Manuscripts Collection
Donald Wandrei was born on April 20, 1908 in St. Paul, Minnesota to Albert C.
(1872-1942) and Jeannette Adelaide (1878-1972) Wandrei. He had three siblings,
David G. ([1907?]-1959), Howard (1909-1956), and Jeannette Alberta (1913-1972).
Donald received his B.A. degree with a major in English prose from the
University of Minnesota in 1928. While in school he was a contributor to
the
After graduating, Donald moved to New York City and worked as advertising manager
for the publishing firm E.P. Dutton & Co. He returned to St. Paul in 1929;
completed three years of course work towards a Ph.D. in English; and, together
with his brother Howard, published a second volume of verse entitled
In 1939 Donald and August Derleth founded the publishing firm Arkham House with
the express purpose of publishing the works of H. P. Lovecraft. The firm's first
book, a Lovecraft collection edited by both Wandrei and Derleth, was
entitled
Donald returned to St. Paul after serving in the army during World War II (1942-1945). He moved back to New York in 1947 and moved to Hollywood in 1950. He returned to St. Paul in 1952, where he remained until his death in 1987.
Howard Wandrei, Donald's younger brother, was born on September 24, 1909. At eighteen he was arrested for burglary and spent almost three years at the Minnesota State Reformatory in St. Cloud (1928-1930). During his incarceration he continued his education through extension courses offered by the University of Minnesota and received his B.A. degree, cum laude, in 1932.
Howard and Donald collaborated on the book
Howard moved to New York in 1933. He married Connie Colestock in 1936 and they had one child, Suzanne, in 1941. The couple was divorced in 1946. Howard moved back to St. Paul in 1945 and lived there for the remainder of his life. He died on September 5, 1956.
Biographical data was taken from the collection.
The papers include correspondence (1898-1987), photographs, school records (1921-1932), military records (1942-1945), wills (1949-1987), birth and death certificates (1926, 1972), tax returns (1941-1986), deeds (1899-1949), stock performance records (1938-1951), legal documents (1900-1987), an autograph book (1927-1936), literary manuscripts, photocopied short stories, newspaper clippings (1928-1986), and printed matter.
Topics include Donald and Howard Wandrei's education and early writing efforts, Howard's incarceration at the Minnesota State Reformatory (1928-1930), the brothers' writing careers and social lives in New York City (1927-1950), Donald's involvement in the publication of the works of H. P. Lovecraft and his friendship with August Derleth and other prominent authors and publishers, and Donald's military service during World War II.
These documents are organized into the following sections:
Howard Wandrei correspondence (1934-1943) is also located in Special Collections, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pa.
Accession number: 15,101; 15,346
Processed by: Frank Hennessy
Catalog ID number: 09-00039932
Includes Wandrei's high school grade reports (1921-1924), university transcripts (1924-1931), and military records consisting of orders, rosters, and a history of the 65th Division. The military records document Wandrei's service with the 357th regiment of the 90th infantry division at Camp Barkeley, Texas; the 413th regiment of the 104th infantry division at Camp Adair, Oregon (1942-1943); and the 259th regiment of the 65th infantry division, which was stationed at Camp Shelby, Mississippi (1943-1944) and which took part in the Allied march across Germany and Austria as part of General George Patton's Third Army (1945).
The largest portion of this section consists of correspondence (1924-1987) with family, friends, and literary colleagues. Topics include family matters, Donald's social life, his writing and publishing career, H. P. Lovecraft's writing and estate, the Lovecraft circle, discussions of the correspondents' literary works, August Derleth, and Arkham House. There is also a file of correspondence related to a claim Donald submitted to the Crime Victims Reparation Board after sustaining a severe beating during the robbery of his home on January 26, 1982.
The following correspondents' letters have been photocopied and the originals placed in reserve: Clark Ashton Smith, Frank Belknap Long, W. Paul Cook, Robert H. Barlow, Robert E. Howard, and Hannes Bok. Other notable correspondents include Robert Bloch (1973-1987), Joseph Payne Brennan (1959, 1973), Carl Jacobi (1926-1985), Alexander Laing (Nov. 30, 1931), Fritz Leiber, A. Merritt (1934), E. Hoffman Price (1971-1982), Seabury Quinn (1933), Colin Wilson (1973, 1975), and F. Paul Wilson (1971).
The pocket-size diary pages record Donald's mushroom hunting trips to various places (often around Hastings) in southeastern Minnesota. Most of the entries record the number of morel mushrooms gathered, as well as the general whereabouts of the finds and notes about the weather, the relative abundance of mushrooms, and his companions. The latter often include his mother and "Mrs. G."
This series contains examples of Donald's writing, consisting of a scrapbook
of articles and editorials he wrote for the
After August Derleth's death (1971) Wandrei won a lawsuit he filed against Derleth's estate regarding the copyright ownership of the H. P. Lovecraft works that Donald and Derleth had jointly owned. A series of correspondence between Wandrei's lawyers and the Derleth estate executor and Arkham House lawyer, Forrest Hartmann, together with legal documents and accounting records (1973-1987) related to the case, are included.
There is also a file containing correspondence, newspaper articles, and legal
documents related to a Lovecraft fan and researcher named R. Alain Everts.
The papers document a controversy surrounding Everts' research methods,
which resulted in his arrest in 1973 based on accusations that he stole
Lovecraft material belonging to Brown University. Additional legal documents
relate to a copyright infringement lawsuit (1983) that Everts, doing
business as The Strange Company, filed against Arkham House involving a
collection of Richard L. Tierney's poetry entitled
The next set of files is related to publishers, authors, and artists in the
science fiction/fantasy genre and begins with a series of letters that H. P.
Lovecraft wrote to Clark Ashton Smith (1922-1935) and Helen V. Sully
(1933-1936). There is also a group of correspondence and miscellaneous
papers connected with Wandrei's involvement with, and critique of, more
recent Lovecraft publications including L. Sprague de Camp's biography of
Lovecraft (1974-1980), Wandrei's own editing of Lovecraft's selected letters
(1971-1976) and a new Lovecraft collection,
There is a group of papers related to August Derleth composed of correspondence, newspaper clippings, and a newsletter pertaining to the August Derleth Society (1974-1984), and a file of correspondence related to access restrictions on the Derleth papers held by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin (1964-1981).
The remaining papers consist of correspondence (1975-1985) and printed matter primarily concerned with the annual World Fantasy Convention and Donald's refusal to participate in or support the project due to his belief that the convention was established by Kirby McCauley as a commercial exploitation of the memory of H. P. Lovecraft and a promotion of McCauley's private literary agency.
Includes manuscript and typed correspondence by literary colleagues of Wandrei: Clark Ashton Smith (1924-1927), Frank Belknap Long (1927-1975), W. Paul Cook (1927-1946), Robert H. Barlow (1932-1939), Robert E. Howard (Feb. 21, 1933), and Hannes Bok (undated and 1939-1963).
Photocopies of all of these letters have been placed in the main body of the Donald Wandrei Papers.
The initial papers in this section consist of personal records including Howard's school records documenting his education at the University of Minnesota and his course work while incarcerated at the Minnesota State Reformatory.
The bulk of the papers consist of correspondence (1927-1956) with friends, family, and publishers. There are small groups of letters from Howard's mother and from Donald Wandrei, and a file of letters and miscellaneous papers related to Howard's wife Connie and his daughter Suzanne.
One of the primary correspondents is Katie Newton, a long-time friend whose letters (undated and 1951-1956) discuss her life with her husband Ken while living in Houston, Texas; Howard's health; news and issues related to family and mutual friends including Donald Wandrei's alcoholism; Ken's battle with cancer; and Katie's move to California after Ken's death (1954).
Another principal correspondent is Gerald E. Fosbroke, a friend who promoted a theory of character analysis based on an individual's physical features. Howard's interest in Fosbroke's theories is reflected in a group of Fosbroke's essays and articles (undated and 1946-1947) and in correspondence related to Howard's efforts at having a book by Fosbroke published (1933-1954). There is also a series of personal correspondence (1951-1955) between Howard and Gerald and Josephine Fosbroke.
Much of the correspondence related to Howard's writing consists of rejection notices he received while he lived in New York. Many of these stories were resubmitted and eventually published, and some of the correspondence relates to requests for publication rights to previously published material. The last group of papers consists of photocopied stories written by Howard under various pseudonyms and published in several national magazines.
Includes letters (1928-1942) from sons Donald and Howard, covering the years Howard was in the reformatory (1928-1930), the period they lived in New York City, and during Donald's service in the Army (1942-1945). Howard's letters from the reformatory discuss books he read; his artwork, writing, and violin practice; and his university extension courses. Other topics include the brothers' employment, writing careers, and social life.
There is also a group of correspondence related to Albert's work as a lawyer and as legal editor with West Publishing Company. Most of this correspondence consists of Wandrei's communications with the law firm of Forbes, Lounsbury & Forbes of Wahpeton, North Dakota regarding its representation of Wandrei's sister and brother-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Huber, in legal affairs they became involved with while living in North Dakota (1920-1923).
A final group of papers, composed of correspondence, legal documents, and newspaper clippings, is related to the extended Wandrei family. The primary topic here is the estate of Albert's brother, William F. Wandrei, and Howard and Donald Wandrei's involvement as trustees of property owned by William in North Dakota (1957-1986).
The correspondence (1927-1972) in this section consists primarily of letters from Donald and Howard, and a substantial amount of material discussed in the earlier letters (1927-1942) parallels that found in the letters to their father.
Donald's correspondence begins with a trip he took to New York state in 1927 and his move to New York City a year later. The letters proceed to discuss his job search and finances, his writing, his friends and social life in New York, and his experiences in the army during World War II.
Donald's later letters were written during a trip Jeannette took to the West Coast (Jan.-April 1947), during Donald's second stay in New York City (1947-1950), and during his subsequent move to Hollywood (1950-1952). Topics include Donald's observations of the stock market and his advice regarding his mother's stocks and bonds, his friends and social life, his growing interest in drama and his efforts at play and motion picture script writing, Jeannette's health, and Donald's expectation of wealth based on the discovery of oil on land inherited from his uncle William (1951-1952).
Howard's correspondence begins during a summer job he held at Yellowstone Park (1927) and continues with letters he wrote during his years in the reformatory (1928-1930) and while living in New York City (1933-1945).
There is a substantial increase in the frequency of Howard's letters during his final years in New York (1943-1947). Topics include his daughter Suzanne; problems in his marriage that led to his divorce, including his wife's infidelity and her decision to move back to Minnesota with their daughter; and the management of their New York apartment after his move back to St. Paul (1945-1947).
Other papers include records of Jeannette and Donald's stock purchases, accompanied by performance and dividend records; cemetery records associated with the burials of Albert, Howard, Jeannette Alberta, and Jeannette Adelaide Wandrei; and a group of files related to Jeannette's family, the Garnseys.
The papers pertaining to the Garnsey family include a small amount of genealogical material; records documenting Jeannette's father George W. Garnsey's military service during the Civil War; correspondence, genealogical data, newspaper clippings, and membership applications and certificates connected with Jeannette's membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution; correspondence and legal documents connected with the settlement of Jeannette's brother Edward's estate; and correspondence and legal documents related to a dispute concerning Jeannette's ownership of Garnsey family property in Le Sueur, Minnesota.
There is a small amount of material related to these two family members consisting of letters from Donald and Howard (1928-1957), Jeannette's autograph book (1927-1936), David's obituary (April 8, 1959), and newspaper clippings and marriage announcements related to David's family. Jeannette Alberta is also represented in letters that she sent Donald (1932-1954) and her mother (undated and 1943-1953).
The photographs consist primarily of black and white portraits of Wandrei and Garnsey family members and friends (undated and 1891-1985). Two of the more prominent subjects represented in the portraits are the Albert C. Wandrei family during the children's early years in St. Paul, and Donald Wandrei's friends and literary colleagues including Barbara Craigie, Don Herron, Kirby McCauley, Ramsey Campbell, and Clem Haupers. There is also a photograph of H. P. Lovecraft filed with a letter Wandrei received from Dirk Mosig (Feb. 20, 1974) and a photograph of Clark Ashton Smith with a letter he received from Smith (Oct. 8, 1946).
There are also photographs of the Wandrei family home at 1152 Portland Avenue, St. Paul; Minnesota recreation spots such as Taylors Falls, Otter Tail Lake, Lake Phalen, and White Bear Lake; and views of Niagara Falls, the Lincoln Memorial, and the New York City skyline.