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Harry Mathews papers, 1942-2015 (inclusive)

Extent:
19 linear feet (48 boxes) and 6.7 gigabytes
Abstract:
Harry Mathews (1930-2017) is an experimental poet and prose writer. Mathews is well known for authoring several highly acclaimed novels; co-founding and co-editing the literary magazine, Locus Solus; and for his membership in the French avant-garde literary society, Olipo. The collection documents Mathews' professional life, and to a lesser extent, his personal life and includes drafts, typescripts, and corrected typescripts of Mathews' prose and poetry; publicity and promotion resulting from his literary work; research files probably used for writing his books; teaching and workshop records; writings by others; extensive correspondence which is restricted from use unless permission is granted by Mathews; and a small amount of audio visual material as well as several computer files.

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

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Harold Dies papers relating to the Dreiser Trust, 1903-2013 (inclusive) 1955-2012 (bulk)

Extent:
9 linear feet (9 boxes)
Abstract:
Harold Dies (1914-2012) was a trustee of the Dreiser Trust from its establishment following Helen Dreiser's death in 1955 to his own death in 2012. The Dreiser Trust managed the income and approved contracts for sale of Theodore Dreiser's published works. This collection documents Harold Dies' work with the Dreiser trust and includes financial information; agreements, copyright, correspondence, and royalty statements relating to the works of Helen Dreiser, Theodore Dreiser (bulk), and Paul Dresser; correspondence relating to the Trust and the estates of family members; legal and court records relating to estates of family members; some personal material of Harold Dies and members of the Dreiser family (including Gertrude A. Hopkins Dorn (niece of Theodore Dreiser), Helen Dreiser, Theodore Dreiser, Vera Dreiser, and Paul Dresser (brother of Theodore Dreiser)); and publications using Dreiser material or Dreiser-inspired content.

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

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David L. Vanderwerken research collection on Chaim Potok, 1962-2013 (inclusive)

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]

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Howard Fast papers, 1903-2006 (inclusive) 1931-2003 (bulk)

Extent:
41 linear feet ((105 boxes, 1 oversized folder))
Abstract:
Howard Melvin Fast (1914-2003) was a best-selling and prolific American author of historical fiction, mysteries, and science fiction, known for his books on themes of patriotism, social justice, and the immigrant experience. He wrote nearly 100 books and more than 150 short stories, as well as numerous screenplays, stage plays, and newspaper columns. The Howard Fast papers include correspondence, journals, appointment books, address books, financials, writings, promotion and reviews, scrapbooks, biographies, profiles, chronologies, bibliographies, interviews, governmental and political files, vital records, personal documents, awards, photographs, artwork, and audiovisual materials. The papers were deposited at the University of Pennsylvania over the course of 45 years and represent nearly all facets of the writer's life.

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

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Chaim Potok papers, 1954-2002 (inclusive)

Extent:
233 boxes
Abstract:
The papers document the literary career, professional endeavors, rabbinical work, and personal life of 20th-century writer Chaim Potok. The collection comprises personal and professional correspondence, writings, lectures, sermons, research, drawings, promotional material, contracts, memorabilia, and letters from admirers. Potok's writing process can be traced from conception to publication: from notebooks for ideas, outlines, hand-written drafts, and annotated typescripts and galleys. Some works took on many forms and required several collaborations: one example, The Chosen, his first novel, published in 1967, was adapted into a film, a musical, and a play. There are over 1500 correspondents, including colleagues, family members, and friends. Potok's working and social relationships are demonstrated in letters with his editor, Robert Gottlieb, and with scholars such as Jonas C. Greenfield, Moshe Greenberg, and Nahum M. Sarna. Other correspondents include writers Elie Wiesel,...(see more)

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

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Archibald Elias collection of manuscripts, 1681-2000 (inclusive) 1681-1760 (bulk)

Extent:
0.4 linear_foot (1 box)
Abstract:
This collection consists of manuscripts and papers relating primarily to seveententh and eighteenth century Ireland and Great Britain formerly owned by A.C. Elias, a literary scholar who wrote extensively on Jonathan Swift and his circle.

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

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Martha Millet papers, 1920-1997 (inclusive)

Extent:
8 linear feet (13 boxes)
Abstract:
Martha Millet (1918-2004) was a poet and literary critic active in the Communist Party USA. Along with her second husband, noted pamphleteer and left-wing journalist Sender Garlin (1902-1999), she was a frequent contributor to Marxist, Communist, and left-leaning journals, and published several books of poetry. This collection includes 9 boxes of material related to her poetic and political writings. It contains most of her poetic and critical work in manuscript form; copies of journals and anthologies to which she contributed; scrapbooks assembled by Millet to commemorate her publications; documents from the Helsinki Peace Conference of 1955 which Millet attended; work by her husband, Sender Garlin, as well as a transcript of his FBI file; and works by others, including the transcripts of Ezra Pounds WWII era radio broadcasts, which Millet used to write a book attacking Pound's political thought.

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

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James M. Gibson research collection on Horace Howard Furness, 1882-1992 (inclusive) 1975-1985 (bulk)

Extent:
6 linear feet (14 boxes)
Abstract:
This collection contains research materials collected and compiled by James M. Gibson for a biography of Horace Howard Furness, The Philadelphia Shakespeare Story: Horace Howard Furness and the Variorum Shakespeare, published in 1990. The bulk of this collection consists of photocopies of original nineteenth and early twentieth century documents made between roughly 1975 and 1985. This collection gathers hundreds of letters and articles that relate to H. H. Furness, from over fifty libraries and repositories, and illuminates Gibson's research and writing process. Furness (1833-1912) was a leading Shakespeare scholar, and thus some of the material pertains to the study of Elizabethan theater.

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

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Lewis Mumford papers, circa 1905-1987 (inclusive)

Extent:
82.5 linear feet (197 boxes)
Abstract:
Comprising nineteen series, the Mumford papers provide extensive documentation of Mumford's professional life over a period of approximately seventy years. Predominant are correspondence and drafts of and notes for Mumford's writings, which include publications of over forty books and pamphlets and approximately one thousand articles and book reviews.

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

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Van Wyck Brooks papers, 1872-1983 (inclusive) 1900-1963 (bulk)

Extent:
142 boxes
Abstract:
Collection contains 54 boxes of professional and family correspondence; 68 boxes of writings by Brooks, including typescripts, galleys, and notes for books, articles, prefaces, and addresses, as well as juvenalia, diaries, and notebooks; and 20 boxes of memorabilia, photographs, and newspaper clippings.

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

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