The Melville Society Archive
Finding Aid to the Jay Leyda Papers (1944-1956)
Click on a Box Number for Detailed Information about Its Contents
Table of Contents
Overview of Collection
Biography of Jay Leyda
Scope and Content
General Organization and Arrangement
Restrictions
Index Terms
General Finding Aid
Detailed Container Lists
Overview of the Collection
Repository: The Melville Society Archive, New Bedford Whaling Museum Library, New Bedford Whaling Museum, 18 Johnny Cake Hill, MA
Creator: Jay Leyda (1910-1988)
Title: Jay Leyda Collection
Dates: ca 1944-1956
Language: English
Prepared by: Initial sorting done by Michael P. Dyer; initial organization by Nathan Adams;Series I: Amy O’Neal; Series II: Peter Craig Edwards; edited by Mary K. Bercaw Edwards
Abstract:
The collection contains the papers of Jay Leyda ca 1944-1956, including correspondence, clippings, some manuscript materials, articles, research notes, and transcripts. Of particular interest are files in the first three boxes of Series I, which include correspondence relating to his work on Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson, and Russian film. Series II, Box 6, contains articles, research, notes, and images directly related to Leyda’s work on The Melville Log.
Acquisition Information:
The Leyda collection was presented to The Melville Society Cultural Center by Walter E. Bezanson through a note dated April 5, 2006. Walter Bezanson was a Melville scholar (PhD from Yale) and good friend of Jay Leyda. The original copy of the note (seeBOX 1, Folder 8) is transcribed here: “Jay Leyda left this box of notes and letters with me years ago. He and his exotic wife, Si-Lan, stayed with us overnight several times. We had a large old home, and at the time Jay and Si-Lan seemed to have no “place”, other than the beat up car in which they arrived. Jay asked if he might leave this box with me. He never re-claimed it. I did not open it until recently, [and] have not gone through its contents. It seems appropriate for this miscellany from the time when Jay was working on The Melville Log to come to rest with the society. It’s merely a fragment from his incredibly productive and slightly mysterious life. He was a dear friend. – Walter”
Preferred Citation: Jay Leyda Papers, Melville Society Archive
Biography
Jay Leyda (1910-1988) was a film maker, film historian, photographer, translator, and scholar of Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson, and the Russian composers Modeste Petrovich Musorgsky and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Leyda’s first film “A Bronx Morning” (1931) led to his acceptance into the Moscow State Film School, where he studied directing with Sergei Eisenstein, most famous for his 1925 silent film “The Battleship Potemkin.” Leyda worked with Eisenstein during the making of “Bezhin Meadow” (1937), which was suppressed and believed destroyed. Leyda's work in Soviet film, especially with Eisenstein, ultimately led to the publication of The Film Sense (1942) and Film Form: Essays in Film Theory (1949), both translated and edited collections of Eisenstein’s essays; Kino: A History of the Russian and Soviet Film (1960); and Eisenstein at Work (1982), with Zina Voynow. Leyda served as Assistant Curator of the Film Department of the Museum of Modern Art (New York) from 1936 until his resignation in 1940, convinced that the administration saw him as too much of a “Trotskyite.” While working as a technical advisor in Hollywood, Leyda began his study of Melville documents, resulting in the publication of the Complete Stories of Melville (1949), the Portable Melville (1952), and most importantly The Melville Log: A Documentary Life of Herman Melville (1951). The Melville Log was initially compiled as a birthday gift for Eisenstein, a Melville enthusiast. In 1943, in the midst of World War II, he was briefly drafted into the Army. Leyda collaborated with Sergei Bertensson on The Musorgsky Reader: A Life of Modeste Petrovich Musorgsky in Letters and Documents (1947) and Sergei Rachmaninoff: A Lifetime in Music (1956). He spent 1955 peripatetically in Washington, DC, cataloging the Bingham Dickinson collection at the Folger Shakespeare Library. From the mid-1950s until the mid-1970s, Leyda and his Trinidadian-Chinese wife Si-lan Chen Leyda (1905-1996), whom he had married in 1934, traveled extensively; during this time, he wrote The Years and Hours of Emily Dickinson (1960) and Films Beget Films: A Study of the Compilation Film (1964). Leyda wrote the libretto for Walter Aschaffenburg’s opera Bartleby, a work consisting of a prologue and two acts based on Melville’s short story. The opera premiered at Oberlin College in 1964. Leyda taught briefly at Yale University and York University, Toronto, before becoming Gottesman Professor of Cinema Studies at New York University in 1974. Voices of Film Experience: 1894-to the Present (1977) was published eleven years before his death in 1988 at the age of 78. Si-Lan Chen Leyda’s autobiography, Footnote to History, was published in 1984.
Scope and Content
The Leyda papers include correspondence, notes, images, articles, offprints, and transcripts (1944-1956) related to Leyda’s work primarily on Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson, Russian and Soviet Film History and Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (Soviet film director, 1898 – 1948), and limited references to Sergei Rachmaninoff (Russian composer, pianist, and conductor, 1873 – 1943). Specific works highlighted throughout the collection include, but are not limited to, The Melville Log (Harcourt Brace, 1951), The Portable Melville (The Viking Press, 1952), the libretto written for Walter Aschaffenburg’s opera, “Bartleby” (1964), The Years and Hours of Emily Dickinson (Yale University Press, 1960), Kino, A History of The Russian and Soviet Film (Macmillan, 1960), and The Musorgsky Reader (W.W. Norton, 1947) which he co-edited and translated with Sergei Bertenson. Also contains correspondence with Millicent Todd Bingham while she was editing Emily Dickinson's Home: Letters of Edward Dickinson and His Family (Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1955). Finally, the collection includes other professional and personal correspondence as well as other miscellaneous academic papers, letters, and articles by Leyda. Contains some memorabilia relating to friends, family, and Leyda’s Military Service.
General Organization and Arrangement
Series I: Correspondence: Boxes 1-4. All letters are from the correspondent except where noted. Information is added where possible to provide context.
Series II: Research, notes, news clippings, manuscripts, transcripts, and offprints: Boxes 5-8.
Series I
Box 1 Melville Correspondence: Leyda’s research and work on Herman Melville (1944-1956), including arrangements and contract(s) for The Melville Log (1951) and The Portable Melville (1952). Contains correspondence that is addressed to or from prominent Melville scholars and/or family members. This box may also contain brief references to other works outside of Melville.
Box 2 Film & Russian Studies Correspondence: Leyda’s research and work on Soviet and Russian Film History and the writing of Kino, A History of The Russian and Soviet Film (Macmillan, 1960). Also includes letters to and/or from friends and professionals in the film industry that may make mention of other projects not necessarily related to Russian film.
Box 3 Dickinson Correspondence: Leyda’s research and work on Emily Dickinson and TheYears and Hours of Emily Dickinson (Yale University Press, 1960).Contains letters to and from other prominent Dickinson scholars such as Millicent Todd Bingham and Thomas H. Johnson and his editorial assistant, Theodora Van Wagenen Ward from Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Box 4 A House to Be Born In, Friends and Family Correspondence: refers to an original poem by Leyda he intended to publish called A House to Be Born In. Family and friend correspondence may contain references to projects Leyda and/or the correspondents were working on at the time but are more personal than academically informative in nature with regards to Leyda’s specific works. Also includes holiday greeting cards. Friends include Daniel Curley (1919-1989) and Gladys Yang (1919-1999).
Series II
Box 5 Articles, research, notes, and images directly related to Herman Melville. Includes copies of Melville’s works and letters.
Box 6 Articles, research, notes, and images directly related to Leyda’s work on The Melville Log.Includes copies of Melville’s works and letters and Melville Society Newsletters.
Box 7 Articles, research, notes, and transcripts directly related to Sergei Eisenstein, Emily Dickinson, and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Also includes miscellaneous academic papers, lectures, and articles by Leyda.
Box 8 Odd size items, including research and personal notes on 3x5 paper, oversize research notes on the Melville family, notes and library slips bundled in rubber bands, and an accordion folder filled with notes.
Box 9 Offprints.
Restrictions
Citation for all use must be made to the Jay Leyda Papers, Melville Society Archive.
Index Terms
Persons
Bertensson, Sergei (1885 – 1962)
Bingham, Millicent Todd (1880 - 1968)
Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886)
Eisenstein, Sergei Mikhailovich (1898 – 1948)
Johnson, Thomas H. (1902-1985)
Melville, Herman (1819-1891)
Musorgsky, Modest Petrovich (1839-1881)
Rachmaninoff, Sergei (1873 – 1943)
Corporate Bodies (and vessels)
Acushnet (vessel)
George Allen & Unwin
Berkshire Athenaeum, The
Greenhouse Press, The (San Francisco, CA)
Harcourt, Brace & Company, Inc.
New York State Library
Random House
Reynal & Hitchcock
Rupert Hart-Davis Limited
Somers (vessel)
Subjects
American Literature
Biographies
English
Manuscripts
Motion pictures
Russian and Soviet Film History
Places
Amherst, MA
Pittsfield, MA
Russia
Soviet Union
“Yaddo”, Saratoga Springs
Occupations
Author
Biographer
Composer
Film Director
Historian
Scholar
General Finding Aid
BOX 1: Melville Correspondence (60 Folders)
1: Folder 1 Agee, Mrs. James (Mia Fritsch) 1955 (1 item)
1: Folder 2 Allen, Gay Wilson 1955 (2 items)
1: Folder 3 Aschaffenburg, Walter 1954-1955 (3 items)
1: Folder 4 Barbarow, George 1952-1954 (3 items)
1: Folder 5 Batchelder, Charles F., Jr. 1951 (1 item)
1: Folder 6 Bennett Book Studios 1947 (2 items)
1: Folder 7 The Berkshire Athenaeum 1954 (3 items)
1: Folder 8 Bezanson, Walter 2006 (1 item)
(correspondence with The Melville Society)
1: Folder 9 Birss, John 1945 (2 items)
1: Folder 10 Blitzstein, Marc 1954 (3 items)
1: Folder 11 CBS Radio (George Crothers) 1953 (2 items)
1: Folder 12 Criscitiello, John J. 1955 (2 items)
1: Folder 13 Davis, Merrell Rees unknown (1 item)
1: Folder 14 Fields, Mr. & Mrs. Joseph 1950-1954 (8 items)
(National Society of Autograph Collectors)
1: Folder 15 Gilman, William H. 1953-1954 (4 items)
1: Folder 16 Harcourt, Brace 1950, 1955 (5 items)
and Company, Inc.
1: Folder 17 Hayford, Harrison M. 1951-1955 (9 items)
1: Folder 18 Heflin, Wilson Lumpkin unknown – 1955 (5 items)
1: Folder 19 Howard, Leon 1951-1952 (2 items)
1: Folder 20 James, Cyril Lionel Robert 1952-1953 (3 items)
1: Folder 21 Kaplan, Sidney and Cora 1952-1955 (11 items)
1: Folder 22 Kazin, Alfred 1952 (6 items)
1: Folder 23 Kirschner, Leon unknown (3 items)
1: Folder 24 Kirstein, Lincoln Edward 1951 (3 items)
1: Folder 25 Lankes, J.J. 1954 (2 items)
1: Folder 26 Lawrence, Dan H. 1951 (2 items)
1: Folder 27 Life Magazine (Robin Hinsdale) 1954 (3 items)
1: Folder 28 Melville Family Members unknown, 1947, 1952 (5 items)
1: Folder 29 Morewood, Helen 1951-1952 (3 items)
1: Folder 30 Murray, Henry A. 1947, 1952 (3 items)
1: Folder 31 New York State Library 1950-1954 (3 items)
1: Folder 32 Pearson, Norman Holmes 1954-1955 (6 items)
1: Folder 33 Pierce, Cornelia Marium 1951 (3 items)
1: Folder 34 Providence Public Library 1954 (2 items)
1: Folder 35 Random House, Inc. 1948-1952 (3 items)
1:Folder 36 Reeves, John 1954 (5 items)
1: Folder 37 Reynal & Hitchcock 1946-1948 (21 items)
1: Folder 38 Roper, Laura Wood 1952-1953 (2 items)
1: Folder 39 Rolfe, Edwin and Mary 1951-1952 (5 items)
1: Folder 40 Rupert Hart-Davis Limited 1947 (3 items)
1: Folder 41 Savannah Public Library 1950-1951 (2 items)
1: Folder 42 Sealts, Merton M., Jr 1951-1952 (5 items)
1: Folder 43 Small, Miriam R. 1954 (2 items)
1: Folder 44 Smith, Henry Nash 1954 (2 items)
and William M. Gibson
1: Folder 45 Society of the Colonial Wars unknown (3 items)
1: Folder 46 Stauffacher, Jack Werner 1951 (3 items).
1: Folder 47 Stavig, Richard 1953 (4 items)
1: Folder 48 Sukel, Samuel 1954 (3 items)
1: Folder 49 Williams, Gordon R. 1955 (2 items)
1: Folder 50 Viking Press, The 1950-1952 (2 items)
1: Folder 51 Vincent, Howard Paton 1953 (1 item)
1: Folder 52 Williams, Mentor L. 1951 (1 item)
1: Folder 53 Wilson, Carroll Atwood 1947 (1 item)
Chronological Correspondence
1: Folder 54 Incoming unknown (10 items)
1: Folder 55 Incoming 1946-1947 (3 items)
1: Folder 56 Incoming 1948-1949 (2 items)
1: Folder 57 Incoming 1950-1951 (7 items)
1: Folder 58 Incoming 1953 (2 items)
1: Folder 59 Incoming 1954-1955 (8 items)
1: Folder 60 Outgoing drafts by Leyda unknown (7 items, 9 letters)
Box 2: Film & Russian Studies Correspondence (19 Folders)
2: Folder 1 The American Scholar 1946 (1 item)
2: Folder 2 Bertensson, Sergei Lvovich 1954-1955 (3 items)
2: Folder 3 British Film Academy 1949-1950 (5 items)
2: Folder 4 Citizens Film Ltd 1947 (3 items)
& Preslit Literary Agency
2: Folder 5 Elton, Arthur unknown (2 items)
2: Folder 6 George Allen & Unwin Ltd. 1949 (3 items)
2: Folder 7 Harcourt, Brace 1945 (1 item)
and Company, Inc.
2: Folder 8 Ivens, Joris, and Marion Michelle 1946 (5 items)
2: Folder 9 Koch, Howard and Anne 1951 – unknown (7 items)
2: Folder 10 Lerner, Irving unknown (1 item)
2: Folder 11 Mahaska County 1946 (1 item)
Community Theatre
2: Folder 12 Powers, R.M. 1955 (1 item)
2: Folder 13 Rotha, Paul 1949 (3 items)
2: Folder 14 Roucek, Joseph unknown (1 item)
2: Folder 15 Russian Research Center 1953 (1 item w/ enc)
2: Folder 16 Seton, Marie 1951-1952 (10 items)
2: Folder 17 Souvaine Selective Pictures, Inc. 1952-1953 (2 items)
2: Folder 18 Incoming, unknown correspondent 1946 (1 item)
2: Folder 19 Outgoing draft undated (1 item)
BOX 3: Dickinson Correspondence (37 Folders)
3: Folder 1 Amherst College 1956 (3 items)
3: Folder 2 Bingham, Millicent Todd 1954-1956 (28 items)
3: Folder 3 Bookstores/ undated, 1954 (6 items)
Booksellers & Collectors
3: Folder 4 Connecticut Valley 1954-1956 (3 items)
Historical Museum
3: Folder 5 DuPont, Marcella 1955 (2 items)
3: Folder 6 Haight, Gordon Sherman 1955 (1 item)
3: Folder 7 Hampson, Mrs. Alfred Landis 1955 (1 item)
(Mary)
3: Folder 8 Harcourt, Brace 1951 (1 item)
& Company, Inc.
3: Folder 9 Harper & Brothers 1954 (1 item
3: Folder 10 Harvard University, Library of 1954 (1 item)
3: Folder 11 Haverford College Library 1954 (1 item)
3: Folder 12 Johns Hopkins University 1956 (1 item)
3: Folder 13 Johnson, Thomas H. 1953-1955 (8 items)
3: Folder 14 Library of Congress 1954-1955 (2 letters, 4 items)
3: Folder 15 Milwaukee County 1954 (3 items)
Historical Society
3: Folder 16 New England Quarterly undated (1 item)
3: Folder 17 New Republic 1954-1955 (4 items)
3: Folder 18 Papers of Thomas Jefferson 1955 (1 item)
3: Folder 19 Pohl, Frederick and Josephine undated, 1955 (3 items)
3: Folder 20 Providence Public Library 1953-1954 (1 item)
3: Folder 21 Seven Gables Bookshop undated, 1954-1955 (3 items)
3: Folder 22 Todd, Minister G. Hall 1954-1955 (8 items)
3: Folder 23 Trustees of Forbes Library 1956 (1 item)
3: Folder 24 University of California 1953 (1 item)
3: Folder 25 Van Boven, Alice 1954 (1 item)
3: Folder 26 Wadsworth re: photographs 1954 (2 items)
3: Folder 27 Walter, Dorothy C. 1954 (1 item)
3: Folder 28 Ward, Theodora Van Wagenen 1954-1956 (17 items)
3: Folder 29 Williams, Stanley T. 1954 (2 items)
3: Folder 30 Williams, Mrs. Arthur L 1953 (1 item)
(Theresa Wright Williams)
3: Folder 31 Yale University Press 1955-1956 (4 items)
3: Folder 32 Zermer, Louise Gray 1954 (2 items)
Chronological Correspondence
3: Folder 33 Incoming undated (3 items)
3: Folder 34 Incoming 1953 (2 items)
3: Folder 35 Incoming 1954 (4 items, 5 letters)
3: Folder 36 Incoming 1955 (3 items)
3: Folder 37 Outgoing drafts undated (3 items, 5 letters)
BOX 4: Personal Correspondence (15 Folders)
4: Folder 1 “A House to Be Born In,” regarding 1955 (2 items)
(Leyda’s essay in biography)
4: Folder 2 “Carl,” University of Maryland 1955 (2 items)
4: Folder 3 Curley, Daniel 1954-1955 (9 items)
4: Folder 4 Hendrickson, James and June 1951, 1955 (3 items)
4: Folder 5 Hooker, Helene undated, 1951 (2 items)
4: Folder 6 Leyda Family Correspondence undated, 1952 (5 items)
4: Folder 7 Miscellaneous Friends undated, 1951-1954 (8 items)
4: Folder 8 Smith, Robert J. (Jack) 1951 (2 items*)
* Also contains 3 outgoing
drafts on back.
4: Folder 9 Stallman, Robert Wooster undated (2 items) and son, William
4: Folder 10 Whitmore, Stanford 1954-1955 (3 items)
4: Folder 11 Writer’s Guild of America 1956 (1 item)
4: Folder 12 Yang, Gladys undated, 1954-1955 (4 items)
Other
4: Folder 13 Army Correspondence undated, 1944 (2 items)
4: Folder 14 Holiday Greetings 1946-1955 (11 items)
Cards & Announcements
4: Folder 15 Miscellaneous 1946-1954 (5 items)
BOX 5: Herman Melville (13 Folders)
5: Folder 1 Melville Log Material (11 subfolders; 54 items)
5: Folder 2 Possible Melville Sources (5 subfolders; 30 items)
5: Folder 3 Melville’s Lectures (3 subfolders; 3 items)
5: Folder 4 Reviews of Melville’s works (2 subfolders; 11 items)
5: Folder 5 Melville Family History and Correspondence (6 subfolders; 38 items)
5: Folder 6 Copies of Melville Texts (4 subfolders; 4 items)
5: Folder 7 Melville Family: General (21 subfolders; 31 items)
5: Folder 8 Melville Biography (11 subfolders; 17 items)
5: Folder 9 Melville’s Books and Papers (5 items)
5: Folder 10 Melville’s Literary Work (12 subfolders; 29 items)
5: Folder 11 Leyda’s Research (14 subfolders; 20 items)
5: Folder 12 Books: Reviews, Sales (5 subfolders; 7 items)
5: Folder 13 Melville Log Material not found in “Melville Log” folder (1 item)
BOX 6: The Melville Log (9 folders)
6: Folder 1 Original file folder labeled “For the Log”
6: Folder 2 Organization of The Melville Log (7 subfolders; 14 items)
6: Folder 3 Printing Process (10 subfolders; 15 items)
6: Folder 4 Melville in the South Pacific (6 subfolders; 8 items)
6: Folder 5 Plates for The Melville Log (4 items)
6: Folder 6 Articles on Melville (15 items)
6: Folder 7 Melville Society Newsletters (21 items)
6: Folder 8 Copies of Herman Melville Correspondence (16 subfolders; 31 items)
6: Folder 9 Various unrelated items found in The Melville Log folder (6 items)
BOX 7: Emily Dickinson, Russian Composers, including Sergei Rachmaninoff,
Sergei Eisenstein, Jay Leyda (4 folders)
7: Folder 1 Emily Dickinson (7 subfolders; 10 items)
7: Folder 2 Russian Film and Music (3 subfolders; 33 items)
7: Folder 3 Personal and Business Papers (4 subfolders; 19 items)
7: Folder 4 Miscellaneous (8 subfolders; 151 items)
BOX 8: Odd size items: mostly research notes (4 folders)
8: Folder 1 Research and personal notes on 3x5 paper
8: Folder 2 Oversize Research notes on Melville Family
8: Folder 3 Notes and Library slips bundled in rubber bands
8: Folder 4 3x5 Accordion folder filled with notes
BOX 9: Offprints (22 folders)
9: Folder 1
[American Historical Association], Publishing the Papers of Great Men 1954 (1 item)
9: Folder 2
[Amherst Chamber of Commerce], Amherst, Massachusetts (1 item)
9: Folder 3
Antiquarian Bookman 1952 (2 items)
9: Folder 4
Bond, “Melville and Two Years Before the Mast” 1953 (1 item)
9: Folder 5
Boyce, “Modern Literary Manuscripts in the Morgan Library” 1952 (1 item)
9: Folder 6
Butterfield, “George Lippard and his Secret Brotherhood” 1955 (1 item)
9: Folder 7
Cahoon, Herman Melville: A Checklist of Books and Manuscripts 1951 (1 item)
9: Folder 8
[Corporation of Yaddo], Yaddo 1951 (1 item)
9: Folder 9
Dickinson Genealogy: on Mother’s Side (1 item)
9: Folder 10
Hillway, “Billy Budd: Melville’s Human Sacrifice” 1952 (1 item)
9: Folder 11
Johnson, “Emily Dickinson: Creating the Poems” 1953 (1 item)
9: Folder 12
Johnson, “Establishing a Text: The Emily Dickinson Papers” 1952-1953 (1 item)
9: Folder 13
Leyda, “Another Friendly Critic for Melville” 1954 (9 items)
9: Folder 14
Leyda, “The Engine Melville” 1953 (1 item)
9: Folder 15
Paltsits, Family Correspondence of Herman Melville, 1830-1904 1909 (1 item)
9: Folder 16
Todd, Witchcraft in New England 1906 (1 item)
9: Folder 17
Wadsworth, Politics in Religion 1854 (1 item)
9: Folder 18
Wadsworth, Development and Discipline 1857 (1 item)
9: Folder 19
Wadsworth, A Mother’s Sorrow 1864 (1 item)
9: Folder 20
Wadsworth, Self-Knowledge 1860 (1 item)
9: Folder 21
Wadsworth, God’s Culture. A Thanksgiving Sermon 1860 (1 item)
9: Folder 22
Ward, “Emily Dickinson and T. W. Higginson” 1953 (1 item)