Thornton Wilder: Meticulous Taxpayer

Happy Tax Day!
What better way to celebrate tax day than by sharing a copy of Wilder’s 1928 IRS Form 1040.

As a French teacher and House (dorm) Master at Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, Thornton Wilder was paid $1,800. But that is not the eye-popping figure on his tax return. Rents and Royalties on line #5 show net royalty income for CY ’28 of  $86,833.47 (about $1,237,370 today.) This is what occurs when you write a novel that everyone wants to read.  The novel was titled The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Published quietly on Nov. 3 1927, it took off like a rocket: within its first full calendar year, Bridge sales topped 300,000 in the US and Great Britain. 
 
The Bridge's successful birth marked one of the great literary events of the ‘20s, and its fame turned a secondary school teacher into a taxpayer identifying his occupation as that of “Author.”

Several additional observations based on the form and work sheets not shown:
 
1. His contributions included $600 to St. Raphael’s Hospital in New Haven, where the Wilder’s beloved family doctor and surgeon, Dr. William Verdi, had recently removed his appendix; $50 to Yale University, his alma mater; $1,000 to Lawrenceville School—more than 50% of his salary.
 
2. The $200 for lectures came from his May 4, 1928 Yale lecture titled, “On Reading the Great Letter Writers.”  The event marked his debut as a public lecturer, soon formalized in a multi-year contract with the well-known Lee Keedick Agency. (The lecture is collected in Wilder’s American Characteristic.)
 
3. Net Bridge royalties amounted to $79,128.31 or about 92% of the $86,833.47 total.  In addition to books sales, the amount includes Wilder's  $15,000 share for Bridge film rights, and $3,749.29 for the British edition. And thanks to the tail wind created by the Bridge, Wilder also received Cabala royalties in 1928 of $3,216.47.
 
We’ll spare you the details of Wilder's ’28 earned income credits, interest, tax rates, deductions, etc.,  but we know you’re dying to know his 1928 Federal tax bill: The answer is $12,848.17 (about $183,000 today.)