Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1319

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

13.5 linear feet (16 boxes)

Preferred Citation:

Paul Eldridge papers, 1909-1982, Ms. Coll. 1319, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania.

Date:

1909-1982 (inclusive)

Creator:

Eldridge, Paul

Form:

Scrapbooks, Typescripts, Photographs, Clippings (information artifacts), Poems, Writings (documents), Short stories, Correspondence, Plays (performed works), and Essays

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.

Paul Eldridge (May 5, 1888–July 26, 1982) was an American poet, novelist, essayist, short story writer, and teacher. The son of Leon and Jeanette Eldridge (née Lefleur), Paul Eldridge was the youngest of four brothers. While most sources list his birthplace as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a profile by author and friend William F. Ryan notes that Eldridge was actually born in Bucharest, Romania, and that the family name was later Anglicized from "Erdreich." Raised in Philadelphia from the age of two, Eldridge then lived in New York City, from the 1930s until the time of his death. He married fellow writer, stage actress, and soprano, Sylvette De La Mar (variation: Sylvette De Lamar; née Sylvia Reiss, aka Sylvia Rice), author of the 1932 novel Jews and the Cross. Eldridge received a B.S. from Temple University in 1909, an M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1911, and a doctorate from the University of Paris in 1913. Eldridge was a lecturer on American literature at the Sorbonne in 1913 and at the University of Florence in 1923. Later, he was an instructor of English literature at Saint John's College in Philadelphia, from 1910 to 1912, and was a member of the Authors' and Dramatists' League of the Authors' Guild of America. He was a teacher of romance languages at high schools in New York City from 1914 until his retirement in 1945.

Paul Eldridge is best known for collaborating with American novelist and poet George Sylvester Viereck (1884-1962) on four novels: My First Two Thousand Years: The Autobiography of the Wandering Jew (1928), Salome: The Wandering Jewess (1930), The Invincible Adam (1932), and Prince Pax (1933). Eldridge would later denounce and disassociate himself from Viereck upon the discovery that Viereck, throughout the 1930s, worked on the publicity and propaganda efforts of Nazi Germany in America and edited pro-Nazi publications.

Many of Paul Eldridge's books were published by E. (Emanuel) Haldeman-Julius in his "Big Blue Books" series based out of Girard, Kansas. The "Big Blue Books" were an offshoot of Haldeman-Julius' popular "Little Blue Books," which produced publications of classic and new works that were inexpensive and portable.

Most prolific in the 1940s, Eldridge's writing focused on issues of World War II, the Israeli-Palestine conflict, and Jewish and Zionist issues more generally.

Paul Eldridge died in a New York City nursing home in 1982, preceded in death by his wife, Sylvette, who died in 1980. At the time of his death, his family described him as "a unique man, gentle genius, philosopher, ... author of 77 books of prose and poetry, ... ardent humanitarian, and Zionist" (box 11, folder 4).

This collection includes correspondence, typescripts, manuscripts, and other materials related to Paul Eldridge's writing and career. The manuscripts and typescripts show revisions and edits as Eldridge worked toward final versions of his writings.

Series I. Correspondence (people), 1909-1982 and Series II. Correspondence (topics), 1930-1976 consists mainly of correspondence with other authors, publishers, critics, and admirers, including George Sylvester Viereck (Eldridge's co-author), John Thomas Head, Tom Kennedy, and E. Haldeman-Julius. Correspondence frequently includes publication details and logistics and responses from those who were sent copies of Eldridge's work, either for consideration for publication or for review. The correspondence series also contains letters from Eldridge to Sylvia Reiss as part of their courtship from 1909 to 1910. When searching the finding aid for names of correspondents, researchers should search for last name, first name. The folders within Correspondence (topics) were compiled by Eldridge, and they were kept intact during processing.

Series III. Writings (typescripts), circa 1910s-1930s consists of typescripts-- with some manuscripts, as well-- of Eldridge's writing in the genres of essays, newspaper columns, long-form works, plays, poetry, and stories, in addition to a typescript of Eldridge's 1913 thesis for the University of Paris on William Cullen Bryant, in French.

Series IV. Writings (published), 1912-1979 includes published versions of his writings, mainly in the form of reprographic copies and newspaper and journal clippings. These published writings span the genres of essays, newspaper columns (for The Answer), long-form works, plays, poetry, and stories.

Newspaper and magazine clippings of interest to Eldridge make up Series V. Clippings, 1910-1982 and topics include William F. Ryan, George Sylvester Viereck, politics and war, as well as advertisements and reviews of Eldridge's work.

Whole publications containing Eldridge's works are to be found in Series VI. Publications containing Eldridge's works, 1917-1979, include Eldridge's titles in E. Haldeman-Julius' "Big Blue Books" series, as well as various journals and newspapers, including The Answer, American Freedman, The Jewish Review, Progress Monthly, Progressive World, Critic and Guide, and The Jewish Forum. Also in this series are dustjackets for some of Eldridge's books, including Vanitas (1920) and Crown of Empire (1947).

Series VIII. Original artwork includes pencil and pen drawings which were published alongside some of Eldridge's works. Artists identified via signatures on the drawings are: A. Barr/A. Barreto, Harry Fowler, and R.F.M. Wawra.

In addition to copies of publications and clippings related to and representing his own work, Eldridge also collected publications by others, which comprise Series VIII (1909-1981). Writings by E. Haldeman-Julius, William F. Ryan, and George Sylvester Viereck are included here, as well as copies of the journals American Atheist, The Mark Twain Journal, and The New Leader.

Series IX (1909-1982) consists of personal and family material, including address books and date books, banking and identification documents, certificates and notices, photographs, five scrapbooks of reviews and writings (also represented elsewhere in the collection), travel memorabilia, and an interview on VHS of Paul Eldridge by his niece, and assistant in his later years, Vivienne Horton. This series also contains the Sylvette De La Mar papers (aka Sylvette de Lamar, Sylvia Eldridge, née Sylvia Reiss or Rice), which includes correspondence, clippings, performance programs, and writings.