Burns Online Exhibits | Literary Luncheons

Literary Luncheons

The urge for writers, critics, publishers, and other erudite types to gather together and discuss literature – and even more importantly, to eat and drink – appears to be deep-seated. From the salon culture of the seventeenth century to the rise of literary societies and cafes in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, to more modern clubs that honor a particular author, literary luncheons and dinners are a well-established part of a bookish social life. The Shakespeare Reading Society (founded 1875), Omar Khayyam Club (founded 1890), the Robert Louis Stevenson Club (founded 1920), and the Wolfe Pack (founded 1978), all focus on the works of one author and still meet today. The renowned London bookstore Foyles contributed to the culture with the institution of their “literary luncheons” series in 1930, and has since hosted over a thousand speakers. Many of the menus seen here were collected by authors whose papers are housed in the John J. Burns Library. Whether as honored guests, presenters, or just lucky invitees, they enjoyed the meals and conversation and saved the menus as mementoes.

Foyle’s Literary Luncheons menu, January 26, 1932

Box 119, folder 15, Alfred Noyes papers, (MS2006-054).

Omar Khayyam Club dinner menu, April 22, 1910

Box 116, folder 3, Alfred Noyes papers, (MS2006-054).

Shakespeare Reading Society annual dinner menu, November 12, 1931

Box 119, folder 15, Alfred Noyes papers, (MS2006-054).

Rex Stout

Rex Stout (1886-1975) was a mystery writer best known for his Nero Wolfe books, starring the epicurean armchair detective Nero Wolfe and his sidekick, the wisecracking Archie Goodwin. Food features prominently in the Nero Wolfe novels, especially in Too Many Cooks (1938), in which Nero Wolfe is invited to address a group of great chefs. Murder inevitably ensues, and Wolfe must uncover a secret recipe and ensure the killer gets his just deserts. Stout even published The Nero Wolfe Cookbook (1973), compiling recipes for many of the dishes mentioned in the books. It is fitting that the Wolfe Pack, a Rex Stout fan club, honors the author by holding an annual Black Orchid Banquet, at which members dine on a meal prepared using recipes from The Nero Wolfe Cookbook and present the Nero Award to a mystery author.

Cover

Stout. *Too Many Cooks*. New York: Bantam, 1993.

Alfred Noyes

Alfred Noyes (1880-1958) was a British Catholic poet, essayist, and critic. While at Exeter College, Noyes neglected to take his final examinations in favor of a meeting with publisher Grant Richards: the result was no degree, but his first book of poetry, The Loom of Years (1902). Noyes soon established himself as one of the bestselling poets of his time. He was a popular lecturer, with a wide acquaintance, and attended many literary luncheons and dinners, as the menus seen here – just a small selection of the many in his papers – attest. Noyes sometimes annotated his menus or had other diners, often other book world luminaries, autograph them. He also did a great deal of traveling while on lecture tours, and collected menus along the way; see the Restaurant portion of this exhibit for examples.

Atheneum menu, July 26, 1920

Box 119, folder 13, Alfred Noyes papers, (MS2006-054).

Pickwick Centenary Banquet menu, March 31, 1936

Box 119, folder 15, Alfred Noyes papers, (MS2006-054).

Graham Greene

Graham Greene (1904-1991) was a British Catholic author, critic, and playwright, well-known for The Power and The Glory (1940), The End of the Affair (1951), The Quiet American (1955), and Our Man in Havana (1958), amongst other works. He received many literary prizes and awards, including the Krug award of excellence in 1980, and was named to the British Order of Merit in 1986.