Guide to the Marjorie Worthington Papers 1931-1976

Creator:	Worthington, Marjorie Muir, 1900-1976
Title:	Marjorie Worthington Papers
Dates:	1931-1976 ( inclusive )
Quantity:	9.75 linear feet (19 containers)
Collection Number:	Coll. 152
Summary:	Author who lived in France in the 1920s and 1930s and socialized with other American expatriate artists and writers. Consists of personal diaries, 1931-1962; personal and professional correspondence, 1916-1976; published and unpublished manuscripts of novels, short stories, essays, poems, and speeches, mostly written after 1966; class notes on writers' workshops; reviews and publicity; bibliographies, royalty statements, and contracts; personal material; and books by her and from her library.
Repository:	University of Oregon Libraries Special Collections & University Archives 1299 University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403-1299 USA URL: http://libweb.uoregon.edu/speccoll/index.html
Languages:	Collection materials are in English.
Sponsor:	Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biographical Note

Marjorie Muir Worthington was born in 1900 in New York City. She initially aspired to be an artist and attended various art schools during her early years. While still in high school she began selling poems to magazines. Thus encouraged, she turned to journalism, which she studied at New York University School of Journalism. Her novel Spider Web, the fifth she had written, was published by Cape & Smith in 1930.

In 1926, Worthington traveled to Paris where she joined ranks with other expatriate American artists and writers to whom Gertrude Stein referred as the "lost generation." There she met William Seabrook, well-known author in his own right, with whom she spent most of her time. She divorced her second husband, Lyman Worthington, in 1932; she had first been married to Carlton Beecher Stetson. While in France, Worthington and Seabrook socialized with notable figures of the age - Ford Maddox Ford, Sinclair Lewis, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, Aldous Huxley, Thomas Mann, and Walter Duranty.

In 1932, Seabrook and Worthington journeyed to Africa to gather material for one of his books. While there, Worthington fell in love with Raymond Bauret, a Frenchman. She returned to France with Seabrook however, and they married in 1935. His experiments in witchcraft and voodooism, compounded by his bouts of sadism and alcoholism, led to their divorce in 1941. Seabrook committed suicide in 1945.

Meanwhile, Worthington continued to write novels and short stories. Eleven of her novels were published and many of her short stories appeared in magazines such as Vogue, McCall's, Vanity Fair, Harper's, and Cosmopolitan. Some of these short stories were adapted for radio and television. In the 1950's and 1960's, Worthington began writing biographies and three were published: Miss Alcott of Concord (Louisa May Alcott), The Immortal Lovers (Heloise and Abelard), and The Strange World of Willie Seabrook (William Seabrook). Her last major published work was the book about Seabrook, brought out in 1966.

After her divorce from Seabrook, Worthington spent the rest of her life in New York and Florida. During this time she continued to write despite publishers' rejections. In addition to writing, Worthington lectured and led writers' workshops. She died February 17, 1976 of cancer.

Content Description

The Marjorie Worthington Papers consist of diaries, correspondence, manuscripts, notes, reviews and publicity, publication information, some personal material, scrapbooks, and books. Although formally trained in art, the collection reflects Worthington's career switch to writer.

Worthington's life in France, her relationship with her third husband, William Seabrook, and the social set with whom they associated are documented in her diaries. Correspondence is primarily of a personal nature although business-related letters are included. Noteworthy correspondents include Aldous and Laura Huxley, Walter Duranty, William Aspenwall Bradley, William Seabrook, Man Ray, and Raymond Bauret. These and other notable correspondents are listed in the Selected Name Index which follows at the end of the inventory. All correspondence is arranged chronologically. The letters from Bauret are written in French.

Manuscripts include novels and short stories as well as articles, essays, poems and speeches. Most of the manuscripts in this collection were written after 1966 and, for the most part, were not published. Several of the manuscripts are autobiographical. They are divided according to length and arranged alphabetically by title.

Reviews and publicity are arranged alphabetically by title of the work. Other publication information consists of royalty statements and contracts. Books written by Worthington, her husband William Seabrook, and a circle of literary friends such as Aldous Huxley and Walter Duranty, complete the collection. Photographs of Worthington, Seabrook, their friends, and of their trip to Africa have been removed to the Photograph Collection.

Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Access :

Collection is open to the public.

Collection must be used in Special Collections & University Archives Reading Room.

Restrictions on Use :

Property rights reside with Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries. Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to the Manuscripts Librarian in Special Collections & University Archives. The reader must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.

Preferred Citation :

[Identification of item], Marjorie Worthington Collection, Coll. 152, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Oregon.

Administrative Information

Processing Note :

Collection processed by Karen Dickman, Manuscripts Processor.

Separated Materials :

Photographs in this collection are stored separately under call number PH153.

Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Inventory

Container(s)
box	folder
1	1