SKETCHBOOKS, 1961-1966
File — Box: 121, Folder: 1
Scope and Content
From the Collection:
John Nichols' papers document a wide range of history and culture and personal connections in New Mexico (and elsewhere) over the last 55 years. This all-inclusive collection contains almost every draft of every manuscript Nichols has written, and every piece of correspondence that he has sent and received since the late 1950s. The collection not only documents the creation and evolution of his literary works, but precisely documents the literary process. His correspondence, speeches, and artwork chronicle contemporary political and social issues and shed light not only on John Nichols, but also illuminate the perspectives of a large array of contemporary literary, political, and everyday figures and issues in New Mexico and around the globe.
Activities, 1970-2008: These files include speeches, political organizing, trips, magazine articles, and many other projects and activities undertaken by Nichols.
Articles, 1969-2007: Contain various newspaper and magazine articles about John Nichols and his books.
Artwork, 1969-2004: Sketchbooks, drawings and cartoons by John Nichols. Significant works including a complete set of pen and ink calavera drawings, artists proofs, and etchings of calaveras done to illustrate The Magic Journey; published and unpublished political cartoons, mostly done during the 1970s for Albuquerque's alternative newspaper, Seer's Catalogue, and illustrations and cartoons done for Hamilton College's track & field newsletter The Good Scout.
Book Reviews, 1965-2007: Published reviews of John Nichols' books.
Book/Film Contracts, 1964-2012: Xerox copies of some of the main contracts Nichols has signed for book publishing, film options, and screen-writing assignments. With a few magazine and journal and audio recording pufferies thrown in.
Book/Movie/Agent Correspondence, 1963-2007: This consists of files of correspondence between Nichols and agents, editors, publishers, producers, directors, production people, and others involved with his professional life of writing books and screenplays.
Correspondence 1950s-1960s, 1950-2012: This series contains letters from Nichols' teenage years, while at Hamilton College, and then living in New York City until 1969. Later correspondence is often included, the criteria being that the letter exchanges began in the 1950s or 1960s.
Envelope Diaries, 1998-2002: Envelope diaries and field observations played a huge role in creating Nichols' literature. He kept a record of hikes on the backs of envelopes and carefully typed up these transcripts afterwards. Once he began carrying a little tape recorder that was the end of the envelope diary field notes.
Eulogies, 1980-2007: Written by John Nichols for some of his departed friends.
Fan Letters, 1969-2011: Consist mainly of letters to Nichols, mostly from strangers, commenting on his books or other projects, and of carbons of some of his typed replies to these letters from strangers.
General Correspondence, 1970-2012
Jouranl/Diary Ephemera, 1955-1966: Ephemera connected to Nichols' life between age 15-26, during prep school and college and a few years after college.
Journal/Diary Files, 1956-2007: Nichols has kept journals off and on since age fifteen.
Manuscripts, 1957-2012: This series contains nearly every draft of every title that John Nichols wrote between 1957 and 2012. Notable titles include "The Sterile Cuckoo" and the New Mexico Trilogy: "The Milagro Beanfield War," "The Magic Journey," and "The Nirvana Blues."
Memorabilia, 1968-1997: Hermes Rocket typewriter used to type Milagro, and Olympia typewriter used to type manuscripts from 1974 until 1997, when Nichols finally began using the computer.
Miscellaneous Carbons, 1964-2009: These are carbon copies of business and personal letters, typed by Nichols and not matched up with correspondence files elsewhere.
Novel Notes, 1961-2006: Notes that Nichols scribbled in notebooks and on the backs of envelopes. He often wrote dozens of variations on a theme in notebooks trying to get a handle, find a starting point.
Phone Messages, 1987-2007
Photographs, 1955-2013: This is a cross-section of photographs of Nichols, his family and friends, lots of photographs related to publicity for his books, or hiking mesas and climbing mountains.
Photography Workshops in Taos, 1988-1998: Nichols' friend sponsored the Owens Valley Photography Workshops (begun in 1975) for many years. The workshops catered to serious, and usually large-format, photographers in the mold of Ansel Adams and others of his ilk. Nichols guest lectured at the workshop for 10 summers, beginning in 1988.
Pocket Notebooks, 1980-2010: Things to do, lists, notes for novels, field notes when hiking, random thoughts, and so forth.
Publications, 1959-2007: Magazines and newspapers containing articles by or about Nichols. This includes prep school and college literary magazines, the Hamilton Spectator and New Mexico Review.
Request Letters, 1970-2012: Mostly letters from people asking John Nichols to "do stuff," like read their books, blurb their books, find them a publisher, come and speak to their class, do a workshop, contribute books for their benefit auction, etc.
Royalty Statements,1965-2011
Screenplays, 1965-2004: Includes screenplays, drafts, and edited drafts of screenplays written by Nichols, or written by others as adaptations of Nichols' works. Notable titles include "Missing" and "The Milagro Beanfield War."
Slides, 1960-2000: Most of the slides were taken between 1973 and 1995, primarily in and around Nichols' Taos home, in Taos proper, or around the immediate Taos valley and western mesas, or on some of the small streams southeast of Taos or in the mountains of Taos County.
Videos 1984-2013: This is a collection of videos include interviews or documentariesJohn Nichols has done I've done or documentaries I've done, or have been included in.
Activities, 1970-2008: These files include speeches, political organizing, trips, magazine articles, and many other projects and activities undertaken by Nichols.
Articles, 1969-2007: Contain various newspaper and magazine articles about John Nichols and his books.
Artwork, 1969-2004: Sketchbooks, drawings and cartoons by John Nichols. Significant works including a complete set of pen and ink calavera drawings, artists proofs, and etchings of calaveras done to illustrate The Magic Journey; published and unpublished political cartoons, mostly done during the 1970s for Albuquerque's alternative newspaper, Seer's Catalogue, and illustrations and cartoons done for Hamilton College's track & field newsletter The Good Scout.
Book Reviews, 1965-2007: Published reviews of John Nichols' books.
Book/Film Contracts, 1964-2012: Xerox copies of some of the main contracts Nichols has signed for book publishing, film options, and screen-writing assignments. With a few magazine and journal and audio recording pufferies thrown in.
Book/Movie/Agent Correspondence, 1963-2007: This consists of files of correspondence between Nichols and agents, editors, publishers, producers, directors, production people, and others involved with his professional life of writing books and screenplays.
Correspondence 1950s-1960s, 1950-2012: This series contains letters from Nichols' teenage years, while at Hamilton College, and then living in New York City until 1969. Later correspondence is often included, the criteria being that the letter exchanges began in the 1950s or 1960s.
Envelope Diaries, 1998-2002: Envelope diaries and field observations played a huge role in creating Nichols' literature. He kept a record of hikes on the backs of envelopes and carefully typed up these transcripts afterwards. Once he began carrying a little tape recorder that was the end of the envelope diary field notes.
Eulogies, 1980-2007: Written by John Nichols for some of his departed friends.
Fan Letters, 1969-2011: Consist mainly of letters to Nichols, mostly from strangers, commenting on his books or other projects, and of carbons of some of his typed replies to these letters from strangers.
General Correspondence, 1970-2012
Jouranl/Diary Ephemera, 1955-1966: Ephemera connected to Nichols' life between age 15-26, during prep school and college and a few years after college.
Journal/Diary Files, 1956-2007: Nichols has kept journals off and on since age fifteen.
Manuscripts, 1957-2012: This series contains nearly every draft of every title that John Nichols wrote between 1957 and 2012. Notable titles include "The Sterile Cuckoo" and the New Mexico Trilogy: "The Milagro Beanfield War," "The Magic Journey," and "The Nirvana Blues."
Memorabilia, 1968-1997: Hermes Rocket typewriter used to type Milagro, and Olympia typewriter used to type manuscripts from 1974 until 1997, when Nichols finally began using the computer.
Miscellaneous Carbons, 1964-2009: These are carbon copies of business and personal letters, typed by Nichols and not matched up with correspondence files elsewhere.
Novel Notes, 1961-2006: Notes that Nichols scribbled in notebooks and on the backs of envelopes. He often wrote dozens of variations on a theme in notebooks trying to get a handle, find a starting point.
Phone Messages, 1987-2007
Photographs, 1955-2013: This is a cross-section of photographs of Nichols, his family and friends, lots of photographs related to publicity for his books, or hiking mesas and climbing mountains.
Photography Workshops in Taos, 1988-1998: Nichols' friend sponsored the Owens Valley Photography Workshops (begun in 1975) for many years. The workshops catered to serious, and usually large-format, photographers in the mold of Ansel Adams and others of his ilk. Nichols guest lectured at the workshop for 10 summers, beginning in 1988.
Pocket Notebooks, 1980-2010: Things to do, lists, notes for novels, field notes when hiking, random thoughts, and so forth.
Publications, 1959-2007: Magazines and newspapers containing articles by or about Nichols. This includes prep school and college literary magazines, the Hamilton Spectator and New Mexico Review.
Request Letters, 1970-2012: Mostly letters from people asking John Nichols to "do stuff," like read their books, blurb their books, find them a publisher, come and speak to their class, do a workshop, contribute books for their benefit auction, etc.
Royalty Statements,1965-2011
Screenplays, 1965-2004: Includes screenplays, drafts, and edited drafts of screenplays written by Nichols, or written by others as adaptations of Nichols' works. Notable titles include "Missing" and "The Milagro Beanfield War."
Slides, 1960-2000: Most of the slides were taken between 1973 and 1995, primarily in and around Nichols' Taos home, in Taos proper, or around the immediate Taos valley and western mesas, or on some of the small streams southeast of Taos or in the mountains of Taos County.
Videos 1984-2013: This is a collection of videos include interviews or documentariesJohn Nichols has done I've done or documentaries I've done, or have been included in.
Dates
- 1961-1966
Language of Materials
From the Collection:
English
Access Restrictions
The collection is open for research, however, researchers must sign consent form prior to gaining access to materials. Calavera drawings, proofs, and etchings as well as "little diaries" (Boxes 14, 125, 126, 129, 142) are housed in high security and may require up to 24 hours for retrieval. Enlarged photocopies and typed transcriptions of "little diaries" in Box 142 are located in Box 184.
Extent
From the Collection: 184 boxes (172 cu. ft.)
General
- "MY THREE ANGELS," HAMILTON, 1962. My Cartoon. Signed by my pal Sam Crowl, the brains of the Hamilton Charlatans. (I was in this play my senior year.) (There's also a POSTER OF THE PLAY, using this cartoon, with this artwork collection.)
- CROQUIS DESSIN BONJON 1962-63. 10 pages containing 9 four-panel cartoon strips, in color, in French. Done in Spain. My mother was French, but raised partly in Barcelona. Why not become a French cartoonist? Back page has pen and ink design for cover of The Sterile Cuckoo.
- SEVERAL JEST NO CARD DESIGNS. 1961 A one-page simple line drawing of boy reaching up to pluck leaves from a tree. (NOTE: See Box 114, Folder 12 for Jest No Greeting Cards).
- CROQUIS CANSON-1962-63. 12 pages of line drawings of weird faces, done in Spain, 1962-63. 6 pages of weird cartoons drawn in New York, 1963.
- DIBUJO SKETCH BOOK. SPAIN, 1962-1963. 12 big pages of a nonsense poem about "Timothy Blimp", in pen and pencil. One pencil cartoon drawing of Timothy Blimp, sort of a bat, butterfly, corpulent moth cowboy sort of creature.
- CROQUIS DESSIN. SMALL BROWN SKETCH BOOK, PARIS, AUTUMN 1962. 22 pages of pencil sketches. Also a 6 page short story written in pencil.
- BEVERLY SKETCH BOOK, NEW YORK, 1963-64. BROWN COVER. One strange pen and ink sketch of 2 people. 11 pages of pencil drawings of weird fantasy fish with a ludicrous text explaining what they are. (Roark, Slavverbad, Tweetle, Spop, Widget, Phwfeet, Furtle, Left-Handed Bazzoo, Gonfle, Long-Billed Sneet, Bavular Snark). The first weird fish in my life was originally designed by Pookie Adams in The Sterile Cuckoo. This also has 2 pages of pencil drawings for cover of The Sterile Cuckoo, 1963-65. (NOTE: IN THE MANUSCRIPT INVENTORY, "The Sterile Cuckoo (I)" HAS SEVERAL LINE DRAWINGS IN IT THAT I PROPOSED, UNSUCCESSFULLY, FOR THE COVER OF THE BOOK.)
- CROQUIS DESSIN BARJON - 1964-65. 2 page text, "The Miracle of Johnny Epcoe." One page of many weird faces. Also very simple and clean line drawing of a little girl facing a spider hanging in front of her nose. (Probably an idea for cover of The Sterile Cuckoo.) Plus 14 pages of scribbles and cartoons.
- BEVERLY SKETCH BOOK. 1965, 1966. ORANGE COVER. 25 pages of pencil sketches and cartoons. Includes Ruby, John, and Swoboda 1965 Xmas card. 6 loose pages of pen and ink absurd drawings.
- AQUABEE CO-MO, 1965. 10 pages of silly sketches.
- ARTIST'S 5 x 8 SKETCHBOOK, MINUS COVER. 1965-1967 and a few pages from April 18, 1984. 200 pages. I took this book from New York to West Coast when I first flew out to work with Alan Pakula on script of The Sterile Cuckoo. Most of sketching was done on plane. Lots of abstract drawings in front of book. Then 13 pages of drawings and text for more weird fish (see BEVERLY SKETCH BOOK, BROWN COVER above): Tufted Skivak, Wug, Blue-Bellied Scrunt, Hollow Mottle, Lazurus Lovely, Snuggums, Cigarooni, Diabolical Pansy, Stupid Grommet, Supple Fwinkle, Bewhiskered Schlemming, Doulc, Moffet Mandible. Then 7 pages of abstract patterns of land 30,000 feet below the plane. Next, more weird fish: The Big Lop, G-Shargle, Scrofular Tid, Ping Pong Baule, Pueriple Pop-Top, Spouth. Followed by frantic sketches on landings and take-offs! Then oddball cartoons. Sketches denote fear in the air. 25 more pages of abstract land formations below. Then frantic DESCENDING! cartoon. Some sketches of Ruby pregnant with Luke, 1966. Couple of Ruby's sketches of me. Then jump-cut to April 18, 1984 for 10 more abstract sketches of land forms below airplane. I think I was flying to New York to meet Costa-Gavras about working on a script for "War Day." End of book has 2 pages of maudlin paranoid written philosophy, obviously up in a plane again and scared. This is a peppy little book.
- SIX CARTOONS, 1961-1963. a.) Guy walking his anteater who zots out tongue to hit another pedestrian in his butt (ants in his pants, get it?). b.) Girl behind gloomy guy on motorcycle: "Gosh Johnny, motorcycles are such fun!" c.) Mother bird to baby bird in nest: "Listen! One more peep out of you and I'll..." d.) girl with pigtails in classroom with wiseguy with ink bottle: "You and your ink can just go to hell, Jimmy Brown!" e.) Motorcycle hoodlum guy with DA haircut in doctor's office, smoking cigarette, reading magazine--he's got a monkey sitting on his back. f.) Pilot and co-pilot in airplane, ahead of them they see angel on cloud with Coca-Cola sign: "This time they've gone too far," says pilot to his co-pilot. I suspect these were done 1961-62 at Hamilton. Maybe 1963 in Spain.
- NEW YORKER CARTOON, APRIL 1961. Couple monkeys in a spacecraft reading newspaper with headlines: GAGA HAILED. (Gaga is Yuri Gagarin, first soviet astronaut in Space. First man in space.) One monkey to the other: "One day you're a bigshot, next day you're nobody." Believe it or not, the New Yorker rejected this brilliant concept. Their form rejection letter is in this envelope.
- I did a drawing of WALLY JOHNSON'S HOUSE in Clinton, N.Y. for his Xmas card. 1962. Wally was old timer, the Secretary of the College. Taught public speaking. Retired in 1962. My senior yearbook is dedicated to him. This is the card he sent to me while I was in Spain. Dunno where the original pen and ink drawing is. Suppose I gave it to him.
Repository Details
Part of the UNM Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections Repository
Contact:
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451