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Jon Bracker:
An Inventory of His Collection of Christopher Morley Research Materials at the Harry Ransom Center
Creator: | Bracker, Jon, 1936- | |
Title: | Jon Bracker Collection of Christopher Morley Research Materials | |
Dates: | 1959-1966, undated | |
Extent: | 7 document boxes, 5 card boxes (4.36 linear feet) | |
Abstract: | Jon Bracker’s Collection of Christopher Morley Research Materials contains correspondence, extensive biographical research notes, microfilm, photographs, and printed materials gathered between 1959 and 1966 for multiple projects about the American author Christopher Morley (1890-1957). | |
Call Number: | Manuscript Collection MS-54223 | |
Language: | English |
Access: | Open for research. Researchers must create an online Research Account and agree to the Materials Use Policy before using archival materials. | |
Use Policies: | Ransom Center collections may contain material with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in the collections without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the Ransom Center and The University of Texas at Austin assume no responsibility. | |
Restrictions on Use: | Authorization for publication is given on behalf of the University of Texas as the owner of the collection and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder which must be obtained by the researcher. For more information please see the Ransom Center's Open Access and Use Policies. |
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation: | Jon Bracker Collection of Christopher Morley Research Materials (Manuscript Collection MS-54223). Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin. | |
Acquisition: | Gift of Jon Bracker, 1967. | |
Processed by: | Joan Sibley, 2025. |
Repository: |
Biographical Sketch
Student, educator, poet, editor, and writer Jon Bracker (1936- ) attended school at The University of Texas at Austin and earned his M.A. degree in 1961 upon acceptance of his thesis on the American author Christopher Morley (1890-1957). He also cataloged Morley manuscripts at the Humanities Research Library (now known as the Harry Ransom Center), began work toward a Morley biography, and curated a Morley exhibition displayed on campus from December 1961 through February 1962. He later edited a collection of Morley poems (Bright Cages, 1965) and co-authored a Twayne biography of Morley (1976). After leaving Texas, Bracker subsequently taught English and creative writing at several colleges and universities and his poetry has appeared in magazines, anthologies, and in at least ten chapbooks. Since 1973, he has lived in San Francisco and continues to write and publish poetry, most recently Adventures of an Elderly Man (2023). |
Sources:
Bracker, Jon. Christopher Morley, Enthusiast. Thesis (M.A.), University of Texas at Austin, 1961. Austin, Tex.: 1961. | ||
Bracker, Jon. "The Christopher Morley Collection. "Library Chronicle, vol. VII, no. 2, Summer, 1962. | ||
Morley, Christopher. Bright Cages: Selected Poems and Translations from the Chinese, edited by and with introduction by Jon Bracker. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1965. | ||
University of Texas. Humanities Research Center. An Exhibition of C.D.M. Manuscripts and First Editions at the Humanities Research Center, the University of Texas, Austin, Texas, December 1961-February 1962, compiled by Jon Bracker. Austin, Tex.: 1961. | ||
Wallach, Mark I. and Jon Bracker. Christopher Morley. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1976. |
Scope and Contents
Jon Bracker’s Collection of Christopher Morley Research Materials contains correspondence, extensive biographical research notes, microfilm, photographs, and printed materials gathered between 1959 and 1966 for multiple projects on the American author Christopher Morley (1890-1957). | ||
Most of the correspondence is from a variety of people who knew Christopher Morley, sharing their remembrances, insights, and advice for a Morley biography. Among the correspondents are family members, colleagues, and friends, including Book-of-the-Month Club associates (Basil Davenport, Harry Scherman, and Meredith Wood), Blythe Morley Brennan (Morley’s daughter, who wrote under the names Blythe Morley and a pseudonym Stanley Hopkins, Jr.), H. Tatnall Brown, Jr., Pearl S. Buck, Frances Curran (Christopher Morley Knothole Association), Doubleday & Company, Inc. staff (Ken McCormick, Louise Thomas, and others), Buckminster Fuller, William S. Hall (Baker Street Irregulars), Haverford College, Maurine Isensee, William McFee, Felix Morley and Frank Morley (Morley’s brothers), Harry Huntt Ransom and F. Warren Roberts (Harry Ransom Center), Harrison Smith (Saturday Review), Mary Mayo Scott (re Don Marquis), Vincent Starrett, and E. B. White, among many others. | ||
The research notes are extensive and consist of notes in notebooks, notes in folders, and notes written on index cards. These notes, together with microfilm, photographs, and printed materials, were used during several research projects, including Bracker’s M.A. thesis; a Morley exhibition; an article describing the Morley Collection; a proposed Morley biography; a proposed collection of Morley’s letters; and work toward the Morley poems collected and published as Bright Cages. |
Related Material
Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin: Christopher Morley Collection, 1787-1996 (bulk 1895-1957). | ||
Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin: Paul Foreman Papers, 1919-1979, and the Records of Thorp Springs Press, 1967-1982. | ||
Lilly Library, Indiana University: Bracker mss, 1965-1970. |
Index Terms
People |
||
Brennan, Blythe Morley, 1923-2002. | ||
Morley, Blythe, 1923-2002 | ||
Morley, F. V. (Frank Vigor), 1899-1980. | ||
Morley, Felix M. (Felix Muskett), 1894-1982. | ||
Subjects |
||
American literature -- 20th century. | ||
Authors, American -- 20th century. | ||
Morley, Christopher, 1890-1957. | ||
Document Types |
||
Correspondence. | ||
Notes. | ||
Printed materials. |