A Preliminary Inventory of Her Collection of Norman Mailer at the Harry Ransom
Center
Creator:
Dunham, Laura G. Adams
Title:
Collection of Norman
Mailer
Dates:
1966-2007
Extent:
2 boxes, 1 oversize folder (.84 linear feet)
Abstract:
Laura Adam Dunham's collection of Norman
Mailer materials includes correspondence with and about Mailer; related memorabilia,
sound
recordings, and literary criticism; articles and interviews by and about Mailer, along
with
first and signed editions of Mailer books. Also present is correspondence between
Dunham and
other Mailer scholars, friends, and family.
Call Number:
Manuscript Collection MS-05086
Language:
English
Access:
Open for research. Researchers must create an online Research Account and agree to
the
Materials Use Policy before using archival materials.
Use Policies:
Ransom Center collections may contain material with sensitive or confidential information
that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers
are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable
living
individuals represented in the collections without the consent of those individuals
may have
legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy
may
arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be
deemed
highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the Ransom Center and The University
of
Texas at Austin assume no responsibility.
Restrictions on Use:
Authorization for publication is given on behalf of the University of Texas as the
owner of
the collection and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright
holder
which must be obtained by the researcher. For more information please see the Ransom
Center's Open Access and Use Policies.
Laura Adams Dunham, a retired minister, was an early Mailer scholar. Among her published
works on Mailer are Norman Mailer: A Comprehensive
Bibliography (1974), a collection of essays titled Will the
Real Norman Mailer Please Stand Up? (1974), "Existential Aesthetics: An Interview with Norman Mailer," in Partisan Review (1975), and her 1972 McMaster University
dissertation Norman Mailer's Aesthetics of Growth, published
as Existential Battles: The Growth of Norman Mailer
(1976).
Dunham's collection of Mailer materials dates from 1966 to 2007 and includes Mailer
interview and lecture tapes and typescripts, correspondence from Mailer to Dunham.
Also
present is correspondence between Dunham and other Mailer scholars, friends, and family.
In
addition, the collection holds numerous English, French, German, Italian, Japanese
and
Portuguese language newspaper and magazine articles about Mailer and reviews of his
works,
as well as several magazines containing articles written by Mailer. The collection
is
organized in four series: I. Interviews and Lectures, 1972-1974; II. Correspondence,
1972-2007; III. Memorabilia, 1973-2003; and IV. Articles and Reviews, 1967-2007.
Of note are materials related to several Mailer lectures and interviews dating from
the
early 1970s. These include audio tape recordings of an October 27, 1972 lecture at
Ohio
State University and an October 29, 1973 lecture and interview at Wright State University.
Also present is an audio tape recording of Dunham's May 6, 1974 interview of Mailer
at the
Algonquin Hotel in New York published as "Existential Aesthetics:
An Interview with Norman Mailer," in Partisan
Review. This interview is further documented in the collection with a heavily
revised typed transcription of the interview containing Mailer's handwritten editorial
comments, and a corrected draft incorporating Mailer's revisions.
Dunham's collection also includes 62 books by Mailer, many of them signed or first
editions. These books were transferred to the Ransom Center's Book Collection and
are
cataloged separately. In addition, two commercial sound recordings by Mailer and seven
audio
tapes of Mailer interviews and talks were transferred to the Ransom Center's Sound
Recordings Collection.
Some materials in the collection have been treated for mold contamination. Researchers
who
are sensitive to mold may consider using gloves or other protective measures while
handling
the materials.
Related collections at the Ransom Center include the Norman Mailer Papers and collections
of Mailer materials from Tomas Fiske, Michael Lennon Hillary Mills Loomis, Adeline
Lubell-Naiman, and Playboy Enterprises.
