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University of Texas at Austin

Laura G. Adams Dunham:

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.

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Administrative Information


Preferred Citation Laura G. Adams Dunham Collection of Norman Mailer (Manuscript Collection MS-05086). Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin.
Acquisition: Gift and purchase, 2008 (08-03-010-P (G12569, R16567))
Processed by: Katy Hill, Stephen Mielke, 2008
Repository:

Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

Scope and Contents


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.

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