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Collection Overview
Scope and Contents of the Materials
This collection is largely composed of published short stories by Irvin S. Cobb. These stories have been clipped from the magazines in which they appeared, including The Red Book Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, Field and Stream, Cosmopolitan and McClure's. There are also numerous articles about Cobb and two letters from Cobb to Edward J. Work. Although the provenance of this collection is unknown, many of the articles are signed by Cobb.
Biographical Note
Irvin S. Cobb, in full, Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb (born June 23, 1876, Paducah, Kentucky, U.S. -- died March 10, 1944, New York City, New York), American journalist and humorist best known for his colloquial handling of familiar situations with ironical, penetrating humor.
At 19 Cobb became managing editor of the Paducah Daily News, and in 1904 he went to New York City, where he became a staff writer for the Evening World and Sunday World. First through syndicated newspaper features and later in magazines, he became widely known for such articles as "Speaking of Operations," which in book form sold more than 500,000 copies, and for short stories, of which he wrote more than 300.
Cobb's stories about a shrewd and kindly Kentucky judge, Judge Priest, first brought him fame. Some of them were collected in Back Home (1912) and Old Judge Priest (1916). He wrote more than 60 books and thousands of columns for journals and traveled throughout the country as a lecturer and after-dinner speaker. He also wrote plays, and, with the filming of the Judge Priest stories, he went to California, where he wrote scenarios and acted in motion pictures.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Box:
[
Box 1],
[
Folder OS 1: Newspapers, 1923, 1929],
[All]
- Box 1
- Barcode: 31234014045072
- Folder 1: Association Against Prohibition, 1929
- A press release which includes the names of organization members (Cobb was president) and a statement about the organization's purpose.
- Folder 2: Correspondence, undated
- Two undated letters to Edward J. Work of Chicago discussing Cobb's health, Work's writing and their family connections.
- Folder 3: Ephemera, 1915-1944
- A program for a talk by Cobb and a booklet titled Cobbiana.
- Folder 4: News Articles by Cobb, 1901-1917
- An early poem by Cobb, a series of articles about the 1917 World Series and an incomplete series of short stories about Judge Priest.
- Folder 5: News Clippings about Cobb, 1913-1939
- News and magazine clippings about Cobb, many of which were written by Fred G. Neuman of Paducah. These clippings also include book and movie reviews.
- Folder 6: Short Stories, 1909-1916
- Item 1: Tale of the Hard Luck Guy, 1908
- Item 2: The Trail of the Lonesome Laugh, Apr, 1911
- Item 3: Who's Who at the Zoo, Oct, 1911
- Item 4: An Open Season for Ancestors, 07 Oct 1911
- Item 5: In the Haunt of the Deadly a La, 14 Oct 1911
- Item 6: The Decline and Fall of North American Food, 23 Dec 1911
- Item 7: Drama a League From Broadway, 03 Feb 1912
- Item 8: On Main Street: The Bogus Badness of New York, 09 Mar 1912
- Item 9: On Main Street: Looking Both Ways from Sewickley, Pennsylvania, 20 Apr 1912
- Item 10: On Main Street: Press Errantry, 04 May 1912
- Item 11: The New Community Skyscraper, 20 Jul 1912
- Item 12: On Main Street: A Decline in a Noble Industry, 20 Jul 1912
- Item 13: On Main Street: A Midsummer Night's Scream, 27 Jul 1912
- Item 14: The Adventures of Anastasius: The Man of the Hour, 17 Aug 1912
- Item 15: Duds, 17 Aug 1912
- Item 16: The Adventures of Anastasius: What Happened to Wangas, 31 Aug 1912
- Item 17: Literature, 31 Aug 1912
- Item 18: The Decay of the American Parent, 14 Sep 1912
- Item 19: Language, 14 Sep 1912
- Item 20: On Main Street: Old Friends That Linger With Us, 21 Sep 1912
- Item 21: On Main Street: The Gold Bonds of Matrimony, 12 Oct 1912
- Item 22: Arnold Bennett, Nov, 1912
- Item 23: Law, 07 Dec 1912
- Item 24: Holidays, 21 Dec 1912
- Item 25: The Island of Adventure: The Adventure of the Want Ad Signed "Confidence", 28 Dec 1912
- Item 26: Fishhead: The Rejected Story, 11 Jan 1913
- Item 27: Trade, 18 Jan 1913
- Item 28: Travel, 22 Feb 1913
- Item 29: The Island of Adventure: The Adventure of Mr. Pandora, 15 Mar 1913
- Item 30: The Island of Adventure: The Adventure of the Street with Three Ends, 03 May 1913
- Item 31: Breaking into New York: The Primary Stages, 10 May 1913
- Item 32: Breaking into New York: The Secondary Stages, 17 May 1913
- Item 33: Breaking into New York: The Final Stages, 24 May 1913
- Item 34: The Smart Set, Table of Contents, May, 1913
- Item 35: The Broken, Sep, 1913
- Item 36: Shakespeare's Seven Ages and Mine, 01 Nov 1913
- Item 37: Shakespeare's Seven Ages and Mine: And Then the Lover, 06 Dec 1913
- Item 38: Shakespeare's Seven Ages and Mine: And Then the Justice, 10 Jan 1914
- Item 39: Shakespeare's Seven Ages and Mine: Last Scene of All, 01 Jan 1914
- Item 40: Books, Feb, 1914
- Item 41: Kipling at Home, Feb, 1914
- Item 42: An American Vandal: As Done in London, 23 May 1914
- Item 43: An American Vandal: Being Guyed and Guided, 06 Jun 1914
- Item 44: An American Vandal: Old Masters and Other Ruins, 27 Jun 1914
- Item 45: An American Vandal: Be it Ever So Humble, 04 Jul 1914
- Item 46: That Piker Hercules, 12 Sep 1914
- Item 47: The Valley of Plenty, Jan, 1915
- Item 48: The Undoing of Stonewall Jackson Bugg, Sep, 1915
- Item 49: The Simple Tourist, 16 Oct 1915
- Item 50: Big Moments of Big Trials, Nov, 1915
- Item 51: Christmas Presents: Those We Give and Those We Get, 11 Dec 1915
- Item 52: The Gold Brick Twins, Dec, 1915
- Item 53: Unaccustomed As I Am, 25 Mar 1916
- Item 54: The Glory of the States: Kentucky, May, 1916
- Item 55: Mr. Felsburg Gets Even, 09 Sep 1916
- Item 56: And There Was Light, 23 Sep 1916
- Item 57: The Cure for Lonesomeness, 04 Nov 1916
- Item 58: Under Sentence, 30 Mar 1905
- Folder 7: Short Stories, 1917
- Item 1: The Garb of Men, 20 Jan 1917
- Item 2: A Witch As Was A Witch, Mar, 1917
- Item 3: A Kiss for Kindness, 07 Apr 1917
- Item 4: Hark! From The Tombs, 14 Apr 1917
- Item 5: Thrice Is He Armed, 21 Apr 1917
- Item 6: The Prussian Paranoia, 05 May 1917
- Item 7: Saturday Evening Post, Front Cover, 19 May 1917
- Item 8: Looking Both Ways From 40, 01 May 1917
- Item 9: Twixt the Bluff and the Sound: Life Among the Limelight Lovers, 26 May 1917
- Item 10: Twixt the Bluff and the Sound: Homeless People of New York, 02 Jun 1917
- Item 11: Cinnamon Seed and Sandy Bottom, 09 Jun 1917
- Item 12: Ex-Fightin' Billy, 01 Jun 1917
- Item 13: Twixt the Bluff and the Sound: Leading the Simpler Life, 07 Jul 1917
- Item 14: Twixt the Bluff and the Sound: Improbable People of an Impossible Land, 28 Jul 1917
- Item 15: Twixt the Bluff and the Sound: Rates Eight Dollars a Day and Up, 11 Aug 1917
- Item 16: Is He James Whitcomb Riley's Successor?, Aug, 1917
- Item 17: Twixt the Bluff and the Sound: By Their Bluffs Shall Ye Know Them, 01 Sep 1917
- Item 18: The Bull Called Emily, Oct, 1917
- Item 19: Quality Folks, 24 Nov 1917
- Folder 8: Short Stories, 1918-1919
- Item 1: The Luck Piece, 02 Feb 1918
- Item 2: Humane Treatment- German style, 27 Apr 1918
- Item 3: All American, 18 May 1918
- Item 4: On the Threshold of the Battle of Battles, 25 May 1918
- Item 5: At the Front of the Front, 01 Jun 1918
- Item 6: Happy Landings, 15 Jun 1918
- Item 7: Wanted: A Foolproof War, 22 Jun 1918
- Item 8: Being Bombed and Seeing it Done, 29 Jun 1918
- Item 9: Trench Essence, 20 Jul 1918
- Item 10: The Advantages of Being Homely, Jul, 1918
- Item 11: Young Black Joe, 24 Aug 1918
- Item 12: The Tail of the Snake, 31 Aug 1918
- Item 13: War as it Frequently Isn't, 07 Sep 1918
- Item 14: From My Overseas Notebook, 23 Nov 1918
- Item 15: Hoodwinked, 19 Jul 1919
- Item 16: John J. Coincidence, 09 Aug 1919
- Item 17: An Outrage or Two, 23 Aug 1919
- Item 18: I Admit I Am a Good Reporter, Aug, 1919
- Item 19: And Sold To, 11 Oct 1919
- Item 20: Life Among Us Landed Proprietors, 25 Oct 1919
- Item 21: When August the Second Was April the First, 01 Nov 1919
- Item 22: It Could Happen Again To-Morrow, 06 Dec 1919
- Item 23: Oh, Well, You Know, Oct, 1919
- Folder 9: Short Stories, 1920-1933
- Item 1: Why Mr. Lobel Had Apoplexy, 17 Jan 1920
- Item 2: The Ravelin' Wolf, 21 Feb 1920
- Item 3: Miste-er Chairma-an!, 05 Jun 1920
- Item 4: Whither are We Thrifting?, 12 Jun 1920
- Item 5: Inside Stories, 10 Jul 1920
- Item 6: The Story That Ends Twice, 04 Sep 1920
- Item 7: Answering Mr. F. S. Key, Sep, 1920
- Item 8: A Short Natural History, 09 Oct 1920
- Item 9: The Greatest Thrill I Ever Had, Dec, 1920
- Item 10: The Nature of a Preliminary Announcement, 08 Jan 1921
- Item 11: The Plural of Moose is Mise, Jan, 1921
- Item 12: The Dearest Word, Apr, 1921
- Item 13: One- Third Off, 23 Jul 1921
- Item 14: Darkness, 20 Aug 1921
- Item 15: The Generation That's Next, 17 Sep 1921
- Item 16: The Cater- Cornered Sex, 24 Sep 1921
- Item 17: Alas, The Poor Whiffletit!, Mar, 1922
- Item 18: That Shall He Also Reap, 15 Jul 1922
- Item 19: Old Ben Alibi, Sep, 1922
- Item 20: Snake Doctor, Nov, 1922
- Item 21: A Real Newspaper Story, Dec, 1922
- Item 22: The Nearest I Ever Came to Death, Dec, 1922
- Item 23: A Story of a Girl from Back Home, Jan, 1923
- Item 24: But I Kept My Teeth, Jan, 1923
- Item 25: The Thirteenth Degree, Feb, 1923
- Item 26: The Hunch- Player, May, 1923
- Item 27: Red Handed, Jun, 1923
- Item 28: The Chocolate Hyena, Jul, 1923
- Item 29: The Value of a Good Name, Aug, 1923
- Item 30: My Guyed Book, Aug, 1923
- Item 31: The Unbroken Chain, Sep, 1923
- Item 32: The Proud State of Kentucy, Oct, 1923
- Item 33: A Letter to a Relative, Nov, 1923
- Item 34: Cover of Hearsts International and Cosmopolitan, Mar, 1924
- Item 35: He Who Last Laughs, Feb, 1926
- Item 36: Carry Me Back to Old Virginia, Aug, 1926
- Item 37: A Big Little Man, Jan, 1927
- Item 38: I'm the Man that Broke, Feb, 1927
- Item 39: Can't We make Golf Safe for Democracy?, Aug, 1929
- Item 40: We have Go- Getters Next Door, Dec, 1929
- Item 41: On the Bounding Red Ink, Sep, 1930
- Item 42: Ole Miss, Dec, 1930
- Item 43: Br'er Rabbit, He Lay Low, May, 1931
- Item 44: An Incident of the Noble Experiment, Oct, 1931
- Item 45: The Stewed Kidneys of an Angel, 02 Dec 1933
- Folder OS 1: Newspapers, 1923, 1929
- Two Paducah newspapers devoted to Irvin Cobb, one celebrating the opening of the Irvin Cobb Hotel in Paducah.
- Barcode: 31234013922149
Browse by Box:
[
Box 1],
[
Folder OS 1: Newspapers, 1923, 1929],
[All]