Overview
Journals of the American writer John Cheever.
Dates
- Creation: 1934-1982
Language of Materials
Materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
A portion of this collection is not housed at the Houghton Library but is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. Retrieval requires advance notice. Readers should check with Houghton Public Services staff to determine what material is offsite and retrieval policies and times.
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Formerly restricted until 2000 July 17.
Extent
3.75 linear feet (27 volumes, 1 box)The journals span approximately 48 years and reflect Cheever's personal and professional life. The journals note events of the day intermittently; they are first and foremost a record of Cheever's inner life. Within them he developed material for stories and novels and meditated on writing, sexuality, alcohol, marriage, children, and friends.
No attempt has been made here to record in detail all topics covered in the journals; some notes of events, places, and titles are taken from typed and manuscript summary notes inserted by family members or editors in the process of editing the journals for publication.
Some inserted items were left probably as place markers, by Cheever as he re-read the journals, or later by family members.
Biographical / Historical
John Cheever (1912-1982) was an American writer.
Arrangement
The journals are arranged chronologically.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
90M-60. Journals purchased from Mary W. Cheever, Cedar Lane, Ossining, New York; received: 1990 July 26.
Bibliography
General note
A portion of this collection is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. See use restrictions below for additional information.
Processing Information
Processed by: Melanie Wisner
Cheever only occasionally dated his journal entries; dates have been assigned mainly on the basis of events mentioned in the text.
The journals were kept originally in three-ring binders with material sometimes inserted between leaves. The leaves have been removed and placed in folders; the binders are retained as item (29). The inserted material has been listed and placed at the end of the folder sequence for each journal.
Some leaves or sections of journals may have been moved from their original sequence by Cheever; for ease of reference, the journal leaves have been numbered by the cataloger in the order in which they were found.
- Title
- Cheever, John. John Cheever journals, circa 1934-1982: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou00054
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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