Irvin S. Cobb Collection, 1901-1944 | Eastern Kentucky University - Special Collections and Archives

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Collection Overview

Title: Irvin S. Cobb Collection, 1901-1944

Predominant Dates:1910-1933

Primary Creator: Cobb, Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury) (1876-1944)

Extent: 0.44 Cubic Feet

Date Acquired: 02/10/2004

Subjects: Cobb, Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury), 1876-1944.

Languages: English

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

Cobb, Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury), 1876-1944.

Administrative Information

Repository: Eastern Kentucky University - Special Collections and Archives

Related Materials:

John Wilson Townsend Papers

Books by Irvin S. Cobb

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],
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