Theodore Maynard Papers
Collection
Identifier: GTM-GAMMS329
The Theodore Maynard Papers consist of the manuscripts of Theodore Maynard and his correspondence with publishers, family members, and numerous literary figures. The collection also includes the manuscripts of Sara Casey Maynard and the original artwork and manuscripts she gathered for a projected children's magazine. A few photographs, newspaper clippings and printed items are also contained in the collection. Included with the collection are over one hundred letters written by literary critic Van Wyck Brooks. Other notable pieces of correspondence are letters by Vachel Lindsay, Amy Lowell, Padriac and Mary Colum, Ruth Pitter, Ridgeley Torrence, William Butler Yeats and Aldous Huxley. Diaries and notebooks of Theodore Maynard are included with his manuscripts. Various drafts of typed and autograph manuscripts are present for his poetry, essays, short stories, reviews and books. Materials gathered for his autobiography, "The World I Saw," are included with the manuscript. Manuscripts written by people other than Maynard are also included with the collection. Notable among these are manuscripts and correspondence written by Rose Hawthorne Lathrop "Mother Mary Alphonsa, O.S.D.," the daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne. These were used by Maynard in writing "A Fire Was Lighted," a biography of Lathrop. Lathrop converted to Catholicism and opened Rosary Hill Home for Incurable Cancer. The manuscripts contained here are reminiscences of her childhood and travels in Europe. The final series of the collection contains manuscripts written by Sara Casey Maynard including the one-act play, "Brady." Also in the series are items she collected to be made into the first issue of a children's magazine including a manuscript of a poem by Walter de la Mare and original pen and ink drawings by many artists including R.F.C. Waudby.
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ABBREVIATIONS: ACS - Autograph Card Signed ALS - Autograph Letter Signed AM - Autograph Manuscript AMS - Autograph Manuscript Signed b/w - Black and White (Photograph) TL - Typed Letter TLS - Typed Letter Signed TM - Typed Manuscript
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Researchers are solely responsible for determining the copyright status of the materials being used, establishing who the copyright owner is, locating the copyright owner, and obtaining permission for intended use.
Theodore Maynard was born in 1890 to English parents, Thomas and Eliza Maynard, who were at the time Salvation Army Officers in India. Maynard was educated in England and first visited the United States in 1909. His first book, "Laughs and Whifts of Song," was published when he was twenty-five. It was the beginning of a long literary career, in which he went on to write more than forty books of poetry, biography and history. He was living in London when he met his wife, Sara Casey, in 1918.
Two years after they were married, the couple moved to the United States where they raised seven children and Theodore worked as a college professor. He gained his B.A. from Fordham University, his M.A. from Georgetown University and his Ph.D. from The Catholic University of America. His professorship at Georgetown, where he served as Head of the English department, lasted from 1928 to 1933. In addition to teaching, he was continually writing and lecturing on a wide array of literary topics. Sara Maynard died in 1945. At the time of her death, Theodore was living in a sanatorium as a tuberculosis patient. He recovered and remarried in 1946 to Kathleen Sheehan. He died at the age of sixty-five in 1956.
Sara Katherine Casey Maynard was born in 1889 in South Africa to Irish parents, Patrick and Margaret Casey. Before her marriage to Theodore Maynard in 1918, she sustained a literary career including a published novel and a comedy, "Brady," produced by the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. She also began collecting stories, poems and artwork to be compiled for a children's magazine. In 1920 she moved with her husband to the United States where they raised seven children: Michael, Paul, Philip, Rosemary, Christine, Clare, and Kevin. She continued to write poetry and produced a book for children, "Princess Poverty." Sara Casey Maynard died of tuberculosis in 1945.
18 Linear Feet (15 boxes)
English
The Theodore Maynard Papers consist of eleven series.
SERIES: 1. Alphabetical Correspondence
DESCRIPTION: This series consists of correspondence written to Theodore Maynard arranged alphabetically by author. This series also includes some manuscripts and photographs arranged alphabetically along with the correspodence.
SERIES: 2. Chronological Correspondence
DESCRIPTION: Assorted correspondence arranged chronologically. Includes fan mail and correspondence with publishers. Topics range from book reviews and manuscripts to personal matters.
SERIES: 3. Family Correspondence
DESCRIPTION: Correspondence of Theodore Maynard's parents, siblings, first wife, children, and second wife.
SERIES: 4. Correspondence with Publishers
DESCRIPTION: Correspondence between Theodore Maynard and his publishers. Also includes book contracts and royalty statements. Some related and similar materials to be found in chronological correspondence and with the manuscript files.
SERIES: 5. Diaries and Notebooks
DESCRIPTION: Diaries, notebooks, and day planners. Includes books of quotations and notebooks for teaching English.
SERIES: 6. Poetry Manuscripts
DESCRIPTION: Manuscripts and drafts of poems by Theodore Maynard.
SERIES: 7. Essays, Short Stories, Reviews, and Notes
DESCRIPTION: Manuscripts for essays, short stories and reviews by Theodore Maynard. Also includes correspondence regarding the manuscripts. The last three folders in this series contain notes that were found in Maynard's books.
SERIES: 8. Book Manuscripts
DESCRIPTION: Manuscripts for books by Theodore Maynard along with notes and correspondence used in writing the books.
SERIES: 9. Manuscripts written by others
DESCRIPTION: Manuscripts written by people other than Theodore Maynard.
SERIES: 10. Clippings and Photographs
DESCRIPTION: Newspaper clippings of reviews, printed essays, and obituaries. Photographs of Theodore Maynard and his family. Also includes membership cards, financial records, and other miscellaneous items.
SERIES: 11. Sara Casey Maynard
DESCRIPTION: Manuscripts by Sara Casey Maynard. Also includes manuscripts and illustrations gathered by Sara Casey Maynard for the first issue of a projected children's magazine.
Purchased from the Estate of Kathleen Maynard, 1977.
Additional materials donated by Stephen Baldwin, 2023. These materials were collected and maintained by Philip Maynard, and later kept by his son, Kevin Maynard. The files included notes by Maynard scholar Theodore Hendricks.
The collection was rehoused in archival-quality boxes and folders after it was received.
2023 donation: Original folders were retained for this portion of the collection. Rusty metal fasteners were removed during processing.
Part of the Georgetown University Manuscripts Repository