Summary Information
Norman Bassett Papers
1932-1956
Mss 186; Micro 574
0.6 c.f. (2 archives boxes) and 1 reel of microfilm (35mm)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers of a president of Demco Education Corporation, a Madison, Wisconsin, printing and library supply company which published Demcourier (1932-1943), a catalog-literary magazine. The bulk of the collection concerns preparation of this magazine. Included are manuscript copies of articles and correspondence pertaining to special features on notable American authors and artists such as Thomas Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry, August Derleth, Carrie Jacobs-Bond, Rockwell Kent, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and Louis Untermeyer. The collection is available both in paper form and on microfilm.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00186 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Norman Bassett, first president of Demco Education Corporation, was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on 7 January 1891. He studied literature and art at the University of Wisconsin, and received a B.A. in 1914. In 1931 he bought the Democrat Printing Company, a forms printing business in Madison, Wisconsin, and incorporated it as Demco Library Supplies, Inc., adding a wide variety of library related materials to the product line. In January 1972, Demco was acquired and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the George Banta Company of Menasha, Wisconsin, one of the nation's largest educational printers. Bassett retired from Demco in 1972, and became a director of Banta.
Beginning in February 1932, Demco published an advertising magazine entitled Demcourier, which was distributed to libraries across the country. From the outset, Demcourier was more than an advertising journal, as it included literary articles contributed by the magazine's chief editor, Margaret Thoma, and a special series on “American Authors as Printers” by Marjorie K. Reely. This literary aspect of the magazine was expanded in 1935 when Demcourier featured a Mark Twain centennial edition. Popular response to this issue prompted Bassett to adapt the format to a series of special issues on various American notables, with essays contributed by the person to be honored as well as other figures prominent in his or her field. The first of these issues appeared in November 1937, and was devoted to Rockwell Kent, an American artist and illustrator. Demcourier was discontinued in 1943.
Scope and Content Note
The Norman Bassett Papers (1932-1956) consist primarily of correspondence between Bassett, his literary editors, and various American writers, publishers, artists, and composers concerning the publication of Demcourier. Included in the correspondence are bibliographic checklists and manuscript drafts of articles for the journal. American notables considered as subjects for Demcourier special issues included artists, authors, poets, play- wrights, cartoonists, and composers. For more detail, see the container list.
The correspondence ranges from initial requests for a person's permission to prepare a special feature, through the solicitation of articles, photos, and bibliographies, to the post-publication problems of distribution. Some files contain frank evaluations of the individual and his or her work. Individual files vary greatly in fullness, and often overlap. For example, John Steuart Curry and Thomas Hart Benton, contributed both to their own and to each other's issues. Rockwell Kent, a personal friend of Bassett, contributed to several issues. The papers are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the person to whom the issue was to be devoted, and then chronologically within.
The file on Robert Henry (1945-1946), a Wisconsin Congressman, does
not concern Demcourier, but contains a series of letters between Henry and his friend Bassett concerning Henry's opposition to the Office of Price Administration and the full employment issue of 1946.
The file on Mary Reely (1937) consists of correspondence concerning the “American Authors as Printers” series and draft articles on Artemus Ward, William Dean Howells, Lafcadio Hearn, and William Allen White.
The Miscellaneous file includes requests for copies of the Rockwell Kent cover design and photo, correspondence concerning issues that never were used in publication, and draft articles on topics such as the Library Research Division of Demco, serious and light reading, and newspaperman Roman Coffman.
Related Material
A complete bound set of Demcourier can be found in Memorial Library, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Norman Bassett, Madison, Wisconsin in 1954, and August 2, 1974. Accession Number: M74-348
Processed by Susan Sharlin, October 20, 1975.
Contents List
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Box-folder
1-1
Reel
1
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Anderson, Carl, 1941-1942, n.d.
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Box-folder
1-2
Reel
1
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Benton, Thomas Hart, 1937-1938, 1941, n.d.
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Box-folder
1-3
Reel
1
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Cather, Willa, 1936-1938
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Box-folder
1-4
Reel
1
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Curry, John Steuart, 1937-1941, n.d.
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Box-folder
1-5
Reel
1
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Davies, Joseph E., 1942-1943, n.d.
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Box-folder
1-6
Reel
1
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Derleth, August, 1940-1942, n.d.
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Box-folder
1-7
Reel
1
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Glasgow, Ellen, 1938
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Box-folder
1-8
Reel
1
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Henry, Robert J., 1945-1946
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Box-folder
1-9
Reel
1
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Hurd, Peter, 1943-1944, n.d.
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Box-folder
1-10
Reel
1
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Jacobs-Bond, Carrie, 1938-1940
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Box-folder
1-11
Reel
1
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Kent, Rockwell, 1936-1954, n.d.
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Box-folder
1-12
Reel
1
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Marsh, Reginald, 1942-1943
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Box-folder
1-13
Reel
1
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Moore, Merrill, 1942, 1956
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Box-folder
1-14
Reel
1
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O'Neill, Eugene, 1936-1937
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Box-folder
1-15
Reel
1
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Pinkerton, Katherine, 1943, n.d.
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Box-folder
2-1
Reel
1
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Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan, 1942-1943, n.d.
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Box-folder
2-2
Reel
1
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Reely, Mary, 1937, n.d.
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Box-folder
2-3
Reel
1
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Tarkington, Booth, 1932-1938, n.d.
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Box-folder
2-4
Reel
1
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Untermeyer, Louis, 1936-1940, n.d.
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Box-folder
2-5
Reel
1
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Miscellaneous, 1937-1943, 1950, n.d.
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