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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. |
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The collection is arranged in four series: I. Correspondence, 1941-1996 (18 boxes);
II.
Writings, 1930s-1982 (3 boxes); III. Career-Related Material, 1940-1989 (7 boxes);
and IV.
About Malamud, 1960s-1990, nd (2 boxes). |
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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. Of note are three folders of Malamud's letters
to his
wife Ann, dating from 1941 to 1968. These letters were restricted until Ann's death
in 2007
and were released in 2009. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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In all, the collection is in good condition although Malamud used a highly-acidic
paper for
much of his correspondence copies. |
