Georges Borchardt Inc. records, 1949-2024

Creator:

Borchardt, Georges, 1928-

Abstract:

This collection contains the records of the Georges Borchardt Inc. Literary Agency as well as records from the 1950s and 1960s that pre-date the founding of the agency. The records include clippings, correspondence, contracts, logs, photographs, publicity, reports, reviews, and royalty statements.

Extent:

835 linear feet 1102 boxes - 601 manuscript boxes, 2 half manuscript boxes, and 499 record storage cartons

Language:

The majority of the material is in English and in French; there is some material in Spanish.

Scope and content:

This collection contains the records of the Georges Borchardt Inc. Literary Agency as well as records from the 1950s and 1960s that pre-date the founding of the agency. The records include agreements, clippings, correspondence, contracts, copyright registration documents, logs, photographs, permission requests, publicity, reports, reviews, rights information, and royalty statements.

The majority of the collection consists of files related to authors, publishers, and general subjects. These are filed in Series II: Authors, Publishers, and Subjects. This series was previously divided into two series: one for English language and one for French language. As more records were received, however, this division became less clear, and the series is current arranged alphabetically in one series for all author, publisher, and subject files.

These files consist primarily of correspondence with authors and publishers on a variety of issues including agreements, contracts, copyright, editing, financial issues, manuscripts, offerings to publishers, permission requests, rights, submissions, and translations. These files also include other records such as author event information, book jackets, catalogs, clippings, publicity items, reviews, and personal communications such as holiday cards, invitations, and postcards. Files with records related to contracts, copyright, permissions, rights, and related royalty statements are often filed separately in "contract" files.

Series II also contain subject files on such topics as American Authors, American Publishers, Association of Authors' Representatives, Authors Encouraged and Discouraged, Contracts (General), Movies, Permissions, Publishers (General), Société des auteurs et compositeurs dramatiques, Society of Authors Representatives, and Translators.

The agency also kept a set of tear-sheet files. These are filed in Series V: Tear-Sheet Files, and include clippings of various clippings and excerpts, including book reviews, short stories, essays, etc. that were published in magazines, newspapers, journals, and other publications.

The collection includes a small collection of photographs of authors. These are primarily promotional portraits, taken in black and white.

The collection also includes a set of manuscript logs. The logs are made up of index card files that document the agency's activities as related to specific titles. The index cards include the activity/dates/results of a title's submission to various publishers, date copy returned, etc. These records are filed in Series IV: Manuscript Logs.

Documentation of the agency's activities related to foreign editions and foreign rights is frequently filed in a separate set of files. These records are filed in Series III: Foreign Literary Agencies, Publishers, and Rights. These files are arranged by country or region and include both general files related to foreign editions, rights, and publishers as well as files related to specific subagents. Files related to specific English and French language publishers are filed in Series II.

The agency's official web site is also captured and archived semi-annually, and is available from 2013-present.

Biographical / historical:

Georges Borchardt was born in Berlin in 1928 and spent much of his childhood in France. He lost his father to cancer in 1939, and a large part of his family, including his mother, died in concentration camps during World War II. Borchardt survived the occupation of France by going into hiding at a school in Aix-en-Provence while his sisters worked nearby at an American field hospital. He emigrated to the United States with his two surviving sisters in 1947. He settled in New York City, where he began his career in publishing by working as an assistant at a literary agency that specialized in foreign writers.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Borchardt expanded his career in publishing by representing French publishers and authors in the United States. He co-founded the Georges Borchardt, Inc. Literary Agency with his wife, Anne Borchardt, in 1967. Borchardt introduced to American readers major works by Roland Barthes, Samuel Beckett, Pierre Bourdieu, Gilles Deleuze, Marguerite Duras, Franz Fanon, Michel Foucault, Eugène Ionesco, Jacques Lacan, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Jean-Paul Sartre, Elie Wiesel and Monique Wittig.

Over time, the Georges Borchardt, Inc. Literary Agency has become primarily an agency for English language writers, and represents novelists and nonfiction writers as well as several major literary estates.

Acquisition information:

Papers: Source of acquisition--Borchardt, Georges. Method of acquisition--gift; Date of acquisition--1985.

Gift of Georges Borchardt, 1985-2024.

Processing information:

This collection was processed by LWW, RL, and Henry Rowen between 1985 and 2002. Additional processing work, including all accessions received after 1997, was completed by Catherine C. Ricciardi, Grace Bickers (Columbia College, 2014), Maddy Brager, Linda Arthur (SEAS, 2014), Elizabeth S. McCook (SPS, 2024) from 2010-2024.

Finding aid written by Catherine C. Ricciardi in March 2014, and revised in January 2025 after substantial additions were received in 2024. The container list was last updated in January 2025.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged in seven series. Please note that the forms of names for both authors and publishers were standardized using the Library of Congress Name Authority Headings.

Accruals:

Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The following boxes are located off-site: Boxes 1-1098. You will need to request this material from the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at least five business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

There are no access restrictions for records dated 1980 or earlier. There are access restrictions for all records dated 1981 or later. These restrictions will expire at ten-year intervals. The expiration schedule is as follows: Records dated 1981-1990 will become unrestricted in 2029; Records dated 1991-2000 will become unrestricted in 2039; Records dated 2001-2010 will become unrestricted in 2049; Records dated 2011-2020 will become unrestricted in 2059; Records dated 2021-2030 will become unrestricted in 2069, and so forth. For undated records, restrictions on access shall expire no later than 40 years from the date of delivery of the material to Columbia University. Researchers must obtain permission from Georges Borchardt, Inc. in order to use restricted records.

Terms of access:

Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Preferred citation:: Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Georges Borchardt Inc. records; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Location of this collection:: Rare Book & Manuscript Library

RBML Home Page
6th Floor East Butler Library
535 West 114th Street
New York, NY 10027, USA
Before you visit:: Researchers interested in viewing materials in the RBML reading room must must book an appointment at least 7 days in advance. To make the most of your visit, be sure to request your desired materials before booking your appointment, as researchers are limited to 5 items per day.

Contact:: rbml@library.columbia.edu

Collection