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Bernard Malamud:

A Preliminary Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center



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Repository: Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin
Creator: Malamud, Bernard, 1914-1986
Title: Bernard Malamud Papers
Dates: 1940-1996
Extent: 32 boxes (14 linear feet)
Abstract: The collection consists primarily of incoming and outgoing correspondence, as well as appointment calendars, articles, audio tapes, essays, holograph notebooks and manuscripts, interviews, lectures, office files, reviews, and typescripts.

Administrative Information

Acquisition:

Purchase, Reg. no. 14069; Gift no. 11121

Processed by:

Liz Murray, 1998

Restrictions

Access:

Open for research except for letters written by Bernard Malamud to his wife Ann de Chiara. Original recordings on audio tape are unavailable for use until preservation copies are made.

Scope and Contents

This collection of correspondence and papers of American novelist and short story writer Bernard Malamud was received through his wife Ann de Chira Malamud, both as a purchase and a gift. The collection consists primarily of incoming and outgoing correspondence, as well as appointment calendars, articles, audio tapes, essays, holograph notebooks and manuscripts, interviews, lectures, office files, reviews, and typescripts. Much of the collection had been identified and arranged prior to receipt at the Ransom Center. Some penciled identifications appear to be in Malamud's hand, especially in the correspondence series. For the most part, original folder titles were used in the inventory as given, with bracketed information added during accessioning.

The collection is arranged in four series: I. Correspondence, 1944-1996 (18 boxes); II. Writings, 1930s-1982 (3 boxes); III. Career-Related Material, 1940-1989 (7 boxes); and IV. About Malamud, 1960s-1990, nd (4 boxes).

The Correspondence Series, spanning Malamud's teaching and writing career (1949-86), contains individual correspondent files as well as subject files for acquaintances, American writers, fan letters, and friends. The largest group of letters is from Malamud's brother Eugene, from the 1940s to 1970s. Several folders of correspondence with Malamud's literary agency Russell & Volkening, especially Diarmuid Russell, complement a larger collection of Russell & Volkening correspondence previously received at the Ransom Center. Prominent literary correspondents include John Barth, Ben Belitt, Saul Bellow, Kay Boyle, Harold Brodkey, Kenneth Burke, John Cheever, Malcolm Cowley, Ralph Ellison, Leslie Fiedler, Robert Giroux, Herbert Gold, Lillian Hellman, John Hersey, Granville Hicks, Irving Howe, Alfred Kazin, Frank Kermode, Archibald MacLeish, Norman Mailer, Howard Nemerov, Edna O'Brien, Flannery O'Connor, Joyce Carol Oates, Cynthia Ozick, Philip Rahv, Theodore Roethke, Philip Roth, C. P. Snow, Lionel Trilling, John Updike, Kurt Vonnegut, Robert Penn Warren, and Eudora Welty. Correspondence after Malamud's death (1986-96) deals mainly with his estate and other literary affairs.

Letters for some correspondents appear both in their individual folder and in subject folders. Malamud's folder titles were transferred to new folders and his original folders were retained. Original order was also maintained within folders, usually a rough chronological or alphabetical sequence. Scattered throughout the files are copies of Malamud's letters, as well as numerous holograph drafts. Most incoming letters lack envelopes.

Malamud's writings in Series II comprise holograph and typescript manuscripts as well as holograph notebooks. Early notes for three novels are present: "The Apprentice, " later called The Assistant, "The Juggler " which became Dubin's Lives, and a chapter fragment for The Tenants. Also present are typescripts of "The People, " edited by Ann Malamud which was published posthumously as The People and Uncollected Stories. Notes on other authors' works, story ideas and stories which appeared in The Erasmian, writings about his brother Eugene, and memoir drafts are included.

Series III, Career-Related Material, contains Subseries A. Appointment Calendars and Subseries B. Business and Personal Papers. The appointment calendars in Subseries A, 1968-1986, offer a full account of Malamud's meetings and whereabouts for more than twenty years. The business and personal papers in Subseries B include topics such as expenses, house ownership, income, stock inventories, literary executors, disposition of the Malamud library, medical information, professional events and associations, honors, awards, honorary degrees, and travel.

The last series, Series IV. About Malamud, contains articles, essays, interviews, and reviews about Malamud's work as well as bio-bibliographical information, condolence letters, and special events in tribute to Malamud. Audio tapes are present in cassette and reel-to-reel format including interviews, readings, talks, and tributes such as discussion of A New Life, Corvallis, Oregon, 1961; short story reading at Farleigh Dickinson University, 1978; Poetry Center reading, April 1985; interview with Townsend Ludington, England; and PEN/Malamud Award Reading and Ceremony, 1993 and 1994.

A few serial publications received with the accession were transferred to the Ransom Center Library. Three numbered etchings by Karl Schrag, "Cloud, Rain and Sea, " "Nightmist and Rising Moon, " and "Summer House, " were transferred to the Ransom Center Art Collection. In all, the collection is in good condition although Malamud used a highly-acidic paper for much of his correspondence copies.

Container List

I. Correspondence, 1944-1996

Acquaintances, 1950-86
BoxFolder
1 1 A-E
2 F-I
3 J-Z
Aiken, George D. (see 14.20)
American writers, 1944-90
BoxFolder
1 4 A-D
5 E-G
6 H-L
   
2 1 H-L (cont'd)
2 M-P
3 Q-S
4 T-Z
5 Ames, Elizabeth (director of Yaddo), 1958-73
Andrus, Katharine Seldes (see 17.11)
Artists, painters, sculptors, 1961-86
BoxFolder
2 6 A-L
7 O-W
   
3 1 Ashton, Dore and Matti Meggid, 1962-85
2 Atlas, James, n.d.
3 Auchincloss, Louis, 1976
4 Baker, Ida, 1960-1980, n.d. [also letters to the Malamuds from Philip Roth]
5 Barth, John, 1966
6 Bartheleme, Donald, 1977
7 Beck, Rosemarie [photocopies of letters from BM to RB, 1962-72]
8 Becker, Steve, 1970s-80s
Beeken, David (see 8.2)
BoxFolder
3 9 Belitt, Ben, 1965-83
10 Bellow, Saul, 1950s-81, n.d.
11 Bennington College
12 Ben-Zion, 1950-69
Berman, Shelley (see 14.20)
Bernays, Anne (see 11.8)
Birstein, Ann (see 11.10)
BoxFolder
3 13 Blaise, Clark and Bharti Mukherjee, 1961-86
   
4 1 Blaise (cont'd)
2 Blitzstein, Marc, 1963 [with 2 ALSs from Mrs. Edward Davis, re: MB, 1964]
3 Bliven, Naomi, 1980-83
Bloom, Claire (see 16.5)
BoxFolder
4 4 Böll, Heinrich, 1972
5 Boyle, Kay, 1971, 1980-85
6 Brodkey, Harold, 1979-86
7 Broughton, Alan, 1979-82
Buckingham, Richard (see 8.1)
BoxFolder
4 8 Burke, Kenneth, 1964-84
Calisher, Hortense (see 10.9)
BoxFolder
4 9 Cantor, Jay, 1960s-80s, n.d.
10 Carson, Josephine (Rider), 1970s-85
11 Carver, Catharine, 1950-64, n.d.
12 Cheever, John and Mary, 1970s-82, n.d.
13 Cheuse, Alan, 1970-86
14 Cohen, Arthur, 1980
   
5 1 Coover, Robert, 1984
2 Cowley, Malcom, 1980-83, n.d.
3 Crow, Charles, 1945-46
Davis, Mrs. Edward (see 4.2)
BoxFolder
5 4 Davis, Robert and Hope, 1954-84
Decter, Midge (see 14.16)
BoxFolder
5 5 Delbanco, Nicholas, 1968-86, n.d.
6 Dunn, Robert, 1981-85
7 Ellison, Ralph, 1959
8 Ellman, Richard, 1962-79
9 Elman, Richard, 1971-1980s
10 Evslin, Dorothy (Mrs. Bernard), 1946-67, n.d.
Fan letters (letters from public)
BoxFolder
5 11 With comments/notes by Bern, 1960s-80s
12-13 1960s
   
6 1-2 1970s
3-4 1980-86
5 1986, after BM's death
6 People who think they may be related to BM
7-8 Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc., 1980s-1996
9 Feder, Stuart, 1977-81, n.d.
10 Feiffer, Jules and Judy, 1981, n.d.
   
7 1 Fiction contests, BM as judge
2 Fiedler, Leslie, 1955-83
3 Film proposals, 1962-86
4-5 Foreign writers, 1962-85
Former students, 1961-86
BoxFolder
7 6 A-G
7 H-K
8 L-Z
   
8 1 Forster, E. M. [photograph of E. M. F. and Richard Buckingham by George Platt Lynes, 1949]
2 Fredericks, Claude and David Beeken, 1966-85
Friends
BoxFolder
8 3 A-B
4 C-Ch
5 Co-D
6 E
7 F-H
8 K
   
9 1 L
2 M
3 N-R
4 S
5 T
6 W-Z
Fromberg, Susan (see 17.6)
BoxFolder
9 7 Furman, Laura, 1976-85
   
10 1 Gardner, John, 1977
2-3 Garrison, Chester and Louise, 1961-85, n.d.
4 [letters from the Malamuds to the Garrisons, 1968-84]
5 Giroux, Robert, 1961-84 [includes articles written by RG]
6 Gold, Herbert, 1953-1960s, n.d.
7 Golffing, Francis, 1967-85
Gould, Elliott (see 14.20)
BoxFolder
10 8 Harcourt, Brace, and Company, 1950-59 [Robert Giroux and others, especially re: The Natural]
9 Harnak, Curt and Hortense Calisher, 1975-84
10 Hawkes, Jack and Sophie, 1961-83
11 Hellman, Lillian, 1957-74
12 Hersey, John, 1965
13 Hicks, Granville and Dottie [and family], 1961-84
14 Hovland, Sue [also Anne Hovland and other family members], 1961-1980s
   
11 1 Hovland (cont'd)
2 Howe, Irving, 1952-54, n.d.
3 Howes, Barbara, 1969
Humphrey, Hubert H. (see 14.20)
BoxFolder
11 4 Inge, William, 1961
5-6 Inkeles (Alex, Bernadette, Ann), 1949-85
7 Jacobson, Herb L., 1976
Johnson, Lyndon B. (see 14.20)
Johnson, Pamela H. (see 18.2)
BoxFolder
11 8 Kaplan, Justin and Anne Bernays, 1968-85
9 Karchmer, Sylvan [BM's letters (photocopies) to SK, 1952-71]
10 Kazin, Alfred and Ann Birstein, 1952-83
11 Kennedy, William, 1966-85
Kerber, Hans and Bea (see 17.8)
BoxFolder
11 12 Kermode, Frank, 1961-82
13 Kessler, Jascha, 1961-85
Kollek, Teddy (see 14.20)
Kremetz, Jill (see 18.12)
BoxFolder
11 14 Kronenberger, Louis, 1959-1970s, n.d.
   
12 1 Lathem, Edward, 1980
Leahy, Patrick J. (see 14.20)
BoxFolder
12 2 Lehmann-Haupt, Chris and Natalie Robins, 1963-73
Lewis, Ebba and Gene (see 17.8)
BoxFolder
12 3 Loeb, Ben, 1963-85, n.d.
Lynes, George Platt (see 8.1)
BoxFolder
12 4 Macdonald, Cynthia, 1976-79
5 MacLeish, Archibald, 1979, n.d.
6 Mailer, Norman, 1977, 1984
Malamud, Eugene [BM's brother]
BoxFolder
12 7-8 1940s
9-10 1950-52
   
13 1-2 1953-59
3-5 1960s
6 1970s
   
14 1 Manning, Robert, 1966-80
Martin, Ethel and George (see 17.8)
BoxFolder
14 2 Masters, Hilary, 1980-86
3 McGuiness, Joe, 1984
4 McPherson, James A., 1971
5 McShane, Frank, 1966-83
Meggid, Matti (see 3.1)
BoxFolder
14 6 Meijer, Henk and Molly, 1963-85
7 Morris, Wright, n.d.
Morse, Wayne (see 14.20)
BoxFolder
14 7 Moynihan, Daniel Patrick (see 14.20)
Mukherjee, Bharti (see 3.13)
BoxFolder
14 8 Myerson, Dan, n.d.
9 Nemerov, Howard, 1960-83
Neuberger, Maurine B. (see 14.20)
BoxFolder
14 9 Neuberger, Richard L. (see 14.20)
10 New Yorker, 1977
11 Norris, Faith and Tom, 1952-86
12 Oates, Joyce Carol, 1983-84
13 O'Brien, Edna [early 1960s?]
14 O'Connor, Flannery, 1960
Oka, Kenneth (see 14.20)
BoxFolder
14 15 Ozick, Cynthia, 1982-85
16 Podhoretz, Norman and Midge Decter, 1956-67
17 Pogrebin, Letty Cottin, 1977-82
18 Pollitt, Katha, 1974-83
19 Priezel, Kate Rothko, 1977-79
Prouty, Winston L. (see 14.20)
BoxFolder
14 20 Public figures, 1957-81 [includes Senator George D. Aiken, Shelley Berman (comedian), Elliott Gould (actor), Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, President Lyndon B. Johnson, Mayor Teddy Kollek (Jerusalem), Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Senator Wayne Morse, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Senator Maurine B. Neuberger, Senator Richard L. Neuberger, Mayor Kenneth Oka (Miami Beach), Senator Winston L. Prouty]
   
15 1 Rahv, Philip
2 Readings given
3 Recommendations, 1960s-1980s
4-5 References, 1965-81
6 Renvoize, Jean (formerly Temple-Smith), 1969-84
Requests
BoxFolder
15 7 For information, re: BM's life and work, 1986-96
8 For interviews or information about interviews, 1963-83
9 Miscellaneous, 1962-85
   
16 1 Non-accepted requests for readings, workshops, etc., 1958-82
2 To serve on committees, 1968-86
Robins, Natalie (see 12.2)
BoxFolder
16 3 Roethke, Theodore, 1962
4 Roiphe, Anne, 1974-80, n.d.
5 Roth, Philip (see also 3.4) and Claire Bloom, 1965-86
6 Rovere, Richard and Eleanor, 1971-1980s
Russell & Volkening
BoxFolder
16 7 1958-63 [especially Diarmuid Russell]
8-9 1964-67
   
17 1 1986-87 [primarily letters to Ann Malamud regarding foreign rights, contracts, and other literary affairs]
2 Salzberg, Joel, 1983-86
3 Sanders, Ronald, 1972-81
4 Sandy, Stephen, 1971-85, n.d.
5 Scarf, Maggie and Herb, 1960s-1985, n.d.
6 Schaffer, Susan Fromberg, 1983
Schoolmates
BoxFolder
17 7 Brooklyn, 1961-79
8 Oldest school friends: Kerber, Lewis, Martin, and Wittkin
9 Schrag, Karl [also brother Paul and wife Susie], 1950-85
10 Seide, Michael, 1944-86
11 Seldes, Marian, Tim, Lee, and Katharine Seldes Andrus, 1977-83
Seldes, Mrs. Tim [Susan Shreve] (see 17.13)
BoxFolder
17 12 Shenker, Israel, 1970-84
13 Shreve, Susan, 1982-84 [Mrs. Tim Seldes in 1987]
14 Singer, Isaac B., 1981
   
18 1 Smith, Dave, 1981
2 Snow, C. P. and Pamela H. Johnson, 1959-80
3 Stern, Daniel, 1969-85
4 Straus, Dorothea and Roger, 1959-84
5-6 Straus, Nina Pelikan, 1960s-1980s
7 Teachers, old
Temple-Smith, Jean (see 15.6)
BoxFolder
18 8 Towers, Robert, 1979-85
9 Translators, 1979-80
10 Trilling, Lionel and Diana, 1954-58
11 Updike, John, 1969-71
12 Vonnegut, Kurt and Jill Kremetz, 1970, 1979
13 Warren, Robert Penn, 1967
14 Watson, Richard, 1983-86
15 Welty, Eudora, 1973, n.d.
16 Wiesel, Elie, 1984-85
Wittkin, Herbert (see 17.8)
BoxFolder
18 17 Wunsch, Karen Jackel, 1960s-1980s, n.d.


II. Writings, 1930s-1982

"The Apprentice," holograph notebooks
BoxFolder
19 1 Plans for second draft, Chapter 1, 1954; became The Assistant
2 "2nd Dr.[aft] & third"
Dubin's Lives, holograph notebooks
BoxFolder
19 3 "The Juggler, April 1970-Oct. 1971, notes on plot and character"
4 "Juggler, notes, 1971-72?" [with time line for chapters 4-9, Dec. 1973- Dec. 1975]
5 " 'Juggler': Notes on time, place & circumstance, Apr. 21, 1973-Aug. 8, 1975"
6 " 'Juggler,' Aug. 9, 1975-Nov. 10, 1978, II"
7 "Notes for proofs"
8-9 "1) Thoreau; 2) Walden; 3) The Senses of Walden," II A and II B
10 The Erasmian, Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, photocopies of stories ca. 1930s
11 "In Defense of The Fixer," address at the PEN Annual Meeting, 6 June 1981
   
20 1 "Lawrence's Novels," holograph notebook
2 [Malamud, Eugene], holograph and typed ms. by BM about his brother, ca. 1950s or 1960s
3 Memoir, drafts, 1980-82
4 Miscellaneous notes from 1980s
Notebooks, holograph
BoxFolder
20 5-8 [Notes on books, various authors, and titles]
9 [Notes on writers and writing, story ideas, Nov. 1965-Oct. 1968]
   
21 1 "On writing, art" [12 pages of quotes from BM and others on art and writing, ca. 1971], holograph notebook
"The People"
BoxFolder
21 2-3 Photocopied corrected typescript, Ann Malamud's marked copy and BM's typescript discards
4 Photocopy typescript edited by AM, summer 1987
5 [Readings list and corresponding notes], holograph notebook
6 "Seide 'The Common Wilderness,'" BM's notes, holograph notebook
7 "Some notes about people: daybook, [March 4- May 8, 1973]," holograph notebook
   
22 1 "Stories, Bennington, 1972," [July 1972-Aug. 1979], holograph notebook
2 "Story ideas--Oregon,"Sept. 1948-Oct. 1956, holograph notebook
3 [ The Tenants] "Ch.5 wedding data," holograph notebook


III. Career-Related Material, 1940-1989

A. Appointment Calendars
BoxFolder
22 4 1968
5 1969, two copies (one used only through August)
6 1970 April-December
7 1971
8 1972
9 1973
10 1974
   
23 1 1974 (May-December torn out)
2 1975-76
3 1977
4 1978
5 1979
6 1980
7 1982 January-June
8 1982 June-December
9 1983
   
24 1 1984
2 1985
3 1986
B. Business and Personal Papers
Business and financial
BoxFolder
24 4 Business expenses, etc., 1970-86
5 Drawer contents, itemized lists
6 Financial miscellany, 1970s-1980s
House ownership
BoxFolder
24 7 Corvallis, Oregon (first), 1955-61
8-9 Bennington, Vermont (second), 1969-87
10 House closings prior to fall departures, Bennington
11 Literary executors
   
25 1 Malamud library, 1989, dealers, consignments, gifts
Notebooks
BoxFolder
25 2 1943-65, income
3 1962-75, stocks
4 1966-83, income
5 1968-71, business expense, daybook
6 1968-79, new house (Bennington)
7 Tax returns and financial info, 1940-59
Medical
BoxFolder
25 8 1974-85, "medical" [health reports]
9 1984 and 1986 [daybook and loose pages, medical and financial records]
Personal and professional
BoxFolder
26 1 Address book, "Corvallis, Oregon"
2 American Academy of Arts and Sciences, includes 1981 ceremonial programs for BM's induction; info on 1983 Gold Medal for Fiction
3 Bellagio [Study and Conference Center], 1983
4 Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences, 1966-82
Honors, awards, honorary degrees
BoxFolder
26 5 1958-76
6 1980-85
7 International PEN Congress (48th), Jan. 12-18, 1986, conference packet
   
27 1-2 Johnson Inaugural, January 1965
3 Records [list of recordings]
4 Yaddo, 1971-80
5 YMHA [Poetry Center] Reading, 1979
Travel
BoxFolder
27 6 1968, Israel, March-April
7 1971, International driving permit; International vaccination certificate, 1971-73
8 1973 [Stockholm and Venice travel diary]
   
28 1 1974-81 [personal and travel information]
2 1978, "London Calendar, Mar. 2, Budapest" [travel diary]
3 1979 [Capri travel diary]
4 1985, Sicily, Mondello Literary Prize
5 n.d. [London travel diary]


IV. About Malamud, 1960s-1990, n.d.

Articles
Arranged by author
BoxFolder
28 6 A-G
7 H-M
8 P-W
   
29 1 Discussing BM and other writers' work
2-4 Foreign articles
5 Bibliography
6 Biographical information
7 CCNY Malamud event, 1987 ["A Tribute to Bernard Malamud, May 15, 1987]
   
30 1-7 Condolence letters, 1986
   
31 1 Cooper Union Malamud event, 1989 [Nov. 17, 1989 "Remembering Bern: A Tribute to Bernard Malamud"]
2 Essays
3-4 Interviews, 1960s-1980s
5 Lectures on BM, announcements
Reviews
BoxFolder
31 6 By and about BM from newspapers [includes articles]
7 From England (Chatto and Heath), 1980s-90
8 "The People and Uncollected Stories" [BM's posthumous book]
 
32 Sound recordings on cassette and reel-to-reel tapes including family info, interviews, musical selections, readings, talks, and tributes