Frederic Dannay Papers
ca.1920-1982
Finding Aid Prepared by Patrick Lawlor
September 2001
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Date Range: ca.1920-1982
Size of Collection: 85 linear ft (ca.25,000 items in 190 boxes).
Date of Acquisition: Gift of Richard and Douglas Dannay, 1985 & 1987
Material on Microfilm: Pearl S. Buck letter; manuscript of "The Glass Village" and "Notes on Wrightsville" are
on microfilm
Terms of Access: Available for faculty, students, and researchers engaged in scholarly or publication projects
Restrictions on Use or Access: Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the Librarian
for Rare Books and Manuscripts
Location in Stacks: In sequence
Processing Information: Processed by Patrick Lawlor and student assistants
BIB ID: 4079731
___________________________________________________________________________________________
BIOGRAPHY
Born Daniel Nathan in Brooklyn, New York on 20 October 1905, Frederic Dannay and his cousin Manfred B.
Lee created Ellery Queen in 1929. In a series of novels starting with The Roman Hat Mystery (1929), The Devil to
Pay (1938), Calamity Town (1942), Ten Days' Wonder (1948), Cat of Many Tails (1949), and And On the Eighth
Day (1964), Dannay and Lee established Queen as one of the most influential and groundbreaking mystery
novelists. The cousins also produced a number of mystery anthologies, as well as publishing the acclaimed Ellery
Queen's Mystery Magazine in 1941. Manfred B. Lee died in 1971, and Frederic Dannay died in White Plains,
New York, on 3 September 1982.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
Correspondence, outlines and drafts, manuscripts, letters of agreement, contracts, photographs, artwork, and
memorabilia. The collection is divided into two parts: 1. The Frederic Dannay Papers, and 2. Files of Ellery
Queen’s Mystery Magazine (EQMM).
The Dannay papers consist of extensive correspondence with most of the notable mystery writers of this century,
as well as well-known authors who sometimes wrote in that genre: Isaac Asimov; Lawrence Block; Ray Bradbury;
Perl S Buck; Edgar Rice Burroughs; James M. Cain; Raymond Chandler; Agatha Christie, etc. Most of the novels
and short stories written by Dannay and Lee are represented in manuscript form: "The Roman Hat Mystery;"
"Ten Day's Wonder;" "Cat of Many Tails;" "The Scarlet Letters;" "The Glass Village;" "The Player on the Other
Side;" "And on the Eighth Day," etc. In addition, there are the manuscripts of books edited by Ellery Queen;
manuscripts by Ellery Queen Jr.; scripts by Ellery Queen; poetry by Dannay; contracts between Dannay and Lee,
as well as between them both as Ellery Queen and numerous parties. There are also manuscripts by such notables
as Jorge Luis Borges; Erskine Caldwell; Raymond Chandler; Agatha Christie; Stanley Ellin; William Faulkner;
Dashiell Hammett; O Henry; Nigel Morland; Georges Simenon; Muriel Spark; Julian Symons; Roy Vickers; and
Cornell Woolrich.
The second part of this collection is the files of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine (EQMM). Containing some
4,600 manuscripts submitted to the magazine over a period of 40 years, it is an unrivaled collection of its kind.
Nearly all of the manuscripts have Dannay's msnuscript corrections.
THE FREDERIC DANNAY PAPERS
I. Cataloged Correspondence
Note: For complete entries see volume 1 of the Catalog
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Alexander, David
Allingham, Margery
Ambler, Eric
Anderson, Fred I.
Armstrong, Charlotte
Arnott, Noeline
Arthur, Mildred
Arthur, Robert
Ashbaugh, Richard
Asimov, Isaac
Atkey, Bertram
Austin, Margaret
Avallone, Michael
Bachrach, Sylvia Farnham
Bailey, H.C.
Baldwin, Faith
Ball, John
Barker, Shirley
Barr, Stephen
Barzun, Jacques
Baxt, George
Beach, Stewart
Bell, Josephine
Bellamy, Ralph
Bennett, Margot
Bentley, E.C.
Bentley, Phyllis
Biggle, Lloyd, Jr.
Bingham, John Michael Ward, 7th Baron Clanmorris
Blochman, Lawrence
Block, Lawrence
Boileau, Pierre
Bond, Raleigh
Boucher, Anthony
Bradbury, Ray
Brand, Christianna
Brande, Anna Janet
Brandner, Gary P.
Brean, Henry
Breen, Jon L.
Breit, Harvey
Bretnor, Reginald
Brittain, William
Brough, James C.
Brown, Frederic
Brown, Wenzell
Buck, Pearl S.
Burgess, Gelett
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
Burnett, W.R.
Burroughs, Edgar Rice
Bush, Geoffrey
Butler, Gwendoline
Cain, James M.
Caldwell, Taylor
Cameron, Owen
Campbell, Oscar J.
Canby, Henry Seidel
Carr, Albert Z.
Carr, John Dickson
Caspary, Vera
Cave, Hugh
Cerf, Bennett
Chandler, Raymond
Charteris, Leslie
Child, Charles B.
Christ, Jay Finley
Christie, Agatha
Ciardi, John
Clemens, Cyril
Coe, Charles Francis
Cohen, Roy Octavus
Coles, Manning
Cornier, Vincent
Costain, T.B.
Crane, Frances
Creasey, John
Crispin, Edmund
Crofts, Freeman W.
Cronin, A.J.
Curtis, Richard
Curtiss, Ursula
Cushing, Richard Cardinal
Daly, Elizabeth
Daly, Carroll John
Daniels, Harold R.
Daniels, Norman
Dannay, Frederic
Davidson, Avram
Davis, Dorothy Salisbury
Day-Lewis, Cecil
Deal, Borden
Dedger, David
deFord, Miriam Allen
de la Torre, Lillian
Detzer, Karl
Dewey, Thomas E.
Dunsany, Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron
Eberhart, Mignon S.
Eckels, Robert E.
Ellin, Stanley
Elston, Ralph Vaughn
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
Erskine, Laurie York
Fairman, Paul
Ferrars, Elizabeth
Fish, Robert L.
Fisher, Dorothy Canfield
Fleming, Joan
Francis, Dick
Freeling, Nicholas
Freeman, C.J.A.
Fremlin, Celia
Gardner, Erle Stanley
Garfield, Brian
Garve, Andrew
Gilbert, Anthony
Gilbert, Elliot L.
Gilbert, Michael
Godfrey, Peter
Golding, Louis
Gollancz, Livia
Gollancz, Victor
Gordon, Arthur
Gordon, Richard M.
Gores, Joe
Goulart, Ron
Grant, Richard
Green, Charles
Greene, L. Patrick
Gruber, Frank
Gulik, Robert H. van
Haggard, Edith
Hale, Christopher
Halliday, Brett
Hammett, Dashiell
Harrington, Joyce
Harrison, Michael
Harvester, Simon
Hay, Jacob
Haycraft, Howard
Hayes, Brian
Hecht, Ben
Hellman, Lillian
Helu, Antonio
Highsmith, Patricia
Hilton, James
Hitchens, Dolores
Hoch, Edward D.
Hoffman, Banesh
Holding, James
Holding, Elizabeth Sanxay
Honce, Charles
Howard, John Hayden
Hughes, Dorothy B.
Hunter, Evan
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
Huston, John
Innes, Michael
Jesse, F. Tennyson
Jordan, Luis A.
Kantor, MacKinlay
Keating, H.R.F.
Kemelman, Harry
Kendrick, Baynard
Kenneryly, Mitchell
Kersh, Gerald
Kiernan, John
King, Frank
King, Rufus
Knowlton, Don
Kreymborg, Alfred
Krutch, Joseph Wood
Kummer, Frederic Arnold
la Cour, Tage
Lacy, Ed
Lathen, Emma
Lawrence, Hilda
Lee, Manfred B.
Lerner, Max
Lewis, Richard O.
Ley, Willy
Lipsky, Eleazar
Little, Lou
Lochte, Richard S.
Lockridge, Frances
Lovesey, Peter
McConnor, Vincent
McCulley, Johnston
McCutchan, Philip
MacDonald, John D.
MacDonald, Philip
McGerr, Patricia
McGivern, William P.
McKelway, St. Clair
McNear, Robert
Martindale, Robert C.
Marsh, Ngaio
Masur, Harold Q.
Mathieson, Theodore
Matsumoto, Seicho
Maugham, W. Somerset
Mayberry, Florence V.
Millar, Kenneth
Millay, Edna St. Vincent
Miller, Wade
Morland, Nigel
Morley, Christopher
Morrell, David
Narcejac, Thomas
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
Nebel, Frederick
Nevins, Francis M., Jr.
Nielson, Helen
Niven, David
Norman, Charles
Nolan, William
Oboler, Arch
Pachter, Josh
Palmer, Suart
Parry, Henry T.
Patrick, Q.
Paul, Elliot
Peirce, J.F.
Perelman, Sidney Joseph
Perowne, Barry
Peterson, Charles Alden
Pierce, John
Plumb, Jack
Pollock, Channing
Porcelain, Lidney E.
Porges, Arthur
Porter, Joyce
Powell, James
Prather, Richard S.
Priestley, J.B.
Priestley, John Boynton
Prince, Jerome and Harold
Pronzini, Bill
Quick, Dorothy
Rascoe, Burton
Rawson, Clayton
Reach, Alice Scanlan
Redman, Ben Ray
Revesz, Etta
Rice, Craig
Richter, Joan
Rinehart, Mary Roberts
Roberts, S.C.
Robinson, Jackie
Rockwell, Norman
Rogers, Joel Townsley
Rohmer, Sax
Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt
Rosten, Leo
Roth, Holly
Rubin, Rick
Rukeyeser, Muriel
Rutledge, Nancy
Salinger, Pierre
Serling, Rod
Schier, Norma
Seeley, Mabel
Shellabarger, Samuel
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
Sherwood, Robert E.
Shiel, M.P.
Shore, Viola Brothers
Simenon, Georges
Slater, Elaine
Slesar, Henry
Speed, Jane
Spivak, Lawrence E.
Starrett, Vincent
Steele, Frederic Don
Steele, Wilbur Daniel
Stoughton, Arthur A.
Stout, Rex
Stribling, T.S.
Sturgeon, Theodore
Suter, John
Symons, Julian
Targ, William
Tey, Josephine
Thurber, James
Treat, Lawrence
Tucker, Luttrell
Twohy, Robert
Tyre, Nedra
Ullman, James M.
Untermeyer, Louis
Updike, John
Upfield, Arthur W.
Van de Wetering, Janwillem
Van Doren, Carl
Van Doren, Irita
Van Doren, Mark
Vickers, Roy
Walsh, Thomas
Watson, Colin
Waugh, Hilary
Weiman, Barbara Owens
Weir, Charlene M.
Wellen, Edward
Westlake, Donald E.
White, William
Whitehall, Joseph
Wilde, Percival
Wodehouse, P.G.
Woolrich, Cornell
Wylie, Philip
Wyndham, Martyn
Yaffe, James
Yates, Donald A.
Young, Alan K.
II. Cataloged Manuscripts
Note: Alphabetical by author. For a complete description of each manuscript see volume 2 of the printed catalog
Boxes 8-63B:
8
A
To
Christie, Agatha "Death . . ."
9
Christie, Agatha "Double . . ."
To
Dannay, Frederic "The Golden Summer."
10
Dannay, F.
"The Golden Summer."
11
Dannay, F.
To
Dannay, F.
"The Golden Summer."
"A Group of Poems."
12
Dannay, F.
"The International Poll to Determine the Ten Best Living
Mystery Writers."
See also Box 89 & Box 23A of the EQMM Series following.
13
Dannay, F.
"The Macquarries."
14
Dannay, F.
To
Dannay, F.
"The Macquarries"
"O Lost and Lonely Star."
15
Dannay, F. "O Lost and Lonely Star"
To
de la Torre, Lillian
16
Dower, Yasuko
To
Kyne, Peter B.
17
Lambert, Gerard
To
Perowne, Barry
18
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"The Adonis . . ."
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"The Adventure of the Needle's"
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"Af"
Queen, Ellery
"And on the Eighth Day."
20
21
22
"The Adventure of the Four."
"The Adventure of the Yang Piece."
"And on the Eighth Day."
23
24
25
26
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"And on the Eighth Day"
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"The Black"
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"Br"
"Bi"
"The Body"
"Cam"
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"Camp"
27
Queen, Ellery
"The Cat on Many Tails."
28
Queen, Ellery
"The Cat of Many Tails."
29
Queen, Ellery
"Cop Out."
30
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"Cri"
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"The Crooked Road."
31
32
"Cas"
"The Crooked Road."
"De"
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"Di"
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"Dr"
34
Queen, Ellery
"Face to Face."
35
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"Face to Face"
33
"Do"
"E"
"Fat"
36
Queen, Ellery "A Fine and Private Place"
37
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"A Fine and Private Place"
38
Queen, Ellery
"The Finishing Stroke."
39
Queen, Ellery
"Fir"
"The Finishing Stroke."
To
Queen, Ellery
40
"The Fourth Side of the Triangle."
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"The Fourth Side of the Triangle"
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"Gr"
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"The House of Brass"
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"Id"
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"Int"
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"J"
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"King"
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"Kry"
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"The Last Woman"
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"Losers"
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"Mu"
51
Queen, Ellery
"The Origin of Evil."
52
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"The Origin of Evil"
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
"The Glass Village."
"The House of Brass."
"Hu"
"Ino"
"Its"
"King"
"Kr"
"The Last Woman"
"Lo"
"Mu"
"Ob"
"Ou"
53
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"The Parisian"
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"The Player on the Other Side"
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
Sample permission letters
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"The Scarlet Letters"
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"Stu"
58
Queen, Ellery
"Ten Days' Wonder."
59
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"Ten Days' Wonder"
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"To Vincent Starrett"
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"Whe"
Queen, Ellery
To
Queen, Ellery
"Who Spies"
54
55
56
57
60
61
62
"The Player on the Other Side."
"The Roman Hat Mystery."
"The Scarlet Letters."
"A Study in Terror."
"Ten"
"The Thin Man's Son."
"Where Is Bianca?"
"Who"
"Wr"
63
Queen, Ellery and Lowell Brentano
To
Queen, Ellery, Jr.
63A
Queen, Ellery, Jr. - Si
63B
Sk To Y
III. Arranged Correspondence
Note: Arranged by date [Boxes 64-72]
64
1930s-1949
65
1950-1954
66
1955-1959
67
1960-1965
68
1966-1969
69
1970-1973
70
1974-1977
71
1978-1979
72
1980-1982
IV. Arranged Manuscripts
Note: Boxes 73-78 & Boxes 89-90
73
Introductions to Department of First Stories and anonymous manuscripts.
89
"The Ten Most Famous Fictional Detectives of all Time"
Hilda Dannay's death: correspondence and funeral registers
The Queen's Awards: 1947 and 1948..galleys, proofs, etc.
90
Miscellaneous notes and signatures collected by Dannay.
74
Photocopies of manuscripts.
75
Photocopies of manuscripts.
76
Fragments of manuscripts.
77
Fragments of manuscripts.
78
Fragments of manuscripts.
V. Documents
--Cataloged and Arranged Documents
Note: Arranged alphabetically [Boxes 79-81]
79
Dannay, Frederic
2 Jan. 1965 & April 1977
79
Dannay & Lee
15 Sept. 1931 & 23 Nov. 1953
79
Lee & Dannay
13 Oct. 1943; 6 March 1946; 2 July 1947; 27 Nov. 1967
79
Wells, Orson
3 Aug. 1970
79
Contracts, A - F.
80
Contracts, J - N.
81
Contracts P - W.
--Arranged Documents
Note: Arranged chronologically [Boxes 82-87]
82
Documents 1930-1963
83
Documents 1964-1967
84
Documents 1968-1972
85
Documents 1973-1978
86
Documents 1979-1982
87
Documents: ledger books
VI. Artwork and Photographs
Note: Cataloged and arranged
88
Dannay, Frederic
Photograph
88
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan
Photograph
88
Fletcher, J. S.
Photograph.
88
Lee, Manfred B.
Photograph.
88
"S. F.”
Photograph
Note: Cartoons with a mystery theme
88
Sayers, Dorothy
Photograph.
88
"The Ten Best Active Mystery Writers of All Time"
Photograph
88
Woolrich, Cornell
Photograph.
88
Arranged photographs and artwork
VII. Printed Materials
Note: Boxes 91-100
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
Printed stories
Printed stories.
Printed stories.
Magazines and booklets.
Magazines and booklets.
Magazines and booklets.
Magazines and booklets.
Miscellaneous printed materials.
Newspaper clippings.
Newspaper clippings.
101
Objects and Memorabilia
VIII. Memorabilia
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
Cataloged Manuscripts
Note: This part of the collection comprises 87 Boxes of manuscripts submitted to EQMM from its beginning in
1941 till the early 1980s. Each manuscripts has been cataloged. For a complete alphabetic description if the
manuscripts please consult the volumes 2 & 3 of the Catalog at the Reference Desk.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
23A
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
A - Am
An - Arm
Art - Asimov, Isaac "The Phoenician Bauble"
Asimov, Isaac "The Phony Ph.D." - Bal
Ban - Bark
Barr - Bel
Ben - Berg
Berk - Blockman, Lawrence G. "The Girl with the Burgundy Lips"
Blockman, Lawrence G. "Goodbye, Stranger" - Boucher, Anthony "Like
Count Palmieri"
Boucher, Anthony "A Matter of Scholarship" - Breen, Jon L. "The Babe
Ruth Murder Case"
Breen, Jon L. "The Body in the Bullpen" - Bret
Brig - Brit
Bro - Cam
Can - Carr, John Dickson "The House in Goblin Wood"
Carr, John Dickson "The Jury Box" - Chi
Christie, Agatha - Con
Col - Cre
Cri - Daniels, H.
Daniels, N. - Davis, C.
Davis, D. - de la Torre, Lillian "The Lost Heir"
de la Torre, Lillian "Milady Bigamy" - Di
Do - Eckels, Robert Edward "Never Trust a Partner"
Eckels, Robert Edward " Nobody Can Win 'em All"
Poll: "Who are the Ten Most Famous Fictional Detectives of all Time"?
Ellin, Stanley "The Moment of Decision" - Ev
Fa - Fish, Robert L. "Adventure of the Snared Drummer"
Fish, Robert L. “Advenure of the Spectacled Band” – Fl
Fo – Gard
Garf, Gilbert E.
Gilbert, Michael “A” to “O”
Gilbert, Michael “P” to “Z”
Gordon, R. – Gre
Gren – Hare
Harrington-Harrison
Hart – Heidenfeld W. “Bread, Bacon, Pease and’ Tea”
Heidenfeld W. “Moonshine” – Hoch, Ed “Captain Leopold Bloom Looks for the Cause”
Hoch, Ed “Captain Leopold Bloom on the Spot” – “I”
Hoch, Ed “K” – “So”
Hoch, Ed “Sp”
Hoch, Ed “Th”
Hoch, Ed “Tr”
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
Hoding, James “The Photographer and the Policeman” – Huns
Hunt – In
Ir – Johns
Johnson – Kem, B.
Kemelman – King, P.
King, R. – Kn
Ko – Lei
Len – Ly
Maca – McDonald, J.
Mcdonald, P. - McM
McN – Mar
Mas – Mayberry, Florence V. “The Girl Downstairs”
Mayberry, Florence V. “Good Night, Sweet” – Mon
Moo – Nas
Nat – Nib
Nie – Ols
Oly – Pall
Palm – Pas
Pat – Pentecost, Hugh “Chambrum Gets the Message”
Pentecost, Hugh “Chambrum Plays it Coll” – Jericho and the Painting Clue”
Pentecost, Hugh “Jericho and the Sea of Faces” – Pere
Pero – Pete
Petr – Pop
Por – Powell, James “Pocketful on Noses”
Powell, James “The Policeman’s Whereabouts” – Pu
Q
Ra
Re – Ren
Req – Ri
Ro – Ry
Sa – See
Seg – Si
Sk – Spa
Spe – Ste
Sti – Stu
Su – Sy
Ta – Tra
Tre
Tro – Ty
U – Vickers, Roy “A” to “F”
Vickers, Roy “I” to “Y”
Wal – Wat
We – Wig
Wil – Wy
X – Ye
Yo - Z
Arranged EQMM Manuscripts
87
Breen, Jon L.
"The Jury Box"
2 folders
87
Carr, John Dixon
"The Jury Box"
4 folders
87
Penzler, Otto
"Crime Dossier"
6 folders
87
Porter, R. E.
"Crime Beat"
3 folders
87
Steinbrunner, Chris
"Bloody Visions"
2 folders
87
Miscellaneous
1 folder
87
Book reviews
1 folder
87
Indices and Table of Contents
1 folder
87
Dannay, Frederic
Notes
1 folder