Skip to main content

Bibliography & Resources in Special Collections

Photograph of Sherwood Anderson (Ms2015-020)

Photograph of Sherwood Anderson at Ripshin

Sherwood Anderson Manuscript Collections in Special Collections

  • Dayton M. Kohler Papers, 1889-1971 (Ms1971-002)

    This collections contains the papers of Dayton M. Kohler, a professor of English at Virginia Tech (1929-1970) and an authority on modern American literature. The collection contains correspondence, drafts and galley proofs of literary essay-reviews for publications edited by Kohler, manuscript drafts for articles written by Kohler, and a collection of materials relating to various authors. Among the noted authors most prominently featured in the collection are Willa Cather, Conrad Richter, Carl Sandburg, James Still, and Jesse Stuart. Within the correspondence are single letters from a number of other noted authors, including Sherwood Anderson, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Katherine Anne Porter.

  • Sherwood Anderson Collection, 1912-1938 (Ms1973-002)

    This collection contains materials relating to author Sherwood Anderson. The collection is notable for the personal letters written by Anderson to family members. The largest group of letters (about 78 of them) were written to his daughter, Marian Anderson ("Mimi") Spear, between 1912 and 1938. Portions of this collection have been digitized and available online.

  • Sherwood Anderson Correspondence with Llewellyn Jones, 1916-1924, n.d. (Ms2015-044)

    This collection consists of eight letters written by American author Sherwood Anderson to Llewellyn Jones between 1916 and 1924 with three undated (but likely from the same period). Jones was the literary editor for the Chicago Evening Post. The correspondence primarily discusses the reviews of Anderson's works by Jones and other critics. This collection has been digitized and is available online.

  • Welford D. Taylor Collection on Sherwood Anderson, 1918-2006, n.d. (Ms2015-020)

    This collection contains several series of materials: correspondence to and from Sherwood Anderson, correspondence and research files about Sherwood Anderson, and a small group of photographs, audio, video, and graphic art materials. Materials generated by Anderson date from 1918-1940. Other materials date from about 1929-2006. Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online.

  • Sherwood Anderson Photograph and Postcard, 1929, 1939 (Ms2011-004)

    The collection consists of one postcard of Notre-Dame from Sherwood Anderson to Bert and Clara Dickenson and a photograph of Sherwood Anderson and Bert Dickenson in Florida with a line of fish in between the two men. This collection has been digitized and is available online.

  • Biographical Vertical Files, 1960s-present (VerticalFile.004)

    In general, vertical files at Special Collections include newspaper clippings, photocopies, ephemera, unpublished and/or informal publications, and other papers relating to a specific subject area. Files in this collection relate to individuals and families connected to the local area (Blacksburg, Montgomery County, and Southwest Virginia) and/or to Virginia Tech. Each individual/family below has at least one folder and many include cross references.

Letter, James T. Farrell to Eleanor Copenhaver Anderson, February 10, 1952

Letter from James T. Farrell to Eleanor Copenhaver Anderson, February 10, 1952

Manuscript Collections Connected to Sherwood Anderson’s Family and Collaborators

  • Jaffe-Lankes Family Correspondence, 1930-1942, 1980-1985 (Ms2019-014)

    This collection contains two main sets of materials: Correspondence between Louis I. Jaffe and J. J. Lankes from 1930 to 1942 and correspondence between Alice Jaffe (Louis' widow) and J. B. Lankes (J. J.'s son) from 1980 to 1985. In addition, there is a small folder of notes and letter excerpts created by J. B. Lankes in the early 1980s.The majority of the letters are from Louis Jaffe to J. J. Lankes, represented by original letters, photocopies, and/or transcripts. These letters document their personal friendship, working relationship, and larger creative, literary, and political circles. Themes in their correspondence include Sherwood Anderson and his works, Lankes relocation to New York to take a job at Wells, visits with each other, and professional collaborations.

  • Mary Sinton Leitch Correspondence with J. J. Lankes, 1932-1950 (Ms2017-001)

    The collection includes 27 letters (some with covers and envelopes) written by Mary Sinton Leitch to J. J. Lankes between 1932 and 1950. Introduced by a mutual friend, Leitch and Lankes maintained a more than 18-year correspondence that contained conversations of personal news & friends, the Virginia literary and art scene, and their own writing and artistic efforts (including Lankes collaborations with poet Robert Frost).

  • Marvin H. Neel Papers, 1933-1988 (Ms2016-022)

    This collection includes biographical resources, ephemera, correspondence, and writings and woodcut prints by and related to Marvin H. Neel (1908-1978), created between 1933 and 1988. There is correspondence with Sherwood Anderson collaborator, J. J. Lankes, and Sherwood Anderson scholar, W. D. Taylor. 

  • Rosemont Corporation Ledgers, 1939-1960 (Ms1987-029)

    This collection consists of two ledgers maintained by Rosemont Corporation, a Marion, Virginia manufacturer and seller of textiles. Rosemont Corporation was founded in Marion, Virginia by Laura Lu Scherer Copenhaver (1868-1940), mother-in-law of writer Sherwood Anderson.

  • James T. Farrell Letters to Eleanor Copenhaver Anderson, 1952, 1954 (Ms2017-005)

    This collection contains four letters written by author James Farrell to Eleanor Copenhaver Anderson between February 1952 and May of 1954. The two had some on-going correspondence of which this represents only a small piece. This collection has been digitized and is available online.

Front cover, <i>Tar: A Midwest Childhood</i>

Cover of the first edition of Tar: A Midwest Childhood (1926)

Sherwood Anderson Publications

In addition manuscript materials, Special Collections houses more than 250 volumes of Sherwood Anderson’s works (in more than 12 languages) and publications related to Anderson. These includes first or signed editions, memoirs, individual articles, collected essays, and secondary monographs. Please note: This list is not comprehensive. It does not include publications and individual issues of serials that may be cataloged for Special Collections because they contain Anderson content where it is not explicitly stated in the record. 

Bibliography & Resources in Special Collections