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Sergio Pitol Papers
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Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Sergio Pitol Deméneghi was born in Puebla, Mexico, on March 18, 1933. He studied law at the Universidad Autónoma de México (UNAM) in Mexico City. In 1960, he became a member of the Mexican Foreign Service and served over a number of years as cultural attaché in Paris, Warsaw, Budapest, Moscow. In the 1980s he served as Mexico's ambassador to Czechoslovakia. Pitol's trips also include periods of study and work in Rome, Beijing, and Barcelona. Since 1993 he has lived in Xalapa, capital of the Mexican state of Veracruz.
Pitol's publications as translator include literary works by such authors as Jerzy Andrzejewski, Jane Austen, Giorgio Bassani, Kazimierz Brandys, Anton Chekhov, Joseph Conrad, Witold Gombrowicz, Henry James, and Vladimir Nabokov. He also served as a professor at the UNAM, at the Universidad Veracruzana in Xalapa, and at the University of Bristol, England.
In 2005, Pitol received the Cervantes Prize, the most prestigious literary award in the Spanish-speaking world. Other major awards include the Premio Juan Rulfo (1999), Premio Herralde de Novela (1984), and the Premio Xavier Villaurrutia (1981). Pitol died on April 12, 2018.
Major published works:
The papers consist of Sergio Pitol's diaries, journals, notebooks, handwritten, typescript, and print out manuscripts of literary works, correspondence, personal documents, and papers of others about Pitol. There are manuscripts of unpublished works such as "Conversaciones con Sergio Pitol" (unpublished); and published manuscripts El desfile del amor, Domar a la divina garza, El viaje, and La vida conyugal. Correspondence includes letters from friends, writers, artists, literary critics, agents, and publishers such as Rosario Castellanos, José Donoso, Carlos Fuentes, Witold Gombrowicz, María Luisa Mendoza (la China), Carlos Monsivaís, Augusto Monterroso, José Emilio Pacheco, Octavio Paz, Elena Poniatowska, Manuel Puig, Juan Soriano, and Juan Villoro among others.
The papers are arranged in the following way: Series 1: Diaries and Journals, Series 2: Notebooks, Series 3: Writings, Series 4: Correspondence, Series 5: Personal Documents, and Series 6: About Pitol.
Purchase, 2008 (AM 2009-24).
Additions in December 2008 (AM 2009-52) and October 2015 (AM 2016-32).
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
This collection was re-processed by Elvia Arroyo-Ramirez in November 2015. Finding aid written by Elvia Arroyo-Ramirez in November 2015.
This collection was originally processed by Carolina Gamboa-Hoyos in October 2008. Finding aid written by Carolina Gamboa-Hoyos in November 2008.
Nothing was removed from the 2015 processing.
People
- Donoso, José (1924-1996)
- Franco, Jean
- Fuentes, Carlos
- García Ponce, Juan
- Glantz, Margo
- Gombrowicz, Witold
- Mendoza, María Luisa
- Monsiváis, Carlos (1938-2010)
- Monterroso, Augusto
- Moura, Beatriz de
- Pacheco, José Emilio
- Paz, Octavio (1914-1998)
- Poniatowska, Elena
- Puig, Manuel
- Soriano, Juan (1920-2006)
- Villoro, Juan (1956)
Subject
- Diplomats -- Mexico. -- 20th century -- Correspondence
- Latin American fiction. -- 20th century
- Latin American literature. -- 20th century
- Mexican essays. -- 20th century
- Mexican fiction. -- 20th century
- Mexican literature. -- 20th century
- Mexican literature -- Criticism and interpretation. -- 20th century
- Novelists, Mexican. -- 20th century -- Correspondence
- Novelists, Mexican -- 20th century -- Manuscripts
- Manuscripts. -- 20th century
Place
- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Date
- 2008
- Access Restrictions
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This collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
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Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.
Collection Inventory
Diaries were labeled and numbered by Pitol's assistants in 2008. Both diaries and journals are organized chronologically.
This series consists of the diaries and journals of Sergio Pitol. Diaries consist of dated entries with personal information and recounts of Pitol's life. Original handwritten diaries are filed in Subseries 1 and typescript transcriptions of some diary entries are filed in Subseries 2. Journals consist of monthly records of correspondence, works submitted for publication, and payment of these works.
Physical Description10 boxes
Chronologically. Diaries were labeled and numbered by Pitol's assistants in 2008.
This subseries consists of Pitol's diaries. Note: diary entries for 1999 were done in Cuaderno de Trabajo No. 24. This notebook is filed in Series 2: Notebooks. For other 1999 entries see Cuaderno de Trabajo No. 26. Diary entries for 2003 were done in Cuaderno de Trabajo No. 25 and No. 28. These two Cuadernos are filed in Series 2: Notebooks. Diary entries for 2004 were done in Cuaderno de Trabajo No. 33. This Cuaderno is filed in Series 2: Notebooks.
Physical Description5 boxes
1 folder
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Diary includes selected entries from September 27, 1992 to August 12, 1993, containing the narration of Pitol's trips to Frankfurt and Milan. It also includes notes for his text "Ars poetica", as well as notes from his readings of Chekhov.
Physical Description1 folder
Chronologically.
This subseries consists of TMs transcriptions of some of Pitol's diaries. Some have holograph corrections.
Physical Description3 boxes
1 folder
1 folder
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1 folder
Note: manuscript is missing pages 32-40.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
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1 folder
Selection of diary entries from 1967 to 1989, places of origin include Xalapa (Mexico), Budapest, Moscow. Cover page reads: "Notas, Ensayos, artículos mios sobre literatura, pintura".
Physical Description1 folder
Selection of diary entries from 1967 to 1989, includes pagination from pp. 85-191.
Physical Description1 folder
Selection of diary entries from 1967 to 1989, includes pagination from pp. 192-315. Titles include "Diario de un viaje a Georgia".
Physical Description1 folder
Chronologically.
This subseries consists of Pitol's journals with monthly records of correspondence, writings, works submitted for publication, and payments received for these works.
Physical Description2 boxes
1 folder
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1 folder
Since many of these notebooks are undated, they are arranged following the numbering order created by Pitol's assistants in 2008.
This series consists of 18 notebooks in which Pitol recorded reflections, ideas, themes, characters, references to other writers, miscellaneous notes, and other information about his literary production. Among these notebooks are the first draft iterations of Pitol's works. Some notebooks also have personal diary entries.
Physical Description2 boxes
1 folder
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1 folder
Also includes personal notes dated 1999.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
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1 folder
This series is organized by subseries, then alphabetically by work title.
This series consists of later drafts or final versions of Pitol's novels, short stories, essays, anthologies, and memoirs. Manuscripts for El desfile del amor, Domar a la divina garza, El viaje, and La vida conyugal can be found in this series. Note: Many of these manuscripts are accompanied by manilla cover sheets that further explain the manuscript's contents and are numbered according to the numbering scheme utilized by Pitol's assistants.
Physical Description3 boxes
Alphabetically.
Includes typewritten and print out manuscripts with heavy handwritten corrections and annotations for Pitol's novels and one short story, "Nocturno de Bujara".
Physical Description1 box
Seven Ms notebooks. Previous titles "El edificio Minerva" and "El año 1942"
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
Sixteen Ms notebooks. Previous titles "El gran festín," "El festín," "El festín infecto," "Manitas de seda," and "Manitas de plata." Includes notes about "Kusniewicz, y el mito habsbúrguico"
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
Three Ms notebooks
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
Alphabetically.
Includes typewritten and print out manuscripts with heavy handwritten corrections and annotations for Pitol's single essays and anthologies.
Physical Description1 box
1 folder
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Alphabetically.
Includes typewritten and print out manuscripts with heavy handwritten corrections and annotations for Pitol's memoirs.
Physical Description3 boxes
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
Two Ms notebooks
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
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1 folder
1 folder
Photocopy.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
Single file arrangement.
This subseries includes manuscripts that were identified as either unpublished or incomplete (labeled by Pitol as "fragmentos").
Physical Description1 box
1 folder
Alphabetically by last name.
This series consists of letters from friends, writers, artists, literary critics, agents, and publishers. It includes a wide range of writers and artists such as Rosario Castellanos, José Donoso, Carlos Fuentes, Witold Gombrowicz, María Luisa Mendoza (la China), Carlos Monsivaís, Augusto Monterroso, José Emilio Pacheco,Octavio Paz, Elena Poniatowska, Manuel Puig, Juan Soriano, and Juan Villoro among many others.
Physical Description3 boxes
1 folder
1 folder
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1 folder
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1 folder
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1 folder
Originally Box 15, Folder 12.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
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1 folder
Originally Box 15, Folder 20.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
Originally Box 15, Folder 24.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
Originally Box 15, Folder 28.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
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1 folder
Originally Box 16, Folder 11.
Physical Description1 folder
Cris is probably Cristina Fernández Cubas, wife of Trias.
Physical Description1 folder
Originally Box 16, Folder 13.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
Originally Box 16, Folder 16.
Physical Description1 folder
Originally Box 16, Folder 17.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
Chronologically.
This series includes Pitol's personal documents such as calendars, government identification documents, address books, printed materials,
Physical Description3 boxes
Chronologically.
Includes calendars annotated with quotidian events and notes.
Physical Description2 boxes
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
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1 folder
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1 folder
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1 folder
Two calendars
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
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1 folder
Chronologically.
This subseries consists of Pitol's identification documents, including passports and a military record.
Physical Description1 box
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
Alphabetically.
This subseries contains an address book, a print out list of books Pitol sent to the Princeton University Department of Collections, notebooks with telephone messages left for Pitol, and printed materials.
Physical Description1 box
1 folder
List of books that were originally part of the collection. These books were sent to the Department of Rare Books Special Collections. There are books by Pitol translated into different languages, and books by other authors translated by Pitol.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
1 folder
Alphabetically by last name.
This series consists of writings of other authors about Pitol's work, mostly theses and dissertations.
Physical Description3 boxes
Unpublished. Black and white photocopy of print out manuscript. Includes interviews with Roberto Frías, Sandra Licona, Sergio González Rodríguez, Miguel Ángel Quemain, Juan Villoro, Rafael Antúnez, Laura Cázares Hernández, Héctor Perea, Pedro Domene, Elena Urrutia, Cristina Pacheco, Emmanuel Cargallo, Margarita García Flores, Rogelio Arenas M., and Gabriela Olivares.
Physical Description1 folder
Unpublished. Black and white photocopy of print out manuscript. Includes interviews with Roberto Frías, Sandra Licona, Sergio González Rodríguez, Miguel Ángel Quemain, Juan Villoro, Rafael Antúnez, Laura Cázares Hernández, Héctor Perea, Pedro Domene, Elena Urrutia, Cristina Pacheco, Emmanuel Cargallo, Margarita García Flores, Rogelio Arenas M., and Gabriela Olivares.
Physical Description1 folder
Ph.D. Dissertation
Physical Description1 folder
Thesis.
Physical Description1 folder
Ph.D. Dissertation
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
Senior Thesis.
Physical Description1 folder
Mémoire de D.E.A (Diplôme d'Etudes Approfondies)
Physical Description1 folder
Senior Thesis.
Physical Description1 folder
Masters Thesis.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
Senior Thesis.
Physical Description1 folder
Masters Thesis.
Physical Description1 folder
Photocopy of TMs.
Physical Description1 folder
Masters Thesis.
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder