Overview
| Repository: |
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
121 Wall
St. New Haven, CT 06520-8240 Email: Beinecke.Library@Yale.edu Phone: (203) 432-2972 Fax: (203) 432-4047 |
| Call Number: | YCAL MSS 337 |
| Creator: | Macpherson, Kenneth. |
| Title: | Photograph File of Close Up Magazine |
| Dates: | 1911-1947 |
| Bulk Dates: | 1926-1933 |
| Physical Description: | 0.98 linear feet (3 boxes) |
| Language(s): | In In English, German, French, Russian, and Japanese. |
| Summary: | This collection consists chiefly of promotional photographs and film stills created by motion picture studios for their films and actors, which the editors of Close Up used to illustrate the magazine. |
| View/Search: | To view and/or search the entire finding aid, see the Full HTML(NOTE: for large finding aids, the full HTML view may take up to 30 seconds to render) or the Printable PDF. |
| Finding Aid Link: | To cite or bookmark this finding aid, use the following address: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/beinecke.closeup |
| Digital Images: | Search for digital images from this collection. |
| Catalog Record: | A record for this collection, including location information, may be available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog. |
Administrative Information
Provenance
The collection was formerly the possession of Islay Lyons (born 1922), photographer and longtime companion of Kenneth Macpherson.
Purchased from Elysium Press on the Elizabeth Wakeman Dwight Memorial Fund, 2008.
Information about Access
This collection is open for research.
This collection may be housed off-site at Yale’s Library Shelving Facility (LSF). To determine if all or part of this collection is housed off-site please check the library’s online catalog, Orbis; material for which the location is given as “LSF” must be requested 36 hours in advance. Please consult with Beinecke Access Services for more information.
Ownership & Copyright
The Photograph File of Close Up Magazine is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Cite As
Kenneth Macpherson, Photograph File of Close Up Magazine. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript.
Processing Notes
Naomi Saito, a public services assistant at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library assisted in identifying photographs related to Japanese films in the collection.
Kenneth Macpherson (1903-1971) and Close Up Magazine
Kenneth Macpherson was a novelist and photographer with an interest in film making. In 1927, he married Annie Winifred Ellerman (1894-1983), also known as Bryher. With their partner, Hilda Doolittle (1886-1961), also known as H.D., they established the POOL Group, a partnership that produced publications and films. The trio also established and edited Close Up (1927-1933), an influential magazine focused on intellectual discussions of cinema. In 1931, the editorial board included Henry Joseph Hasslacher (1907-1985), also known as Oswell Blakeston. Apart from the editors, contributors to Close Up included poet Robert Herring, film critic Harry A. Potamkin, the novelist Dorothy Richardson, and psychoanalyst Hanns Sachs.
Description of the Papers
This collection consists chiefly of promotional photographs and film stills created by motion picture studios for their films and actors, which the editors of Close Up used to illustrate the magazine. The photographs document both popular and avant-garde cinema, as well as the transition period from silent films to films with sound. The Universum Film AG motion picture studio in Germany distributed most of the photographs in the collection, while other photographs came from companies in the Soviet Union, United States, Great Britain, France, and Japan. Many of the photographs have layout notes on their versos by the editors related to their publication in Close Up. Ink stamps or affixed labels on the versos of many of the photographs identify the films and actors. Several photographs have autographs, most notably an inscription by Sergei Eisenstein (1898-1948) to Macpherson. A significant group of photographs documents Borderline (1930), an experimental silent film by Kenneth MacPherson and the POOL Group, which starred Paul Robeson (1898-1976) and explored intersections of racial values. Other large groups of photographs also document Die Liebe der Jeanne Ney (1927), directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst (1885-1967), and ¡Qué viva México!, directed by Eisenstein. A group of photographs unrelated to Close Up magazine documents the film, Dreams That Money Can Buy (1947), co-produced by Macpherson with its director, Hans Richter (1888-1976).
Each folder in the collection contains a single photographic print, except where two or more photographic prints are noted.
Arrangement
Organized into two series: I. Films, 1911-1947. II. Actors and Other Subjects, circa 1925-1947 November 13.