An important archive of material featuring an Autograph Manuscript, 2pp. 8.5" x 14", [New York, 1964] in pencil, being research notes for what became his first television essay, "An Essay on Doors," which was broadcast on CBS as a news special in 1964. The archive also includes five New York Public Library call slips, all filled out in pencil in Rooney's hand, three of which are signed "A A Rooney" , all of which concern the same research as well as a period photocopy used in his work. The papers are accompanied by another special Rooney relic: the original manual for his Underwood Portable typewriter, which he used for the first fifty years of his career (before grudgingly switching to a computer). Offered together two books signed and inscribed to Rooney, including Dan Rather, The Camera Never Blinks Adventures of a TV Journalist (New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1977), 320pp. 8vo., first edition with dust jacket, boldly signed and inscribed on the half title: "For Andy Rooney-who has helped with so much for so long. In admiration and with appreciation, from his friend, Dan Rather July, 1977 New York"; and David Brinkley 11 Presidents, 4 Wars, 22 Political Conventions, 1 Moon Landing, 3 Assassinations 2,000 Week of News and Other Stuff on Television and 18 years of Growing up in North Carolina, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995) 273pp. 8vo., first edition with clipped dust jacket, signed and inscribed on the half-title, "To Andy Rooney-I can't offer a motorized skateboard but i can, and do, wish you a great new year! David Brinkley".  Manuscript page and call slips bear some toning and marginal wear, books are in overall very fine codition.

Rooney started with CBS in 1949 as a writer for Arthur Godfrey and eventually wrote for a variety of programs including The Garry Moore Show and The Morning Show with Will Rogers, Jr. In the early 1960s, Rooney began partnering with Harry Reasoner, writing for him a series of television essays on seemingly mundane subjects, a format that Rooney pioneered. His first essay, "An Essay on Doors," set the tone for Rooney's "everyman" style, which presented these subjects "with varying degrees of befuddlement, vexation and sometimes pleasure." (New York Times, November 5, 2011). Later installments, read by Harry Reasoner, inluded "An Essay on Bidges" (1965), "An Essay on Chairs," (1967), and "The Strange Case of the Enlish Language" (1968). In 1968, Rooney joined the staff of 60 Minutes and began personally presenting his essays in 1978 in a regular segment, "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney." He continued to to write and produce these segments until his retirement from CBS in October 2011. Rooney's manuscript notes on the subject of doors inlude several ideas that made their way to the finished essay presented on CBS in 1964 in a program entitle One of a Kind, presented by Hary Reasoner on March 8, 1964. When comparing to the final transcript (a copy is included for reference), the reader can witness how Rooney's embryonic ideas morphed into a more developed piece showcasing his particular style. The first paragraph of Rooney's notes, reads: "Doors are necessary in shelter for occupants to go in & our of, light, air discharge of smoke. Of these one openings, the door is most important." (The final transcript includes similar thoughts: There is historical evidence that man has always found some place to get in out of the weather. For access to any shelter man found or built he needed an opening."). During the course of his research, Rooney consulted a variety of sources (as noted in the surviving call slips). Requests included: "Self-opening Doors," " Van Kannel Revolving Door Co. Circular #1 1901," "Amer. Jour. Of Philo. V. 32 p. 251-271 1911." A surviving photocopy from a 1926 work entitle, historic Doorwarys of Old Salem, was used to inform the following passage in the final essay: "Some early American doors are among our greatest native works of art. There is a style and grace in their composition, an outer promis of inner beauty."

Also of interest is Rooney's original manual for his underwood portable typewriter, made famous in one of his 60 Minutes essays, "Why Computers are Screwed Up," originally broadcast in 2003. Complaining of continual software and hardware updates, he fondly recalled his 1920 Underwood typewriter, which he had used for 50 years: "i had one typewriter for 50 years, but I've bought seven computers in six years. I suppose that's why Bill Gates is rich and Underwood is out of business. They make computers so you have to buy a new one whenever there's a full moon. If my Underwood had been a computer, I'd have had to buy a new one every time I needed a new ribbon because Bill Gates would have designed new ribbons so they didn't fit last year's typewriter."

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