Scope and Content Note

With one exception, this collection lends itself to simple chronological organization, and is so arranged. Osborn has corresponded with a number of prominent persons in the literary and entertainment worlds, and the following list shows the chief among these, with inclusive dates indicating the period of correspondence.

*Baker, George Pierce

1926, May 1? - 1928, Nov. 5

Berlin, Irving

1954, Mar. 31

Bloomgarden, Kermit

1961, Jan. 24

*Cronyn, Hume

1954, Feb. 18

Evans, Maurice

undated

Franklin, Sidney A.

1963, May 5

Gielgud, Sir John

1960, May 20

*Hayward, Leland

1954, June 28 - 1957, June 3

Hecht, Ben

1959, Feb. 4

Kazan, Elia

1954, Apr. 19 - 1960, Dec. 27, undated

Knopf, Alfred A.

1944, Dec. 26

*Logan, Joshua

1944, June 23 - 1963, Oct. 23, undated

March, Fredric

1963, May 30 - 1963, June 4

*Marquand, John P.

1951, July 30

Mencken, H. L.

1926, Mar. 8

Mielziner, Jo

1962, Jan. 23

Moore, Victor

1953, Jan. 10

Pemberton, Brock

1927, Mar. 22 - 1929, Feb. 12

Robbins, Jerome

1962, Aug. 3

*Rogers, Richard

1958, Dec. 10 - 1963, June 3

Schary, Dore

1958, Dec. 3

Selznick, David 0.

1960, Mar. 4 - 1960, June 24

Stewart, Jim

1961, Nov. 8

Tracy, Spencer

1941, Nov. 27 - 1942, Oct. 6

Untermeyer, Louis

1958, Oct. 17 - 1962, Oct. 30

van Druten, John

1953, Sept. 16 - 1953, Sept. 25

Wiman, Dwight Deere

1930, Mar. 25 - 1930, Apr. 3

Zanuck, Darryl F.

1955, Apr. 28

In addition, two scrapbooks, Vols. 1 and 2, contain significant correspondence, in part from those whose names above are marked with an asterisk (*).

Scrapbook Vol. 1 contains a George Pierce Baker letter criticizing Hotbed, 1928, Nov. 12.

Scrapbook Vol. 2 contains correspondence from prominent theater and literary people, primarily in the form of congratulatory telegrams relating to the 1951 production of Point of No Return. In many cases, these persons are represented nowhere else in the collection, and are therefore listed in detail here. Because this correspondence is fastened permanently into the scrapbook, the following order of listing for Vol. 2 is the order in which each letter or telegram appears. This method, though it involves the repetition of some names, appeared best to the processor since most of the correspondence carries an identical or closely similar date.

Hayward, Lela

1951, Dec. 13

Marquand, John P.

1951, Dec. 12

Stickney, Dorothy, and Lindsay, Howard

1951, Dec. 13

Crouse, Russel

1951, Dec. 13

Bocher, Main

1951, Dec. 13

Logan, Joshua

1951, Dec. 12

Rose, Billy

1951, Dec. 12

Porter, Cole

1951, Oct. 29

Selznick, Irene

1951, Dec. 13

Ferber, Edna

1951, Dec. 12

Franklin, Sidney

1951, Dec. 13

Hammerstein, Oscar II, and Dorothy

1951, Oct, 28

Rogers, Richard

1951, Oct. 29

Crony, Hums, and Jessica

1951, Dec. 13

Burrows, Abe

1951, Dec. 12

Rogers, Richard, and Hammerstein, Oscar II

1951, Dec. 13

Marquand, John P., to Hayward

1951, Nov.

Following the correspondence are business papers and contracts. In the case where a letter was found attached to a particularly large group of business papers, or to an unusually bulky contract, it was removed, placed with correspondence, and cross-referenced. All letters were removed from box office receipts.

After the business papers follow play and screenplay manuscripts, and then TV scripts, all of which are arranged in alphabetical order, because many carry no date. After a small group of unidentified Osborn manuscripts are placed three works by other authors; also in this section are placed set designs for Maiden Voyage, executed by Jo Mielziner, and playbills for all of Osborn's major plays.

The collection contains copious quantities of clippings, dated but unsorted. These include reviews of all of Osborn's works produced, as well as general and miscellaneous articles relating to Osborn and phases of his work. The magazine article concerning Osborn, “A Superior Writing Talent,” was placed separately in Box 15 because of the important biographical details it contains.

Photographs from productions follow the clippings. Photographs from East of Eden, containing a large number of stills of the late James Dean, have been removed to the WCFTR Film Title File. Package 1 contains personal photographs, including pictures of Osborn himself as well as a number of other celebrities.

Four scrapbooks, Vols. 1-4, are included in the collection. The first includes clippings and other material relating to two of Osborn's earliest productions, Hotbed, and A Ledge, along with other, unrelated, items. Vols. 2 and 3 relate to Point of No Return, produced in 1951-53; while Vol. 4 contains a record of the 1953 revival of On Borrowed Time.

Vols. 7-13, in Box 20, include a group of annotated novels from which Osborn at different times adapted a play or screenplay. Annotations in several, such as Point of No Return or The Yearling, are extensive, and provide important documentation of the method by which a master literary craftsman converts a previously written work into a new medium.

Finally, at the end of the collection, in Package 2, is placed a striking water color, “The Red General,” a gift to the Osborns from famous stage designer Jo Mielziner; and, in Package 3, four posters for stage productions Osborn has written.