Papers of Vincent Sheean, an American journalist whose works included newspaper articles, magazine features, and non-fiction and fiction books. Although there are materials covering the early years of Sheean's career, the bulk of the collection covers the period immediately following the Second World War until the author's death in 1975. Accordingly, the collection offers little material dealing with Sheean's newspaper career and instead deals primarily with his later books. The collection is organized into the following series: CORRESPONDENCE, JOURNALS, MANUSCRIPTS, SUBJECT FILES, FINANCIAL RECORDS, NOTEBOOKS, and PASSPORTS.
CORRESPONDENCE, 1943-1971 and undated, compromises the bulk of the Sheean collection and covers a wide variety of topics. The largest grouping is made up of correspondence between Vincent Sheean and his wife Diana Sheean, written between 1943 and 1971. The majority of this correspondence covers a long period of Vincent's travels around the world and provides a detailed look into his thoughts and opinions on the subjects that he was covering. Another significant grouping of correspondence is between Sheean and his various publishers, particularly Hamish Hamilton, Ltd. and Curtis Brown, Ltd. Most of the correspondence relating to Sheean's published works deals primarily with the aspects and issues related to the publication of various pieces with very minimal attention paid to the content in question. However, these letters are an important insight into the publishing world and the issues that are raised over the entire process of writing a book for publication, particularly a work of non-fiction. The Hamish Hamilton material is the only part of the collection that actively deals with Sheean's writings during the 1930s. General correspondence consists of various notes of congratulations and inquiries. A separate file contains the correspondence of Diana Sheean with the bulk of the material being made up of photocopies of her correspondence with Thornton Wilder.
The JOURNALS, 1944-1958, consist of eight personal journals kept by Vincent Sheean documenting his activities between May 25, 1944 and July 23, 1958. This period covers many of Sheean's travels from the United States to India, the Middle East, and Italy. While only covering a fourteen-year period, the journals provide an in-depth look into the subjects that Sheean was covering.
The MANUSCRIPTS, 1935-1975, consisting of both published and unpublished material, do not cover the entirety of Sheean's works but are nevertheless highly representative of them as a whole. The manuscripts cover books, magazine submissions, and newspaper articles. Most of these manuscripts contain notes written in their margins as well as corrections within the text. Several of the unpublished manuscripts possess accompanying letters regarding their failure to be published.
The SUBJECT FILES, 1948-1980, cover a wide variety of subjects including many individuals with whom Sheean had a long-standing relationship. Included in this collection are subject files for Indira Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Adlai Stevenson. The bulk of the subject files consist of material related to opera, including Sheean's acquaintance with Ethel Barrymore and Lotte Lehman, his writings for Opera News and Bravo, and various article manuscripts. Furthermore, the subject files contain information about the separate biographies of Sheean planned by Stan Augarten and Ted Pasca. Neither biography has been published.
The FINANCIAL RECORDS, 1933-1976, are made up of records and receipts for magazine articles and books. These pay vouchers were created by Brandt and Brandt Co. for Sheean and cover the years 1933-1976. In conjunction with the correspondence between Sheean and Hamish Hamilton, the financial records are the only part of the collection that gives a detailed listing of Sheean's early career. These records also contain several pay vouchers for work done by Diana Sheean.
The remainder of the collection, the NOTEBOOKS and PASSPORTS, serve to complement the previously mentioned material. Notebooks, many possessing specific dates, help to support correspondence and manuscripts and give some insight into how Sheean collected material for his writings. The passports help to determine where Sheean traveled and at what time.
