University of Texas at Austin

Alice Adams:

A Preliminary Inventory of Her Papers at the Harry Ransom Center

Creator: Adams, Alice, 1926-1999
Title: Alice Adams Papers
Dates: 1931-2000
Extent: 30 document boxes, 1 oversize box (osb) (17.3 linear feet), 10 galley folders, 3 computer disks
Abstract: The Alice Adams papers span her career as a novelist and short story writer. Most of her novels and short story collections are represented by typescripts and/or proofs. Also present are non-fiction articles and book reviews written by Adams. There is extensive correspondence with literary agents, editors, and other writers.
Call Number: Manuscript Collection MS-04865
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 Certain restrictions apply to the use of electronic files. Researchers must agree to the Materials Use Policy for Electronic Files before accessing them. Original computer disks and forensic disk images are restricted. Copying electronic files, including screenshots and printouts, is not permitted. To request access to electronic files, please email reference@hrc.utexas.edu. 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 Centers' Open Access and Use Policies.


Administrative Information


Acquisition: Purchase, 2000 (R14720)
Processed by: Hope Donovan Rider, 2007 and Grace Hansen, 2017
Repository:

Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

Scope and Contents


The Alice Adams papers span her career as a novelist and short story writer. Most of her novels and short story collections are represented, including Listening to Billie, Superior Women, and The Last Lovely City. The collection is arranged in three series: Series I. Works, 1931-2000; Series II. Correspondence, 1950s-1999; and Series III. Personal and Career-Related.
Series I. Works is subdivided into Subseries A. Novels and Short Story Collections, Subseries B. Uncollected Short Stories, and Subseries C. Other Writings. Subseries A. consists of typescripts, electronic files, proofs, and correspondence relating to her novels and collected short stories. There is also a typescript for her travel book, Mexico: Some Travels and Some Travelers There. Of interest is a typescript draft of an unpublished early novel, The Impersonators, written when Adams and her husband were living in Paris in 1947. There are no handwritten drafts of the works present because Adams destroyed early versions of her works once they had been transcribed.
Subseries B. contains short stories that were not collected in other volumes. Some stories are represented only by typescripts, while others include tear sheets or a published volume of the periodical containing the story, as well as publication correspondence. There is one file of early short stories written in 1946 while Adams was a student at Radcliffe College.
Subseries C. includes non-fiction articles and book reviews written by Adams, as well as many of her working notebooks.
The correspondence in Series II. is arranged alphabetically by last name or subject, depending on the original folder titles in Adams's files. The correspondents reflect both her personal and business relationships. There is extensive correspondence with her various literary agents, including Peter Matson and Lynn Nesbit, as well as Vicky Wilson, her editor at Knopf. Many writers are represented, including Saul Bellow, Alison Lurie, Norman Mailer, Joyce Carol Oates, and the poet Donald Hall. Many letters and business documents are addressed to Alice Linenthal. Adams married Mark Linenthal in 1946, and although they divorced in 1958, she continued to use her married name on government records and for business purposes.
Series III. Personal and Career-Related includes royalty statements, articles written about Adams, and personal clippings files, as well as a collection of photographs and postcards. The bulk of the photos are travel pictures from Mexico, where Adams often went for vacation, and from various trips to Europe, including a trip taken to Portugal as research for a magazine article. Most of these date from the 1970s and early 1980s. There are several files of personal and publicity photos, including some childhood photographs, as well as wedding photographs from 1946 that shows her parents and husband.

Separated Material


Books, periodicals, audio cassettes, and personal effects received with this collection were transferred to appropriate departments within the Ransom Center.

Index Terms


People

Abrahams, William Miller, 1919- .
Adams, Judith.
Bellow, Saul.
Colwin, Laurie.
Hall, Donald, 1928- .
Mailer, Norman.
Oates, Joyce Carol, 1938- .
Steele, Max, 1922- .
Wilson, Vicky.

Document Types

Contracts.
Drafts.
Galleys.
Juvenilia.
Notebooks.
Photographs.
Printers' proofs.
typescripts

Container List