W. Irving Way papers

Collection

Identifier: VAULT-Wing-MS-141

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Correspondence with authors, collectors, and publishers, newspaper clippings, sample sheets, and notes, dated between 1885 and 1931. Letters to Way from 1885 to 1896 discuss authors; printing and publishing matters--there are two letters from Frank E. Hopkins at the De Vinne Press, concerning printing papers, and one from F.F. Browne, editor of "The Dial," at A.C. McClurg Co. in Chicago; book orders, including a copy of "Vixilla Regi" from D.B. Updike in Boston; and Way's sponsorship of Henry Sherwin for membership in the Grolier Club. Most of the letters of 1897 are subscription orders to Way, treasurer of the Duodecimos, for copies of their new publication "The poems of Mrs. Anne Bradstreet with an introduction by Charles Eliot Norton." Other correspondence includes announcements, illustrated by J. Winfred Spenceley, of an exhibit organized by Way of engraved bookplates by Spenceley; notes from R.U. Johnson of The Century magazine, M.J. Ferguson of the Sutro Library in Sacramento, Calif., and an unsigned, undated note from publisher John Lane of the Bodley Head. There is also a letter from Way to C.S. Wainwright which contains numerous newspaper clippings on the writer Eugene Field, and his wife; a mailing label sent by F.W. Goudy at the Village Letter Foundery in Marlborough-on-Hudson, N.Y., on which Way has scribbled a line to Wainwright, dated May 24, 1929, two years before his death; and a typewritten list, dated Nov. 30, 1931, of some of Way's books, with an attached note to Wainwright from Gay Berman at the Times-Mirror Printing House, offering the books for sale. Most of the correspondence is addressed to Way in Chicago or Los Angeles, and many of the letters remain folded in their stamped and postmarked envelopes. Additional correspondents include Thomas B. Mosher; Andrew Lang; Harriet Monroe; A. Edward Newton; Joseph B. Gilder; Wilbur Stone; and Sam. P. Avery.

Dates

1885-1931, bulk 1892-1900
Majority of material found within 1892 - 1900

Creator

Way, W. Irving (Washington Irving) (Person)

Biographical / Historical

Chicago author and publisher. Way was founding partner of the firm of Way & Williams, and was responsible for much of its editorial policy.

Extent

0.2 Linear Feet (16 folders)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Chicago author and publisher. Way was founding partner of the firm of Way & Williams, and was responsible for much of its editorial policy. Correspondence with authors, collectors, and publishers, newspaper clippings, sample sheets, and notes, dated between 1885 and 1931.