Clara G. Spiegel-Ernest Hemingway Family Papers
Scope and Content of the Collection
Correspondence to Clara G. Spiegel consisting of nine letters from Martha Gellhorn, 1940-1944; four letters from Ernest Hemingway, 1939-1954; one letter and three cards from Ernest and Mary Welsh Hemingway, 1954 and undated; eleven letters from Mary Welsh Hemingway, 1948-1961; eleven letters from Patrick Hemingway, 1957-1962; and one letter from Denis Zaphiro, July, 1988. Gellhorn’s letters concern her own writing, travels, the war, life with Hemingway and his sons, and Spiegel’s publishing, among other things. In July of 1942 Gellhorn urges Spiegel to help a young Nelson Algren, who is struggling in Chicago. Ernest Hemingway’s letters are primarily about the progress of his writing and advice to Spiegel about hers. Mary Hemingway’s letters also have comments about Spiegel’s writing, but are mostly concerned with her husband’s work, their family and social life, descriptions of their homes, travels and hunting trips. Patrick Hemingway, a “professional hunter and safari outfitter”, corresponded with Spiegel about the hunting trips she took under his guidance, while the letter from game hunter Denis Zaphiro is personal in content. Also in the collection is a small undated color photograph of Hemingway, and a typescript of a eulogy he wrote for a Ketchum friend.
Dates
- Creation: 1939-1988
Creator
- Hemingway, Ernest, 1899-1961 (Person)
- Spiegel, Clara Gatzert, 1904-1997 (Person)
Language
Materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
The Clara G. Spiegel-Ernest Hemingway Family Papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).
Ownership and Literary Rights
The Clara G. Spiegel-Ernest Hemingway Family Papers are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.
Biography of Clara Gatzert Spiegel
Author, world-traveler and big game hunter.
Clara Gatzert Spiegel (1904-1997) was an author, big game hunter and world-traveler, who left Chicago in the 1940s to settle in Ketchum, Idaho, near one of the homes of Ernest Hemingway. Her first and only husband and the father of her two sons was Fredrick Spiegel of Chicago, from whom she was divorced in the late forties. Frederick Spiegel had been in the Italian ambulance corps in 1918 with Ernest Hemingway, and both he and Clara remained friends with Hemingway all his life.
Clara Spiegel had four novels jointly published with Jane Mayer under the collaborative name of Clare Jaynes. She traveled widely, writing about and photographing her big game hunts and other trips, and she also entertained extensively in her Ketchum home. After Ernest Hemingway’s death in 1961, she and Mary Hemingway remained friends.
Clara G. Spiegel died in 1997.
Extent
0.2 Linear Feet (1 box)
Abstract
Letters and cards written to author Clara G. Spiegel from Ernest Hemingway, Martha Gellhorn, Mary Welsh Hemingway and Patrick Hemingway, plus one letter from game ranger Denis Zaphiro. Also, a small photograph of Hemingway and a typescript of a friend’s eulogy written by Hemingway in 1939.
Arrangement
The letters are arranged by name of writer. Photocopies of the Martha Gellhorn, Ernest and Mary Welsh Hemingway letters are at the end of collection for use in photocopy requests.
Collection Stack Location
1 32 5
Provenance
Gift, Andrew G. Spiegel, 2007.
Processed by
Virginia Hay Smith, 2008.
Subject
- Gellhorn, Martha, 1908-1998 (Person)
- Hemingway, Ernest, 1899-1961 (Person)
- Hemingway, Mary Welsh, 1908-1986 (Person)
- Hemingway, Patrick (Person)
- Spiegel, Clara Gatzert, 1904-1997 (Person)
- Zaphiro, Denis (Person)
- Algren, Nelson, 1909-1981 (Person)
Genre / Form
Occupation
Topical
- Title
- Inventory of the Clara G. Spiegel-Ernest Hemingway Family Papers, 1939-1988
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Virginia Hay Smith
- Date
- ©2008.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the The Newberry Library - Modern Manuscripts and Archives Repository
60 West Walton Street
Chicago Illinois 60610 United States
312-255-3512
reference@newberry.org