Scope and Content Note
The papers of Marcia Davenport (1903-1996) span the years 1929-1970, with the bulk of the material dating from 1932 to 1960. The papers are mostly in English with a typescript in Czech and are organized into the following series: Correspondence , Literary Manuscripts , and Addition .
The Correspondence largely relates to the preparation and publication of her books and novels and there are numerous drafts and copies of Davenport's outgoing letters. A significant group of correspondence consists of letters from Maxwell E. Perkins, editor-in-chief at Charles Scribner's Sons, from 1931 until his death in 1947. Included among the more than thirty letters from Perkins is a ten-page letter, dated April 28, 1947, concerning revisions of Davenport's novel East Side, West Side. Other correspondents include Carol Brandt, Davenport's literary agent, Charles Scribner, Jr., and Wallace Meyer who succeeded Perkins as Davenport's editor at the Scribner publishing house. There are also individual letters from Willa Cather, Irving Kolodin, and Montrose Jonas Moses. Further correspondence is in the Addition .
The Literary Manuscripts relate to her works published from 1929 to 1960 including Mozart, Of Lena Geyer, Valley of Decision, East Side, West Side, My Brother's Keeper, Garibaldi: Father of Modern Italy, and The Constant Image. Notes and early material relating to her 1967 autobiography Too Strong for Fantasy and the original typescript for My Brother's Keeper are in the Addition . Included with the manuscripts are notes, typescripts, press clippings, typescripts, galley proofs, page proofs, drafts, and fragments.