American Historical Ephemera & Photography, including African Americana

A collection of more than 50 items, including programs, catalogs, handbills, photographs, newspaper clippings, and other ephemera related to Gertrud Stein's life and career as a writer. The selection of items offered here were discovered with personal correspondence, photographs, and ephemera assembled by Carl Van Vechten. 

Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) was an American writer and early, influential collector of avant-garde art. Raised and educated in the United States and Europe, Stein graduated from Radcliff College in 1897 and attended John Hopkins University from 1897 to 1901. She permanently moved to Paris in 1903, where she was introduced to modern art with the help of her brother Leo. Stein was a prolific writer, producing many books, including novels, plays, poetry, and essays. She is regarded as one of the earliest champions of cubism.

Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964) was an American novelist, music and drama critic, and photographer during the early 20th century. He served as literary executor of Gertrude Stein, whom he first met in Paris in 1913.

The items included in the collection primarily relate to Gertrude Stein's writings. Highlights include:

Stein, Gertrude and Thompson, Virgil. Four Saints in Three Acts. Hartford: 1934. Deluxe Souvenir Program for the Hartford premier of this opera by American composer Virgil Thomson with a libretto by Gertrude Stein. After its premiere on 7 February 1934 at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut, the production opened on Broadway at the 44th Street Theater on 20 February 1934. -- Photograph showing Carl Van Vechten, Alice B. Toklas, and Gertrude Stein in a box at the Auditorium, Chicago, to view the first performance of 4 Saints in 3 Acts. 7 1/2 x 9 1/2 in. silver gelatin photograph. -- 4 Saints in 3 Acts. Printed handbill, May 1941. -- 4 Saints in 3 Acts. Printed program and small booklet (in silver) for performance at the Forty-Fourth Street Theatre. February 1934. Portrait of Stein on cover of each. -- Printed invitation to Columbia University Libraries Exhibition of the Writings of Gertrude Stein. -- The World is Round and how it happened. Printed handbill promoting Gertrude Stein's "First Book for Children." -- Stein, Gertrude. In Savoy or Yes is For a Very Young Man. London: Pushkin Press, [1946?]. -- Yes is a Very Young Man. Printed program and booklet for a performance at the Pasadena Playhouse. March 1946. Portrait of Stein on cover of each. -- Stein, Gertrude. Chicago Inscriptions. 1934. -- Yes is a for a Very Young Man. A typed transcript for a play by Gertrude Stein. -- 5 printed cards featuring a poem by Gertrude Stein entitled "A Village, Are You Ready Yet Not Yet." -- 2 booklets entitled Looking at Pictures with Gertrude Stein. -- A Centennial Celebration for Gertrude Stein. 3 programs promoting the exhibition produced in celebration of Stein's 100th birthday anniversary by Millersville State College, Millersville, PA, one which includes an autograph note signed by Bruce Kellner (1930-2019), an American writer, professor, and Harlem Renaissance scholar. -- A Catalogue of the Published and Unpublished Writings of Gertrude Stein, Exhibited at Yale University Library. February - March 1941. New Haven: Yale University Library, 1941. Gertrude Stein. Catalog 1964. Gotham Book Mart. 3 copies, including introduction from Carl Van Vechten. New York: [1963?]. -- And more.

Together, more than 50 items associated with Gertrude Stein's life and career as a writer.