Title: James Agee Notes

Date/Date Range :   circa 1935-1955

Extent: 0.1 linear feet

Abstract:

This collection consists of two sets of notes written by James Agee. The first set is his notes and observations on classic poetry. The second consists of two pages and includes ideas for articles on film and literature.

Call number: MS-1904

Repository: University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN

Aquisition Information:

Item is property of Special Collections

Access Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Copyright:

The copyright interests in this collection remain with the creator. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library.

Preferred Citation:

[Identification of Item], James Agee Notes, MS-1904. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Special Collections Library.

Collection consists of single folder.

James Rufus Agee was born in Knoxville, Tennessee to Hugh and Laura Agee on November 27, 1909. His father died in an automobile accident in 1916. Two years later, he and his mother moved to Sewanee, TN. Here, Agee attended St. Andrew's School, run by Episcopal monks. From there, he went to Phillips Exeter Academy and then to Harvard University. A parody written for The Harvard Advocate contributed to Agee's employment at Fortune Magazine. His first book, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, grew out of an article for Fortune. Agee next worked as a book and film review for Time, and then as a script-writer for television and movies. Among the more famous are The African Queen (1951) and The Night of the Hunter (1955). At the time of his death in May 1955, Agee had been married three times and was the father of four children.

Agee left behind his incomplete A Death in the Family, an unfinished novel on the impact of his father's death. It had been a project of his for nearly twenty years. David McDowell picked up the fragments and chapters, turning them into a complete work. In 1958, Agee won a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for the novel.

This collection consists of two sets of notes written by James Agee. The first set is his notes and observations on classic poetry. The second consists of two pages and includes ideas for articles on film and literature. For other Agee materials see MS 1500, MS 2996, MS 2474 and MS 2525.

• Agee, James, 1909-1955 -- Manuscripts.
• Agee, James, 1909-1955.
• Tennessee -- Authors.