COLL/069 Guide to the Peter De Vries Collection De Vries, Peter Collection

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Hekman Library 1855 Knollcrest Circle SE Grand Rapids, MI, 49546 URL: http://archives.calvin.edu Email: crcarchives@calvin.edu Phone: 616-526-6913 Fax: 616-526-7689
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Guide to the Peter De Vries Collection 1910/1996 Heritage Hall, Hekman Library Overview of the Collection Peter De Vries Collection 1910-1996 COLL/069 De Vries, Peter, 1910-1993 15.00 8.50 cubic ft. Heritage Hall, Hekman Library
Hekman Library 1855 Knollcrest Circle SE Grand Rapids, MI, URL: http://archives.calvin.edu Email: crcarchives@calvin.edu Phone: 616-526-6913 Fax: 616-526-7689
Author. This collection includes bibliography, book reviews, writings, correspondence, page proofs, articles, scripts, galley sheets, letters from readers, award plaques, honorary degrees, academic stoles, baptismal dress, biographical information, gravestone rubbing, and autographed first edition books. [See also the Campus Titles Database.]

Other Information:

Name variant: Peter DeVries

Biographical Information:

Author, Peter De Vries was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1910. His father wanted him to become a minister for the Christian Reformed Church, so De Vries enrolled at Calvin College. De Vries pursued his Calvin education as an English major and played basketball. After graduation, De Vries returned to Chicago picking up odd jobs, including a part-time job as associate editor for the magazine Poetry. In 1943, De Vries married one of the magazine’s contributors, Katinka Loeser.

Between 1940 and 1944 De Vries wrote three books, which quickly went out of print. For Poetry, De Vries wrote a flattering essay on James Thurber. Thurber was so taken by the essay, he passed along De Vries’ work to Harold Ross, the editor of The New Yorker. Ross enjoyed De Vries’ work so much so that he extended a job offer to him. De Vries accepted the position and moved out to Greenwich Village. De Vries became an occasional contributor for the magazine and a cartoon doctor, aiding the magazine’s cartoonists with captions and gags.

De Vries continued to write – one of his novels, The Tunnel of Love, even became a Broadway play and a movie released in 1958. Although best known as a comic novelist, De Vries’s sixth novel, The Blood of the Lamb, took a more serious tone, dealing with a death of a child. De Vries’ daughter, Emily, had passed away from acute lymphoblastic leukemia like the novel’s character, Carol Wanderhope.

In 1983, De Vries was honored by being inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Ten years later, he passed away from pneumonia on September 29, 1993 in Westport, Connecticut. He was survived by his children - Jan, Jon, and Derek - along with 2 grandsons.

Arrangement of Materials:

Folder level description

Detailed List of Contents id12244 Personal Material id12245 1 id12246 1 1 Obituaries 1993 id12247 1 2 Bibliography - primary sources 1965-1980 id12248 1 3 Bibliography - secondary sources 1981-1982 id12249 1 4 Cartoon, poster, copies of book covers 1943-1979 id12250 1 5 Articles written about Peter De Vries 1927-1993 id12251 1 6 Chimes, New York Times Magazine, Chicago Tribune articles 1930-1993 id12252 1 7-15 Book reviews 1941-1987 id12253 2 id12254 2 1 Chicago Christian High School class yearbooks 1926 and 1927 id12255 2 2 Letters to the Archives from Jan De Vries (daughter) 1994-1996 id12256 2 3 Book reviews by Peter De Vries 1943-1944 id12257 2 4 Script for Spofford based on Reuben, Reuben undated id12258 2 5 Page proofs for Sauce for the Goose; Advance proofs, bound: Sauce for the Goose [reviewer 1981 id12259 2 6 Page proofs for Consenting Adults undated id12260 2 7 Copy of New Yorker Magazine 1979 id12261 2 8 Program and correspondence re: Induction into Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters 1978-1983 id12262 2 9 Return to Calvin Mar-79 id12263 2 10 Esquire articles 1937-1942 id12264 2 11 Correspondence 1967-1973 id12265 2 12 Calvin Prism article and Chicago YMS play program 1933 id12266 3 id12267 3 1-7 Letters from readers 1948-1983 id12268 4 id12269 4 1-16 Writings 1926-1980 id12270 4 17 Correspondence 1931-1989 id12271 4 18 S. Lambers correspondence 1979-1982 id12272 4 19 S. Lambers compilation of Peter De Vries books, articles, etc. undated id12273 4 20 Copies of Chimes articles/editorials by Peter De Vries 1930-1931 id12274 5 id12275 5 1 Paper written while student at Calvin on his struggle with faith 1932 id12276 5 2 Correspondence with Harrison Kinney [1977] - 1996 id12277 5 3 Copy of Angel Can't Do Better 1944 id12278 5 4 State Department sponsored lecture tour (Germany) 1978 id12279 5 5 A critical essay by Roderick Jellema 1976-1978 id12280 5 6 Correspondence re: The Mackeral Plaza 1959 id12281 5 7 Scripts for the play, The Mackeral Plaza 1961-1963 id12282 5 8 Galley sheets, The Prick of Noon January  23, 1985 id12283 5 9 Galley sheets, The Prick of Noon December 12, 1984) id12284 5 10 Commencement program and honorary degree citation June 9, 1968 id12285 5 11 Photographs re:  honorary degree conferred by University of Bridgeport June 1, 1968 id12286 5 12 Photograph of PDV family 1946 id12287 6 id12288 6 Honorary degree from the University of Michigan 1984 id12289 6 Honorary degree from Susquehanna University 1979 id12290 6 Honorary degree from Wake Forest University 1980 id12291 6 Award from the Southern Fairfield County Council of the International Reading Association 1984 id12292 6 Video, Pete 'n' Tillie 1994 id12293 6 Pins and medals 1982 and undated id12294 7 id12295 7 Academic stoles undated id12296 7 Plaques, University of Notre Dame 1968, 1969 id12297 8 id12298 8 Award Plaques: Westport Arts Award 1984 id12299 8 The Van Wyck Broosk Award for Literary Achievement 1968 id12300 8 Cartoon drawing of Peter De Vries undated id12301 8 Copies of Chimes 1930-1933 id12302 9 id12303 9 Baptismal dress and picture 1910 id12304 9 Tie undated id12305 10 id12306 10 1 Reel to reel tape: "Peter De Vries Speech," taped by WSND [Notre Dame radio] for Sophomore Literature Festival, [HHM69-1] 27 Mar 1969 id12307 10 National Institute of Arts and Letters award plaque 1969 id12308 10 Friends of the Westport Library award 1991 id12309 10 Match book undated id12310 10 Sunday School Bible 1923 id12311 11 id12312 11 Rubbings of Peter De Vries' headstone undated id12313 First editions, signed by author: id12314 12 id12315 12 Angels Can't Do Better 1944 Scope and Contents

HERH PS3507.E8673 A5

id12316 12 The Blood of the Lamb 1961 Scope and Contents

HERH PS3507.E8673 B58 c.7

id12317 12 But Who Wakes the Bugler? 1940 Scope and Contents

HERH PS3507.E8673 B8 c.2

id12318 12 The Cat's Pajamas & Witch's Milk: Two Novels 1968 Scope and Contents

HERH PS3507.E8673 C3 c.2

id12319 12 Comfort Me with Apples 1956 Scope and Contents

HERH PS3507.E8673 C6 c.4

id12320 12 Consenting Adults or The Duchess Will Be Furious 1980 Scope and Contents

HERH PS3507.E8673 C65 c.3

id12321 12 Forever Panting 1973 Scope and Contents

HERH PS3507.E8673 F6 c.3

id12322 13 id12323 13 *The Glory of the Hummingbird [HERH PS3507.E8673 G5 c.3] 1974 id12324 13 *The Handsome Heart [HERH PS3507.E8673 H3] 1943 id12325 13 *I Hear America Swinging [HERH PS3507.E8673 I2 c.3] 1976 id12326 13 *Into Your Tent I'll Creep [HERH PS3507.E8673 I5 c.2] 1971 id12327 13 *Let Me Count the Ways [HERH PS3507.E8673 L4 c.3] 1965 id12328 13 *The Mackerel Plaza [HERH PS3507.E8673 M3 c.4] 1958 id12329 13 *Madder Music [HERH PS3507.E8673 M33 c.3] 1977 id12330 14 id12331 14 *Mrs. Wallop [HERH PS3507.E8673 M7 c.3] 1970 id12332 14 *No But I Saw the Movie [HERH PS3507.E8673 N6 c.3] 1952 id12333 14 *Peckham's Marbles [HERH PS3507.E8673 P4 1986 c.3] 1986 id12334 14 *The Prick of Noon [HERH PS3507.E8673 P7 1985 c.3] 1985 id12335 14 *Reuben,Reuben [HERH PS3507.E8673 R4 c.4] 1964 id12336 14 *Sauce for the Goose [HERH PS3507.E8673 S2 c.3] 1981 id12337 14 *Slouching towards Kalamazoo [HERH PS3507.E8673 S6 1983 c.3] 1983 id12338 15 id12339 15 *The Tents of Wickedness [HERH PS3507.E8673 T4 c.5] 1959 id12340 15 *Through the Fields of Clover [HERH PS3507.E8673 T45 c.3] 1961 id12341 15 *The Tunnel of Love [HERH PS3507.E8673 T8 c.2] 1954 id12342 15 *The Tunnel of Love (a play) [HERH PS3507.E8673 T85 c.2] 1957 id12343 15 *The Vale of Laughter [HERH PS3507.E8673 V3 c.3] 1967 id12344 15 *Without a Stitch in Time [HERH PS3507.E8673 W5 c.3] 1972