University of Wyoming
The collection is divided into three series based on the author of the material and further organized by record type.
Negley Farson was educated at the University of Pennsylvania as a civil engineer, however, he is best known for his writing career which spanned from 1924 until his death in 1960. Farson began writing as a foreign correspondent with the Chicago "Daily News" from 1924-1935, serving in India, Egypt and throughout Europe. A prolific writer, he drew on his travel experiences, interest in fishing and the outdoors, his time in the Royal British Air Force during World War I, and his life in England to write numerous non-fiction and fiction books and articles. Farson married Eve Stoker in 1920 and she accompanied him on many of his international excursions. Eve wrote several manuscripts during her travels with Farson and also kept diaries concerning their life together. The couple had one son, Daniel Farson.
The Negley Farson papers contain the records generated by Farson concerning his writing career and personal life from 1905 to his death in 1960, with additional material to 1975. The majority of the material relates to Farson’s work as a writer and includes manuscripts, articles, and scripts written by Farson, as well as reviews relating to his work. Included in the collection are numerous work notes and research accumulated by Farson over the course of his writing career; most of these materials are collected in scrapbooks and research notebooks with Farson’s articles. Farson’s many books on travel, politics, and culture are also included along with one by his son, Daniel, and several by other authors that discuss Negley Farson's work and life.
The collection includes many other records including passports, medals, and other personal memorabilia; newspaper clippings; book reviews; expense reports; business agreements with newspapers; and miscellaneous other materials. There is a fair amount of correspondence (1914-1975), much of it is Farson's personal correspondence with Eve and Daniel Farson. Fan mail related to Farson's 1935 autobiography, "Way of a Transgressor," makes up a portion of his personal correspondence along with a series of telegrams Farson sent to his employer and his wife from Russia in the early 1940s. Additionally, Farson attached correspondence concerning particular projects or topics to corresponding scrapbooks and research notebooks. The collection also contains many photographs of Farson and his family, as well as travel photographs from his 1927 European sailing excursion (which inspired the book Sailing Across Europe), a photo album of a 1928 trip to Spain, and other photographs from his endeavors throughout the world. The diaries of Farson’s wife, Eve, and several manuscripts she authored but never published are also included.
There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.
The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.
There are other letters of Negley Farson at the University of Reading Library and the Newberry Library.
This material was received from Daniel Farson in March 1980
The collection was processed by Kellyn Younggren in March 2010
Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Negley Farson papers, Collection Number 07561, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
This series contains materials written by Negley Farson. Scrapbooks in this series contain articles and photographs produced by Farson, as well as other clippings for research purposes, arranged in chronological order.
This series contains materials related to Negley Farson's writing career and personal life, including reviews, articles, research materials, photographs, scrapbooks, notebooks and correspondence. The research material, organized chronologically and topically, includes bound copies of rough draft material with extensive handwritten notes and newspaper articles related to the topic. Scrapbooks, organized chronologically, include reviews of his work, clippings of related articles, and correspondence with fans and employers concerning particular works or topics. His notebooks, organized topically, contain extensive notes on particular countries, possibly for future projects.
This series contains diaries and unpublished manuscripts authored by Eve Farson, Negley Farson's wife.