Descriptive Summary
Graves, John, 1920-
.
John Graves Papers
1957-75,
1995
TXRC96-A0
6 boxes, 3 galley folders
(2.5 linear feet)
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center,
University of Texas at Austin
These papers consist of drafts of several of his books, including
Goodbye to a River and
Hard Scrabble, accompanied by a small
amount of correspondence.
English.
Biographical Sketch
Texas writer John Alexander Graves III was born August 6, 1920, in Fort
Worth. He received a B.A. from Rice University in 1942 and then served in the
U. S. Marine Corps during World War II. After being wounded while serving in
Saipan, Graves returned to the United States and enrolled at Columbia
University; he completed an M.A. in literature in 1948. From 1948-50 Graves
taught English at the University of Texas at Austin. Following that, he worked
as a freelance writer and travelled to Mexico, Spain, England, and other areas.
In 1958, Graves married Jane Cole, a designer for Neiman Marcus; they have two
daughters, Helen and Sally. Graves was an adjunct professor of English at Texas
Christian University from 1958-65. He then spent three years working for
Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall as a consultant and writer on
preservation and conservation of the Potomac River Basin.
Home Place: A Background Sketch in Support of a
Proposed Restoration of Pioneer Buildings in Fort Worth, Texas was
published in 1958. As a freelance writer, Graves was published in
The Atlantic Monthly,
Esquire,
Holiday,
The New Yorker, and
Town and Country, among other periodicals.
His short story
The Green Fly was reprinted in
Prize Stories 1955: The O. Henry Awards, and
The Aztec Dog was included in the 1961
edition of
Prize Stories. Graves's first and best-known
book,
Goodbye to a River, was published by Knopf
in 1960. A personal and historical account of a stretch of the Brazos River,
Goodbye to a River won the 1961 Collins
Award of the Texas Institute of Letters and earned Graves a reputation for
writing in a naturalistic style about the relationship between people and land.
The Water Hustlers, a book about the impact
of water resource development on the environment in California, Texas, and New
York, was published by the Sierra Club in 1971. Graves's contribution to the
book was titled
Texas: You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet and
examined the 1968 Texas Water Plan.
In 1970, Graves moved from Fort Worth to live in a house he had
constructed on 400 acres of land near Glen Rose, Texas. That land, which he
called Hard Scrabble, was the subject of his next major book. Written in the
same vein as
Goodbye to a River,
Hard Scrabble: Observations on a Patch of
Land (1974) is a collection of essays incorporating physical
description, history, and philosophical comments, as well as fictional
characterizations.
Hard Scrabble, like
Goodbye to a River, won a Texas Institute of
Letters Collins Award.
Over the next few years, Graves continued to write essays and short
pieces for publication. He wrote the text for
Texas Heartland: A Hill Country Year (1975),
which was a book of photographs taken at Paisano Ranch by Jim Bones, Jr., as
well as the introduction to
Landscapes of Texas: Photographs from Texas Highways
Magazine (1980). A collection of essays Graves wrote for
Texas Monthly magazine also was published in
1980, under the title
From a Limestone Ledge: Some Essays and Other
Ruminations about Country Life in Texas.
Other published works by Graves include
The Last Running: A Story (1974), a
fictionalized version of a segment of
Goodbye to a River that was first published
in
Atlantic Monthly in June 1959 and reprinted
in
The Best American Short Stories 1960; and
Blue and Some Other Dogs (1981), taken from
From a Limestone Ledge. Graves contributed
to
The American Southwest, Cradle of Literary
Art (1981) and wrote the forewards to
A Thomason Sketchbook: Drawings (1969) and
James T. De Shields'
Cynthia Ann Parker (1991), among others. He
provided the text for
Of Birds and Texas (1986) and published
another version of that text as
Self-Portrait with Birds: Some Semi-Ornithological
Recollections (1991).
John Graves's papers were acquired by the HRHRC in 1975 and 1976 through
William Wittliff of the Encino Press. More information about John Graves and
his work may be found in an interview with Patrick Bennett, published in
Talking with Texas Writers: Twelve
Interviews (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1981), and
in the
Dictionary of Literary Biography Yearbook:
1983 (Gale Research Co., 1984).
Scope and Contents
The John Graves papers consist of typescript drafts with holograph
revisions, research notes, correspondence, and page proofs relating to Graves's
work, primarily his books
Goodbye to a River and
Hard Scrabble, but also his contributions to
The Water Hustlers and
Texas Heartland: A Hill Country Year, as
well as short pieces written for
Holiday,
Atlantic Monthly,
American Heritage, and other magazines.
Graves's original groupings of drafts, research material, and correspondence
about a work have been retained and are arranged by title.
Graves's best-known book,
Goodbye to a River, was an outgrowth of an
article commissioned by
Sports Illustrated and eventually published
in
Holiday magazine. Drafts and correspondence
relating to that article,
A Piece of River, are present in the
collection. Correspondence with Graves's agent John Schaffner and with Harold
Strauss, Alfred A. Knopf, and others at Knopf publishers follows the writing
and publication of the book. Included with the correspondence are letters
between Graves and J. Frank Dobie, along with a draft of Dobie's review of the
book. Designer Carl Hertzog's layouts and correspondence regarding the book are
also present. Along with
Hard Scrabble material, there are drafts and
correspondence relating to its publication in condensed form in
Esquire.
A joint effort with noted Texas nature photographer Jim Bones, Jr.,
Texas Heartland: A Hill Country Year is
represented by drafts by both Bones and Graves and correspondence between
Graves, Bones, and publisher Frank Wardlaw. Accompanying correspondence,
research material, and drafts of Graves's contribution to
The Water Hustlers, a book about water
resource development, are reviews of the book and Graves's research for an
updated later edition.
Research material, correspondence, and drafts of Graves's articles for
Holiday about Rice University, Carlsbad
Caverns, and the Mexican border are present. An article about artist Clara
Williamson is accompanied by notes from Graves's interview with her. A piece on
John W. Thomason, Jr., written as an introduction for
A Thomason Sketchbook: Drawings and also
published in
Southwest Review, includes photocopies of
sketches by Thomason.
In a talk delivered at an HRHRC-sponsored gathering of Knopf authors in
September 1995, Graves discussed his thoughts on his association with Knopf
publishers.
Other manuscripts at the HRHRC relating to Graves and his work may be
found in the Margaret Cousins, James Frank Dobie, and Genesis West collections.
In addition, the Center's Art Collection houses drawings by John Groth for
The Last Running.
Acquisition
Purchase, 1975-76 (reg. # 6540, #6883), and gift, 1995 (gift #
10375)
Access
Open for research, with the exception of manuscripts for an early
novel,
A Speckled Horse, which is restricted
until five years after Graves's death.
Processed by
Katherine Mosley, 1995
Index Terms
Correspondents
Dobie, J. Frank (James
Frank), 1888-1964.
Gannett, Lewis,
1891-1966.
Guthrie, A. B. (Alfred
Bertram), 1901- .
Hartley, Margaret L., 1909-
.
Knopf, Alfred A.,
1892-1984.
Langbein, Walter Basil,
1907- .
Lish, Gordon.
Mitchell, John
G.
Rosenfeld,
Arnold.
Rothberg,
Abraham.
Schaffner, John.
Wardlaw, Frank
Harper.
Subjects
Authors, American.
Authors and
publishers.
Literary agents.
Organizations
Alfred A. Knopf,
Inc.
Document Types
Galley proofs.
John Graves Papers--Folder List
Series I. Works by John Graves,
1957-75, 1995
1
1
Aunt Clara's World, correspondence,
research notes, and draft,
1969-70
1
2
The Biggest Hole in the Ground,
[Carlsbad Article], correspondence, research notes, and draft,
1960-61
Goodbye to a River
1
3-5
Brazos Book--Correspondence,
1959-64
1
6
Typescript draft, bound,
nd
2
1-3
Printer's typescript,
ca. 1960. With design and layouts by Carl
Hertzog
Corrected galley proofs,
April and May 1960. Two sets, one with illustrations
(housed in galley files)
Hard Scrabble
2
4
Correspondence, bibliography, notes and passages,
[notebook],
1970-74
3
1
Esquire Condensation,
correspondence and drafts,
1972
3
2-4
Old Working Draft, heavily revised typescript,
nd
3
5
Working Copy--Final Version, revised photocopy final
typescript,
May 1973
3
6
Revised final typescript, with printer's, editor's and
designer's markings,
Oct. 1973
(1 of 3 folders)
4
1-2
Revised final typescript, with printer's, editor's and
designer's markings, cont.
4
3-4
Page proofs (slicks),
[1974]
4
5-6
Printed copy--in gatherings, unbound,
1974. Copy editor's set of folded and gathered
sheets
Corrected galley proofs,
Jan. 1974 (housed in galley files)
4
7
The Hard-Used Land, correspondence,
research notes, and drafts, bound,
1974-75
5
1
The Old Breed: A Note on John W. Thomason
Jr., correspondence; research material, including photocopy sketches by
Thomason; drafts; and printed text from
Southwest Review,
1966-69
5
2
The Overlap Land, correspondence,
research notes, and drafts,
1960-63
5
3
A Piece of River, correspondence and
drafts,
1957-59
5
4
Remarks for HRC/Knopf Gathering at Scholz
Garten, Austin, Wednesday 9/13/95 [speech], typescript,
nd
5
5-6
Rice University: The Pangs of
Change, correspondence, research material, drafts, and tearsheet,
1962-64
5
7
Texas Heartland: A Hill Country Year,
with Jim Bones, Jr., correspondence, research notes, and drafts,
1974-75
The Water Hustlers.
You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet: Water Planning
in Texas
6
1-3
Corr., notes, text, later material, etc.,
(correspondence, research notes, and drafts),
1970-71
6
4
Material for possible updating and reviews and recent
correspondence,
1971-73
John Graves Papers--Index of Correspondents
- Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. (Susan Burke, Ashbel Green, Sidney R.
Jacobs, Cynthia Johnston, Alfred A. Knopf, William A. Koshland, Harding Lemay,
Bill McCullough, Harold Strauss, and Sophie Wilkins)--1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 2.4
- American Heritage Publishing Company (Robert L. Reynolds and E. M.
(Ernest Milton) Halliday, 1913-)--1.1
-
Atlantic Monthly (Robert Manning,
1919-)--4.7
- Atlantic Monthly Press (Peter Davison)--1.3
- Ballew, W. V., Jr.--6.4
- Baskin, C. R. (Texas Water Development Board)--6.1
- Bates, Marston, 1906-1974--1.4
- Bones, Jim--2.4, 5.7
- Book-of-the-Month Club (Elizabeth Easton)--1.5
-
Boston globe (Frederick J. O'Neal)--5.5
- Brown's Book Shop. Houston, Texas (Ted Brown)--1.5
- Curtis Publishing Company--1.2
- Davison, Peter--1.3
- Dobie, J. Frank (James Frank), 1888-1964--1.5
-
Esquire (Margaret Falk and Gordon
Lish)--2.4, 3.1
- Gannett, Lewis, 1891-1966--1.4
- Guthrie, A. B. (Alfred Bertram), 1901- --1.4
- Halliday, E. M. (Ernest Milton), 1913- --1.1
- Hartley, Margaret L., 1909- --5.1
- Henry Holt and Company (Walter Bradbury)--1.3
- Hertzog, Carl--1.4, 1.5
-
Holiday (James Cerruti, Irene G. Corson,
Arnold W. Ehrlich, Richard L. Field, Ruth Graves, and Arno Karlen)--1.2, 5.2,
5.3, 5.5
-
Horizon (Margery Darrell)--1.5
-
Houston chronicle--5.5
-
Houston post--5.5
- see also Rosenfeld, Arnold
- Jackson, Harry, 1924- --1.3
- Kingsport Press--1.4
- Knopf, Alfred A., 1892-1984
- see Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
- Langbein, Walter Basil, 1907- --6.1, 6.4
- Lish, Gordon
- see
Esquire
- Macmillan & Co. (R. Q. Yeatman)--1.5
- Manning, Robert, 1919- --4.7
- Mitchell, John G.
- see Sierra Club
- Nicholson, Patrick James, 1921- --1.3
- Office of the Collector of Customs. Dallas, Texas--1.5
- Random House (Firm) (Martha L. McGill)--2.4
-
The Reporter (New York, 1949-) (Cyrilly
Abels)--1.5
- Rosenfeld, Arnold--5.1
- Rothberg, Abraham--2.4, 6.4
- Schaffner, John (Victor Chapin, 1907-1966 and Hubert
Creekmore)--1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 2.4, 3.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.5, 6.1, 6.4
- Sierra Club (Peter Graves, John G. Mitchell, Richard Shannon, and
Connie Stallings)--6.1, 6.4
-
Southwest Review (Margaret L. Hartley,
1909-)--5.1
-
Sports Illustrated (Time, inc.) (Percy
Knauth, 1914-)--5.3
- Texas A&M University Press (Margaret Ingram and Frank Harper
Wardlaw)--5.7
- Thomason, John W., Mrs.--5.1
- Twichell, Trigg--6.1
- University of Texas Press (Margarette Sharpe, Frank Harper
Wardlaw, and John Edward Weems)--5.1
- Vandiver, Frank Everson, 1925- --5.5
- Wardlaw, Frank Harper--5.1, 5.7
- Watkins, T. H. (Tom H.), 1936- --6.1
- Williams, George (Rice University)--5.5
- Young, R. A.--6.1