Purchase, 2010 (10-10-006-P)
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Amy E. Armstrong, 2012
Nicolas Freeling was born in London on March 3, 1927, and spent his early childhood in France and later childhood in Southampton, England and Dublin, Ireland. He attended the University of Dublin for a year and then joined the military service in 1945. He served in England, North Africa, and France and left the service in 1947. In need of a job, he began working as a kitchen apprentice in a hotel in the south of France. Over the next twelve years, Freeling became a chef and worked in hotels throughout France, England, and northern Europe. In 1954, he married a Dutch woman, Cornelia (Renée) Termes, and the couple later had four sons, Hugo, Conrad, Yvan, and Wolf, and one daughter, Fabienne (whom they called "Nana").
In 1959, Freeling was arrested for stealing food from the kitchen of an Amsterdam hotel. Though this event caused his family's deportation to England, it also began his literary career. Freeling was fascinated with a particular Dutch police officer and over his four weeks of incarceration, he began writing a detective story on the wrappers of soap he was assigned to package. While still working in hotels, Freeling finished his first two novels,
While writing the van der Valk mysteries, Freeling wrote several other novels and a book about his early career in hotel kitchens called
Freeling briefly reunited readers with widower Arlette van der Valk who solved mysteries
through her Strasbourg
Freeling's 42 books not only profiled the cases of his three famous detectives, but also
followed other protagonists in eight
Freeling expressed ambivalence at being categorized as a crime novelist and preferred to
see himself as a
Nicolas Freeling died of cancer on July 20, 2003.
In addition to material found within the Nicolas Freeling Papers, the following sources were used:
The Nicolas Freeling Papers consist of manuscript drafts, correspondence, journals, clippings, contracts, and royalty statements belonging to the British mystery novelist Nicolas Freeling. The papers are organized into three series: I. Works, 1964-2001, undated; II. Correspondence, 1962-2003; and III. Personal and Professional Papers, circa 1952-2003.
Series I. Works makes up the bulk of the papers and includes materials associated with Freeling's writings. It is arranged into three subseries: A. Published books, 1964-2001, undated; B. Other Writings, 1973-1993, undated; and C. Television and Plays, 1971-1980, undated. Materials in each of these subseries are arranged in alphabetical order by title, based on Freeling's original folder titles, which are most often the British title. The title following in parentheses is a variant title, most often the American title.
Subseries A. Published Books primarily contains drafts for most of Freeling's mystery novels and non-fiction books. Correspondence accompanies some manuscripts and is often editorial notes between Freeling and his editors. Most drafts are near final versions and contain minor edits. One exception is the book
Subseries B. Other Writings are drafts, notes, clippings, and galley proofs for Freeling's
articles, essays, book reviews, book chapters, and short stories. This subseries also
contains works that were in progress or were unpublished which Freeling labeled as
Subseries C. Television and Plays contains script drafts, outlines, television episode synopses, and correspondence for a theater play and several proposed television series based on Freeling’s characters Piet and Arlette van der Valk.
Series II. Correspondence includes personal and professional incoming and outgoing correspondence. It is arranged into two subseries: A. Incoming, 1962-2003; and B. Outgoing, 1967-1997. Letters in each of these subseries are arranged chronologically following Freeling's original order. Some letters contain attachments such as photographs, drafts of articles, book jacket designs, and contracts. Works that are interfiled with correspondence are listed in an index at the end of this finding aid. Additionally, Freeling often included corrections and responses to his editors' questions in his letters and these are scattered among the incoming and outgoing correspondence. A complete index of all correspondent names in this collection is included at the end of the finding aid.
Several folders of correspondence were treated for mold infestation and patrons may consider wearing gloves and a dust respirator while handling this material.
Series III. Personal and Professional Papers contains a variety of material documenting Freeling's writing career and it is arranged in alphabetical order by topic. Included in this series are clippings, collected research material, contracts, journal notebooks, photographs, publicity materials, publishing catalogs, and royalty statements. There is little personal material except for poems Freeling copied at the age of fifteen and the journal notebooks, which contain personal notes mixed with writing notes and handwritten draft fragments for some of Freeling's novels and books.
The clippings are arranged into two segments: publicity and reviews and assorted topics. The assorted topics are collected newspaper articles in French and English on a variety of subjects--presumably some used for research--which cover crime and punishment, politics, gastronomy, books, publishing, authors, culture, travel, etc. One box of clippings contains material contaminated with mold that has not been treated for mold infestation and use of this material is restricted and is subject to permission from the head of the reading room.
Publishing contracts are arranged in chronological order. Several folders of clippings and contracts were treated for mold infestation and patrons may consider wearing gloves and a dust respirator while handling this material.
Of particular interest are twenty-seven journal notebooks. Titles, if present, are taken from the covers and provided in single quotes. Most of these journals were used for both personal and professional purposes, but a few contain handwritten incomplete drafts for a few of Freeling's books. Personal notes include daily journal entries, to-do lists, recipes, household budgets and expenses, and other jottings. The journals are arranged in rough chronological order.
There are very few photographs in the collection and those that are present are head shots or publicity photos of Freeling taken at events.
Royalty statements are arranged chronologically and also include a notebook in which Freeling recorded account overviews for specific works over several years. Several folders were treated for severe mold infestation and use by patrons must be under a vent hood and is subject to permission from the head of the reading room.
The Alfred A. Knopf Records at the Ransom Center contains additional Freeling-related material.