John Cheever literary manuscripts | Brandeis University
By S. Pyzynski
Collection Overview
Title: John Cheever literary manuscripts
Predominant Dates:1935-1963
ID: 00/MWalB02010
Creator: Cheever, John (1912-1982)
Extent: 2.0 Linear Feet. More info below.
Arrangement:
Arranged in first alphabetically and second chronologically in two series: 1. Short Stories, 1935-1963; 2. Novels, 1859-1963.
For more information about each series, please consult the series descriptions in the box and folder listings.
Languages: English
Scope and Contents of the Materials
The collection contains the manuscripts of eighty-eight short stories, many of which were published for the first time in the "New Yorker" magazine. Also included in the collection are the manuscripts for Cheever's first three published novels.
Biographical Note
John Cheever was born May 27, 1912 in Quincy, Massachusetts. He was expelled from Thayer Academy at the age of seventeen, and thereafter made his living as a writer until he died. He took pride in the fact that he never received a regular paycheck in his life.
Cheever sold his first story, "Expelled", to "The New Republic" at the age of eighteen. He sent the 1930s living in New York writing and publishing his short stories as he developed his distinctive writing style. In 1941 he married Mary Winternitz and soon after that World War II began. Cheever joined the Army but was assigned stateside due to his writing skills. In 1943 the Cheevers' daughter Susan was born, followed in 1948 by a son Benjamin and in 1956 by another son Federico.
In 1943 Cheever's first book of collected short stories was published, "The Way Some People Live." The Cheevers moved to Scarborough, New York in the early 1950s. In 1958 he published his first novel "The Wapshot Chronicle" which won the National Book Award. The other awards he received were a Guggenheim, the Pulitzer Prize for Literature and a National Book Award.
John Cheever had a prolific and distinguished writing career despite a long bout of alcoholism and problems with depression. He interacted with some of the great writers of his time, such a Saul Bellow and John Updike.He died from cancer on June 18, 1982.
Administrative Information
Alternate Extent Statement: 7 manuscript boxes
Access Restrictions: Access to the collection is in accordance with the policies of the Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections Department, Brandeis University. Please contact the department for more information.
Use Restrictions: Requests to reproduce or publish material from the collection should be directed to the Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections Department, Brandeis University.
Preferred Citation: John Cheever literary manuscripts, Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections Department, Brandeis University
Processing Information: Processed by S. Pyzynski in 1998. Archon finding aid created by Craig Bruce Smith in 2010.
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Series:
[Series 1: Short Stories, 1935-1963],
[Series 2: Novels],
[All]
- Series 1: Short Stories, 1935-1963
- This series consists of the annotated typescripts to 88 short stories.
- Box 1
- Folder 1: The Angel on the Bridge, October 21, 1961
- Folder 2: The Beautiful Mountains, February 8, 1947
- Folder 3: The Bella Lingua, March 1, 1958
- Folder 4: [The Bella Lingua, fragment of early version]
- Folder 5: The Brigadier and the Golf Widow, November 11, 1961
- Folder 6: Brooklyn Rooming House, May 25, 1935
- Folder 7: Buffalo, March 21, 1935
- Folder 8: The Bus to St. James's, January 14, 1956
- Folder 9: The Chaste Clarissa, June 14, 1952
- Folder 10: The Children, September 6, 1952
- Folder 11: The Chimera, July 1, 1961
- Folder 12: Christmas is a Sad Season for the Poor, December 24, 1949
- Folder 13: Clancy in the Tower of Babylon, March 24, 1951
- Folder 14: Clementina, May 7, 1960
- Folder 15: The Common Day, August 2, 1947
- Folder 16: The Country Husband, November 20, 1954
- Folder 17: The Day the Pig Fell into the Well, October 23, 1954
- Folder 18: Dear Lord We Thank Thee for Thy Bounty, November 27, 1943
- Folder 19: The Duchess, December 13, 1958
- Folder 20: The Embarkment for Cythera, November 3, 1962
- Folder 21: The Enormous Radio, May 17, 1947
- Folder 22: The Five-forty-eight, April 10, 1954
- Folder 23: Forever Hold Your Peace, November 23, 1940
- Folder 24: The Golden Age, September 26, 1959
- Folder 25: Goodbye My Brother, August 25, 1951
- Folder 26: The Habit
- Folder 27: Happy Birthday, Enid, July 13, 1940
- Folder 28: The Hartleys, January 22, 1949
- Folder 29: Hello, Dear, February 15, 1941
- Folder 30: The Housebreaker of Shady Hill, April 14, 1956
- Folder 31: Independence Day at St. Botolph's (from the Wapshot Chronicle), July 3, 1954
- Folder 32: In the Eyes of God, October 11, 1941
- Folder 33: The International Wilderness, April 6, 1963
- Folder 34: The Invisible Ship, August 7, 1943
- Folder 35: It's Hot In Egypt, January 6, 1940
- Folder 36: Journal of an Old Gent, February 18, 1956
- Folder 37: Just One More Time, October 8, 1955
- Folder 38: Just Tell Me Who It Was, April 16, 1955
- Folder 39: Keep the Ball Rolling, May 29, 1948
- Folder 40: The Law of the Jungle, March 22, 1941
- Folder 41: Love in the Islands, December 7, 1946
- Folder 42: The Lowboy, October 10, 1959
- Folder 43: Manila, July 28, 1945
- Folder 44: The Man Who Was Very Homesick for New York, November 21, 1942
- Folder 45: Marito in Citta, July 4, 1964
- Folder 46: Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin, April 27, 1963
- Folder 47: [Metamorphoses], March 2, 1963
- Folder 48: Miss Wapshot (from the Wapshot Chronicles), September 22, 1956
- Folder 49: The Mouth of the Turtle, November 11, 1944
- Folder 50: The Music Teacher, November 21, 1959
- Folder 51: My Friends and Neighbors All, Farewell, October 2, 1943
- Folder 1: The Angel on the Bridge, October 21, 1961
- Box 2
- Folder 1: The National Pastime, September 26, 1953
- Folder 2: The New World, November 9, 1940
- Folder 3: North of Portland, February 24, 1940
- Folder 4: The Ocean, July 31, 1963
- Folder 5: Oh City of Broken Dreams, January 24, 1948
- Folder 6: Oh Youth and Beauty!, August 22, 1953
- Folder 7: Paola, July 26, 1958
- Folder 8: The People You Meet, December 2, 1950
- Folder 9: The Peril in the Streets, March 21, 1942
- Folder 10: A Picture for the Home, November 28, 1936
- Folder 11: A Place of great Historical Interest, February 21, 1942
- Folder 12: Play a March, June 20, 1936
- Folder 13: The Pleasures of Solitude, January 24, 1942
- Folder 14: The Pot of Gold, October 14, 1950
- Folder 15: Problem No. 4, October 17, 1942
- Folder 16: Publick House, August 16, 1941
- Folder 17: Reunion, October 27, 1962
- Folder 18: Riding Stable, April 27, 1940
- Folder 19: Roseheath, August 16, 1947
- Folder 20: Run, Sheep, Run, August 2, 1941
- Folder 21: The Scarlet Moving Van, March 21, 1959
- Folder 22: The Seaside Houses, July 29, 1961
- Folder 23: The Season of Divorce, March 4, 1960
- Folder 24: Sargeant Limeburner, March 13, 1942
- Folder 25: The Shape of a Night, April 18, 1942
- Folder 26: The Single Purpose of Leon Burrows, October 7, 1944
- Folder 27: Somebody Has to Die, June 24, 1944
- Folder 28: Some People, Places and Things That Will Not Appear in My Next Novel, November 12, 1960
- Folder 29: The Sorrows of Gin, December 12, 1953
- Folder 30: The Summer Farmer, August 7, 1948
- Folder 31: Summer Theatre, August 24, 1940
- Folder 32: Superintendent, May 29, 1952
- Folder 33: Survivor, April 9, 1940
- Folder 34: The Sutton Place Story, June 29, 1946
- Folder 35: [The Swimmer]
- Folder 36: A Tale of Old Pennsylvania, May 29, 1943
- Folder 37: The Temptations of Emma Boynton, November 26, 1949
- Folder 38: There They Go, July 19, 1941
- Folder 39: These Tragic Years, September 27, 1941
- Folder 40: They Shall Inherit the Earth, August 10, 1942
- Folder 41: Tomorrow is a Beautiful Day, August 3, 1940
- Folder 42: Town House [I], April 21, 1945
- Folder 43: Town House II, August 11, 1945
- Folder 44: Town House III, November 10, 1945
- Folder 45: Town House IV, January 5, 1946
- Folder 46: Town House V, March 16, 1946
- Folder 47: Town House VI, April 4, 1946
- Folder 48: Torch Song, October 4, 1947
- Folder 49: The Traveler, December 9, 1961
- Folder 50: The Trouble of Marcie Flint, November 9, 1951
- Folder 51: A Vision of the World, September 29, 1962
- Folder 52: Washington Boarding House, March 23, 1940
- Folder 53: When Grandmother Goes, December 14, 1940
- Folder 54: A Woman Without a Country, December 12, 1959
- Folder 1: The National Pastime, September 26, 1953
- Box 1
- Series 2: Novels
- This series consists of the final draft to "The Wapshot Chronicle", the early drafts, final draft and printer's proofs to "The Wapshot Scandal", and the typescript to "Bullet Park." Also includes a couple of miscellaneous items; some journal writings and a nineteenth-century story by George Barrell Cheever, perhaps an ancestor of Cheever's.
- Box 3
- Folder 1: Wapshot Chronicle (final corrected draft), Preliminary pages and mark-ups
- 11 p.
- Folder 2: Wapshot Chronicle (final corrected draft), Chapters 1-2, pp. 1-15
- Folder 3: Wapshot Chronicle (final corrected draft), Chapters 3-4, pp. 16-30
- Folder 4: Wapshot Chronicle (final corrected draft), Chapters 5-6, pp. 31-50
- Folder 5: Wapshot Chronicle (final corrected draft), Chapters 7-8, pp. 51-75
- Folder 6: Wapshot Chronicle (final corrected draft), Chapters 9-10, pp. 76-88
- Folder 7: Wapshot Chronicle (final corrected draft), Chapters 11-13, pp. 89-108
- Folder 8: Wapshot Chronicle (final corrected draft), Chapters 14-15, pp. 109-123
- Folder 9: Wapshot Chronicle (final corrected draft), Chapters 16-17, pp. 124-146
- Folder 10: Wapshot Chronicle (final corrected draft), Chapters 18-19, pp. 147-175
- Folder 11: Wapshot Chronicle (final corrected draft), Chapters 20-22, pp. 176-193
- Folder 12: Wapshot Chronicle (final corrected draft), Chapters 23-24, pp. 194-212
- Folder 13: Wapshot Chronicle (final corrected draft), Chapters 25-26, pp. 213-227
- Folder 14: Wapshot Chronicle (final corrected draft), Chapters 27-28, pp. 228-253
- Folder 15: Wapshot Chronicle (final corrected draft), Chapter 29, pp. 244-263
- Folder 16: Wapshot Chronicle (final corrected draft), Chapters 30-31, pp. 263-274
- Folder 17: Wapshot Chronicle (final corrected draft), Chapters 32-33, pp. 275-292
- Folder 18: Wapshot Chronicle (final corrected draft), Chapter 34, pp. 293-307
- Folder 19: Wapshot Chronicle (final corrected draft), Chapter 35 (beginning), pp. 308-329
- Folder 20: Wapshot Chronicle (final corrected draft), Chapter 35 (end), pp. 330-352
- Folder 21: Wapshot Chronicle (final corrected draft), Chapters 36-37, pp. 354-365
- Folder 1: Wapshot Chronicle (final corrected draft), Preliminary pages and mark-ups
- Box 4
- Folder 1: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 14 p.
- Folder 2: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 20 p.
- Folder 3: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 20 p.
- Folder 4: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 20 p.
- Folder 5: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 20 p.
- Folder 6: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 15 p.
- Folder 7: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), [Chap. 1]
- Christmas Eve in St. Botolph's (published searately December 23, 1961) 14 p.
- Folder 8: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 20 p.
- Folder 9: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 19 p.
- Folder 10: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), Chapters 5-6, 20 p.
- Folder 11: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), Chapter [8] and [?], 22 p.
- Folder 12: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), Chapter [14], 7 p.
- Folder 13: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), Chapter [15], 3 p.
- Folder 14: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), Chapter [16], 5 p.
- Folder 15: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), Chapter [20], 5 p.
- Folder 16: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), Chapter [18], 13 p.
- Folder 17: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), Chapter [28], 5 p.
- Folder 18: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), Chapter [22], 17 p.
- Folder 19: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), Chapter [32], 8 p.
- Folder 20: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 22 p.
- Folder 21: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), Chapter [19], 11 p.
- Folder 22: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), Chapter [29, etc.], 20 p.
- Folder 23: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 11 p.
- Folder 24: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), Chapter 4 (i.e., 6), Chapter 5, Chapter 6 (?), 25 p.
- Folder 25: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), Chapter [31] etc., 20 p.
- Folder 26: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 20 p.
- Folder 27: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 20 p.
- Folder 28: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 20 p.
- Folder 29: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 15 p.
- Folder 30: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), Chapter [29], 7 p.
- Folder 31: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), Chapter [27], 16 p.
- Folder 32: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), Chapter [19-21], 31 p.
- Folder 33: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 4 p.
- Folder 34: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 3 p.
- Folder 35: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), Chapter [30], 3 p.
- Folder 36: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), Chapter [15], 3 p.
- Folder 37: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 20 p.
- Folder 38: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 20 p.
- Folder 39: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 20 p.
- Folder 40: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 20 p.
- Folder 41: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 20 p.
- Folder 42: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 17 p.
- Folder 43: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 13 p.
- Folder 1: Wapshot Scandal (early drafts), 14 p.
- Box 5
- Folder 1: Wapshot Scandal (final corrected draft), preliminary pages and mark-ups, 24 p.
- Folder 2: Wapshot Scandal (final corrected draft), Chapter 1, pp. 1-15
- Folder 3: Wapshot Scandal (final corrected draft), Chapter 2-3, pp. 16-32
- Folder 4: Wapshot Scandal (final corrected draft), Chapter 4-5, pp. 33-54
- Folder 5: Wapshot Scandal (final corrected draft), Chapter 6-7, pp. 55-81
- Folder 6: Wapshot Scandal (final corrected draft), Chapter 8-9, pp. 82-96
- Folder 7: Wapshot Scandal (final corrected draft), Chapter 10-11, pp. 97-117
- Folder 8: Wapshot Scandal (final corrected draft), Chapter 12-13, pp. 118-128
- Folder 9: Wapshot Scandal (final corrected draft), Chapter 14-15, pp. 129-140
- Folder 10: Wapshot Scandal (final corrected draft), Chapter 16-17, pp. 140-165
- Folder 11: Wapshot Scandal (final corrected draft), Chapter 18, pp. 167-180
- Folder 12: Wapshot Scandal (final corrected draft), Chapter 19, pp. 181-202
- Folder 13: Wapshot Scandal (final corrected draft), Chapter 20-21, pp. 203-212
- Folder 14: Wapshot Scandal (final corrected draft), Chapter 22-23, pp. 213-235
- Folder 15: Wapshot Scandal (final corrected draft), Chapter 24-25, pp. 236-247
- Folder 16: Wapshot Scandal (final corrected draft), Chapter 26-27, pp. 248-267
- Folder 17: Wapshot Scandal (final corrected draft), Chapter 28-29, pp. 268-289
- Folder 18: Wapshot Scandal (final corrected draft), Chapter 30-31, pp. 290-304
- Folder 19: Wapshot Scandal (final corrected draft), Chapter 32, pp. 305-314
- Folder 1: Wapshot Scandal (final corrected draft), preliminary pages and mark-ups, 24 p.
- Box 6
- Box 7
- Box 3
Browse by Series:
[Series 1: Short Stories, 1935-1963],
[Series 2: Novels],
[All]