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Nancy Hoyt Paul Bowles collection

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Held at: University of Delaware Library Special Collections [Contact Us]181 South College Avenue, Newark, DE 19717-5267

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Delaware Library Special Collections. 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

The American composer and author Paul Frederic Bowles was born in New York City on December 30, 1910; he died in Tangiers, Morocco, November 18, 1999. Bowles was published at age seventeen, abandoned college, and in 1929 began his life of travels with a trip to Paris, where he hoped to establish himself as a poet. Back in New York in 1930, he studied composition with Aaron Copland, whom he also accompanied to Yaddo in Sarasota Springs, New York, and Paris, Berlin, and Tangier. With the support of Copland and Virgil Thomson, Bowles found work in New York writing incidental music and scores for ballet and theater. His successful career as a composer took off in the Depression with work for the Federal Theater Project (including music for Orson Welles's

Horse Eats Hat) and the Federal Music Project. Bowles became one of the preeminent composers of American theater music, producing works for William Saroyan, Tennessee Williams, and others. During the 1990s, a resurgence of interest in Bowles's music culminated in a number of major concerts and performances in the United States and Europe. In addition, a new generation of musicians released several well-received recordings of Bowles's compositions.

In 1938, Paul Bowles married the aspiring writer Jane Auer, who shortly achieved critical acclaim for her first novel,

Two Serious Ladies (1943). Inspired by his wife's success and her dedication to writing, Bowles began his own career as an author, eventually surpassing his already successful reputation as a composer. Since the 1940s, he produced numerous works of fiction, essays, travel writing, poems, autobiographical pieces, and other works. Among Bowles's best-known fictional works are the novels The Sheltering Sky (1949), Let It Come Down (1952), The Spider's House (1955); and an early short story collection, The Delicate Prey and Other Stories (1950). A 1989 reprint of The Sheltering Sky and Bernardo Bertolucci's 1990 film version of the novel, starring Debra Winger and John Malkovich, revived international interest in Bowles, the writer.

Bowles is equally known as a prolific translator. He translated Jean-Paul Sartre's

Huis Clos, giving the play its English title "No Exit" (1946), and his translation remains the standard version for English language productions. During the 1940s, Bowles translated the poems and stories of a wide variety of European and Latin American authors. Bowles taped and transcribed from the Moghrebi tales by Mohammed Mrabet and several other Moroccan story tellers; and his translations have broadened readership of Guatemalan author Rodrigo Rey Rosa. Bowles translated several works related to North African culture and geography, and generously introduced and prefaced photographic collections, travel writing, and stories by other authors who share those interests.

Paul and Jane Bowles spent much of their married life traveling throughout the world and in the late 1940s made Tangier, Morocco, their permanent home. Major figures in the world of letters and the arts and international "society" frequently visited them there. Jane Bowles died in 1973, and Bowles continued to reside in Tangier until his death on November 18, 1999.

Miller, Jeffrey. Paul Bowles: A Descriptive Bibliography. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Black Sparrow Press, 1986.Sawyer-Lauçanno, Christopher. An Invisible Spectator: A Biography of Paul Bowles. New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1989.

The San Francisco bibliophile and collector Nancy Hoyt built a comprehensive collection of the works of Jane and Paul Bowles, including variant and later editions of most titles, anthology and periodical appearances, translations, printed music, and audio recordings. Ms. Hoyt is a member and former director of the Book Club of California.

The Nancy Hoyt Paul Bowles Collection contains .6 linear feet of correspondence, periodicals, journals, printed works, phonographs, news clippings, and ephemera spanning the dates of 1943 – 1994. The archive comprises the miscellaney of Hoyt's extensive Bowles collection and represents a cross section of Bowles's activities as a writer, contributor, and editor for periodicals and literary journals, primarily during the 1950s- 1970s. The Nancy Hoyt collection complements the University of Delaware Library's extensive holdings of Paul Bowles materials. This manuscripts component of Ms. Hoyt's gift is but a small part of the larger Bowles collection that she donated to the University of Delaware Library in 2002. The books and other printed materials from her Bowles collection have been cataloged and added to Printed Collections in the Special Collections Department.

The collection is organized according to genre and grouped into five series. Series I. Correspondence comprises collected samples of the incoming and outgoing correspondence of Paul Bowles, including outgoing correspondence of Jane Bowles. Included are letters from Bowles to British-Canadian author Brion Gysin and the American publisher-editor Daniel Halpern; a group of letters between Bowles and Arthur and Glee Knight concerning Bowles's contribution to the Knights'

The Beat Book (1974); and several letters to little magazine publisher Irving Stettner (Stroker), five of which are from Mohammed Mrabet, as transcribed by Bowles. The Jane Bowles correspondence includes a letter written to William Saroyan and a banking document, both in Jane Bowles's hand.

Series II. Manuscripts includes a typescript photocopy of Bowles's translation of Léon Leal's story "In the Oasis" and the original typescript for Bowles's story "Pastor Dowe at Tacaté" (1949), which appeared in

Mademoiselle prior to the publication of The Sheltering Sky.

Series III. Journals and Printed works contains published works by or about Paul Bowles. The series is organized according to the title of the publication, and includes well-known literary journals such as

The American Mercury, Evergreen Review, The Paris Review, The Partisan Review, and Transition, as well as several smaller journals, including Big Table and Zero

Series IV. Periodicals contains six issues of

View, for which Bowles was a contributor and guest editor during the mid 1940s, and one issue of Holiday from 1953.

Series V. Ephemera comprises a 1990 exhibition poster from the University of Texas at Austin and miscellaneous news clippings (1986 – 1994 ) related to Bowles.

Box 1: Shelved in SPEC MSS manuscript boxes

Box 2: Shelved in SPEC MSS oversize boxes (17 inches)

Removals: Shelved in SPEC MSS oversize boxes (32 inches)

Gift of Nancy Hoyt, May 2002

Processed by Special Collections staff, January 2004. Encoded by Caitlin Farthing (2013) and Jaime Margalotti, November 2019.

Publisher
University of Delaware Library Special Collections
Finding Aid Author
University of Delaware Library, Special Collections
Finding Aid Date
2019 November
Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library, https://library.udel.edu/static/purl.php?askspec

Collection Inventory

Scope and Contents

All letters are to or from Paul Bowles unless otherwise indicated.

Paul Bowles to Robert F. Allen, 1975 January 6.
Box 1 Folder F1
Scope and Contents

Typed Letter Signed. Includes bookseller's invoice.

Physical Description

1 page

Paul Bowles to Ira Cohen, Saturday.
Box 1 Folder F1
Scope and Contents

Typed Letter Signed

Physical Description

1 page

Paul Bowles to Daniel Halpern, undated.
Box 1 Folder F1
Scope and Contents

Autograph Letter Signed

Physical Description

1 page

Paul Bowles to Gysin, Monday.
Box 1 Folder F2
Scope and Contents

Autograph Letter Signed

Physical Description

1 page

Paul Bowles to Gysin, Thursday.
Box 1 Folder F2
Scope and Contents

Autograph Letter Signed w/ envelope

Physical Description

1 page

Paul Bowles to Gysin, 1979 September 30.
Box 1 Folder F2
Scope and Contents

Typed Letter Signed w/ envelope

Physical Description

1 page

Glee & Arthur Knight to Paul Bowles, 1974 March 10.
Box 1 Folder F3
Scope and Contents

Typed Letter(c)

Physical Description

1 page

Paul Bowles to Glee & Arthur Knight, 1974 March 22.
Box 1 Folder F3
Scope and Contents

Typed Letter Signed

Physical Description

1 page

Glee & Arthur Knight to Paul Bowles, 1974 March 27.
Box 1 Folder F3
Scope and Contents

Typed Letter(c)

Physical Description

1 page

Paul Bowles to Glee and Arthur Knight, 1974 April 2.
Box 1 Folder F3
Scope and Contents

Typed Letter Signed

Physical Description

1 page

Glee & Arthur Knight to Paul Bowles, 1974 April 10.
Box 1 Folder F3
Scope and Contents

Typed Letter(c)

Physical Description

1 page

Glee & Arthur Knight to Paul Bowles, 1975 February 6.
Box 1 Folder F3
Scope and Contents

Typed Letter Signed. Includes bookseller's invoice.

Physical Description

1 page

Mohammed Mrabet to Irving Stettner, 1979 October 22.
Box 1 Folder F4
Scope and Contents

Typed Letter Signed

Physical Description

1 page

Mohammed Mrabet to Irving Stettner, 1979 November 15.
Box 1 Folder F4
Scope and Contents

Typed Letter Signed

Physical Description

1 page

Mohammed Mrabet to Irving Stettner, 1979 December 5.
Box 1 Folder F4
Scope and Contents

Typed Letter Signed. Includes Paul Bowles's autograph note explaining to Stettner that he exercises "no censorship" when transcribing MM's letters.

Physical Description

2 pages

Mohammed Mrabet to Irving Stettner, 1981 January 23.
Box 1 Folder F4
Scope and Contents

Typed Letter Signed w/ envelope. Includes bookseller's invoice.

Physical Description

3 pages

Mohammed Mrabet to Irving Stettner, 1981 February 15.
Box 1 Folder F4
Scope and Contents

Typed Letter Signed. Mrabet dictated these letters to Paul Bowles who typed them and made some autograph corrections. Four mailing envelopes and original bookseller's description are included.

Physical Description

2 pages

Paul Bowles to Stettner, 1984 March 28.
Box 1 Folder F4
Scope and Contents

Typed Letter Signed w/ envelope. Discusses the Léon Leal story "In the Oasis."

Physical Description

1 page

Paul Bowles to Stettner, 1984 Apr 24.
Box 1 Folder F4
Scope and Contents

Typed Letter Signed w/ envelope. *See also F6 for further Stettner correspondence.

Physical Description

1 page

Jane Bowles to Willia, Saroyan, undated.
Box 1 Folder F5
Scope and Contents

Autograph Letter Signed. Letter on stationery from the Chelsea Hotel, New York City, ca. 1940s.

Physical Description

1 page

Paul Bowles to William Targ, 1973 August 25.
Box 1 Folder F5
Scope and Contents

Typed Letter Signed. Together with ALS bank document in JB's hand dated 16 Oct 1966. Bookseller's description included.

Physical Description

1 page

"In the Oasis,", undated.
Box 1 Folder F6
Scope and Contents

Typescript photocopy of a story by Léon Leal, translated from the Spanish by Paul Bowles. 5 pp. Includes Typed Letter Signed, Paul Bowles to Stettner, 1984 Mar 8, 1 p w/ envelope.

"Love's Old Sweet Song,", 1959.
Box 1 Folder F7
Scope and Contents

Signed autograph by Paul Bowles. One line music staff with song lyrics, 16 Mar 1959.

"Pastor Dowe at Tacaté,", 1949.
Box 1 Folder F8
Scope and Contents

Typescript manuscript with autograph corrections by Paul Bowles and an editor at

Mademoiselle. Date stamped on page 1 "1948 Dec 3." Physical Description

35 pages

Margarita Smith to Herschel Brickell, 1949 June 9.
Box 1 Folder F8
Scope and Contents

Together with Typed Letter Signed, concerning Paul Bowles's story "Pastor Dowe at Tacaté," published in Mademoiselle, February 1949. Brickell's autograph reply is written at the head of the original correspondence, also includes original bookseller's description.

Physical Description

2 pages

Scope and Contents

Miller bibliography numbers follow each entry, when available.

American Mercury, 1951 June.
Box 1 Folder F9
Scope and Contents

LXXII: 330 "No More Djinns." (C592)

Big Table, 1959 Summer.
Box 1 Folder F9
Scope and Contents

No. 2 "Burroughs in Tangier" (C632)

City Lights Review, 1989.
Box 1 Folder F9
Scope and Contents

No. 3 "Dust on Her Tongue," by Rodrigo Rey Rosa, translated by Paul Bowles.

Evergreen Review, 1962 September- October.
Box 1 Folder F9
Scope and Contents

No. 26 "The Orphan," by Driss ben Hamid Chahadi, translated by Paul Bowles. (C644)

Kulchur, 1960 Spring.
Box 1 Folder F10
Scope and Contents

"Ketama-Taza" (C634)

Physical Description

3 items

London Magazine, 1954 April-1960 October.
Box 1 Folder F10
Scope and Contents

1:3, Apr 1954 "If I Should Open My Mouth" (C605). 1:6, Jul 1954 "Letter from Tangier" (C607). 7:10, Oct 1960 "Merkala Beach" (C637).

Omphalos, 1972 March.
Box 1 Folder F10
Scope and Contents

1:1 "Abdeslam and Amar," by Mohammed Mrabet, translated by Paul Bowles. (C679)

Paris Review, 1981 Fall.
Box 1 Folder F10
Scope and Contents

No. 81 Paul Bowles Interview (C752)

The Review of Contemporary Fiction, 1982 Fall.
Box 1 Folder F11
Scope and Contents

II:2 Paul Bowles featured (C770)

Partisan Review, 1948 March.
Box 2 Folder F12
Scope and Contents

XV:3 "Under the Sky" (C574).

"A Picnic Cantata: for four women's voices, two pianos and percussion", 1954.
Box 2 Folder F12
Scope and Contents

Music by Paul Bowles / Text by James Schuyler. The Town Hall Theater program and text insert, (E44).

Prose, Spring, 1972.
Box 2 Folder F12
Scope and Contents

No. 4 "From Notes Taken in Thailand" (C682)

Sparrow, 1975 October.
Box 2 Folder F12
Scope and Contents

No. 37 Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press "Hadidan Aharam" by Mohammed Mrabet, translated by Paul Bowles. (B78)

transition, 1928 March.
Box 2 Folder F12
Scope and Contents

No. 12."Spire Song" poem (C44)

in transition: A Paris Anthology, 1990.
Box 2 Folder F12
Scope and Contents

NY: Anchor Books, "Entity" and "Delicate Song"

Twentieth Century Literature, 1986 Fall/Winter.
Box 2 Folder F13
Scope and Contents

32:3/4 Paul Bowles Issue

Zero, 1956 Spring.
Box 2 Folder F13
Scope and Contents

2:7 "Notes Taken in Ceylon" (B24)

Holiday, 1953 January.
Box 2 Folder F14
Scope and Contents

13:1 Paul Bowles's "The Secret Sahara." (C595)

View, 1943 April.
Box 2 Folder F15
Scope and Contents

3:1 Paul Bowles on modern music. Includes bookseller's invoice and letter regarding Hoyt's Paul Bowles collection. (C194)

View, 1945 May.
Box 2 Folder F15
Scope and Contents

5:2 Tropical Americana issue, edited by Paul Bowles with his translations. Includes bookseller's invoice. (C476-485)

View, 1945 November.
Box 2 Folder F15
Scope and Contents

5:4 Paul Bowles's translation of Francis Ponge's "A New Introduction to the Pebble." (C511)

View, 1945 December.
Box 2 Folder F15
Scope and Contents

5:5 Paul Bowles's short story "The Scorpion" and his translation of Jean Ferry's "She Woke Me Up so I Killed Her." (C529-533)

View, 1946 February.
Box 2 Folder F15
Scope and Contents

6:1 Paul Bowles's translation of Germain Brice's "Letter From France." (C559)

View, 1946 October.
Box 2 Folder F15
Scope and Contents

7:1 Paul Bowles's short story "By the Water." (C564)

Exhibition Poster, 1990.
Box 2 Folder F16
Scope and Contents

"A Birthday Celebration: An Exhibition of Books and Manuscripts of Paul Bowles," University of Texas at Austin, Sep – Dec 1990. Removed to Oversized.

In Touch: The Letters of Paul Bowles, 1994 May 5.
Box 2 Folder F17
Scope and Contents

Book party invitation, Treehorn Books, Santa Rosa, California, May 5, 1994.

News Clippings, 1986 – 1994.
Box 2 Folder F18
Scope and Contents

Various newspaper and magazine clippings related to Bowles.

Print, Suggest