Collection Title: Irvin S. Cobb Papers
Series Number: MS93-02
Processed and Cataloged by: Originally processed and arranged by Keith Heim. Reprocessed by Hayley Allen in January to March of 2013.
Date Listed: 1993. No exact dates listed. Relisted on March 13, 2013.
Date Span: 1905-1989
Size of Collection: 10.0 linear feet.
Number of Boxes: 10 legal size document cases and 5 oversized boxes.
Type of Material: Manuscripts, correspondence, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, speeches and photographs.
Condition of Material: Fair. Some foxing and fading to some documents. Newspaper issues and clippings are in bad condition due to improper storage.
Arrangement: Arranged alphabetically by title of manuscript
Biographical / Historical Information: Irvin S. Cobb was an author, humorist and columnist who resided in New York City but spent his childhood and early adulthood in Paducah, Kentucky. He was born Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb on June 23, 1876 in Paducah. He began his career in journalism at the Paducah Daily News at age seventeen. At nineteen, he was the nation’s youngest managing news editor. When he was twenty eight, he relocated to New York City and was hired by the Evening Sun. He later worked for the New York World and the Saturday Evening Post. After 1912, Cobb became a prolific short story writer. During the 1920s and 1930s, several of his works were made into musicals and films. He also appeared in ten films between 1932 and 1938. He died in New York City in 1944.
Scope and Content: Collection consists of handwritten and typescript manuscripts by Irvin S. Cobb from 1905 to 1944. The collection also contains several series of typescript articles, newspaper clippings, adaptations of his works by other authors, reviews of his short stories, personal notes on critics and criticisms and untitled manuscripts. Included with the collection are correspondence, speeches, family history, obituaries, autographs, photographs and personal items belonging to Cobb.
Subject Headings / Descriptors:
Cobb, Irvin S., 1876-1944. (Irvin Shrewsbury)
Cobb family.
Reporters and reporting – United States
Journalists – United States.
Humorists, American – 20th Century.
Authors, American – 20th Century.
American wit and humor.
Short stories, American
Kentucky – Social life and customs – 20th Century – Fiction.
Paducah (Ky.) – History.
Additional Sources:
Lawson, Anita. Irvin S. Cobb (Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University Press, 1984) Chapman, Elisabeth (Cobb).
My Wayword Parent; a book about Irvin S. Cobb (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1971 reprint from 1945)
Neuman, Fred Gus. Irvin S. Cobb: his life and achievements (New York: Beekman Publishers, 1974 reprint from 1934)
Cobb, Irvin S. Stickfuls: (myself – to date) (New York: Review of Reviews Corp., 1923)
Cobb, Irvin S. Exit Laughing (New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1941)
Irvin S. Cobb Papers, Kentucky State Library & Archives
Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb Papers, University of Kentucky Library
Irvin S. Cobb Letters, Filson Historical Society
