.
Collection Overview
Abstract
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.]
Biographical Note
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.
Administrative Information
Repository:
Heritage Hall, Hekman Library
Alternate Extent Statement:
8.50 cubic ft.
Acquisition Source:
Gift of Jan De Vries
Other Note:
Name variant: Peter DeVries
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Personal Material],
[Series 2: First editions, signed by author:],
[
All]
- Series 2: First editions, signed by author:
- Box 12
- Item 1: Angels Can't Do Better --- 1944
- HERH PS3507.E8673 A5
- Item 2: The Blood of the Lamb --- 1961
- HERH PS3507.E8673 B58 c.7
- Item 3: But Who Wakes the Bugler? --- 1940
- HERH PS3507.E8673 B8 c.2
- Item 4: The Cat's Pajamas & Witch's Milk: Two Novels --- 1968
- HERH PS3507.E8673 C3 c.2
- Item 5: Comfort Me with Apples --- 1956
- HERH PS3507.E8673 C6 c.4
- Item 6: Consenting Adults or The Duchess Will Be Furious --- 1980
- HERH PS3507.E8673 C65 c.3
- Item 7: Forever Panting --- 1973
- HERH PS3507.E8673 F6 c.3
- Box 13
- Item 1: *The Glory of the Hummingbird [HERH PS3507.E8673 G5 c.3] --- 1974
- Item 2: *The Handsome Heart [HERH PS3507.E8673 H3] --- 1943
- Item 3: *I Hear America Swinging [HERH PS3507.E8673 I2 c.3] --- 1976
- Item 4: *Into Your Tent I'll Creep [HERH PS3507.E8673 I5 c.2] --- 1971
- Item 5: *Let Me Count the Ways [HERH PS3507.E8673 L4 c.3] --- 1965
- Item 6: *The Mackerel Plaza [HERH PS3507.E8673 M3 c.4] --- 1958
- Item 7: *Madder Music [HERH PS3507.E8673 M33 c.3] --- 1977
- Box 14
- Item 1: *Mrs. Wallop [HERH PS3507.E8673 M7 c.3] --- 1970
- Item 2: *No But I Saw the Movie [HERH PS3507.E8673 N6 c.3] --- 1952
- Item 3: *Peckham's Marbles [HERH PS3507.E8673 P4 1986 c.3] --- 1986
- Item 4: *The Prick of Noon [HERH PS3507.E8673 P7 1985 c.3] --- 1985
- Item 5: *Reuben,Reuben [HERH PS3507.E8673 R4 c.4] --- 1964
- Item 6: *Sauce for the Goose [HERH PS3507.E8673 S2 c.3] --- 1981
- Item 7: *Slouching towards Kalamazoo [HERH PS3507.E8673 S6 1983 c.3] --- 1983
- Box 15
- Item 1: *The Tents of Wickedness [HERH PS3507.E8673 T4 c.5] --- 1959
- Item 2: *Through the Fields of Clover [HERH PS3507.E8673 T45 c.3] --- 1961
- Item 3: *The Tunnel of Love [HERH PS3507.E8673 T8 c.2] --- 1954
- Item 4: *The Tunnel of Love (a play) [HERH PS3507.E8673 T85 c.2] --- 1957
- Item 5: *The Vale of Laughter [HERH PS3507.E8673 V3 c.3] --- 1967
- Item 6: *Without a Stitch in Time [HERH PS3507.E8673 W5 c.3] --- 1972
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Personal Material],
[Series 2: First editions, signed by author:],
[
All]
