Series 2: A Curtain of Green, Eudora Welty Collection (Z/0301)
Series 2: A Curtain of Green.
Dates: 1941; n.d.
Size: 0.68 cubic ft.
Note on arrangement and description:
Only a small amount of material has been added to this series since its original acquisition, namely that described in the section called “Proofs and Related Material.” This material appears in bold font at the end of the series. This finding aid, therefore, is in large part created by Welty scholar Suzanne Marrs for her book, The Welty Collection: A Guide to the Eudora Welty Manuscripts and Documents at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (Jackson and London: University Press of Mississippi, 1988). Only minor changes have been made to the text of her description: abbreviations (ts, ms) have been replaced by the full terms (typescript, manuscript); specialized terms such as “holograph” have been replaced by more common ones such as “handwritten,” and, where needed, headers have been added. While the page numbering referred to by Marrs in her descriptions of each story is that established by Welty, bracketed page numbers have been placed by the archivists on the verso of each piece of material. For clarity, these supplied page numbers are used to locate material in the sections of the finding aid on the Typescript Setting Copy of the Collection and the Proofs and Related Material. They appear in brackets in the finding aid below and on the corresponding folders.
In order to ensure better preservation, some of the material in this series has been re-boxed and re-foldered. Original box and folder numbers have been retained, but subletters have been added to them as needed to indicate their new divisions. (For example, the material originally contained in box 4, folder 4, is now in box 4a, folders 4a, 4b, and 4c.) The finding aid below indicates the new divisions of the material.
See also Series 34 for dramatizations and materials related to the productions of “Keela, the Outcast Indian Maiden,” “Why I Live at the P.O.,” “Lily Daw and the Three Ladies,” “Petrified Man,” “A Piece of News,” “The Hitch-Hikers,” “A Worn Path,” and “A Visit of Charity.”
Subseries 2.1: Drafts of Individual Stories.
"Keela the Outcast Indian Maiden." n.d. 10 pieces.
Carbon typescript; pages [1]-10; almost clean copy.
Box 2, folder 1
“Why I Live in the P.O." n.d. 13 pieces.
Carbon typescript; pages [1]-13; almost clean copy; text varies substantially from published versions of the story and from the version in "Stories."; handwritten note to John Robinson at head of p. 1: "my new theme read it & throw it away." [John Fraiser Robinson is a Mississippi Delta native, a one-time Jackson resident, Welty's longtime friend, and the author of stories published in Harper's Magazine and the New Yorker.]
Box 2, folder 2
"Clytie." n.d. 13 pieces.
Carbon typescript; pages [1]-13; almost clean copy; handwritten note to John Robinson at top of page 1: "How are you? I've just been to Rodney in a regular Texas wind - Love E -"; Welty has drawn a sketch of the wind-blown car and labeled it: "The car from rear"; an arrow extends from label to drawing.
Box 2, folder 3
Subseries 2.2: Preliminary Collection.
Stories. n.d. 217 pieces.
Typescript; 2 preliminary pages, 215 subsequent pages, including a title page at the head of each story; the first preliminary page has a Russell & Volkening grey mailing label attached and "STORIES by Eudora Welty" typed on the label; the second preliminary page is a table of contents with handwritten notations by Welty, primarily dating the periodical publications of the stories listed; the title "Acrobats in a Park" has been lined out and the handwritten title "A Worn Path" substituted; nevertheless, "Acrobats in a Park" is included in the typescript and "A Worn Path" is not. Welty appears to have retyped from periodical versions, typically with some alterations, all stories published before 1941; "Clytie," "The Key," "Why I Live at the P.O.," "A Visit of Charity," and "Powerhouse" had not yet been accepted for publication when Welty prepared this typescript; handwritten notations on the table of contents identify the periodicals where these stories were eventually accepted and suggest a reordering of the stories. It seems likely that this typescript circulated among publishing houses during 1940.
Front matter. n.d. 2 pieces.
Box 2, folder 4
"Lily Daw and the Three Ladies." n.d. 14 pieces.
Title page, pages [1]-13; handwritten revisions.
Box 2, folder 5
"Clytie." n.d. 14 pieces.
Title page, pages [1]-13; numerous handwritten revisions.
Box 2, folder 6
"A Piece of News." n.d. 9 pieces.
Title page, pages [1]-8; numerous handwritten revisions.
Box 2, folder 7
"Petrified Man." n.d. 17 pieces.
Title page, pages [1]-16; handwritten revisions.
Box 2, folder 8
"Death of a Traveling Salesman." n.d. 19 pieces.
Title page, pages [1]-18; numerous handwritten revisions.
Box 2, folder 9
"The Whistle." n.d. 8 pieces.
Title page, pages [1]-7; numerous handwritten revisions.
Box 2, folder 10
"The Key." n.d. 13 pieces.
Title page, pages [1]-12; almost clean copy.
Box 3, folder 1
"Why I Live at the P.O." n.d. 16 pieces.
Title page, pages [1]-15; handwritten revisions.
Box 3, folder 2
"A Curtain of Green." n.d. 9 pieces.
Title page, pages [1]-8; handwritten revisions.
Box 3, folder 3
"Keela the Outcast Indian Maiden." n.d. 11 pieces.
Title page, pages [1]-10; handwritten revisions.
Box 3, folder 4
"The Hitch-Hikers." n.d. 18 pieces.
Title page, pages [1]-17; handwritten revisions.
Box 3, folder 5
"Old Mr. Granada." n.d. 9 pieces.
Title page, pages [1]-8; numerous handwritten revisions.
Box 3, folder 6
"Acrobats in a Park." n.d. 12 pieces.
Title page, pages [1]-11; a few handwritten revisions.
Box 3, folder 7
"Flowers for Marjorie." n.d. 14 pieces.
Title page, pages [1]-13; numerous handwritten revisions.
Box 3, folder 8
"A Visit of Charity." n.d. 8 pieces.
Title page, pages [1]-7; handwritten revisions.
Box 3, folder 9
"A Memory." n.d. 9 pieces.
Title page, pages [1]-8; handwritten revisions.
Box 3, folder 10
"Powerhouse." n.d. 15 pieces.
Title page, pages [1]-14; almost clean copy.
Box 3, folder 11
Subseries 2.3: Typescript Setting Copy of Collection.
"A Curtain of Green." ca. 1941. 227 pieces.
Typescript; 7 preliminary pages; pages [1]-220, including individual title pages for stories, except "Lily Daw and the Three Ladies"; after the first story, the pages have been renumbered by printer so that pagination is continuous; numerous editorial corrections; a few handwritten revisions by Welty; an occasional editorial query and authorial response.
Front matter. 1941.
Box 4a, folder 1
“Lily Daw and the Three Ladies.”
Box 4a, folder 2a
“A Piece of News.”
Box 4a, folders 2a; 2b
“Petrified Man.”
Box 4a, folder 2b
“The Key.”
Box 4a, folder 3a
“Keela, the Outcast Indian Maiden.”
Box 4a, folders 3a; 3b
“Why I Live at the P.O.”
Box 4a, folder 3b
“The Whistle.”
Box 4a, folder 3b
“The Hitch-Hikers.”
Box 4a, folder 4a
“A Memory.”
Box 4a, folder 4b
“Clytie.”
Box 4a, folder 4b
“Old Mr. Marblehall.”
Box 4a, folders 4c; 5a
“Flowers for Marjorie.”
Box 4b, folder 5a
“A Curtain of Green.”
Box 4b, folders 5a; 5b
“A Visit of Charity.”
Box 4b, folder 5b
“Death of a Traveling Salesman.”
Box 4b, folders 5b; 6a
“Powerhouse.”
Box 4b, folders 6a; 6b
“A Worn Path.”
Box 4b, folder 6b
Series 2.4: Proofs and Related Material.
Proof of “Introduction” by Katherine Anne Porter. 1941. 25 pieces.
There are two copies of the proof of the introduction to A Curtain of Green written by Katherine Anne Porter in August of 1941. One copy of the uncorrected proof was enclosed with a letter written by John Woodburn to Diarmuid Russell on August 27, 1941. The second copy was apparently Welty’s: it has a comment by her on page xvi [p. 5].
Box 4b, folders 7-9