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Gertrude Stein and Conference Press Collection

Finding Aid & Inventory

The Conference Press was the creation of three UCLA students, Hal Levy, Gilbert A. Harrison, and William Bayard Okie. The collection consists of the publishers' archive for Gertrude Stein's book, What Are Masterpieces? (Los Angeles: Conference Press, 1940), as well as several Stein manuscript fragments and notes, offprints, reviews, and other Stein ephemera, mostly related to her 1934-1935 American tour.

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Biographical and Historical Note

The Conference Press was the creation of three UCLA students, Hal Levy, Gilbert A. Harrison, and William Bayard Okie. The three were writers for the college newspaper The Daily Bruin, and they formed the press after a visit to Hollywood writer William Saroyan. Harrison had begun corresponding with Gertrude Stein in 1933, met her in Pasadena during her 1934-1935 American tour, and visited Stein and Alice B. Toklas in Paris in 1937. This relationship led to the publication of Stein's work  What Are Masterpieces? by the Conference Press in 1940. Harrison went on to become editor-in-chief of  The New Republic magazine. He also wrote and edited books on literature, among them  Gertrude Stein's America and  Staying on Alone: Letters of Alice B. Toklas.

UCLA faculty member and Stein bibliographer Robert Bartlett Haas wrote the introduction to Stein's book and seems to have been involved in the publication and distribution process. Book designer Ward Ritchie was a major figure in the fine printing movement in California.

Collection Overview

The collection consists of the publishers' archive for Gertrude Stein's What Are Masterpieces? (Los Angeles: Conference Press, 1940). It includes the original typescript, various galley proofs and production materials, and a few letters of correspondence between Stein, Alice B. Toklas, and publishers Hal Levy, Gilbert Harrison, and William Bayard Okie; and material from Stein bibliographer Robert Bartlett Haas. The collection also includes several Stein manuscript fragments and notes, offprints, reviews, and other Stein ephemera, mostly related to her 1934-1935 American tour. Other materials include Conference Press correspondence from 1936-1946, relating to Stein's book, William Saroyan's  Three Times Three, and other publications.

The collection is arranged into four series: Series 1. Conference Press correspondence; Series 2. Conference Press purchase orders; Series 3. Publishers' archives, What Are Masterpieces?; Series 4. Review clippings; and Series 5. Stein, Gertrude, writings and related materials.

Collection Inventory

  • Conference Press correspondence (Includes letters and notes from Tamara Andreeva, Natalie Bunce, June Cleveland, Janet Flanner (one typed note), Bernard Molohon, Robert Penn Warren (one typed note), Jack Woodford, Rita Young, Peter Gray Wolf, Robert Bartlett Hass, and Harry Kirby McClintock.)
    •  (1937) Folder 16
    •  (1938) Folder 17
    •  (1939) Folder 18
    •  (1940 January-July) Folder 19
    •  (1940 August-September) Folder 20
    •  (1940 October) Folder 21
    •  (1940 November-December) Folder 22
    •  (1941 January-June) Folder 23
    •  (1941 July-December) Folder 24
    •  (1942) Folder 25
    •  (1943) Folder 26
    •  (1944) Folder 27
    •  (1945) Folder 28
    •  (1946) Folder 29
  • Conference Press purchase orders
    • Purchase orders, A-C Folder 12
    • Purchase orders, D-L Folder 13
    • Purchase orders, M-S Folder 14
    • Purchase orders, T-Z Folder 15
  • Publishers' archives, What Are Masterpieces?
    • Typed letter, signed by Alice B. Toklas, to William Okie, with typed list of Stein publications (1937 June 1)
    • Autograph letter, signed by Gertrude Stein, to Hal Levy (1940 December 17)
    • Typescript for What Are Masterpieces? prepared in part by Alice B. Toklas Folder 2
    • Galley proofs Folder 3
    • Galley proofs with manuscript notes by Stein Folder 4
    • Page proofs Folder 5
    • Page proofs with manuscript notes by Stein Folder 6
    • Layout and design sketches by Ward Ritchie Folder 7
    • Prospectus and advertising materials Folder 8
    • Book contract Folder 9
    • Printers' estimates from Ward Ritchie Press and Adcraft Printers Folder 10
    • Reviews, What Are Masterpieces? Folder 11
  • Review clippings
    • "Four Saints in Three Acts" Folder 38
    • Geographical History of America Folder 39
    • Narration Folder 40
    • Portraits and Prayers Folder 41
    • Paris France reviewed by Janet Flanner Folder 42
    • Selected Writings of Gertrude Stein, ed. Carl Van Vechten Folder 43
    • Everybody's Autobiography, parody from  New Yorker Folder 44
    • Useful Knowledge Folder 45
    • Primer for the General Understanding of Gertrude Stein, by Robert Bartlett Haas Folder 46
    • Clippings: G.S.'s American visit (1934-1935) Folder 47
    • General clippings Folder 48
    • "Money" by G.S., in  Saturday Evening Post  (1936) Folder 49
    • "I Came and Here I Am" by G.S., in  Cosmopolitan  (1935 February) Folder 50
  • Stein, Gertrude, writings and related materials
    • Ephemeral Stein manuscripts Folder 31
      • Manuscript page from Ida, in pencil on page torn from  Desmond's Daughter (1937)
      • Notes for novel Mrs. Reynolds, 1 page in pencil on graph paper
      • Paris, France, 1 page pencil notes
      • The World is Round, 1 page in pencil on title page from Philip McDonald's  The Link (London: Crime Club), with typed note from Stein
      • Prothalamium, complete manscript in pencil on back of pages from Henry Holt's  Gallows Grange, published by Tauchnitzm
      • Autograph letter, Stein to publisher James Laughlin (1936)
      • Article offprint, "Normal Motor Automatism" , by Stein and Leon Solomons, from  Psychological Review  (1896 September)
      • Article offprint, "Cultivated Motor Automatism" , by Stein, from  Psychological Review  (1898 May)
    • Robert Bartlett Haas bibliography of Gertrude Stein Folder 30
      • Typescript with notes
      • Stein and Toklas's answers to Haas's questionnaire, 5 pages
    • Theatre programs, "4 Saints in 3 Acts" Folder 34
      • Forty-fourth Street Theatre, New York (1934)
      • Empire Theatre, New York (1934)
      • Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn. (1947)
      • University of California Extension, Los Angeles (1965)
    • Theatre programs, "The Mother of Us All" , by Stein and Virgil Thomson Folder 35
      • Columbia Theater Associates of Columbia University, program inscribed to Hal Levy by Virgil Thomson (1947)
      • UCLA Opera Workshop, with note by Robert Bartlett Haas (1965)
    • Theatre programs, "Yes is for a Very Young Man" : Pasadena Playhouse and The Interplayers, San Francisco (1946-1947) Folder 33
    • Clippings (ca. 1940s) Box 4 Folder 51
    • Photographs Folder 37
    • Stein materials, general Folder 36

Summary Information

Repository
Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives
Creator
Stein, Gertrude, 1874-1946
Title
Gertrude Stein and Conference Press Collection
ID
MS586
Date [inclusive]
1896-1970
Extent
1.68 linear feet  4 document boxes
Mixed materials [Box]
4
Mixed materials [Box]
2
Mixed materials [Box]
1
Mixed materials [Box]
3

Administrative Information

Publication Information
Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives 2009
Revision Description
 Revised by Stephanie Bennett 2019
Access Restrictions
Collection is open for researchers. 
Copyright Notice
The nature of the WFU Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The Archives and Special Collections of ZSR Library claims only physical ownership of most materials. The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to the U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. 
Preferred Citation
Gertrude Stein and Conference Press Collection (MS586), Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA. 

Controlled Access Headings

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Other related archival collections include: Conference Press Records, 1936-1946, University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections. Los Angeles, California.

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