Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1687

Repository:

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

Extent:

1.75 linear feet (5 boxes)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

William Purcell papers, 1942-2001 (bulk: 1959-1970), Ms. Coll. 1687, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts. University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1942-2001 (inclusive) and 1959-1970 (bulk)

Creator:

Purcell, William Longstreth, 1911-2001

Form:

Clippings (information artifacts), Correspondence, and Scrapbooks

Abstract:

During his tenure as librarian of the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, William Purcell (1911-2001) also served as a music critic for multiple publications during the 1960s. This collection focuses on those activities, particularly his association with the American Record Guide and the Asia Society. Additional correspondence and clippings cover his advocacy for publisher Ralph Ginzburg in the years leading up to Ginzburg's 1966 conviction by the Supreme Court for distributing obscene material. Alongside one box of correspondence and clippings, four large scrapbooks contain clippings and photographs relating to Purcell's musical and intellectual interests.

William Longstreth Purcell (1911-2001) served for a time as librarian at the Academy of Natural Sciences before moving to the same such role at the Wistar Institute from 1956 until his retirement in 1981. Born in Philadelphia and educated at the University of Pennsylvania, Purcell wrote extensively as a music critic for the American Record Guide during the 1960s, among appearances in other publications. During that time he also contributed to several discographies for the Asia Society in New York City, and later for its sister organization, the Society for Asian Music. He was known for his considerable private collections of Asian classical music and of erotic literature.

Purcell's interest in the latter brought him into correspondence with Ralph Ginzburg (1929-2006), publisher of Eros Magazine and The Housewife's Handbook on Selective Promiscuity through Documentary Books. Written by Maxine Serrett (1924-1994) under the pen name Rey Anthony, the controversial Handbook drew the condemnation of U.S. attorney general Robert F. Kennedy and led to Ginzburg's indictment in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania shortly after Purcell's copy of the book was confiscated by the postal service. Ginzburg's 1963 conviction, for which he would serve eight months of a five year sentence, was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1966 under Chief Justice Earl Warren.

In his efforts to oppose censorship and sway public opinion in Ginzburg's favor, Purcell sought the support of friends and correspondents including Princeton anthropologist Ashley Montagu (1905-1999) and Wistar Institute director Hilary Koprowski (1916-2013) with mixed results.

The William Purcell papers largely document Purcell's public life as a music critic during the 1960s and early 1970s. These activities led to frequent correspondence with James Lyons, editor of the American Record Guide, alongside executives of several international distributors and record labels, notably including Jac Holzman and Teresa Sterne of Nonesuch Records. Purcell also worked closely with Seymour Fersh and Betty Holtz of the Asia Society, a New York City nonprofit organization promoting Asian arts and culture. Several of the Society's pamphlets and brochures are included in the collection.

Correspondence with Ralph Ginzburg chronicles Purcell's advocacy on Ginzburg's behalf during his widely publicized 1963 Philadelphia trial for distributing the writings of Rey Anthony (Maxine Serrett). Purcell's interest in erotic literature is further documented by pamphlets and promotional materials from Serrett's Seymour Press.

Personal correspondence with friends such as Ashley Montagu, Peter Crossley-Holland, and Maxine Serrett demonstrates Purcell's wide-ranging knowledge of music, philosophy, literature, history, and art.

Purcell's published and unpublished articles, written for the American Record Guide, Eros, Library Journal, and other publications, are included alongside articles and essays he collected for his musical research.

In his later years, Purcell made a large number of clippings from the Philadelphia Inquirer and the New York Times, especially of obituaries commemorating the lives of writers, intellectuals, and composers he admired or corresponded with. Many of these clippings are found in four large scrapbooks, which also document the Wistar Institute's groundbreaking research and some of Purcell's professional activities as the Institute's librarian. Photographs of his friends and colleagues, as well as a few of himself, are also found in these scrapbooks.

Additional clippings document the public lives of Miriam Clegg, Purcell's sister, and Hilary Koprowski, his longtime colleague at the Wistar Institute.