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Lee Eisenberg records of the 50th Anniversary issue of Esquire

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Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]3420 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6206

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts. 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

Call Number:
Ms. Coll. 633
Repository:
University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts
Extent:
0.4 linear feet (1 box)
Language:
English
Preferred Citation:
Lee Eisenberg records of the 50th Anniversary issue of Esquire, 1976-1984, Ms. Coll. 633, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania
Date:
1976-1984 (inclusive) and 1982-1983 (bulk)
Creator:
Eisenberg, Lee
Form:
Periodicals, Notes, Essays, Drafts (documents), and Correspondence
Abstract:
Lee Eisenberg (born 1946), an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania, is an American writer and editor known for his time working for Esquire. Eisenberg was the senior editor and vice president of Esquire throughout the 1970s and 1980s and played a major role in the production of the 1984 50th Anniversary Edition of the magazine. This collection includes correspondence with almost half of the fifty famous people asked to write essays for the 50th anniversary issue as well as assorted notes, clippings, and article manuscripts, most of which relate to their contributions.

Lee Eisenberg (1946-), an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania, is an American writer and editor known for his time working for Esquire. Eisenberg was the senior editor and vice president of Esquire throughout the 1970s and 1980s and played a major role in the production of the 1984 50th Anniversary Edition of the magazine, which included essays by numerous people who had been influential during the first 50 years of Esquire's publication. Eisenberg also wrote several books, including the bestseller The Number: A Completely Different Way to Think About the Rest of Your Life (2006), and is known for coining the term "power lunch" in a 1979 Esquire article entitled "America's Most Powerful Lunch."

Lee Eisenberg played a major role in the production of the 1984 50th Anniversary Edition of the magazine, which included essays by numerous people who had been influential during the first fifty years of Esquire's publication. A few of those authors' correspondences with Eisenberg, primarily regarding the anniversary issue but dating back as far as 1976, are preserved in this collection. Correspondents include Rust L. Hills, Saul Bellow, Peter Bogdanovich, William F. Buckley, Truman Capote, Alastair Cooke, Peter F. Drucker, Richard Ford, John Kenneth Galbraith, David Halberstam, Elizabeth Hardwick, Ken Kesey, Norman Mailer, Arthur Miller, George Plimpton, Debra Ratner, Tom Robbins, James Salter, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Irwin Shaw, William Styron, and Tom Wolfe.

The collection also includes various notes, clippings, and article manuscripts by or relating to the aforementioned correspondents, most of which have to do with the creation and publication of the 50th anniversary issue. Correspondence with Truman Capote, however, dates back as far as 1976.

Gift of Lee Eisenberg, 2006.

Subject

Publisher
University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts
Finding Aid Author
Molly B. Hutt
Finding Aid Date
2015 April 7
Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.

Use Restrictions

Copyright restrictions may exist. For most library holdings, the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania do not hold copyright. It is the responsibility of the requester to seek permission from the holder of the copyright to reproduce material from the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts.

Collection Inventory

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Saul Bellow, correspondence, notes, and one newspaper clipping, 1982-1983.
Box 1 Folder 1
Peter Bogdanovich, correspondence, 1983.
Box 1 Folder 2
Peter Bogdanovich, first copy of article, [1983].
Box 1 Folder 3
Peter Bogdanovich, final copy of article, 1983.
Box 1 Folder 4
William F. Buckley (William Frank), correspondence, notes, and manuscript, 1983.
Box 1 Folder 5
Truman Capote, correspondence, notes, and miscellaneous, 1976-1983.
Box 1 Folder 6
Truman Capote, photocopy of a manuscript for "Three Neighbors", [1983].
Box 1 Folder 7
Alastair Cooke, correspondence and notes, 1982-1983.
Box 1 Folder 8
Alastair Cooke, copies of article, 1983.
Box 1 Folder 9
Peter F. Drucker (Peter Ferdinand), correspondence and notes, 1982-1983.
Box 1 Folder 10
Peter F. Drucker (Peter Ferdinand), manuscript of article with some handwritten notes, 1982.
Box 1 Folder 11
Richard Ford, correspondence and notes, 1982-1984.
Box 1 Folder 12
Richard Ford, draft of article, [1983].
Box 1 Folder 13
Richard Ford, incomplete draft of article, [1983].
Box 1 Folder 14
John Kenneth Galbraith, correspondence, notes, and manuscript for an article on Eleanor Roosevelt, 1982-1983.
Box 1 Folder 15
David Halberstam, correspondence, notes, and miscellaneous, 1982-1983.
Box 1 Folder 16
David Halberstam, copies of article, 1983.
Box 1 Folder 17
Elizabeth Hardwick, 1983.
Box 1 Folder 18
Ken Kesey, correspondence and notes, 1982-1983.
Box 1 Folder 19
Ken Kesey, copies of article, 1983.
Box 1 Folder 20
Norman Mailer, correspondence with and/or regarding Norman Mailer (participants include Scott Meredith, Rust Hills, Lee Eisenberg, and Norman Mailer), notes, and manuscript, 1982-1983.
Box 1 Folder 21
Arthur Miller, correspondence and notes, 1982-1983.
Box 1 Folder 22
Arthur Miller, original article, [1982-1983].
Box 1 Folder 23
Arthur Miller, first editing of article, 1983.
Box 1 Folder 24
Arthur Miller, second draft of article, 1983.
Box 1 Folder 25
Arthur Miller, final draft of article, 1983.
Box 1 Folder 26
George Plimpton, correspondence and notes, 1982-1983.
Box 1 Folder 27
George Plimpton, correspondence and notes, 1983.
Box 1 Folder 28
Debra Ratner, photocopied manuscript of "Finding Maria", undated.
Box 1 Folder 29
Tom Robbins, correspondence and manuscript, 1982.
Box 1 Folder 30
James Salter, correspondence and notes, undated.
Box 1 Folder 31
Arthur M. Schlesinger (Arthur Meier), correspondence, notes, and one newspaper clipping, 1982-1983.
Box 1 Folder 32
Arthur M. Schlesinger (Arthur Meier), copies of article, 1983.
Box 1 Folder 33
Irwin Shaw, correspondence and notes regarding anniversary issue, 1982-1983.
Box 1 Folder 34
Irwin Shaw, manuscript of article entitled "Half a Century of the Common Man", 1983.
Box 1 Folder 35
Irwin Shaw, correspondence regarding all-literary issue, 1983-1984.
Box 1 Folder 36
William Styron, correspondence and manuscripts, 1982-1983.
Box 1 Folder 37
Tom Wolfe, correspondence, notes, and newspaper clippings, 1982-1983.
Box 1 Folder 38
Tom Wolfe, draft of article, 1983.
Box 1 Folder 39
Tom Wolfe, corrections to article, 1983.
Box 1 Folder 40

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