James Beard Collection
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Dates
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
This small collection of materials related to the noted cookbook author and food industry consultant James Beard includes selected correspondence, clippings, photographs, and personal effects.
Biographical Note
James Andrews Beard was born in Portland, Oregon on May 5, 1903. He studied briefly at Reed College in Portland but left in 1923 to join a touring theatrical troupe and pursue a career as an actor and singer. In the mid-1930s he began to supplement his income with catering work, and in 1937 he settled in New York and opened a gourmet food shop, Hors D'Oeuvre Inc. The work at the shop led to Beard's first book, Hors d'Oeuvres and Canapés, in 1940.
During the war years, Beard served with the U.S. Seamen's Service, establishing sailors' canteens in Rio de Janeiro, Puerto Rico, Panama and Marseille. When he returned to New York he resumed writing cookbooks, publishing prolifically and establishing himself as America's most noted culinary authority. In 1946 he was given his own segment on a pioneering television program, NBC's "I Love to Eat," becoming one of the first TV chefs.
Over the years, Beard contributed articles and columns to numerous magazines, including Women's Wear Daily, House and Garden and Gourmet. In the 1970s he wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Beard on Food."
In 1955 Beard established the James Beard Cooking School, in New York, and for many years he served as a consultant to food producers and restaurateurs. He also ran his own restaurant, in Nantucket, for a while.
Beard published over twenty books in his lifetime, among them The Fireside Cookbook, The James Beard Cookbook, Delights and Prejudices, a Memoir with Recipes, and James Beard's Theory and Practice of Good Cooking.
James Beard died on January 21, 1985 at age 81.
Arrangement
The James Beard Papers are organized into seven series. Correspondence files are arranged alphabetically by subject/author heading. All other series are grouped by type of material. Descriptions are at the folder level.
- Series I: Correspondence
- Series II: Manuscripts and Notes
- Series III: Biographical Materials
- Series IV: Articles
- Series V: Invitations and Menus
- Series VI: Jose Wilson
- Series VII: Miscellaneous
Scope and Content Note
The James Beard Collection at Fales Library comprises a small collection of Beard materials considered significant by Beard's personal assistant, Emily Gilder. Included is miscellaneous incoming correspondence; of special note are three letters from writer M.F.K Fisher and a number of letters from Elizabeth David, the noted British cookbook author credited with bringing French and Italian cookery into the English home. There are clippings of articles by and about Beard, notes transcribed from tapes made by Beard, photographs, and personal effects including medical records, a last will and testament, and Beard's high school yearbook. Also included are a number of items by and about writer José Wilson, features editor for House and Garden magazine and Beard's close collaborator on his newspaper and magazine columns as well as a number of cookbooks.
Subjects
Genres
People
Places
Access Restrictions
Materials are open to researchers. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.
Use Restrictions
Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date (if known); James Beard Papers; MSS 139; box number; folder number; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University Libraries.
Provenance
The James Beard Papers were donated to Fales Library in 2003 by restaurant-industry consultant Clark Wolfe, a friend and professional colleague of Beard's. Beard himself saved next to nothing; the materials in this collection were rescued from the wastebasket by Beard's personal assistant, Emily Gilder. In 1986, shortly after Beard's death, Gilder gave the collection to Wolfe with the instruction to "do the right thing when the time comes." With the establishment of a major culinary archive at NYU the time had come.
About this Guide
Edition of this Guide
Repository
Series I: Correspondence
Scope and Contents note
Correspondence including 8 letters from British cookbook author Elizabeth David, 3 letters from noted writer M.F.K. Fisher, and miscelleaneous correspondence, including letters from chef Paul Bocuse and food historian Betty Fussell.
David, Elizabeth, 1965-1976
Fisher, M.F.K., 1975-1981
Miscellaneous, 1975-1981
Series II: Manuscripts and Notes
Scope and Contents note
Beard's notes, mostly transcribed from tapes. There is the beginning of a memoir (1978), and numerous notes mostly dating from Beard's trip to France in 1974.
Beard Memoir Transcript, 1978
Transcribed and Handwritten Notes, 1974
Series III: Biographical materials
Scope and Contents note
Miscellaneous personal effects and documents, including numerous photos of Beard, family and friends, Beard's 1920 high school yearbook, medical records, a Last Will and Testament, and an analysis of Beard's handwriting commissioned by the Bergen Record.
Photographs [bulk undated], 1919-1981
High School Yearbook, 1920
Last Will and Testament, 1974
Honorary Doctorate, Reed College, 1976
Medical Records, 1976-1980
Handwriting Analysis, 1981
Series IV: Articles
Scope and Contents note
Articles by and about Beard, mostly from newspapers and popular magazines.
Articles by Beard, 1973-1979
Articles about Beard, 1976-1980
Series V: Invitations and Menus
Scope and Contents note
A small collection (3 items) relating to events in which Beard participated.
Dinners and Events - Invitations and Menus, 1967-1982
Series VI: José Wilson
Scope and Contents note
Materials relating to Wilson's working relationship and friendship with Beard. Wilson was a collaborator with Beard on cookbooks and newspaper and magazine columns. Included are notes to Beard and Emily Gilder (Beard's secretary), a typescript of a column, as well as Wilson's suicide note to Beard (she died in 1980), and Beard's obituary for Wilson.
José Wilson Materials, undated; 1980
Series VII: Miscellaneous
Scope and Contents note
Otherwise uncategorized items, including a manuscript for a staged reading based on the letters of Beard and Helen Evans Brown by Beard's friend and associate John Ferrone, blank checks, and miscellaneous unattributed manuscripts (including a Beard biography and a Beard bibliography).
