Christopher Morley Articles

At the Bryant Library Local History Collection, our evergreen mission is to promote our holdings widely and spark new interest in the tales of Roslyn’s past. Many of the narratives we share are drawn from binders of news clips, oversized...

“We heard a critic remark that no great sonnets are being written nowadays.” This editorial statement opens Christopher Morley’s “The Permanence of Poetry”, an essay from his variegated collection of musings, Plum Pudding. In response to such critics, Morley wonders...

Today, May 5th, 2021, marks the 131st birthday of Christopher Morley who was born on this day in 1890 in Haverford, Pennsylvania. Last year during the pandemic we were unable to honor Morley’s 130th birthday in the way that we...

Christopher Morley’s intersection with the history of the Roslyn War Memorial Building, the structure which currently houses The Bryant Library, is most marked by his involvement when it was known as The Millpond Playhouse. Though it had previously been known...

One of Christopher Morley’s enduring contributions to the literary world of today is his early involvement in the Book-of-the-Month Club (BOTMC). Conceived by Harry Scherman, the Club was launched in 1926 as a mail-order service for books curated by a...

National Poetry Month is upon us, which calls to mind the works of one of our most treasured library patrons, Christopher Morley. As referenced in previous articles on our dear Mr. Morley, his preferred legacy as a writer was that...

Upon learning that today, January 9th, 2021, is known to a national audience as Word Nerd Day, we can’t help but identify our dear Mr. Morley as a true nerd of words. His works often contain uncommon usages, self-minted terms...

As the dear patrons of our little history rag know, the Bryant Library’s Local History Collection contains a veritable trove of Christopher Morley’s authored works, personal manuscripts, ephemera, and other odds and ends that pertain to the Roslyn Estates writer...

The sights and sounds of Bar Beach are common mentions in the Local History Collection’s assortment of news items, reminiscences, and literary works. Stewart Donaldson (1907-1994), the son of Clarence Mackay’s chauffeur at Harbor Hill estate, was an early donor...

Christopher Morley (1890 – 1957) was a prolific writer and well-known resident of Roslyn Estates. In his 1921 book of essays Pipefuls, Morley writes of walking over the Brooklyn Bridge as “a curiously delightful place to watch the city from.”...

The following was adapted from a 2015 library newsletter article by former archivist Myrna Sloam. Though Christopher Morley’s name is well-recognized in the Roslyn area due to the Nassau County park on Searingtown Road which is named after him, few...