Subject: American literature -- 20th century and Authors / Form: Writings (documents) - Philadelphia Area Archives Search Results

Extent:: 7.33 linear feet (8 boxes)
Abstract:: William Wister Haines (1908-1989) was an American author, screenwriter, and playwright, most famous for his novels Slim and High Tension, which depicted working-class protagonists during the Great Depression, and Command Decision, a play and novel depicting the final stages of World War II. This collection includes material related to his literary work, especially in the form of drafts of novels, short stories, essays and articles, screenplays and television scripts, and plays.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

Extent:: 2.4 linear feet (3 boxes)
Abstract:: This collection includes material related to a planned critical biography of author Chaim Potok (1929-2002) by David L. Vanderwerken (1945-2015), an American literary scholar and professor of English literature. It contains correspondence regarding the proposal for the book; general research on the critical literature surrounding Potok's literary career, as well as his life and art; a Vanderwerken interview with Potok; and copies of Potok's novels and nonfiction works, with annotations by Vanderwerken.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

Extent:: 13.5 linear feet (16 boxes)
Abstract:: Paul Eldridge (1888-1982) was an American poet, novelist, essayist, short story writer, and teacher. Most prolific in the 1940s, Eldridge's writing focused on issues of World War II, the Israeli-Palestine conflict, and Zionist and Jewish issues more generally. This collection consists of manuscripts, typescripts, and reprographic copies of Eldridge's poems, stories, and essays; scrapbooks of clippings related to Eldridge's writing and other activities; dustjackets; photographs; issues of newspapers and periodicals in which his columns appeared; and correspondence related to Eldridge's writing and career.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

Extent:: 4 linear feet (4 boxes)
Abstract:: This collection includes material collected by Siegfried Weisbeger (1896-1984), proprietor of the Peabody Book Shop in Baltimore Maryland and confidante of H.L. Mencken (1880-1956), a noted writer, editor, and social provocateur, famous for his disdain for common morals and received wisdom. The collection contains correspondence between the two men and other correspondents of the Peabody Book Shop, manuscripts and published writings by and about Mencken (many of them signed), and autobiographical writings and poems written by Weisberger.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

Extent:: 5.6 linear feet (7 boxes)
Abstract:: Catherine Drinker Bowen (1897-1973) was an American writer best known for her popular (and occasionally controversial) biographies of prominent American and English historical figures. Her books were great successes in the popular market, but sometimes received criticism from academics for their occasional re-imagining of historical occurrences. This collection includes 5 boxes of material related to her 1950 biography of John Adams, John Adams and the American Revolution. It includes two full drafts of the book, organized by chapter, with each chapter containing various revisions. It also includes various versions of the book's prologue, source notes, and bibliography, as well as notes and corrections, along with a statement by Drinker Bowen explaining her biographical methods.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

Extent:: 16.33 linear feet (17 boxes)
Abstract:: Maggie Paley is a prolific journalist and author. Her works include Bad Manners, a novel, and The Book of the Penis, a book of popular nonfiction. Paley was a well-connected participant in a wide variety of NYC cultural life during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, and this collection contains her own writing, correspondence with notable figures, and cultural material she collected. Paley worked as an editor at The Paris Review and a staff writer for LIFE and The Saturday Evening Post before establishing a career as a freelance journalist. Since the 1960's she has been a social fixture in New York artistic circles, and was a close acquaintance of such figures as Jill Krementz, Harry Matthews, and Rachael Hadas.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]

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