Biographical Note
James Andrews Beard was born in Portland, Oregon on May 5, 1903. He studied briefly at Reed College in Portland but left in 1923 to join a touring theatrical troupe and pursue a career as an actor and singer. In the mid-1930s he began to supplement his income with catering work, and in 1937 he settled in New York and opened a gourmet food shop, Hors D'Oeuvre Inc. The work at the shop led to Beard's first book, Hors d'Oeuvres and Canapés, in 1940.
During the war years, Beard served with the U.S. Seamen's Service, establishing sailors' canteens in Rio de Janeiro, Puerto Rico, Panama and Marseille. When he returned to New York he resumed writing cookbooks, publishing prolifically and establishing himself as America's most noted culinary authority. In 1946 he was given his own segment on a pioneering television program, NBC's "I Love to Eat," becoming one of the first TV chefs.
Over the years, Beard contributed articles and columns to numerous magazines, including Women's Wear Daily, House and Garden and Gourmet. In the 1970s he wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Beard on Food."
In 1955 Beard established the James Beard Cooking School, in New York, and for many years he served as a consultant to food producers and restaurateurs. He also ran his own restaurant, in Nantucket, for a while.
Beard published over twenty books in his lifetime, among them The Fireside Cookbook, The James Beard Cookbook, Delights and Prejudices, a Memoir with Recipes, and James Beard's Theory and Practice of Good Cooking.
James Beard died on January 21, 1985 at age 81.
Return to topScope and Content Note
The James Beard Papers at Fales Library comprise a small collection of Beard materials considered significant by Beard's personal assistant, Emily Gilder. Included is miscellaneous incoming correspondence; of special note are three letters from writer M.F.K Fisher and a number of letters from Elizabeth David, the noted British cookbook author credited with bringing French and Italian cookery into the English home. There are clippings of articles by and about Beard, notes transcribed from tapes made by Beard, photographs, and personal effects including medical records, a last will and testament, and Beard's high school yearbook. Also included are a number of items by and about writer José Wilson, features editor for House and Garden magazine and Beard's close collaborator on his newspaper and magazine columns as well as a number of cookbooks.
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Related Material at Fales Library and Special Collections
The Cecily Brownstone Papers
The Les Dames d'Escoffier New York Archive
Return to topSeparated Material
There is no information about materials that are related by provenance to the collection which have been separated.
Return to topRestrictions
Access Restrictions
Open to researchers. Appointments are necessary to consult archive and manuscript materials.
Use Restrictions
Collection use is subject to all copyright laws. Permission to
publish materials must be obtained in writing from the Director of Fales
Library and Special Collections. For
more information, contact
Fales Library and Special Collections
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
Phone: (212) 998-2596
Fax: (212) 995-3835
Email: fales.library@nyu.edu
URL: http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/fales/cdfa.htm
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Administrative Information
Provenance
The James Beard Papers were donated to Fales Library in 2003 by restaurant-industry consultant Clark Wolfe, a friend and professional colleague of Beard's. Beard himself saved next to nothing; the materials in this collection were rescued from the wastebasket by Beard's personal assistant, Emily Gilder. In 1986, shortly after Beard's death, Gilder gave the collection to Wolfe with the instruction to "do the right thing when the time comes." With the establishment of a major culinary archive at NYU the time had come.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date (if known); James Beard Papers; MSS 139; box number; folder number; Fales Library and Special
Collections, New York University Libraries.
Container List
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.
Return to the Top of PageReturn to the Top of PageReturn to the Top of PageReturn to the Top of PageReturn to the Top of PageReturn to the Top of PageReturn to the Top of Page| OVERSIZE Series III: Biographical materials |
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Scope and Content: Beard's honorary doctorate diploma from Reed College. |
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| Box | Folder | Title | Date |
| 2 | 17 | Honorary Doctorate, Reed College | 1976 |
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| OVERSIZE Series IV: Articles |
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Scope and Content: Two articles about Beard, undated and 1978. |
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| Box | Folder | Title | Date |
| 2 | 18 | Articles About Beard | 1978 |
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