H.C. Branson papers
Scope and Contents
The H. C. Branson papers contain notes, manuscripts, typescripts of the author's mystery stories as well as diaries, sketches for a memoir and correspondence.
Dates
- Creation: approximately 1940-1968
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Access
The material is stored offsite in Remote Storage. Please contact Special Collections three (3) working days in advance if you wish to use it.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright is retained by the authors of the items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. For photocopy and duplication requests, please contact the Stephen O. Murray and Keelung Hong Special Collections, Michigan State University Libraries.
Biographical / Historical
Henry Clay Branson (1904-1981) grew up in Battle Creek, Michigan, and later attended Princeton in 1924. He then spent three years in Paris only to return to Michigan in 1929 to attend the University of Michigan. In Ann Arbor he married, fathered the first of his three daughters in 1934 and eventually graduated from the university in 1937. Branson read Doyle as a boy, followed Philo Vance’s cases in Paris in the pages of Scribner’s Magazine and was one of the most familiar of card-holders at the Ann Arbor Public Library, where he withdrew and consumed hundreds of mystery stories, all contributing to his becoming a mystery writer.
Extent
9 Linear Feet (9 boxes) ; 27 x 14 x 32 cm.
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
The H. C. Branson papers are arranged into the following series: I: Mystery novels (arranged by date of publication, then alphabetically) II: Salisbury Plain (arranged alphabetically) III: Correspondence IV: Notes, drafts, and correpondence
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection was donated in several increments by H. C. Branson, his wife Anna Branson, and his personal friend Donald A. Yates in 1979, 2000, 2001, 2008, and 2012.
Processing Information
The H. C. Branson papers were processed by Kassy Fineout, August 2008, and accurals by Lydia Tang in 2017.
- Title
- Finding Aid for the H.C. Branson papers
- Status
- 4 Published And Cataloged
- Author
- Finding aid by Kassy Fineout and Lydia Tang
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Stephen O. Murray and Keelung Hong Special Collections Repository