Research Catalog

Title

Collection of letters to Margaret Lee (born Leda Vesta Bauer-Berg), later Margaret Lee Runbeck (1905-1956) ; with letters from Margaret Lee and others to Mencken, and from others to Runbeck and to Mencken, including a letter from Gretchen Hood to Mencken.

Author

Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956.

Publication

Baltimore, 1926-1928.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Hood, Gretchen.
• Mankiewicz, Herman J. (Herman Jacob), 1897-1953.
• Nathan, George, J. 882-1958.
• Parker, Dorothy, 1893-1967.
• Runbeck, Margaret Lee, 1905-1956.
• Solano, Solita.
• Van Doren, Irita, 1891-1966.

Description

3 ring-binder boxes; approx. 9 - 22 cm

Subjects

• Lesbian authors
• McPherson, Aimee Semple, 1890-1944 > Documents
• Authors, American > 20th century > Correspondence
• Motion picture authorship
• Women authors, American > France > Paris > Correspondence

Note

• Mencken signs his letters M.
• Leda Vesta Bauer-Berg (who changed her name to Leda Bauer and then to Margaret Lee) was a graduate of Barnard College and the Columbia School of Journalism. In the late 1920s, she became a theater and film critic, and wrote two articles published in Mencken’s American Mercury, in which she discussed how Hollywood adapted literary works to the screen. She later became a novelist, and beginning in the early 1940s, wrote about spiritual subjects. She visited India a few years before her death, where she worked in support of humanitarian causes, and recorded a segment about her trip for Edward R. Murrow’s radio program “This I Believe.” One of her best known aphorisms is, “Happiness is not a station to arrive at, but a manner of traveling.”
• Gretchen Hood was the daughter of an influential Washington, D.C., journalist. She was an opera singer, and bequeathed funds to assist promising young musicians, which was the origin of the city’s Friday Morning Music Club Foundation, incorporated in 1948. Hood’s intelligence, beauty, and charm won her a place among the city’s social and political elite. She met Mencken in 1926, and introduced him to important political figures. From 1927 on, she was hounded by the press (Mencken called them the “Hearst vermin”), since she was regarded as the possible future wife of one of America’s best known bachelors. In the period 1926-1929, she received almost 250 letters from Mencken, over half of which were published in “Ich Kuss Die Hand”: The Letters of H. L. Mencken to Gretchen Hood (University of Alabama Press, 1985).
• 28 letters from H. L. Mencken to Margaret Lee Runbeck (Dec. 1928- 1930) are housed in the Special Collections of the Sheridan Libraries, Johns Hopkins University.
• Accompanied by letters written to Margaret Lee Runbeck by various persons, including the screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz; the Mercury co-editor, George J. Nathan; the short-story writer and Algonquin Round Table wit Dorothy Parker; the poet Solita Solano; and the book reviewer for the New York Herald Tribune Irita Taylor Van Doren (1891-1966), who was also a romantic friend of the 1940 Republican presidential nominee, Wendell Willkie.
• Solita Solano, born Sarah Wilkinson (1888-1975), was an American writer, poet, and journalist who lived most of her life in France. She was the romantic partner of the journalist Janet Flanner, with whom she traveled through Greece, finally settling in France, where they joined the circle of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. “During the 1930s and 40s, Solano studied with G. I. Gurdjieff, and for a while acted as his secretary. She was a member of a key Gurdjieff group known as ‘The Rope,’ to which Jane Heap, Margaret Anderson, and Kathryn Hulme also belonged. After Gurdjieff’s death in 1949, Solano became the focal point for members of The Rope until her own death. Her notes of Gurdjieff’s meetings with The Rope are a remarkable record of his personality and method.”—From Wikipedia. Solano’s letters to Margaret Lee Runbeck may suggest that the two were romantically involved in Paris.

Access (note)

• Restricted access;

Contents

• Box 1. Mencken to Margaret Lee, Ap. 11, 1926-Aug. 12, 1927; 113 typed letters, signed, 15 autograph letters, signed; 1 post card, signed; 3 telegrams; all letters 1 leaf and with envelope.
• Box 1, 1926: 45 typed letters, signed: Ap. 11; Ap.16, Ap. 19; Ap. 20; Ap. 22, enclosure only (printed pamphlet, “To the Friends of the American Mercury, A Statement by the Editor,” Ap. 16, 1926); Ap.23; May 5; May 8; May 13; June 26; July 1, with typed letter from Lee to Mencken, Chicago, with letterhead[?], date[?], and signature cut out, 2 leaves (2 p.); July 6; July 8; July 13; July 16; July 24; July 30; Aug. 10; Aug. 13; Aug. 18; Aug. 20, with clipping; Aug. 21; Aug. 24; Aug. 25; Sep. 2; Sep. 5; Sep. 9; Sep. 11; Sep. 16; Sep. 20; Sep. 22; Sep. 23; Sep. 25; Sep. 27; Sep. 29; Oct. 8; Oct. 10; Oct. 10; Oct. 11; Oct. 13; Oct. 19; Oct. 30; Nov. 9; Nov. 12; Nov. 16; Nov. 18; Nov. 20; Nov. 27; Dec. 3, with autograph letter, signed, by Lydia Giers, Lafayette, Ind., to Mencken, Nov. 11, 1 leaf (fan letter); Dec. 7; Dec. 9; Dec. 17; Dec. 21; Dec. 22; Dec. 26; Dec. 27; Dec. 28; Dec. 29; 9 autograph letters, signed: July 15; July 21; July 23; July 24; July 9; Aug. 9; Sep. 15; Oct. 15; Nov. 24; 2 telegrams: June 26, July 16; 8 empty, stamped, postmarked envelopes (Ap.16; Aug. 21; Sep. 1; Sep. 20; Sep. 27; Dec. 2; Dec. 3; Dec. 7).
• Box 1, 1927: 68 typed letters, signed: Jan. 6; Jan. 9; Jan. 12; Jan. 13; Jan. 19; Jan. 21; Jan. 27; Jan. 29; Jan. 31; Feb. 1; Feb. 2 with cartoon; Feb. 4 with clipping; Feb. 5; Feb. 8; Feb. 12 with clipping; Feb. 19; Feb. 22; Feb. 24; Feb. 25; Feb. 27; Mar. ; Mar. 11; Mar. 16; Mar. 17; Mar. 18; Mar. 22; Mar. 23; Mar. 24; Mar. 25; Mar. 29; Mar. 30; Ap.7; Ap.10; Ap.11; Ap.12; Ap.14; Ap.17; Ap.19; Ap.21; Ap.21; Ap.25; Ap.30; May 2; May 4; May 9; May 11; May 11 with typed letter, signed, from William Hanna to Mencken, May 9, 1927 (1 leaf) + typed note, card; May 13; May 14, with autograph letter fragment; May 19; May 20, with typed letter, signed, from F. V. Lafond to Mencken, [n.d.] (1 leaf); May 24; May 25; May 26; May 28; May 28; June 2; June 3; June 10; June 15; June 19; June 22; June 23; July5; July 5 with offprint; July 7; July 8; July 11; July 13; July 15; July 23; July 27; July 27; Aug. 3; Aug. 4; Aug. 6; 6 autograph letters, signed: May 12; June 9; June 21; June 30; Aug. 10; Aug. 12; 1 autograph post card, signed, postmarked Aug. 2; 1 telegram, July 30; 3 empty, stamped, postmarked envelopes (Jan. 19; Feb. 13; Feb. 19).
• Box 2, 1927-1928. Mencken to Margaret Lee, Aug. 8, 1927-Dec. 22, 1928; 84 typed letters, signed; 12 autograph letters, signed; all letters 1 leaf and with envelope.
• Box 2, 1927: 33 typed letters, signed: Aug. 17; Aug. 19; Aug. 25; Aug. 27; Sep. 5; Sep. 6 Sep. 7; Sep. 9; Sep. 15; Sep. 15; Sep. 23; Sep. 29;Oct. 6; Oct. 11; Oct. 13; Oct. 16; Oct. 18; Oct. 20; Oct. 27; Nov. 1; Nov. 2; Nov. 11; Nov. 14; Nov. 17; Nov. 18; Dec. 3; Dec. 8; Dec. 12 with Christmas greeting; Dec. 14; Dec. 16; Dec. 25; Dec. 26; Dec. 31; 4 autograph letters, signed: Sep. 1; Sep. 4; Nov. 10; Dec. 22; 2 autograph post cards, signed: Aug. 21; Nov. 4[?]; 2 telegrams: Nov. 11; Dec. 24[?]; 3 empty envelopes: Aug. 16; Sep. 30; Dec. 3.
• Box 2, 1928: 51 typed letters, signed: 2/1; 2/3; 2/10; 2/16; 2/24; Mar. 1; Mar. 3; Mar. 5; Mar. 7; Mar. 7; Mar. 9; Mar. 11; Mar. 18; Mar. 23; Mar. 25; Mar. 26; Mar. 29; Mar. 31; Ap.1; Ap.4; Ap.10; Ap.11; Ap.14; Ap.17; Ap.19; Ap.20; May 1 with clipping; May 2; May 3; May 4; May 5; May 7; May 8; May 10; May 16, with fragment of autograph letter, signed, from Gretchen [Hood], [n.d.]; May 18; Aug. 1; Aug. 31; Sep. 2; Sep. 4; Sep. 7; Sep. 11; Sep. 13; Oct. 23; Oct. 24; Oct. 26; Oct. 30; Oct. 31; Nov. 4; Nov. 8; Dec. 22; 8 autograph letters, signed: Feb. 5; Feb. 26; Feb. 29; Mar. 20; Ap.3; Aug. 14, pc; Aug. 23; Oct. 22 (3 leaves, with clipping); 3 telegrams: Jan. 6; Mar. 5; Nov. 26; 1 empty, stamped, postmarked envelope, Nov. 1; autograph letters, signed, lacking dates, on American Mercury letterhead: to “Margaret” (1 leaf), and to John Gilbert, (1 leaf), with envelope bearing only Gilbert’s name and “Ambassador Hotel,” borne by “Margaret” to Gilbert.
• Box 3: Correspondence to H. L. Mencken, 1926-1928: 4 autograph letters, signed; 3 typed letters, signed; 1 autograph note, signed; 1 typed note; 3 telegrams. Comprising (Chronologically arranged): Esther Lew, telegram, Sep. 23, 1926 (1 leaf), with typed note on card; New York American, telegram, Sep. 26, 1926 (1 leaf); Harry C. James, typed letter, signed, Oct. 28, 1926, (1 leaf); Edith Ryan, typed letter, signed, Oct. 29, 1926 (1 leaf); Roger Cowles, telegram, Oct. 29, 1926, (1 leaf); Yale University (Robert[?] Humanus, secretary, Lecture Committee), typed letter, signed, Nov. 9, 1926, (1 leaf); Al Strong, autograph letter, signed, Feb. 18, 1927, (1 leaf); Daisy F. Crosman, autograph letter, signed, March 21, 1927, (3 leaves), with: H. L. Mencken, autograph note, signed (1 leaf); LeRoy Andrew, autograph letter, signed, Sep. 7, 1927, (2 leaves), with clipping from The Chief, formerly enclosed in envelope addressed to Margaret lee (postmarked Sept. 8, 1927), with note signed by Mencken, “Can this be true? If so, God help us!”; autograph letter, signed (“From an Iowa Farmer”), May 6, 1928, (2 leaves), formerly enclosed in envelope addressed to Margaret Lee Runbeck.
• Box 3: Correspondence to Margaret Lee Runbeck from various persons: The American Mercury, typed check payment form for $120, for “The Movies Tackle Literature,” May 1, 1928. Lawrence Debanello, typed letter, signed, Nov. 15, 1926; Nov. 20, 1926; Dec. 20, 1926 (with envelope), Jan. 7 (with envelope); autograph letter, signed, Jan. 11, 1927 (with envelope); autograph letter, signed, Jan. 13, 1927 (with envelope); autograph letter, signed, Jan. 14, 1927 (with envelope). Billy Frith, autograph letter, signed, Aug. 27, 1927 (with envelope). Samuel Goldwyn, Inc., typed letter, signed [illegible] Hom___?, Feb. 21, 1928 (with envelope); typed letter, signed [illegible] Hom___?, Jr., May 4, 1928 (with envelope). Mrs. M. E. Hunt, Inc. Typed invoice, Sep. 27. 1927 (with envelope). Maria Huxley. Telegram, May 25, 1926; autograph card, signed, June 2, 1926 (with envelope). “Jack.” Autograph note (“Merry Christmas” at top, signed (refers to gift of necklace). “Janet.” Autograph letter, signed, Oct. 24, 1926 (written on back and a few lines on front of French broadside advertising Paris concert of works by George Antheil). Herman J. Mankiewicz. Typed letter, signed, Dec. 20, 1927 (on Paramount Pictures letterhead, with envelope). George Jean Nathan, autograph letter, signed, [Feb. 5, 1927] (with envelope); [Feb. 13, 1927] (with envelope); [Feb. 17, 1927] (with envelope); [Aug. 12, 1927] (with envelope). “Dorothy” [Parker?]. Telegram, Aug. 8, 1927. “Savoir.” Telegram (Christmas greeting), Dec. 25, 1928. Emma Lue Sayers. Typed letter, signed, Oct. 19, 1926. Solita Solano. Autograph letter, signed, May 5, 1926, with transcription by Runbceck(?) on fall-themed, decorated note-pad paper; typed letter, signed, Sept. 2, [1926], with postmarked envelope; autograph letter, signed, [1927], with French shipping coupon for used dress that Solano sent to Runbeck, and with postmarked envelope; autograph airmail letter, signed, October 16, [n.d], with postmark date illegible; autograph letter, signed, [n.d.]. Warren Udlan[?].Typed note, signed, [n.d.], with United Artists Corp. envelope (hand delivered). Irita Bradford Van Doren. Autograph letter, signed, Sept. 22, 1926, on New York Herald Tribune Books letterhead. Postcard (blank). Unknown sender. Printed mail-in card supporting evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson in her grand jury trial, or subsequent regular trial, in the summer of 1927, for perpetrating a hoax (alleging she had been kidnapped), with “Exhibit A” written in pencil at top and with unsigned, unaddressed message in pen on verso, by someone who knew her, and with printed real estate card headed “Exhibit B” in same hand, in pencil, with typed note (by Mencken or Runbeck?), “Proof that hard work and a reliance upon God’s promise will bring their rewards.” Illinois Central Railroad. Color picture post-card, of New Orleans courtyard, blank. Advertising insert for new journal, The American Parade, ed. by W. Adolphe Roberts, with Solita Solano listed as one of the contributors.

Call Number

Berg Coll m.b. Mencken A.l.s. to Margaret Lee 1926

OCLC

910730029

Author

Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956.

Title

Collection of letters to Margaret Lee (born Leda Vesta Bauer-Berg), later Margaret Lee Runbeck (1905-1956) ; with letters from Margaret Lee and others to Mencken, and from others to Runbeck and to Mencken, including a letter from Gretchen Hood to Mencken.

Imprint

Baltimore, 1926-1928.

Access

Restricted access; request permission in holding division.

Connect to:

Request access to this item in the Berg Collection

Added Author

Hood, Gretchen.

Mankiewicz, Herman J. (Herman Jacob), 1897-1953.

Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956. Addressee

Nathan, George, J. 882-1958.

Parker, Dorothy, 1893-1967.

Runbeck, Margaret Lee, 1905-1956.

Runbeck, Margaret Lee, 1905-1956. Addressee

Solano, Solita.

Van Doren, Irita, 1891-1966.

Research Call Number

Berg Coll m.b. Mencken A.l.s. to Margaret Lee 1926