Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1287

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

0.4 linear feet (1 box)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Margaret Deland manuscript and draft of Golden Yesterdays, 1935-1936, Ms. Coll. 1287, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1935-1936 (inclusive)

Creator:

Deland, Margaret

Form:

Typescripts, Manuscripts (documents), Memoirs, and Drafts (documents)

Abstract:

Margaret Deland (1857-1945) was American novelist and poet. This collection includes the original manuscript and drafts for Deland's final book, Golden Yesterdays, a memoir published in 1941 when she was 84 years old and which follows her early life from her teens through her courtship and relationship with her husband, Lorin Deland.

Margaret (or Margaretta) Wade Campbell was born on February 23, 1857, the daughter of Sample and Mary Margaretta Wade Cambell. Her mother died several weeks after she was born on March 6, 1857 and her father died in 1866. She was adopted and raised by her aunt Lois Jane Wade Campbell (sister of her mother) and her uncle Benjamin Campbell. She was educated at Pelham Priory near New Rochelle, New York, Cooper Union, and at Hunter College in Manhattan. At the early age of 12, began writing works of fiction that were "set both in historical and modern times and dealt with making ethical decisions in different settings" (Beacon Hill). By the time of her death, she had written more than 25 works of fiction, including four novels: John Ward, Preacher (1888), Dr. Lavendar's People (1903), The Awakening of Helena Richie (1906), and The Iron Woman (1911); five collections of short stories: Mr. Tommy Dove and Other Stories (1893), Old Chester Tales (1899), Around Old Chester (1915), New Friends in Old Chester (1924), and Old Chester Days (1937); two memoirs: If This Be I, As I Supposed It Be (1935) and Golden Yesterdays (1941); and one collection of poetry: The Old Garden (1886). Along with novelists Edith Wharton, Agnes Repplier, and Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Deland was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1926, among the first women to be elected to that organization.

Margaret Wade Cambell married Lorin Fuller Deland (1855-1917) on May 12, 1880 and they lived in Boston where Deland had been raised. Although Deland worked in the fields of publishing and advertising, he is best known for working with the Harvard football team and developing a play called the "flying wedge." He was also interested in military history (which guided some of his strategy on the football field), writing, acting, and chess.

In addition to writing, Deland was a social reformer. She and her husband opened their home to unwed mothers and their infants and worked to help the women find jobs to support themselves. She appears to have given lectures on a variety of topics and she and her husband were social with prominent individuals including Phillips Brooks, Louisa May Alcott, and Edward Everett Hale, as well as Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. She died on January 13, 1945 at the age of 87.

Works Cited:

"Beacon Hill," Boston Women's Heritage Trail. (Accessed April 19, 2017)

Golden Yesterdays was Deland's last book, published in 1941 when she was 84 years old. It is a memoir that follows her early life from her teens through her courtship and relationship with her husband, Lorin Deland. The beginning of the book follows the parallel lives of Margaret and Lorin until they meet, at which point the two parallel stories converge. This collection includes the original manuscript used by Harper Brothers Publishing in setting up the galley proof for Golden Yesterdays. Included is an index with brief chapter summaries, a dead copy, and a section of rough drafts of chapter two and edits for the whole book. These manuscripts and drafts are heavily annotated with pencil and several pieces of scrap paper with notes are included. Most corrections and annotations appear to be in one hand, probably Margaret Deland's, however, there are notes probably by a proofreader that are technical and deal with spacing, punctuation, and grammar.

This manuscript provides a glimpse into the way in which Deland wrote and edited and how the work evolved over a period of time.