Vanity Fair

manoscmr9 Holliday Bookshop Collection, 1921-1979 Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by Lynne M. Fors. Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Mortimer Rare Book Room, William Allan Neilson Library, Smith College

Northampton, MA

2003

Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Eric Steven Cartier. 2003-09-15 Finding aid written in English. 2005-09-23 manoscmr9 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02-5c.xsl (sy2003-10-15). Smith CollegeWilliam Allan Neilson LibraryMortimer Rare Book Room Holliday Bookshop Collection, 1921-1979 Finding Aid Manuscript Number 10 Compiled by Lynne M. Fors August 1995 Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Collection Overview Holliday Bookshop Holliday Bookshop Collection1921-1979 MS 10 1 box (0.5 linear ft.) Mortimer Rare Book Room

Smith College Northampton, MA

Husband and wife co-owners of a bookshop in New York City that initially specialized in importing English books, as well as offering unusual and rare books, especially first editions of contemporary authors and private press books. Contains book catalogues, correspondence, writings, publicity, and photographs. English. Historical Note

Terence Holliday, an avid reader, worked at Brentano's in 1919, in order to learn "something about the book business." In 1920, Terence and his wife Elsa (Smith class of 1911) opened their bookshop on 10 West 47th Street in New York City. The bookshop began to slowly grow, despite the Holliday's choice to ignore the advice of Frank Crowningshield of Vanity Fair, to "have a couple of attractive young ladies serve tea in the shop every afternoon." Initially, the bookshop specialized in importing English books, as well as offering unusual and rare books, especially first editions of contemporary authors and private press books. Later, the Hollidays promoted the works of younger British and American poets and novelists, such as W. H. Auden, Thornton Wilder, Virginia Woolf, Aldous Huxley, Katherine Mansfield, William Faulkner, and T. S. Eliot.

In 1925, the bookshop moved to 49 West 49th Street. This location was a propitious one, since there were specialty bookshops in the area. Rather than competing for customers, the bookshops cooperated, making referrals and placing orders for each other. Unfortunately, some of the larger publishers in competition with the Holliday were not nearly as gracious. The import of English editions was made difficult by the existing copyright laws, and the invention of "limited editions" from the larger houses also threatened business.

The Hollidays weathered the Depression, with Terence lecturing occasionally and writing articles to make ends meet. However, by 1950, the difficulties of running the bookshop began to wear on Terence, and the Hollidays began to look for a buyer for their shop. A run of bad luck ensued, including two destructive fires of suspicious origin.

In 1951, the Hollidays sold their bookstore to Robert T. Vanderbilt, and retired in Milford, Connecticut. Terence Holliday died in 1969 at the age of 84. Elsa Detmold Holliday died in 1991 at the age of 100. After 31 years of existence, the Holliday bookshop had become more than a bookshop; it had become an "Institution."

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The archive of the Holliday Bookshop contains book catalogues, correspondence, writings, publicity, and photographs, dating from 1921 to 1979. The archive was donated to the Mortimer Rare Book Room in 1994 by John Detmold, in memory of his aunt, Elsa Detmold Holliday, class of 1911. The collection is divided up into five series, in 52 folders.

Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into five series:

I. Book Catalogues, 1921-1937 II. Correspondence, 1921-1973 III. Publicity, 1924-1979 IV. Writings, 1929-1930 V. Photographs Arrangement of the Collection

The collection is divided up into five series, in 52 folders.

Information on Use Terms of Access and Use

The Holliday Bookshop Collection is the physical property of the Mortimer Rare Book Room, Smith College. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors of the works or their legal representatives.

Preferred Citation

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

Holliday Bookshop Collection, Mortimer Rare Book Room, Smith College.

History of the Collection

The archive was donated to the Mortimer Rare Book Room in 1994 by John Detmold, in memory of his aunt, Elsa Detmold Holliday, class of 1911.

Search Terms Holliday, Terrance. Holliday, Elsa Detmold. Holliday Bookshop. Bookstores--New York (State)--New York. Holliday, Terrance. Holliday, Elsa Detmold. Series I. Book Catalogues, 1921-1937

Series I. consists of book catalogues written and distributed monthly by the Hollidays (folders 1-8). These catalogues were the source of the majority of their business, as well as being valuable references for collectors and librarians.

Series II. Correspondence, 1921-1973

Series II. contains the Bookshop correspondence, including cards and letters from Archibald MacLeish, Louisa Brooke Jones, and Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt (folders 8-34).

Series III. Publicity, 1924-1979

Series III. consists of publicity surrounding the bookshop, including an advertisement which ran in the first issue of the New Yorker, information on the sale of the shop, and various reviews and articles written about the bookshop (folders 35-45).

Series IV. Writings, 1929-1930

Series IV. consists of writings by Elsa and Terence Holliday, including a history of the bookshop, and an article on bookselling for Encyclopedia Britannica (folders 46-49).

Series V. Photographs

Series V. contains photographs of the Hollidays, and their close friends Irving and Ellen Berlin (folders 50-52).

Series I. Book Catalogues, 1921-1937 1 Books to Read and Re-read 1921 [1 item] 2 Catalog of Modern and Contemporary Books n.d. [1 item] 3 Holliday Books for Christmas 1930-1950 [20 items] 4 The Holliday Book Shop. Current Books, No. 8-10 1924 [3 items] 5 The Holliday Book Shop. New & Forthcoming Books, No. 11-20 1925-1929 [9 items] 6 The Holliday Book Shop. New & Forthcoming Books, No. 21-23 1929-1931 [3 items].

No. 23 annotated in pencil on the back cover.

7 100 Good Books [1937] [1 item] 8 Ten Favorite Books n.d. [1 item] Series II. Correspondence, 1921-1973 9 Bogan, Louise. ALS 1943 Aug 1 10 Brandt & Brandt. TLS 1952 Mar 18 10 Brandt & Brandt. TLS 1952 Mar 31 10 From Elsa Holliday. TL 1952 Apr 1 10 Brandt & Brandt. TLS 1952 Apr 3 10 From Elsa Holliday. TL 1952 May 14 10 Brandt & Brandt. TLS 1952 May 20 11 Carter, John and Ernestine. Card and envelope 1940 Dec 27 12 Curtiss, Mina. TLS 1951 Aug 4 13 Doubleday, Page and Co. TLS 1924 Feb 24 13 From Holliday Book Shop. TL 1924 Feb 25 13 Doubleday, Page and Co. TLS 1924 Feb 27 14 Encyclopedia Britannica. TLS 1928 Sep 14 14 Encyclopedia Britannica. TLS 1928 Sep 20 14 From Terence Holliday. TLS 1928 Sep 27 15 Fletcher, Frank Irving. TLS 1923 Jul 20 16 Gregg, Eleanor and Alan. ALS 1951 Oct 22 17 Harpers' Bazaar. TLS 1938 Jul 19 18 Holliday, Terence and Elsa. ACS 1921 2 copies 19 Holliday Book Shop. TL 1924 Dec 4 20 Jones, Louisa Brooke. ACS 1943 Aug 12 20 Jones, Louisa Brooke. ALS 1951 Jul 26 21 MacLeish, Archibald. TLS 1943 Aug 9 22 Marshall, Lenore G. ALS 1943 Aug 10 23 McFee, William. ALS and envelope 1922 Nov 27 New Yorker 24 Advertising Dept. TLS 1925 Mar 16 24 Advertising Dept. TLS 1925 Mar 16 24 Editorial Offices. TLS 1975 Mar 11 3 copies 25 Peirce, Albert E. Care of Mrs. C. M. Thomas. 2 bills and ACS sent from Terence Holliday 1930 Jun 6 26 Random House. ACS 1938 Jun 29 27 Roosevelt, Mrs. Theodore. ACS n.y. Aug 31 28 Shawn, William. Draft letter by Elsa Holliday n.d. 29 Simon and Schuster. TLS 1942 Apr 29 29 Simon and Schuster. TLS 1942 May 8 29 Simon and Schuster. TLS 1942 Jul 7 30 Smith College Library. TLS 1962 Jul 31 31 Smith College Museum of Art. TLS 1973 May 30 32 Sze, Marimai. ALS 1943 Aug 8 32 Sze, Marimai. ALS 1952 Jun 2 33 Whistler, Laurence. ALS 1952 Sep 19 33a Wilson, Edmund. ALS and transcript. 1951 Jul 29 34 Unidentified [first initial V] n.d. Series III. Publicity, 1924-1979 35 Advertisement for special edition of book entitled The Squire's Home-made Wines 1924 Feb. 36 Article describing popularity of recent books from England at the Holliday Bookshop n.d. 37 Article describing lecture given by Mrs. Terence Holliday at the American Association of University Women n.d. 38 Bulletin of The New York Library Club. Includes speech made by Terence Holliday, "Not Everyone Reads Best Sellers" at the January Meeting 1930 Jan 30

SEE ALSO: "Writings" for typescript version of speech, found loose inside bulletin which differs from version in bulletin.

39 Cartoon of the Holliday Book Shop. Caption reads "The Holiday Book Shop at 49 East 49th Street," n.d. 40 "Holliday Bookshop sold to British Book Centre." Article from Publisher's Weekly in the "Retailing" section 1961 Apr 3 41 "A Magazine in Transition is the Talk of the Town." Article from New York Times on William Shawn and the New Yorker 1979 May 27 42 New Yorker. Reproduction of first issue, with advertisement for Holliday Book Shop on pg. 26 1925 Feb 21 43 Review of The Squire's Home-made Wines 1924 Feb 44 Tallis, Thomas. Printed copy of inscription on tomb n.d. 45 "Terence Holliday to Address Literary Department." Article from The Villager 1931 Dec 1 Series IV. Writings, 1929-1930 HOLLIDAY, ELSA 46 "Holiday [sic] in Name Only." Mimeographed manuscript, annotated in pen. n.d. 39 pages 46 "Holiday [sic] in Name Only." Typescript manuscript, annotated in pencil. n.d. 39 pages

Both copies are ascribed to both Elsa and Terence, but were written solely by Elsa.

SEE ALSO: "Correspondence," Brandt and Brandt, regarding publication of the manuscript.

47 "The Literary Scene in New York in the 20's, 30's & 40's." Typescript draft of talk given by Elsa Holliday at meeting of American Association of University Women n.d. HOLLIDAY, TERENCE 48 "Bookselling in the United States." Typescript draft. For inclusion in the Encyclopedia Brittanica 1930 49 ["Not Everyone Reads Best Sellers"]. Typescript version of talk given at The New York Library Club. 1930 Jan 30 49 "Not Everyone Reads Best Sellers." Publishers's Weekly 1929 Jul 27 "Not Everyone Reads Best Sellers." Reprinted by The Holliday Book Shop from Publishers' Weekly. Series V. Photographs 50 3 black and white photographs of Terence and Elsa Holliday. 51 Ellen and Irving Berlin and 3 daughters. Photograph mounted on Christmas card. 52 3 color transparencies and one color photograph depicting Terence Holliday and a model at The Holliday Book Shop.