Writings
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Myers, John Bernard
setName: label: See more items in
content: John Bernard Myers papers
physdesc: label: Extent
content: (boxes 1-2, 1.0 linear ft.)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1959-1987, undated
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.myerjohn, Series 2
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement note
content: The series is organized into five subseries: 2.1: Books, circa 1976-1985

2.2: Articles and Essays, 1985, 1989, undated

2.3: Miscellaneous Writings, 1975-1987, undated

2.4: Diaries, 1969-1983, undated

2.5: Writings By Other Authors, circa 1975-1979, undated
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: Writings consist of drafts and final manuscripts of Myers's published and unpublished works. Included are books, articles and essays, miscellaneous writings, and diaries. His autobiography, Tracking the Marvelous: A Life in the New York Art World, was published by Random House in 1984. Correspondence with his publisher and fan letters are included with Series 1, and reviews are among the printed matter in Series 3. Forward and Backward: A Chronicle in Fragments and Episodes is about Mark Rothko's suicide and his daughter's subsequent lawsuit against Marlborough Galleries; this manuscript forms the basis for part three of Tracking the Marvelous. Knowing What I Like (unpublished) is a collection of Myers's essays and art criticism selected and edited by him. Among his miscellaneous writings are book and exhibition reviews, poems and song lyrics. Also included are notes, among them a notebook about puppets at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

For much of his life, Myers kept a diary and entries dated 1939-1956 are quoted extensively in Tracking the Marvelous. Eleven volumes, 1969 and 1974-1983, record his activities, reactions and reflections on his experiences, and news of literary and artist friends and acquaintances.

Writings by other authors include poems and an article, as well as submissions to Parenthèse.