Patrick J. Kearney Collection on the Olympia Press

Kearney, Patrick J.

Olympia Press was a Paris-based publisher, launched in 1953 by Maurice Girodias as a rebadged version of the Obelisk Press he inherited from his father, Jack Kahane. It published a mix of erotic novels and avant-garde literary works, and is best known for the first print of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita. Most, if not all, Olympia Press publications were promoted and packaged as "Traveller's Companion" books, usually with simple text-only covers, and each book in the series was numbered. Olympia Press was also the first publisher willing to print the controversial William S. Burroughs novel, Naked Lunch. Other notable works included J. P. Donleavy's The Ginger Man; the French trilogy Molloy, Malone Dies and The Unnamable by Samuel Beckett; A Tale of Satisfied Desire by Georges Bataille; Story of O by Pauline Réage; and a critical book on Scientology, Inside Scientology/Dianetics by Robert Kaufman. The South African poet Sinclair Beiles was an editor at the publisher. Girodias had troubled dealings with his authors including copyright issues; Nabokov was not satisfied with the publisher and its reputation, and another long-running dispute over the rights to The Ginger Man ended with Donleavy's then-wife Mary buying out Girodias at what was intended to be a closed auction. Girodias briefly reestablished Olympia Press in the U.S. in the 1960s. [from Wikipedia]

The collection consists of material gathered by Kearney in the preparation of his bibliography of the Olympia Press, Paris Olympia Press, published by Liverpool University Press in 2007. There are 32 folders and envelopes containing typescripts, correspondence from Maurice Girodias (signed), Marco Vassi, and others, pamphlets, leaflets, photocopies of journal articles, and additional miscellaneous items relating to the publishing history of the Olympia Press.

Folders arranged in alphabetical order.

This collection was purchased from Christies in 2009.

AM 2009-4

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Folder inventory added by Nicholas Williams '2015 in 2012.

No appraisal information is available.

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Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Patrick J. Kearney Collection on the Olympia Press, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Publisher

Manuscripts Division

Date

2008

Creator

Kearney, Patrick J.

Subject

Erotic literature -- Publishing -- France -- Paris -- 20th century

Publishers and publishing -- France -- Paris -- 20th century

Organization

Olympia Press

Language

English

Form

Correspondence -- 20th century

Printed ephemera -- 20th century