Content Description
The collection contains drafts and writings from numerous publications by David Sedaris including Holidays on Ice, Me Talk Pretty Someday, Naked, and Calypso, along with correspondence, artist books, diaries, personal papers and notebooks, photographs, press clippings, ephemera, and other papers by or relating to Sedaris' life and work.
Dates
- 1964 - 2017
Creator
- Sedaris, David, 1956- (Author)
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Box 32 (audiovisual material): Restricted fragile material. Consult Access Services for further information.
Box 33 (born digital): Restricted fragile material. Access copies of digital files may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Box 34-52: Restricted during the lifetime of David Sedaris. For further information consult the appropriate curator.
Conditions Governing Use
The David Sedaris Papers 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.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Glenn Horowitz Bookseller, Inc. on the Sinclair Lewis Fund and the Edwin J. Beinecke Book Fund, 2018.
Arrangement
Organized into seven series: I. Notebooks, 2004-2017. II. Writings, 1980s-2017. III. Personal Papers, 1964-1989. IV. Audiovisual Materials, 1990-2003. V. Electronic Media, 2007-2008. VI. Restricted Papers. VII. Diaries, circa 1977-2016.
Extent
37.33 Linear Feet (52 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
David Sedaris
David Sedaris (born 1956) is an American humorist, author, and essayist. He grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina and graduated from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago in 1987. His works include Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, and Calypso. Sedaris is also well-known for his many contributions to This American Life, a weekly radio show on National Public Radio.
Processing Information
Collections are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections as they are acquired, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.
This collection received a basic level of processing, including rehousing and minimal organization.
Information included in the Description of Papers note and Collection Contents section is drawn from information supplied with the collection and from an initial survey of the contents. Folder titles appearing in the contents list below are often based on those provided by the creator or previous custodian. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. Otherwise, folder titles are supplied by staff during initial processing.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
- American essays--20th century
- American essays--21st century
- American literature -- 20th century
- American literature -- 21st century
- Audiocassettes
- Audiovisual materials
- Authors, American -- 20th century -- Archives
- Authors, American -- 21st century -- Archives
- Born digital
- Diaries
- Essayists
- Essays -- 20th Century
- Gay authors
- Gay men -- 20th Century -- Archives
- Gay men -- United States
- Gay men's writings, American
- Humorists
- Humorists -- United States -- 20th Century
- LGBTQ resource
- Memoirs -- United States
- Radio programs
- Title
- Guide to the David Sedaris Papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- by Rosemary K. J. Davis
- Date
- December 2018
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Revision Statements
- September 2020: Updated with Series VII, Diaries.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.