Skip to main content

“Coquetry” typescript poem, with letter from H.L. Mencken to William Griffith

 Collection
Call Number: MS P136

Overview

This letter from H.L. Mencken to William Griffith, October 4, 1930, gently rejecting and returning the enclosed typescript of Griffith's poem, "Coquetry", was found laid in Griffith’s copy of Mencken’s book, Treatise of the Gods (1930).

Dates

  • Creation: October 4, 1930

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

No access restriction

Conditions Governing Use

Spencer Library staff may determine use restrictions dependent on the physical condition of manuscript materials.

Biography of William Griffith

William Griffith, born 1876 in Memphis, Missouri, had a long and productive career in New York City, first as a newspaper man and later as a magazine editor (Hampton’s Magazine, 1906-1909; Travel Magazine, 1910; McCall’s Magazine, 1911-1912; National Sunday Magazine, 1912-1916; and Current Opinion, 1917-1925) and book editor (Forum Press, The Authors Digest, etc.). He was also the author of numerous works of prose (History of Kansas City, 1900, etc.), and of verse (Trialogues, 1897; City pastorals and other poems, 1918; and Loves and losses of Pierrot, 1924, etc.). He had been president of the Poetry Society of America. This typescript poem, “Coquetry,” is dated 6 years before his death in 1936.

Extent

2 folders (3 pieces)

Language of Materials

English

Physical Location

MS P136

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Acquired by 1963.

Related Materials

Correspondence of H. L. Mencken, Department of Special Collections, MS 165, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas

Separated Materials

Found laid in Mencken's Treatise of the Gods, 1930 (with Griffith's book-plate).

Bibliography

"William Griffith, Editor, 70, Is Dead," The New York Times (April 2, 1936), 25.
Title
Guide to a Poem by William Griffith Collection
Subtitle
“Coquetry” typescript poem, with letter from H.L. Mencken to William Griffith
Author
Finding aid prepared by alh, 1963; revised by ksc, 2006. Finding aid encoded by skt, 2006.
Date
2006
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Finding aid written in English.
Finding aid permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/10407/5563139963
Preferred citation
“Coquetry” typescript poem, with letter from H.L. Mencken to William Griffith, Department of Special Collections, MS P136, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas

Repository Details

Part of the University of Kansas. Kenneth Spencer Research Library Repository

Contact:
1450 Poplar Lane
Lawrence KS 66045-7616 United States
785-864-4334