Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1913-1984 (Creation)
- 1913-1984 (Creation)
Extent
Name of creator
Biographical history
John Roderigo Dos Passos (January 14, 1896 – September 28, 1970) was an American novelist and artist. John Dos Passos was born in Chicago, Illinois. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University. Dos Passos died on September 28, 1970, in Westmoreland, Virginia.
Considered one of the Lost Generation writers, Dos Passos' first novel was published in 1920. Titled One Man's Initiation: 1917 it was followed by an antiwar story, Three Soldiers, which brought him considerable recognition. His 1925 novel about life in New York City, titled Manhattan Transfer, was a commercial success and introduced experimental stream-of-consciousness techniques into Dos Passos' method. Dos Passos published many notable books during his lifetime, including 1919 and the U.S.A. trilogy.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
The Virginia Spencer Carr Collection contains correspondence, research notes, interviews (transcripts and audio tapes), photographs, manuscript drafts of publications and other materials compiled and created by Virginia Spencer Carr in the course of her research and writing of John Dos Passos: A Life. John Dos Passos, a noted American literary figure of the "lost generation," published a number of important works, including the trilogy U.S.A.
Among important materials in the collection are the personal reminisces of family members, colleagues and contemporary figures of Dos Passos (notably, letters by Simone de Beauvoir, William F. Buckley, William Slater Brown, Frances Scott Fitzgerald, and family members of both Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck are included). The collection also includes extensive research files on the life and publications of Dos Passos and family members.
System of arrangement
SERIES I: SOURCES/CORRESPONDENCE, includes letters and documents solicited and compiled by Virginia Spencer Carr. The individual files are maintained as received from the compiler.
SERIES II: SOURCES/CORRESPONDENCE, contains extensive research notes, photocopies of original documents and other materials compiled in the course of research on the life of John Dos Passos. The selection of subject headings and the location of materials within files is maintained in original order.
SERIES III: CHRONOLOGICAL FILES, contains extensive research notes, photocopies of original documents, and other materials compiled in the course of research on the life of John Dos Passos.
SERIES IV: FAMILY FILES, contains extensive research notes, photocopies of original documents and other materials compiled in the course of research on the life of John Dos Passos and members of his family.
SERIES V: MANUSCRIPT DRAFTS AND SOURCES, contains working drafts for John Dos Passos: A Life. Audio tapes of interviews are also arranged in this series.
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Physical access
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Conditions governing reproduction
Languages of the material
- English
- French
Scripts of the material
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Finding aids
Generated finding aid
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Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Dr. Virginia Spencer Carr wrote a biography of John Dos Passos using these research materials titled John Dos Passos: A Life. Special Collections holds a copy of this monograph under the call number PS3507.O743 Z548 1984 c.2
Special Collections holds the following monographs by John Dos Passos:
Dos Passos, John. Century's Ebb: The Thirteenth Chronicle. Boston : Gambit, 1975.
Spec Coll PS3507.O743 C46
- --. Easter Island; Island Of Enigmas. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1971.
Spec Coll F3169 .D66 c.2
- --. The Fourteenth Chronicle; Letters And Diaries Of John Dos Passos. Boston, Gambit: 1973.
Spec Coll PS3507.O743 Z53 1973 c.3
- --. The Great Days. New York: Sagamore Press, 1958.
Spec Coll PS3507.O743 G73 1958
- --. Midcentury. New York: Pocket Books, 1962.
Spec Coll PS3507.O743 M5 1962 c.2
- --. Mr. Wilson's War. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1962.
Spec Coll E766 .D6
- --. Paintings And Drawings. Richmond: Virginia Museum, 1980.
Spec Coll N6537.D615 A4 1980
- --. Panama: Or, The Adventures Of My Seven Uncles. New York, London: Harper & Brothers, 1931.
Spec Coll PQ2605.E55 P32 1931b
- --. The Portugal Story: Three Centuries Of Exploration And Discovery. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1969.
Spec Coll DP559 .D6 c.2
- --. U.S.A. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1960.
Spec Coll PS3507.O743 U8 v.1
Spec Coll PS3507.O743 U8 v.2
Spec Coll PS3507.O743 U8 v.3
- --. World In A Glass; A View Of Our Century Selected From The Novels Of John Dos Passos. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1966.
Spec Coll PS3507.O743 W6 1966
Related descriptions
Notes element
General note
Other Information:
Container list by Virginia Spencer Carr and Marcia Evanson.
Specialized notes
Alternative identifier(s)
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Subject access points
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Name access points
- Dos Passos, John, 1896-1970 (Creator)
- Carr, Virginia Spencer, 1929- (Creator)
- Beauvoir, Simone de, 1908-1986 -- Correspondence (Subject)
- Buckley, William F. (William Frank), 1925-2008 -- Correspondence (Subject)
- Carr, Virginia Spencer (Subject)
- Dos Passos, John, 1896-1970 -- Correspondence (Subject)
- Dos Passos, John, 1896-1970 -- Diaries (Subject)
- Fitzgerald, F. Scott (Francis Scott), 1896-1940 (Subject)
- Hemingway, Ernest, 1899-1961 -- Family (Subject)
- Dos Passos, John, 1896-1970 -- Biography (Subject)