Scope and Contents
The papers document the life and work of Ved Mehta and include writings, correspondence, family archival material, personal papers, academic records, financial records, research and subject files, printed material, photographs, and electronic files. Writings includes drafts of (and for some, extensive research files for) all of Mehta's major works from 1957 to 2004. Drafts of writings and Mehta's outgoing correspondence are typewritten. Subject files and correspondence relate not only to Mehta's life and work, but also to his family, to acquaintances such as Ethel Clyde, and to organizations such as the Arkansas School for the Blind, Pomona College, and Oxford University.
Dates
- circa 1924-2005
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Boxes 91-92 and 199 (Engagement diaries): Restricted until 2031.
Boxes 100-114 and 169-183 (Financial records): Restricted until 2031.
Box 200 (Restricted papers): Restricted until 2031.
Computer disks in boxes 122: Restricted fragile material. Use reference copy.
Box 122 (audiovisual material): Restricted fragile. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Boxes 17-18 (New Yorker book files): Open for research. Restriction expired in 2011.
Box 197 and 198: Open for research. Restriction expired in 2011.
Conditions Governing Use
The Ved Mehta 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 Ved Mehta on the Edwin J. Beinecke Book Fund , 1996-2011.
Arrangement
Organized into five groupings: July 1996 Acquisition, July 1999 Acquisition, February 2000 Acquisition, March 2005 Acquisition, and April 2011 Acquisition.
Material within this collection has been organized by acquisition reflecting the fact that the collection has been acquired in increments over time.
Researchers should note that material within each acquisition overlaps with/or relates to material found in other acquisitions. For instance, correspondence can be found in each of the four groupings. In order to locate all relevant material within this collection, researchers will need to consult each acquisition described in the Collection Contents section.
Extent
116.04 Linear Feet ((212 boxes) + 3 broadside folders)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Abstract
The papers document the life and work of Ved Mehta and include writings, correspondence, family archival material, personal papers, academic records, financial records, research and subject files, printed material, photographs, and electronic files. Writings includes drafts of (and for some, extensive research files for) all of Mehta's major works from 1957 to 2004. Drafts of writings and Mehta's outgoing correspondence are typewritten. Subject files and correspondence relate not only to Mehta's life and work, but also to his family, to acquaintances such as Ethel Clyde, and to organizations such as the Arkansas School for the Blind, Pomona College, and Oxford University.
Ved Mehta, 1934-2021
Ved Mehta, Indian-American author of novels, family biographies, and essays, was born in 1934 in Lahore (then an Indian city, now part of Pakistan). Blind since childhood, he attended boarding schools in India and in the United States. He continued his education at Pomona College and Harvard University, eventually becoming an American citizen. Among his many writings are A Portrait of India (1970), the series of family biographies Continents of Exile (1972-1993), and the collected essays Fly and the Fly-Bottle (1966) and A Ved Mehta Reader: The Craft of the Essay (1998). He was a staff writer at The New Yorker from 1961 to 1994.
Language(s)
Materials chiefly in English.
Processing Information
The collection received preliminary processing at the time of acquisition. Further organization, rehousing, and description were carried out in 2010 and 2011.
The collection is comprised of material formerly classed as: Uncat MS Vault 768, Uncat MS Vault 860, Uncat MSS 9, and Uncat MSS 759. Various acquisitions associated with the collection have not been merged and organized as a whole. Each acquisition is described separately in the contents list below, according to month and year of acquisition.
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 basic processing.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
- American literature
- Arkansas School for the Blind
- Audiovisual materials
- Authors, American -- 20th Century -- Archives
- Authors, American -- 20th Century -- Biography
- Blind -- United States -- Biography
- Born digital
- Clyde, Ethel, 1879-
- East Indian Americans
- Electronic documents
- India -- Social life and customs
- Mehta, Ved, 1934-
- Photographs
- Pomona College (Claremont, Calif.)
- Sound recordings
- University of Oxford
- Title
- Guide to the Ved Mehta Papers
- Author
- by Beinecke staff
- Date
- 2007-05-16
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
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.