Collection inventory

Overview of the Collection
Creator:	Klitgaard, Kaj
Title:	Kaj Klitgaard Papers
Inclusive Dates:	1914-1966
Quantity:	0.5 linear ft.
Abstract:	Correspondence (1914-1966); photographs, sketchbooks, and published material, including articles and clippings. Correspondents include Egmont Arens, Peggy Bacon, Rockwell Kent, Alfred Kreymborg, Harry E. Maule, William McFee, Ogden Nash, John Crowe Ransom, Henry Morton Robinson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Charles Allen Smart, and Lowell Thomas. Additional letters of many of the correspondents can be found in a scrapbook.
Language:	English
Repository:	Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center

Biographical History

Danish-American painter, novelist, author, seaman (1888-1953).

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

Spanning the years 1914 through 1966, the Kaj Klitgaard Papers comprises biographical material, correspondence, artwork, writings, and memorabilia of the Danish-American author, painter, illustrator, educator, and master mariner (1888-1953). Though revealing little about his life in Denmark or his wartime experiences, the collection provides insight into Klitgaard's professional career and personal life in the United States, especially when used in conjunction with the Papers of his wife, Georgina Klitgaard, whose collection is also located in Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries.

Arranged chronologically, the Correspondence, primarily from the years 1923 to 1932, consists of incoming letters pertaining to Klitgaard's artistic and literary ventures. Correspondents include artists and literary figures (Egmont Arens, Peggy Bacon, Virgil Barker, William Harlan Hale, Robert Preston Harriss, Ernest W. Harrold, Rockwell Kent, Alfred Kreymborg, William McFee, Harry Edward Maule, Henry Allen Moe, Hermon More, Ogden Nash, John Crowe Ransom, Henry Morton Robinson, Charles Allen Smart, Lowell Thomas); publishers (Doubleday, Doran and Company, Inc., William Edwin Rudge, Inc.); and art galleries (E. Weyhe). A selected index to the Correspondence follows the box list.

Artwork encompasses a lithographic plate, reproductions, sketchbooks, and sketches. The reproductions, with the exception of one exhibition catalog designed by Klitgaard, are all posters of maps (Greenwich Village, the Holy Land, Manhattan from the Battery to 59th Street) which may be found in Oversize Package #1. In addition to two Sketchbooks, there are three original pencil and watercolor sketches, as well as a number of photocopies.

Writings consists of a book dummy of Seven Months and Seven Days, an illustration proof for Through the American Landscape, an interview, a key to Klitgaard's map of the Holy Land, a photocopied review, a script, and published stories which are organized by title.

Memorabilia includes copyright certificates, personal photographs, poetry by Otto Gelsted, printed material, and reviews. Printed material contains newspaper clippings (1927-1946), two exhibition catalogs, and several literary periodical reviews (1941-1946). Holograph and typescript manuscripts by Daisy Sanial Gill, William McFee, Hughes Mearns, and Charles Allen Smart, as well as a radio script constitute Reviews.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

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Related Material

See also the Egmont Arens Papers, Peggy Bacon Papers, Aaron Bohrod Papers, Georgina Klitgaard Papers, and Georgina Klitgaard Collection.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Subjects

Genres and Forms

Occupations

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Kaj Klitgaard Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Finding Aid Information

Created by: ASE
Date: Apr 1993
Revision history: 2 Aug 2005 - EAD file created (MRR); 15 Apr 2013 - poster description expanded (MRC); 16 Dec 2016 - index code updated (MRC); 24 Aug 2021 - updated related material section (RMH); 7 Mar 2023 - oversize items moved to map-case folder (MRC)

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Inventory

	Biographical material
Box 1		Biographical material

	Correspondence
Box 1		Correspondence 1914-1966, undated (2 folders)
			See Selected Index to Correspondence for notable names and dates.

	Artwork
Box 1		Lithographic plate 1936
		Reproductions
Box 1			"The Circus in Paint" undated
Map-Case , Folder 1			Greenwich Village poster undated
Map-Case , Folder 1			Holy Land poster undated
Map-Case , Folder 1			Manhattan from the Battery to 59th Street poster undated
Box 1		Sketchbooks "1940-1941," undated
		Sketches
Box 1			Pencil and watercolor (3) undated
Box 1			Photocopies undated

	Writings
		Books
Box 1			Seven Months and Seven Days - dummy
Box 1			Through the American Landscape - illustration proof
		Interviews
Box 1			by Warren Bower, "Readers' Almanac" undated
		Maps
Box 1			Key to map of the Holy Land 1927
		Reviews
Box 1			Miscellaneous (photocopies) undated
		Scripts
Box 1			"The Art Dealer in Heaven," The Hue and Cry 1929
		Stories
Box 1			A-Z (by title) 1931 1951, undated
		Miscellaneous
Box 1			Photocopies of miscellaneous items undated

	Memorabilia
Box 1		Copyright certificates 1927, 1929
Box 1		Photographs 1925 1939, undated
Box 1		Poetry by others - Gelsted, Otto 1931
		Printed material
Box 1			Clippings 1927-1946, undated
Box 1			Exhibition catalogs 1929, undated
Box 1			Reviews 1941-1946, undated
		Reviews
Box 1			Holograph, typescript 1929, 1930, undated
Box 1			Radio script - Higgins "Ship Ahoy" Program, WNOE 1946
Box 1		Miscellany

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Selected index to correspondence

• [E.] Weyhe : 1927 June 16; 1930 Feb. 21
• [John Simon] Guggenheim Memorial Foundation : 1953 Nov. 19
• Arens, Egmont : 1926 Mar. 12
• Bacon, Peggy : undated
• Barker, Virgil : undated
• Carnegie Institute : 1941 Apr. 24
• Doubleday, Doran and Company, Inc. : 1929 July 5; 1929 Aug. 6; 1929 Aug. 27; 1929 Sept. 30; 1929 Oct. 16; 1929 Dec. 19; 1930 Mar. 18; 1930 Apr. 18; 1930 May 9; 1930 Aug. 6; 1930 Sept. 3; 1930 Dec. 8; 1930 Dec. 15; 1930 Dec. 29; 1931 Feb. 10; undated
• Hale, William Harlan : undated
• Harriss, Robert Preston : 1930 Apr. 26
• Harrold, Ernest W. : 1930 Feb. 19
• Kent, Rockwell : 1928 July 26; 1928 Dec. 18; 1929 Feb. 18; 1929 Mar. 23; 1929 Aug. 22 (Frances); 1930 Dec. 17; 1936 Apr. 21
• Kreymborg, Alfred : 1928 Mar. 16; 1929 Nov. 13
• Maule, Harry Edward : 1929 Aug. 6; 1929 Dec. 19; 1930 May 9; 1930 Dec. 15; 1931 Feb. 10
• Maverick Theater : 1930 July 14
• McFee, William : 1930 May 24; 1930 June 8; 1931 Oct. 14; undated; See also ReviewsReviews
• Moe, Henry Allen : 1953 Nov. 19
• More, Hermon : undated
• Nash, Ogden : 1930 Mar. 18; 1930 Apr. 18; 1930 Aug. 6; 1930 Sept. 3; 1930 Dec. 8
• New Masses : 1926 Mar. 12
• Ransom, John Crowe : 1938 Oct. 1; 1952 Nov. 18
• Robinson, Henry Morton : 1952 May 13
• Roosevelt, Franklin D. : 1936 Mar. 3
• Smart, Charles Allen : 1929 July 5; 1929 July 26; 1929 Aug. 27; 1929 Sept. 30; 1929 Oct. 13; undated; See also ReviewsReviews
• Southern Pacific Company : 1927 June 22; 1928 Jan. 13
• The American Caravan : 1929 Nov. 13
• The Evening Citizen : 1930 Feb. 19
• The Evening Sun : 1930 Apr. 26
• The Hue and Cry : undated
• The Kenyon Review : 1938 Oct. 1; 1952 Nov. 18
• The Literary Digest : 1932 Feb. 19
• Thomas, Lowell : 1932 Feb. 19
• William Edwin Rudge, Inc. : 1927 May 10; 1927 Nov. 7; 1928 Mar. 6; 1928 Aug. 17; 1930 June 19; 1930 July 17; 1931 Feb. 3

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