The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the Stephen Longstreet. Collection 1925-1988
© 2007 University of Chicago Library
| Title: | Longstreet, Stephen. Collection |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1925-1988 |
| Size: | 10 linear ft. (10 boxes and 2 drawers) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | Stephen Longstreet was a writer, cartoonist, and painter. He published over one hundred novels. This collection contains watercolors, sketches, and collages. |
No restrictions
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Stephen Longstreet. Collection, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Stephen Longstreet was born in New York in 1907, and moved to New Brunswick, New Jersey with his family during his youth. Longstreet studied in Paris and at Rutgers and Harvard Universities; graduating from the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (Parsons) in 1929.
On his return to the United States, his artistic style was considered "too modern" to sell, and he thus pursued a career as a magazine artist and cartoonist. His work was published in the New Yorker, Life, Colliers, and the Saturday Evening Post. In 1933 Longstreet began writing radio shows for John Barrymore, Bob Hope, and Rudy Valle. Longstreet made his living as an author, eventually publishing over a hundred books, which include the novels, Decade 1929-1939 (1940), The Pedlocks (1951), The Promoters (1957), Man of Monmartre (1958), The Crime (1959), and The Flesh Peddlers (1962).
His television scripts include a 1959 Civil War series, "The Blue and Gray," "All or Nothing" (1983), and "His Father's House" (1985). As a screenwriter, his first script was an adaptation of his novel The Gay Sisters (1941); he was awarded the Photoplay Gold Medal for the most popular film of 1948, The Jolson Story, received a California Golden Star (1949); and an Academy Award nomination (1952) for his screenplay for "Gauguin: The Greatest Show on Earth." Longstreet has served as professor of visual and performing art at the University of Southern California, and currently holds a chair in modern writing at the same institution.
Longstreet combined his talents as an author and artist with his interest in music. Longstreet published five books on jazz, illustrated with his own drawings and watercolors, including The Real Jazz Old and New (1956), Jazz from A-Z, A Graphic Dictionary (1989). Longstreet's artworks served as the basis for a 1989 exhibition in the Department of Special Collections, "Jazz-The Chicago Scene: The Art of Stephen Longstreet." The Longstreet watercolors, collages, and sketchbooks, a number of which were included in the show, were a gift to the University of Chicago Library from the artist. The watercolors and collages from the 1989 show, some of which are oversized, are arranged in the first series; the sketchbooks, which consist of groups of leaves, original sketches, drawings, and watercolors as distinct from groups of "photolithographs" form a second series.
Other institutions containing Longstreet material are the Oakland Museum, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Yale University, the Mugar Memorial Library of Boston University, the Library of Congress, and the Smithsonian Institution.
Series I: Watercolors and Collages |
| Folder 1, Drawer 1 | "Night Town, South Side," 1925, felt point and collage, 21.5 x 27.7 cm |
| Folder 2, Drawer 1 | "Jazz Machine," 1925, photolitho and felt point, 39 x 28 |
| Folder 3, Drawer 1 | "Electric Player," 1926, watercolor and ink, 44.5 x 28.5 |
| Folder 4, Drawer 1 | "Late Session," 1927, watercolor and ink, 28 x 21.6 |
| Folder 5, Drawer 1 | "South of the Loop," 1928, felt point, 27.9 x 21.7 |
| Folder 6, Drawer 1 | "L. A. Coconut Grove Dance, Country Club Date," 1928, watercolor and ink, 30.5 x 24.3 |
| Folder 7, Drawer 1 | "Henri Matisse," 1929, watercolor, 28 x 21.5 |
| Folder 8, Drawer 1 | "Jazz Celler [sic], Chicago," 1930, ink, 28. x 21.5 |
| Folder 9, Drawer 1 | "Chicago," 1931, ink, 45.5 x 38 |
| Folder 10, Drawer 1 | "Dreamland Drummer," 1932, watercolor and ink, 14.5 x 19.5 |
| Folder 11, Drawer 1 | "Night Sketch 3 a.m.," 1933, ink, 35.5 x 21.6 |
| Folder 12, Drawer 1 | "Bessie Smith," 1936, ink and watercolor, 25.2 x 17 |
| Folder 13, Drawer 1 | "With Benny Goodman," 1942, ink, 28 x 21.5 |
| Folder 14, Drawer 1 | "William Faulkner Riding His Mare," 1944, ink, 22 x 27.5 |
| Folder 15, Drawer 1 | "Strong Sound," 1949, photolitho print, 45.7 x 39 |
| Folder 16, Drawer 1 | "St. Charles New Orleans--Friar's Inn," 1951, ink, 46 x 38.5 |
| Folder 17, Drawer 1 | "Stripping to Jazz, Chicago Runway Grind and Bump," 1951, watercolor and ink, 35.5 x 21.6 |
| Folder 18, Drawer 2 | "Down Town Stripper, Las Vegas," 1965, ink drawing, 28 x 21.5 |
| Folder 19, Drawer 2 | "Democratic Convention," 1968, watercolor, 28 x 21.5 |
| Folder 20, Drawer 2 | "Law and Beard, Big Sur," 1969, ink drawing, 27.5 x 21.5 |
| Folder 21, Drawer 2 | "Battle Jitters, A Former Jazz Man Blows His Cork, 1949," 1969, ink, 28. x 21.5 |
| Folder 22, Drawer 2 | "Puerta Valearta [sic]," 1971, watercolor, 28 x 21.5 |
| Folder 23, Drawer 2 | "Wolf Trap," 1976, watercolor, 55.5 x 44.5 |
| Folder 24, Drawer 2 | "London Strip Club," 1977, watercolor, 57 x 44.5 |
| Folder 25, Drawer 2 | "Monterey Jazz Festival," 1978, watercolor, 59 x 44 |
| Folder 26, Drawer 2 | "Memphis," 1979, ink drawing, 28 x 21.5 |
| Folder 27, Drawer 2 | "Beating it out--New Orleans--Club," undated, watercolor, 28 x 21.5 |
| Folder 28, Drawer 2 | "Blackmail, Vietnam," undated, ink drawing 28 x 21.5 |
| Folder 29, Drawer 2 | "Waiting," undated, watercolor and ink, 28 x 21.5 |
| Folder 30, Drawer 2 | "Bunk Johnson, 40 years in Jazz," undated, ink, 28 x 21.5 |
| Folder 31, Drawer 2 | "Rita Hayworth--Gilda," 1932, photolitho, watercolor, felt point, 46 x 37.5 |
| Folder 32, Drawer 2 | "All Girl Jazz Band," 1945, mixed media collage, 93 x 66 |
| Folder 33, Drawer 2 | "I Hear Them Bones Talking," undated, mixed media collage, 65.5 x 50 |
| Folder 34, Drawer 2 | "The Real Jazz," undated, mixed media collage, 61.5 x 44.5 |
| Folder 35, Drawer 2 | "Road to New Orleans," undated, mixed media collage, 51 x 65 |
| Folder 36, Drawer 2 | "Seasons Greetings," 1974, 74/75 proof with watercolor, 23 x 21.5 |
| Folder 37, Drawer 2 | Untitled figure on a blue ground, undated, 11/50 proof with watercolor, 28 x 21.5 |
Series II: Sketches, Drawings, and Watercolors |
| Box 1 Folder 1 | "Sketchbooks: 1935; After Bridgeman, Anatomy Notes," original sketches, 76 pages |
| Box 1 Folder 2 | Sketchbooks, ["Jazz Horn"], 1926, original sketches, 91 leaves |
| Box 1 Folder 3 | Sketchbooks, ["Old Memory"], 1927-1957, original sketches, 101 leaves |
| Box 2 Folder 1 | Sketchbooks, ["Slapping Kansas City"], 1928, original sketches, 58 leaves |
| Box 2 Folder 2 | Sketchbooks, ["Knots"], 1929, original sketches, 99 leaves |
| Box 2 Folder 3 | Sketchbooks, ["Band Boy"], 1925, original sketches, 74 leaves |
| Box 3 Folder 1 | Sketchbooks, ["Speakeasy"], 1925, original sketches, 104 pages |
| Box 3 Folder 2 | Sketchbooks, "War, Etc.," 1925-1940, original sketches, 104 pages |
| Box 4 Folder 1 | Sketchbooks, ["Chicago"], 1931, original sketches, 150 pages |
| Box 4 Folder 2 | Sketchbooks, ["Selling a New Order of Their Own"], 1938, original sketches, 202 pages |
| Box 5 Folder 1 | Sketchbooks, "Jazz," 1925-1975, original sketches, 138 pages |
| Box 5 Folder 2 | Sketchbooks, ["Sporting House"], 1926, original sketches, 72 pages |
| Box 5 Folder 3 | Sketchbooks, "The Fifth World War," 1936-1949, original sketches, 238 pages |
| Box 6 Folder 1 | "Stephen Longstreet; Sketchbooks: 1925-1985," ["Art Break, L. A. County Museum of Art"], 1977, original sketches, 34 leaves |
| Box 6 Folder 2 | "Our Times in Line," 1982, limited numbered edition numbered 12/150, 75 leaves, signed on page 2, hand-colored cover, 21.5 x 27.8 cm |
| Box 6 Folder 3 | "Our Times in Line," 1982, limited numbered edition numbered 115/500, 82 leaves, signed on page 1, 21.6 x 27.8 cm |
| Box 6 Folder 4 | "The Wars of the Jews; Print Collection," 1982, limited numbered edition numbered 8/50, 65 leaves, signed on page 1, hand-colored cover, also page 9, 21.6 x 27.9 cm |
| Box 7 Folder 1 | "The Wars of the Jews; Print Collection," 1982, limited numbered edition numbered 33/150, 130 pages, signed on page 1, hand-colored cover |
| Box 7 Folder 2 | "The Red Badge of Courage," 1982, limited numbered edition, numbered 188/500, 54 leaves, signed on page 1, 21.6 x 27.9 cm |
| Box 7 Folder 3 | "Allegro: A Print Coll[ection]," 1983, limited numbered edition numbered 12/150, 154 pages, signed on page 1, hand-colored cover, also pages 3, 38, 41, 42, 43 |
| Box 7 Folder 4 | "Towards the 21st Century: Prints," 1983, limited numbered edition numbered 18/200, 150 pages, signed on page 2, hand-colored cover, also page 3 |
| Box 7 Folder 5 | "Life in the Fast Lane: Drawings by Stephen Longstreet," undated, test proofs, numbered 4/10, 30 pages |
| Box 8 Folder 1 | "Lower Than the Angels: Drawings by Stephen Longstreet," 1980, limited numbered edition numbered 50/100, 103 pages, signed on page 1, hand-colored cover |
| Box 8 Folder 2 | "Casual Pleasures, Bad Habits," 1984, limited numbered edition numbered 10/150, 74 pages, signed on pages 1, 2, hand-colored cover, also pages 45, 46 |
| Box 8 Folder 3 | "All or Nothing," 1986, limited numbered edition numbered 16/50, 62 pages, signed on page 2, hand-colored cover, also pages 2, 4, 21.6 x 27.9 cm |
| Box 9 Folder 1 | "All or Nothing," 1986, limited numbered edition numbered 45/300, 134 leaves, signed on page 1, 21.6 x 27.9 cm |
| Box 9 Folder 2 | "Nothing to Hide: New Prints," 1988, limited numbered edition numbered 11/100, 96 leaves, signed on pages 1, 3, hand-colored cover, also pages 2, 3, 67, 68 |
| Box 9 Folder 3 | "Nothing to Hide," 1988, limited numbered edition numbered 19/100, 66 leaves, signed on pages 1, 3, hand-colored cover, also page 2 |
| Box 9 Folder 4 | "Longstreet," undated. limited unnumbered edition, 42 leaves, signed on pages 1, 2, hand-colored cover, also pages 1, 2 |
| Box 10 Folder 1 | "The Computer Age," undated, limited numbered edition numbered 30/50, 8 leaves, signed on page 1, hand-colored cover, 21.6 x 27.8 cm |
| Box 10 Folder 2 | "The Computer Age," 1983, limited numbered edition numbered 118/500, 77 leaves, signed on page 1, 21.6 x 27.8 cm |
| Box 10 Folder 3 | "Jazz Solos, Poems and Images," 1989, 75 leaves, signed on page 2, hand-colored cover, also pages 5, 17, 21, 27, 30, 41, 44, 53, 57, 61, 73, 101, 103, 143 |