Irving Stone papers, 1923-1990s,, bulk (bulk 1934-1989)

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Summary

Creators:
Stone, Irving, 1903-1989
Abstract:
Consists of Stone's correspondence; research material, drafts, publicity, and ephemera related to his writings; professional and personal papers; and subject files, along with some papers of his wife, Jean Stone. Stone's correspondence reflects his many activities as both a private person and a public figure. His writings contain files for all his major works, chiefly biographical novels, but also including biographies, history, novels, short stories, dramatic works, articles, speeches, and reviews, as well as books he edited himself or with Jean Stone, and works by others to which he contributed segments. Also includes files related to Stone's appearances, interviews, travels, bio-bibliographic information, contracts, honors and awards, and teaching, along with family correspondence and some personal miscellany.

Jean Stone papers includes biographical material; an article written by her; files related to appearances, interviews, travel, and awards, as well as material detailing her activities within community organizations; and some personal miscellany. Jean Stone's edits of Irving Stone's drafts are found with his files for each work.
Extent:
Number of containers: 553 boxes, 34 oversize boxes, 37 oversize folders, and 3 v. -- not including an additional 11 boxes (numbered 554-564) of fragile, restricted originals for which archival photocopies have been substituted within the collection. Linear feet: 248
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

The Irving Stone Papers, 1923-1990s, (bulk 1934-1989) consists of his correspondence; research material, drafts, and ephemera related to his writings; professional and personal papers; and subject files, along with some papers of his wife, Jean Stone.

Stone's correspondence reflects his many activities as both a private person and a public figure. The correspondence includes letters with life long friends; his publishers, agents, and lawyers; organizations with which he was involved; and people that he met in the course of his work as a researcher and an author. Correspondence also includes the fan mail that Stone received for all of his major works, and several of his other works.

Stone's writings consist of his major works, other works that he published, and other writings. The major works include his biographical novels, biographies, a history, and several novels. Stone saved his research material from the majority of his works, as well as his drafts, Jean Stone's edited drafts, and drafts created by his publishers. He also collected files of the works' publicity, reviews, and adaptations. Other works consist of works he edited, some with Jean Stone, and works containing of his own writings edited. Stone often retained drafts for the other works as well as publicity and some research material. Other writings consist of short stories, dramatic works, articles, speeches, reviews, contributions, and testimonials. Stone saved the research material and drafts for these writings, published copies of his works, and publicity and ephemera from his writings.

Stone's professional papers consist of files related to his appearances, interviews, travels, bio-bibliographic information, contracts, honors and awards, and teaching. Appearance, travel, and honors and awards files contain primarily ephemera, along with some correspondence. Interview files primarily consist of published copies of his interviews, along with some drafts of the interviews. The bio-bibliographic files contain biographical writings by and about Stone, as well as biographical information compiled for Jean Stone, bibliographic information compiled by the Stones and others, and personal publicity. Contract files contain only contracts, and the teaching files consist primarily of transcripts of Stone's lectures.

Stone's subject files contains material representing the breadth of Stone's interests, as well as files related to his works and his works' subjects. Stone's interests include the arts and artists, his community, and the biographical novel. Files relating to his works and the subjects of his works consist primarily of clipping files. Stone also collected files on possible future projects, his friends, and several lawsuits.

Stone's personal papers contains correspondence with his family and some personal miscellany. The personal miscellany consists primarily of birthday and anniversary material, as well as some material related to his parents, education, children, houses, cars, and office. Jean Stone's papers contain much the same material as Stone's. She also made appearances, conducted interviews, received awards, was involved in several local organizations, and collected her own personal publicity.

When the collection was processed, Stone's interests as a researcher were kept in mind, and material usually considered not to be of lasting value was generally retained. Some originals have been restricted and housed separately because of conservation concerns; photocopies of these fragile items have been substituted for the removed originals.

Biographical / historical:
Date Event
1903 Irving Stone born to Charles and Pauline Rosenberg Tennebaum on July 14 in San Francisco (Calif.).
1907 Learns to read.
1910 Mother divorces father
1912 Begins to write.
1916-1918 Attends Lowell High School (San Francisco, Calif.).
1918 Mother marries second husband; Stone takes his surname. Family moves to Los Angeles (Calif.). Stone enrolls at Manual Arts High School.
1920 Attends second semester at University of Southern California.
1920-1923 Attends University of California, Berkeley. Earns Bachelors of Arts in Economics.
1923-1924 Serves as Teaching Fellow in economics at University of Southern California. Earns Masters in Economics.
1924-1926 Instructor of Economics at University of California, Berkeley. Attends University of California, Berkeley as a doctoral student of Economics.
1925 Mother dies.
1926 Wins Little Theatre Prize Play Contest at University of California, Berkeley. Begins career as author. Moves to New York (N.Y.).
1926-1930 Writes numerous plays, primarily one acts. Supports self by writing pulp fiction for magazines.
1927-1928 Travels through Europe; sees exhibition of Vincent Van Gogh's work.
1928 The Dark Mirror produced by the Lenox Hill Players. Begins to write Lust for Life
1933 Publishes Pageant of Youth (Alfred H. King, Inc.).
1934 Marries Jean Factor (b. 1916 or 1917). Publishes Lust for Life (Longmans, Green, and Co.) after being refused by seventeen publishers in three years.
1936 Truly Valiant produced on Broadway; the play closes after one performance. Returns to Berkeley (Calif.) to research Jack London.
1937 Returns to Southern California. Publishes Dear Theo (Houghton Mifflin). Daughter Paula born.
1938 Publishes Sailor on Horseback (Houghton Mifflin Company).
1939 Moves to Encino (Calif.). Publishes False Witness (Doubleday and Co., inc.), his last novel. Continues to use Doubleday and Co., inc. for the rest of his publishing career.
1941 Publishes Clarence Darrow for the Defense.
1943 Publishes They Also Ran. Begins work with the Research Institute of America.
1944 Publishes Immortal Wife. Son Kenneth born[?].
1945 Moves to Beverly Hills (Calif.). Purchases first pre-Columbian works of art.
1947-1954 Publishes Adversary in the House (1947), Earl Warren: A Great American Story (1948), The Passionate Journey (1949), The President's Lady (1951), and Love is Eternal (1954).
1955 Founds and serves as president of the Fellows for Schweitzer.
1956 Publishes Men to Match My Mountains. Sells house in Beverly Hills (Calif.). Moves to Italy to begin research for The Agony and the Ecstasy. Remains in Italy for several years.
1958 Tours Greece and Turkey for the United States State Department. Returns to Beverly Hills.
1960-1961 Serves as president of the California Writers Guild.
1961 Publishes The Agony and the Ecstasy. Moves into final home in Beverly Hills.
1962 Tours Europe and the Eastern bloc for United States State Department.
1964-1965 Becomes president of the Beverly Hills Improvement Association, created to stop the planned Beverly Hills Freeway.
1965 Publishes Those Who Love. Receives Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Southern California. Teaches English course at the University of Southern California.
1967 Founding member of the California State Colleges Committee for the Arts.
1968 Receives Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of California, Berkeley. Founds the Irving and Jean Stone Award for best biographical and historical novel.
1971 Publishes The Passions of the Mind after two decades of preparation.
1975 Publishes The Greek Treasure. California Museum of Science and Technology celebrates Stone's seventy-fifth birthday with testimonial dinner and the exhibition California's Irving Stone.
1980 Publishes The Origin.
1985 Publishes Depths of Glory. Serves as Regents Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. Guest workshop lecturer at Sonoma State University in the English Department.
1989 Performs last public appearance in June. Dies in August, leaving final work on John Muir unfinished.
Acquisition information:
The Irving Stone Papers were given to The Bancroft Library by Jean Stone on December 27, 1994, with additions made on May 17, 1999.
Physical location:
Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.

Access and use

Location of this collection:
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
Contact:
510-642-6481
bancref-library@berkeley.edu
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