Ellin Berlin Papers

The Ellin Mackay Berlin Papers are mainly a compilation of material relating to the research and preparation of Berlin’s novel, Silver Platter, about her grandmother Marie Louise Hungerford Bryant Mackay (1843-1928), the wife of one of the Comstock’s Bonanza Kings, John William Mackay. Ellin Berlin conducted her research from approximately 1947 through the publication of the book in 1957.

Since each of the three daughters retained part of the collection and there was no original order to the materials, the decision was made to assemble the papers in what seemed to be the logical time progression from the beginning of Berlin’s research in approximately 1947 or 1948 to the publication of the novel Silver Platter in 1957. Therefore, the collection is arranged in twelve series that follow the author’s progress from her initial want ad through the various types of research collections used, to her typed transcripts and then to the final galleys.

The Ellin Mackay Berlin Papers contain very little personal information about Ellin herself and even less about her husband, Irving Berlin. What personal information it does contain is mostly about her grandparents, Louise and John William Mackay. Specific details of John Mackay’s mines are not a part of this collection, however, although there is adequate information on his life, especially in the compilations to be found in Series 2/8. A limited amount of information on Mackay’s business endeavors in the Consolidated Virginia Mining Company and the Commercial Cable Company can be found in Series 2. Some information on the Nevada Bank of San Francisco and the Bank of California can be found in Series 6.

The research materials that Ellin Berlin collected are extensive, and especially rich in period details. She lived in New York which, therefore, necessitated the use of many assistants in the gathering of information from California, Nevada, and Europe. Many of the individuals and repositories she contacted for research assistance can be found in Series 5, while Series 7 contains her extensive newspaper research, including information from many 19th century newspapers: summaries, copies and originals. Series 8: Ephemera, contains invitations to social events, and other activities that were common from 1860-1923, all of them original items, although there is no specific information that any of them belonged to Louise Mackay.

Especially interesting are the catalogs, maps, brochures, pamphlets and booklets that can be found in Series 9. Many of these printed materials are originals, including an 1859 map of the Gold Hill Front Lodes, an 1875 pocket map of the Comstock Lode, and an 1868 song book. Some of the arguments surrounding the Bonanza mines can be found in Series 9, Subseries Four, as well as an interesting variety of newspaper clippings relating to mining and the Sutro Tunnel (1868-1869) collected in a scrapbook (series 9/subseries 4/folder 24).

The last three series contain the record of what would seem to be Berlin’s process in putting together her book. Series 10 and 11 provide a look at the author’s organizational steps as she arranged her research, sometimes beginning a direction and seeming to abandon it for another, resulting in a topic on which a few pages only are written. Series 12 follows the process that one would expect an author to follow in writing the book itself, from typescripts to the final galleys. A copy of the published novel Silver Platter is not part of this collection but is available in the Special Collections Department.

Researchers may wish to be aware of the following. First, Series 1 contains three letters in French. Second, during Berlin’s researching period (1940s and 1950s) it was common to have copies made by a photostatic process, which resulted in reversed or mirrored copies. As part of the processing of this collection most of these pages have been scanned and then reversed and printed, orienting the pages as they were originally which allows them to be more easily read. Many of these copies will be found in the letters to John Mackay in Series 2.

All in all, the Ellin Mackay Berlin Papers have two emphases. First is the process by which a published novel is assembled, and second is the wealth of 19th century original materials that the author accumulated. Anyone interested in either of these areas will find this collection of interest.