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Collection Data
- Description
- The papers of Truman Capote consist chiefly of holograph and typescript manuscripts of his works, both published and unpublished. The collection also includes correspondence, printed matter, photographs, artwork, sound recordings, and personal miscellany. Material related to In Cold Blood forms an important part of the collection and reflects Capote's five years of research and involvement in the Clutter murder case upon which the book was based. The bulk of the correspondence consists of letters and postcards from Capote to Andrew Lyndon and to Alvin Dewey and Marie Dewey and letters received from his lover and mentor, Newton Arvin. Other correspondents include Jack Dunphy, Leo Lerman, Donald Windham, Cecil Beaton, John O'Shea, Joseph Fox, Irving Lazar, Alan Schwartz and family members.
- Names
- Capote, Truman, 1924-1984 (Creator)
- Arvin, Newton, 1900-1963 (Author)
- Dewey, Alvin (Addressee)
- Dewey, Marie (Addressee)
- Dunphy, Jack (Author)
- Fox, Joseph, 1776-1816 (Author)
- Lazar, Irving, 1907-1993 (Author)
- Lee, Harper (Compiler)
- Lyndon, Andrew (Addressee)
- O'Shea, John (Author)
- Schwartz, Alan, 1970- (Author)
- Warhol, Andy, 1928-1987 (Photographer)
- Dewey, Alvin (Compiler)
- Dewey, Marie (Compiler)
- Dates / Origin
- Date Created: 1924 - 1992 (Approximate)
- Library locations
- Manuscripts and Archives Division
- Shelf locator: MssCol 469
- Topics
- Capote, Truman, 1924-1984
- Capote family
- Authors
- Authors, American -- 20th century
- Motion pictures -- Production and direction
- Murder -- Investigation -- Kansas
- Murder literature
- Dewey, Alvin
- Dunphy, Jack
- Genres
- Drawings
- Paintings
- Photographs
- Posters
- Scrapbooks
- Correspondence
- Notes
- Biographical/historical: Truman Capote was born Truman Streckfus Persons in New Orleans on September 24, 1924, the son of Archulus Persons and Lillie Mae Faulk. After his parents' divorce Capote was sent to live with relatives in rural Alabama. During that childhood stay in Alabama, Capote developed an abiding affection for an elderly cousin named Sook, about whom he wrote in A Christmas Memory and The Thanksgiving Visitor. Capote continued to visit the South throughout his childhood, and his experiences there were reflected in many of his books.
In 1935 Truman changed his surname to that of his newly adoptive father, Lillie Mae Faulk's second husband, Joseph Garcia Capote. Capote was then sent to a series of boarding schools in the East before being enrolled at Greenwich High School in Connecticut in 1939. Catherine Wood, an English teacher at Greenwich, recognized Capote's talents and encouraged him in his writing. Capote published short stories and poetry in the school's literary journal, the Green Witch, and wrote for the school paper. Catherine Wood remained a lifelong friend and mentor to Capote.
Capote graduated from Franklin High School in New York City and, after a short stint as a copy boy at the New Yorker, he turned to writing full time. While living in Alabama with relatives and later in New Orleans, Capote published several short stories and worked on his first novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms, which was published by Random House in 1948.
Over the next ten years Capote continued to write short stories. He also published travel pieces, journalistic articles, and interviews in the New Yorker and other magazines. In 1958 his second novel, Breakfast at Tiffany's, was published. The next year, Capote began research on the Clutter family murders in Kansas. This research formed the basis for In Cold Blood, which first appeared serially in the New Yorker (see Box 31) in 1965 and was published as a book later the same year.
In Cold Blood was well received for the most part, but the new genre it embodied, dubbed the "nonfiction novel" by Capote, engendered some controversy. Like Capote's first two books, In Cold Blood was a best seller. Capote was becoming a celebrity. He appeared frequently on television, and his social life was noted regularly in the press. While literary critics praised his works, Capote's fame arose in large part from his constant presence in the public eye.
Capote published his last novel, Music for Chameleons, in 1950. During the 1970s Esquire published excerpts from a novel in progress, Answered Prayers, which was still unfinished when Capote died on August 25, 1984.
- Content: The Truman Capote Papers (ca.1924-1992) consist of holograph manuscripts and typescripts of the author's published and unpublished work, notes and other material related to the works, Capote's high school writings, correspondence, photographs, artwork, personal miscellany, printed material, and scrapbooks.
Holograph and typescript drafts comprise the bulk of the collection, arranged alphabetically by title. Notes, clippings, and other related material (i.e. corrected galleys, dramatic adaptations written by others, notes from editors) may accompany the manuscript. The bulk of the correspondence is made up of letters and postcards, 1947-1972, from Capote to his friend Andrew Lyndon, and letters, 1961-1978, from Capote to Alvin and Marie Dewey. Alvin Dewey, of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, was the principal investigator in the murder of the Clutter family. Another large group of letters, 1947-1949, are from Capote's lover and mentor, Newton Arvin. A small group of additional correspondence includes letters from Jack Dunphy, Leo Lerman, Donald Windham, John O'Shea, Joseph Fox (editor at Random House), Irving Lazar, and Alan Schwartz. There are also letters from Capote family members. Printed matter includes published newspaper and magazine articles by and about Capote and about the Clutter case as well. Photographs are for the most part of Capote, his family and the Deweys, as well as other friends. There are six Polaroid pictures taken by Andy Warhol. One scrapbook, compiled by Marie Dewey, documents the production of the movie In Cold Blood, and includes clippings, memorabilia, and photographs. Artworks include a painting of Capote by E. Fossburgh, several sketches of Capote, posters, prints, and an oil painting of a Studio 54 ticket by Andy Warhol.
- Acquisition: 12/02/85 Alan U. Schwartz, Literary Executor, Truman Capote Estate
- Physical Description
- Extent: 17.1 linear feet (39 boxes, 1 volume, 2 oversized folders); 2 cassettes
- Type of Resource
- Text
- Still image
- Identifiers
- NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b11767497
- MSS Unit ID: 469
- Archives collections id: archives_collections_469
- RLIN/OCLC: NYPW90-A39
- Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 44e06e90-234c-0138-4533-599c34b21841
