Scope and Content Note
The papers of Alexander King (1900-1965), Austrian-born author, commercial artist, painter, and television personality, span the years 1953-1987, with the bulk of the items concentrated in the period from 1958 to 1965. The papers are organized into the following series: General Correspondence, Business Papers, Writings File, Miscellany, Photographs, and Scrapbooks.
King claimed to have "4,000 intimate friends." The General Correspondence series reflects his familiarity with individuals in the fields of art, literature, and entertainment. He counted among his friends such notables as Tanaquil LeClerq Balanchine, wife of George Balanchine, E. E. Cummings, Isak Dinesen, R. Buckminster Fuller, Moss Hart, Lena Horne, Walter Matthau, Marianne Moore, Jack Paar, J. Perelman, Billy Rose, and Gloria Vanderbilt. Most of the letters concern social and professional activities, reactions to King's books, and sympathetic messages to his widow, Margie King, after his death in 1965.
Some of the letters are from individuals who figured prominently in the first volume of King's memoirs. Anecdotes involving Julian L. and Adeline Greifer (whose letters discuss housing discrimination against Jews in 1960s Connecticut), J. L. Moreno, Mary Jane Russell, DeHirsch Margules, Julius Landowne (a.k.a. the biology professor, Mr. Landis) and De Witt Montgomery appear in Mine Enemy Grows Older.
Several correspondents merit particular note. Taylor Caldwell, whose fictional work Dear and Glorious Physician appeared simultaneously with King's Mine Enemy Grows Older on the New York Times bestseller list, maintained a lively correspondence with King between 1959 and 1965. Caldwell elaborates on her unhappy childhood, her religious philosophy, the conflicts of being a writer and a homemaker, her writing techniques (she was working on Pillar of Iron and The Listener at the time) and the marketing of her books. Her highly negative reaction to a 1959 Life magazine article, "The Queens of Fiction" by Robert Warnick, is evident in several letters.
The General Correspondence series also includes a large number of letters from Perkins Harnly, an artist whom King promoted in his 1930s Americana magazine. King rediscovered him in the 1960s and encouraged him to resume painting. Harnly's letters describe the technical aspects of his work, including choice of paper, paints, and colors most suitable for photographic reproduction, as well as the inspiration behind and symbolism of his images. Many of the paintings mentioned in the letters are depicted in the Photographs series. King died before Harnly's major 1966 exhibition, but Margie King took over her husband's role in the show and continued to correspond with Harnly the rest of the decade.
Other notable correspondents include Henry Miller discussing his watercolors, literary tastes, and the filming of his Tropic of Cancer, and Isak Dinesen writing about fund-raising for her bird sanctuary in Denmark. A small group of outgoing letters by Margie King describe her husband's illnesses, his 1957 exhibition at the Chase Gallery, his growing success as an author and television personality, and their fast-paced social life among the luminaries of New York. In addition, at the end of the series, there is a sampling of King's fan mail with copies of his standard replies.
The Business Papers series contains correspondence from publishers, literary agents, lawyers, and producers. Topics relate chiefly to book production and promotion, interviews and personal appearances, solicitations for magazine articles, royalties, and foreign publication and other rights. A folder of memoranda holds notes on King's television appearances and discussion topics for his show "Alex in Wonderland."
The engagement contracts in the Business Papers are primarily for King's appearances on television programs such as the "Today Show," "Jack Paar Show," and "Les Crane Show." Also includes contracts of Margie King. Pay vouchers, royalty statements, and an itemized 1963 income tax return provide information regarding King's financial status.
Because of his own health problems, King was interested in raising money for kidney dialysis treatment centers. The file on the Kidney Emergency Fund in the Business Papers documents his efforts for that cause.
The Writings File consists of notes, manuscripts, typescripts, proofs, and promotional material for King's major literary productions. He wrote in longhand first and claimed to have rewritten some of his books twenty times before achieving a satisfactory result. Two handwriting styles appear in the manuscripts, his own and that of Margie King, who assisted him in making clean copies.
The sequence of chapters in these works often varies between the manuscript/typescript versions and the published version. Where this occurs, the primary folder label refers to the manuscript chapter with the corresponding published chapter number set off by parentheses. The term "typescript draft" refers to a rough copy that has many handwritten modifications; "corrected typescript" refers to a copy that has been edited with proofreader's marks. Promotional material includes primarily magazine and newspaper advertisements and reviews.
The Miscellany series contains King's address books, appointment calendars, and a bibliography listing his books, illustrations, and recordings. A folder of printed ephemera holds such diverse items as the program from his 1957 Chase Gallery exhibition, an award in 1960 from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and his New York Times obituary.
The Photographs series contains photographs of Perkins Harnly paintings created for exhibitions promoted by Alexander and Margie King and Henry Warshaw. Many of Harnly's later paintings were new inspirations, but several were reworkings of earlier themes. For example, an earlier version of "The Gay 90's" (a house within a corset) can be seen in the book Lightest Blues edited by Jane Van Nimmen. The names of Harnly's paintings, as listed in this guide, correspond to actual titles or to references in his letters. Dates have been assigned based on information in the letters. In addition, there are a few snapshots of Harnly with Alexander King and other friends.
The Scrapbook series consists of nine volumes containing photographs, letters, book jackets, and newspaper clippings of publicity and reviews. Some articles are in German and Hebrew.