Series 20. Essays and Short Non-Fiction.

Dates: ca. 1930s-1992
Size: 0.84 cubic ft.

 

Note on arrangement and description:

This series consists of essays by Eudora Welty and other short works of non-fiction, including introductions and prefaces, afterwords, and blurbs written for other authors' works. These works are arranged first chronologically, and when necessary within that arrangement, alphabetically. It should be noted that other versions of several of the works listed below may be found in different series in this collection, including Series 16, The Eye of the Story, and Series 24, Essays in Publications. The researcher interested in Welty's essays should also consult Series 19, Speeches, since some of Welty's remarks written for specific occasions or on specific topics were later published in essay form.

Several items have been added to this series from the Welty Estate gift. These new additions are indicated in bold font. In describing them, the archivist has made particular use of Eudora Welty’s Occasions: Selected Writings, edited by Pearl Amelia McHaney (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2009); and Noel Polk’s Eudora Welty: A Bibliography of her Work (Jackson & London: University Press of Mississippi, 1994). The works of McHaney and Polk have also been used when it has been necessary to revise the descriptions of the items that were originally part of the collection (those in regular font). These descriptions were written by Suzanne Marrs for her work, The Welty Collection: A Guide to the Eudora Welty Manuscripts and Documents at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (Jackson & London: University Press of Mississippi, 1988). All pieces bear numbers imposed by the archivist in brackets. In the descriptions of the material added from Welty's Estate gift, these are the numbers to which reference is made, unless otherwise specified.

 

DescriptionBoxFolder
"Cindy and the Joyful Noise." ca. 1930s; 1979. 9 pieces.
This eight-page carbon typescript draft of Welty's essay on Cindy's religious band bears handwritten notes and corrections by Welty in ink and pencil. It is accompanied by a typescript note by Welty, written in December 1979, that offers reflections on the essay, and information about photographs taken by Welty that relate to it.		831
"A Pageant of Birds." n.d. [1943]. 3 pieces.
Identified by a typescript note on the first page as "From The New Republic, October 25, 1943," this version of the essay consists of two pages of photocopied text glued on backing paper [pp. 1, 3], and one entire photocopied page [p. 2]. The second and third pages bear typescript statements of the title and page numbers. On the top of the first page there appears an "X" in red pencil with the notation "use TS," suggesting that Welty was preparing a new version of the essay, but rejected using this photocopied version in favor of a typescript one. This mock-up version varies from the one published in The Eye of the Story [see Series 16].		832
Untitled letter to "The Editors." n.d. 1948. 3 pieces.
Typescript (photocopy); pages [1]-3; letter to The New Yorker taking issue with Edmund Wilson's comments about William Faulkner and the South; dated 15 November 1948; published in The New Yorker 1 Jan. 1949: 50-51. It appeared in the section "Department of Amplification."		833
Untitled. ["Place and Time: the Southern Writer's Inheritance." 1954.] 13 pieces.
Carbon typescript; pages [1]-12 and envelope; envelope bears Welty’s handwritten notation: "Times Literary Supplement| (unsigned)|in 1950’s—"; a few handwritten revisions; the essay was published as "Place and Time: the Southern Writer’s Inheritance." Times Literary Supplement, 17 September 1954: xlviii.		834
"A SALUTE FROM ONE OF THE FAMILY." 1956. 4 pieces.
Photocopy of a typescript draft with numerous handwritten corrections, cuts, and additions in pen and pencil. The typewritten note above the title gives the publication information: "Contributed to the souvenir booklet for the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Lamar Life Insurance Company, Jackson, Miss. 1956."		835
"Preface to HANGING BY A THREAD, by Joan Kahn." [1969.] 8 pieces.
Carbon typescript; pages [1]-8; a few handwritten revisions. The revisions made in red pencil do not appear in the photocopy immediately below. Welty's preface appeared as the "Introduction" to Hanging by a Thread, ed. Joan Kahn. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1969), xv-xix.		836
"Preface to HANGING BY A THREAD, by Joan Kahn." [1969.] 8 pieces.
A typescript, photocopy; pages [1]-8, bearing photocopies of the handwritten revisions in black and blue ink above, but lacking the ones on the carbon above in red pencil. This photocopied typescript bears a Roman numeral "III" in ink written over a penciled "IV," followed by a question mark. There is also a "5" in pencil.		837
"Introduction" ["Preface to HANGING BY A THREAD, by Joan Kahn"]. [1969]; 1970. 9 pieces.
This copy-edited photocopy of the typescript draft was returned to Welty with an April 27, 1970, letter from Anita McClellan of the Houghton Mifflin Company. There are changes and editing marks in pen and pencil. The title appearing on the two versions above appears here, but has been crossed through, and is replaced by "Introduction by Eudora Welty."		838
"A Later Note on Death of a Traveling Salesman" ["Looking Back at the First Story]." [1979]. 8 pieces.
The first part of this draft consists of five photocopied pages of typescript bearing both photocopied and handwritten corrections, and handwritten page numbers [pp. 1-5]. The final three pages of the draft are carbon typescript [pp. 6-8] with handwritten corrections. On the first page is a photocopied handwritten title "A Later Note on 'Death of a Travelling [sic] Salesman,'" and a handwritten notation "for The Georgia Review." The essay, with a few changes, was published as "Looking Back at the First Story" in The Georgia Review 33 (Winter 1979): 751-55.		839
"Afterword, The Great Big Doorstep." [1979.] 15 pieces.
Carbon typescript; pages 1-14; afterword to E. P. O'Donnell's novel, The Great Big Doorstep: A Delta Comedy. (1941, reprint Carbondale: South Illinois University Press, 1979), 355-366. There are a few handwritten corrections; a handwritten note reads, "Corrected after original mailed--probably not OK." Accompanied by the original folder.		8310
Untitled draft. [Reminiscence about The Southern Review.] [1980.] 1 piece.
Untitled and clean carbon-typescript draft of Welty's tribute to The Southern Review. The tribute appeared, with an addition to the final sentence, in The Southern Review, Original Series, 1935-1942: A Commemoration, edited by Lewis Simpson, et al. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University, 1980), 19-20.		8311
Untitled pages. [Foreword to Ross Macdonald's Self-Portrait.] [1981.] 7 pieces.
Six pages of a carbon-typescript draft with numerous handwritten corrections in ink, some of which did not appear in the published version. The pages were originally contained in a folder marked "Ken – for R. Sipper." The foreword was published in Ross Macdonald's Self-Portrait: Ceaselessly into the Past, edited by Ralph B. Sipper (Santa Barbara: Capra Press, 1981), i-iv.		8312
"SURFACES OF A DIAMOND. Louis D. Rubin, Jr." [1981]. 1 piece.
Draft, apparently for a blurb for Surfaces of a Diamond by Louis D. Rubin, Jr. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1981). The top half of the page is carbon typescript. On the bottom half, Welty has noted the press address, and written another version of the blurb in pen.		8313
"To the Lighthouse preface..." 1981. 32 pieces.
An original folder [contained in folder 1] labeled by Welty, "To the Lighthouse preface for John Ferrone, Harcourt, April, 1981," contained three groups of material. The first consists of nine numbered pages of photocopied typescript with one handwritten and numerous photocopied corrections [folder 2]. The second group [folder 3] includes thirteen pieces of typescript and carbon typescript passages on pages bearing one or two paragraphs, as well as loose strips and one pinned strip [p. 20]. There are handwritten corrections throughout and an entire handwritten strip [p. 18]. The final group [folder 4] consists of corrected carbon typescript pages, the originals of the photocopies in folder 2. These pages are out of sequence, and the last two pages are numbered differently from the photocopied version. Welty's preface was published as the "Foreword" for Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse (New York and London: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981), vii-xii.		3351-4
"Foreword. To the Lighthouse." 1981. 10 pieces.
Nine pages of the printer's copy for the "Foreword" to To the Lighthouse [cited above] are accompanied by a card from "J." at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., returning them to Welty with the handwritten notation "For the E. W. archives." The carbon typescript draft [folder 6] contains both printer's edits and handwritten corrections by Welty: in one case [p. 4], Welty explains her choice of phrasing. The draft and card were contained in a folder [folder 5] labeled by Welty: "For Archives" "Preface for To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf" "HBJ 1981" "Original Copy for Printer."		3355-6
"Foreword." To the Lighthouse. 1981. 3 pieces.
Three galleys for the "Foreword" for Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse. The galley pages bear handwritten edits and notes by Welty.		3357
"Foreword." To the Lighthouse. 1981. 11 pieces.
An identifying post-it note accompanies two photocopies of the galleys of the "Foreword" for To the Lighthouse that are contained in the folder above. Each photocopy sheet is a copy of half of each galley. Part of one of Welty's handwritten notes is cut from the bottom of the first photocopied page [pp. 1-3].		3358
Untitled draft. ["Finding the Connections."] [1984.] 3 pieces.
This draft is partial, consisting only of three untitled pages of a carbon typescript of Welty's essay in tribute of Kenneth Millar (Ross Macdonald) entitled: "Finding the connections," published in Inward Journey: Ross Macdonald, edited by Ralph B. Sipper, (Santa Barbara, California: Cordelia Editions, 1984), 154-158. These draft pages are not in sequence. The second page begins with an incomplete sentence, and all three have handwritten corrections by Welty.		3359
"AFTERWORD." [Novel Writing in an Apocalyptic Time.] [1986]. 4 pieces.
Carbon typescript draft, with handwritten and typed corrections, of Eudora Welty's "Afterword," published in Walker Percy's Novel Writing in an Apocalyptic Time (New Orleans, La.: Faust Publishing, 1986), 25-28. This carbon draft is nearly identical to the published version.		33510
Untitled blurb. [Look Homeward: A Life of Thomas Wolfe.] [1987]. 2 pieces.
Carbon typescript draft for the dust jacket blurb for David Herbert Donald's Look Homeward: A Life of Thomas Wolfe (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1987). The draft contains handwritten corrections and changes by Welty.		33511
"Introduction." The Democratic Forest. 1988. 21 pieces.
An envelope labeled by Welty accompanies a carbon typescript draft of eleven pages, and a draft composed of one loose strip and eight pages of hand-corrected strips of typescript pinned to backing pages. The envelope [folder 12] identifies the materials as "Carbon The Democratic Forest, by Bill Eggleston" "Introduction written for Mark Holborn, editor at Secker + Warburg, London mailed in July 15, 1988 (scratch notes not yet thrown away, separate envelope) in case revision etc." In 1989, Welty's "Introduction" was published in William Eggleston's The Democratic Forest by Martin Secker & Warburg, Ltd., in London, and by Doubleday in New York. The carbon typescript [folder 13] bears handwritten changes, and appears the later version of the two drafts, incorporating most of the handwritten changes made by Welty in the draft composed of loose and pinned strips [folder 14] marked "MS." The drafts follow the same sequence of paragraphs until their final pages, which vary significantly.		33512-14
Untitled draft. ["Louis Rubin and the Making of Maps."] [1989]. 20 pieces.
Photocopy of a typescript draft with photocopied handwritten corrections and additions, including a question by Welty to The Sewanee Review editor, George Core [p. 19]. The photocopy has cut short an occasional word on the right side of the page. This version of the draft varies slightly from the one published in The Sewanee Review 97 (April – June 1989): 253-260.		3361
"Louis Rubin and the Making of Maps." 1989. 18 pieces.
Photocopy of the computer-generated draft with editorial marks that was sent to the printer. Accompanying the draft is a February 5, 1989, letter from The Sewanee Review editor George Core to Eudora Welty.		3362
"Louis Rubin and the Making of Maps." 1989. 4 pieces.
Tear sheets for the printing of pages 253-260, "Louis Rubin and the Making of Maps." The first page is identified by an ink notation by Welty "Sewanee Review, Spring '89," at the top, That page carries the printed titles for the essay and the section of The Sewanee Review in which it appeared, "The State of Letters."		3363
Untitled pages. ["Louis Rubin and the Making of Maps."] [1989]. 5 pieces.
Five pieces of typescript and carbon typescript with handwritten corrections by Welty, including a page consisting of strips taped to backing paper. These five scattered pages of draft for "Louis Rubin and the Making of Maps" contain passages that did not appear in the published version of the essay.		3364
"My Introduction to Katherine Anne Porter." n.d. [1990] 168 pieces.
Five copies of drafts of the essay were contained in an envelope [folder 5] labeled by Welty "K. A. P. article for Georgia Review only one copy has the correct page 3." The article was published in The Georgia Review 44 Spring/Summer 1990), 13-27. The first four copies are accompanied by handwritten notes by Welty addressing the correction of page 3. The first photocopy [folder 5] bears photocopied and handwritten corrections by Welty, and contains a carbon typescript of the "correct" page 3. The second copy [folder 6] is a duplicate of the first, but only starts on the fourth page of the draft. The third copy [folder 7] lacks Welty's page 3, but is otherwise a complete copy of the first. The fourth version of the draft [folder 8] appears an earlier version than the previous three, and bears handwritten in ink many of the changes seen in them, as well as a different one [p. 22]. It also has a different typescript page 3. The fifth copy [folder 9] appears a photocopy of the fourth draft, but lacks the handwritten additions on the first page. Also included in the envelope were miscellaneous carbon typescript and photocopied pages: Welty's page 2, a carbon typescript of the "correct" page 3 and three copies of the old version, and the carbon typescripts of Welty's pages 31 and 32 [folder 10].		3365-10

"My Introduction to Katherine Anne Porter." 1990. 96 pieces.
Grouped together were the following materials:

  1. A photocopy of the published article from The Georgia Review, with copies of edits and change notations [folder 11, 15 pieces].
  2. Correspondence between The Georgia Review editor Stanley W. Lindberg and Eudora Welty relating to the publication of the article and the copyright permissions for Katherine Anne Porter's letters. Included is an original and a copy of a letter from Lindberg, written April 23, 1990; a letter by him dated April 24, 1990; a carbon of a letter from Welty to Lindberg dated May 9, 1990; and his reply dated May 10, 1990 [folder 12, 9 pieces].

Three drafts of "My Introduction to Katherine Anne Porter."

  1. The first is a partial draft of typescript with handwritten corrections, identified by a note (probably by Welty) as "Pages which I retyped" [folder 13, 18 pieces].
  2. The second draft [folder 14, 24 pieces] consists of typescript with handwritten changes, including partial pages, and one pinned and one loose strip of corrected typescript. It is preceded by a note from Welty's typist indicating that this draft only consists of pages that have been retyped, and stating that "your original letters from K. A. P. are still clipped." However, they are no longer clipped to this draft [See Series 29b for letters by Katherine Anne Porter]. In several places in this draft Porter's letters have not been copied into the text, and their placement is only indicated by directions.
  3. The third draft [folder 15, 30 pieces] appears to be an early version of the essay. It consists not only of corrected typescript pages, and taped strips of typescript, but of long passages of text handwritten by Welty. The text varies considerably from the published version, particularly in its last pages, and includes a note from the typist indicating a change she made to the order of the paragraphs [p. 19].
33611-15
Untitled notes. ["Foreword." ""You Live and Learn. Then You Die and Forget It All": Ray Lum's Tales of Horses, Mules and Men.] [1992]. 11 pieces.
Notes for Welty's foreword to William Ferris's book on mule trader Ray Lum, (New York: Doubleday Anchor, 1992), xi-xiv. The notes include typescript passages, but are largely handwritten by Welty. They appear on a variety of paper, ranging from notepad paper to a stamp booklet [p. 2]. The notes are fragmentary ones for various passages of the foreword: these are not notes of a complete draft. The notes are accompanied by an envelope labeled "MS – mules Eudora Welty."		3371
"Foreword." ["You Live and Learn. Then You Die and Forget It All": Ray Lum's Tales of Horses, Mules and Men.] [1992]. 6 pieces.
Computer-generated typescript draft with handwritten corrections. This is a complete draft, nearly identical to the published version.		3372
"Foreword." ["You Live and Learn. Then You Die and Forget It All": Ray Lum's Tales of Horses, Mules and Men.] [1992]. 12 pieces.
Two photocopies of the corrected typescript draft described immediately above.		3373
"Foreword to 'You Live and Learn. Then You Die and Forget It All': Ray Lum's Tales of Horses, Mules and Men By William Ferris." [1992]. 28 pieces.
Four photocopies of Welty's "Foreword," each with a coversheet bearing the above title, and the addresses of Welty and Russell & Volkening, Inc. These four drafts also bear handwritten page numbers on each page. Otherwise, they are identical to each other, and bear the same photocopied corrections as the drafts above, with the exception of the second page of each draft. On this page, the corrections are either handwritten or entirely absent.		3374

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