a Collage for Christmas," 1960-1963 |
| Box 4 Folder 21 | "Natural History," circa 1950's |
| Box 4 Folder 22 | "Newsletter from Iran," 1962-1963 |
| Box 4 Folder 23 | "No. 6025," 1960-1961 |
| Box 4 Folder 24 | "Ode on the Intimations of Immorality," circa 1960's |
| Box 4 Folder 25 | "Opera Comique," 1963 |
| Box 4 Folder 26 | "Poetry and the Hucksters," 1963-1964 |
| Box 4 Folder 27 | "Pompes Funebres," 1925 |
| Box 4 Folder 28 | "Psalter," 1961 |
| Box 4 Folder 29 | "Rococo," 1964 |
| Box 4 Folder 30 | "Roma," 1962-1963 |
| Box 5 Folder 1 | "Room Within a Palace," 1963-1964 |
| Box 5 Folder 2 | "Sands Street," 1961-1963 |
| Box 5 Folder 3 | "Saturday Night Song," 1961-1962 |
| Box 5 Folder 4 | "Song for Chinese Wind Chimes," circa 1950's |
| Box 5 Folder 5 | "Sonnet for St. Valentine," 1963-1964 |
| Box 5 Folder 6 | "Sound and Sense," 1960-1964 |
| Box 5 Folder 7 | "The Tides of the Sea," circa 1960's |
| Box 5 Folder 8 | "The Time the Ferris Wheels All Stopped," 1962-1964 |
| Box 5 Folder 9 | "Token Candles," circa 1960's |
| Box 5 Folder 10 | "Triptych," 1960-1963 |
| Box 5 Folder 11 | "Venezia," 1963-1964 |
| Box 5 Folder 12 | "Voyager's Return," 1961-1964 |
| Box 5 Folder 13 | "Wisemen, Magi, Kings," 1963-1964 |
| Box 5 Folder 14 | "Worm Song," 1960 |
| Box 5 Folder 15 | "Zoo Song," 1964 |
| Box 5 Folder 16 | Untitled Wartime Poetry, 1941-1945 |
| Box 5 Folder 17 | Poem Publication Documents, 1965 |
| Box 5 Folder 18 | Poetry Publication and Copyright Documents, 1962-1966 |
Subseries 2: Full Fathom Five |
| Box 5 Folder 19 | Manuscripts and Typescripts, 1963 |
| Box 5 Folder 20 | Typescript [1 of 2], 1963-1964 |
| Box 5 Folder 21 | Typescript [2 of 2], 1963-1964 |
| Box 5 Folder 22 | Edited Typescript with Notes, 1963-1964 |
| Box 5 Folder 23 | Edited Typescript, 1963-1964 |
| Box 6 Folder 1 | Original Cover Artwork, 1964-1965 |
| Box 6 Folder 2 | Reviews [1 of 2], 1965 |
| Box 6 Folder 3 | Reviews [2 of 2], 1965 |
| Box 6 Folder 4 | Copies of Reviews and Acclaim, 1964-1965 |
| Box 6 Folder 5 | Houghton-Mifflin (publisher of Full Fathom Five) Correspondence, 1963-1965 |
| Box 6 Folder 6 | Publication Documents, 1964 |
| Box 6 Folder 7 | Book Printings, 1964 |
| Box 6 Folder 8 | Publishing Acclaim, Kept News Clippings, 1965-1966 |
| Box 6 Folder 9 | Fan Letters, 1963-1968 |
Subseries 3: The Keyhole Eye and To a Tenor Dying Old |
| Box 6 Folder 10 | Original Cover Artwork, 1963-1965 |
| Box 7 Folder 1 | Manuscript, To a Tenor Dying Old, circa 1960's |
| Box 7 Folder 2 | Edited Typescript, To a Tenor Dying Old, circa 1960's |
| Box 7 Folder 3 | Manuscripts and Typescripts, To a Tenor Dying Old, circa 1960's |
| Box 7 Folder 4 | Typescript, To a Tenor Dying Old, circa 1960's |
| Box 7 Folder 5 | Typescript, To a Tenor Dying Old, 1963-1964 |
| Box 7 Folder 6 | Submission List, The Keyhole Eye, 1961-1962 |
| Box 7 Folder 7 | First Draft, The Keyhole Eye, circa 1960 |
| Box 7 Folder 8 | Typescript, The Keyhole Eye, circa 1960 |
| Box 7 Folder 9 | Typescript, The Keyhole Eye, circa 1960 |
| Box 7 Folder 10 | Typescript, The Keyhole Eye, circa 1960 |
| Box 7 Folder 11 | Edited Typescript with Notes, The Keyhole Eye, circa 1960 |
| Box 7 Folder 12 | Edited Typescript, The Keyhole Eye, circa 1960 |
| Box 7 Folder 13 | Edited Typescript, The Keyhole Eye, circa 1960 |
| Box 7 Folder 14 | Typescript, The Keyhole Eye, circa 1960 |
| Box 7 Folder 15 | Best American Short Stories, The Keyhole Eye, 1965 |
| Box 7 Folder 16 | The Keyhole Eye and To a Tenor Dying Old Publication Documents, 1962-1964 |
Subseries 4: Other Prose and Non-Fiction |
| Box 8 Folder 1 | Poe, Critical Edition, Research, Publication and Collected Materials, 1948-1956 |
| Box 8 Folder 2 | Poe, Research Notes, 1956 |
| Box 8 Folder 3 | The Traitor, Notes and Manuscripts [1 of 3], circa 1939 |
| Box 8 Folder 4 | The Traitor, Notes and Manuscripts [2 of 3], circa 1939 |
| Box 8 Folder 5 | The Traitor, Notes and Manuscripts [3 of 3], circa 1939 |
| Box 8 Folder 6 | James Shirley, Research Notes [1 of 2], circa 1930's |
| Box 8 Folder 7 | James Shirley, Research Notes [2 of 2], circa 1930's |
| Box 8 Folder 8 | Shirley's The Traitor, Drafts [1 of 2], circa 1930's |
| Box 8 Folder 9 | Shirley's The Traitor, Drafts [2 of 2], circa 1930's |
| Box 9 Folder 1 | Untitled Works and Notes [1 of 5], circa 1960's |
| Box 9 Folder 2 | Untitled Works and Notes [2 of 5], circa 1960's |
| Box 9 Folder 3 | Untitled Works and Notes [3 of 5], circa 1960's |
| Box 9 Folder 4 | Untitled Works and Notes [4 of 5], circa 1960's |
| Box 9 Folder 5 | Untitled Works and Notes [5 of 5], circa 1960's |
| Box 9 Folder 6 | Unidentified Typed Works, undated |
| Box 9 Folder 7 | "Alan Vail" [1 of 2], circa 1930's |
| Box 9 Folder 8 | "Alan Vail" [2 of 2], circa 1930's |
| Box 9 Folder 9 | "Colonus," circa 1930's |
| Box 9 Folder 10 | "Farewell in Cambridge," circa 1930's |
| Box 9 Folder 11 | "Lunch," circa 1930's |
| Box 9 Folder 12 | "Midsummer Night," circa 1930's |
| Box 9 Folder 13 | "Pornography in Tennyson," circa 1930's |
| Box 9 Folder 14 | "She Drives a Dusenberg" [1 of 2], circa 1930's |
| Box 9 Folder 15 | "She Drives a Dusenberg" [2 of 2], circa 1930's |
| Box 9 Folder 16 | "The Terror of the Soul" [1 of 2], circa 1960's |
| Box 9 Folder 17 | "The Terror of the Soul" [2 of 2], circa 1960's |
| Box 9 Folder 18 | "These are my Heartbreak," circa 1930's |
| Box 9 Folder 19 | "Waste," circa 1930's |
| Box 9 Folder 20 | "Wedding," circa 1930's |
Series VI: Literary Note Cards |
| Box 10 | Versification, undated |
| Box 11 | Personal Notes and Literary Critiques, undated |