Marilyn French papers, 1957-2009, bulk 1978-2008

Summary Information

Abstract

Papers of author and feminist critic Marilyn French. The collection documents French's literary career, including manuscripts of literary works and documentation of the publication and promotion of her works.

Description

Summary

The Marilyn French Papers contain a nearly complete record of French's literary life and production. Along with manuscripts and research notes for her books, the collection is particularly strong in documenting the business end of literary production, including contracts and significant files related to the publicizing and promotion of her work, including speaking tours, lectures, and travel. The collection also contains a small number of unpublished or not-fully-realized manuscripts and poems, including an unpublished memoir and detailed research files for an unwritten novel.

• Series I: Business and Promotional Records, 1957-2008

  This series, which comprises the bulk of the collection, documents the business side of French's literary and scholarly career. It includes contracts, correspondence concerning foreign rights and permissions, and files related to publicizing and promoting her work. There is a significant amount of correspondence between French and agent, Charlotte Sheedy; this series is particularly strong in documenting Sheedy's role in placing and promoting French's work.

• Series II: Writings, 1957-2009

  The writings series includes manuscripts, notes, drafts, and research files French drafted or compiled in the course of writing her novels, articles, and non-fiction monographs. The series includes materials related to her earliest academic writings, as well as her major works of fiction and non-fiction.

• Series III: Calendars, Datebooks, and Personal Correspondence, 1977-2008

  This series is comprised of French's desk planners and datebooks. She kept careful records of her activities, and those are reflected in these books.

• Series IV: Books by Marilyn French, 1964-2007

  This series represents a complete run of first editions of French's published work. Also included are bound copies of her Masters Essay and doctoral dissertation.

Arrangement

Material is arranged into four series.

• Series I: Business and Promotional Records, 1957-2008
• Subseries I.1: Business and Promotional Records by Book, 1974-2006
• Subseries II.2: Chronological and General Business Records, 1957-2008
• Subseries I.3: Professional Activities, 1986-2008
• Series II: Writings, 1957-2009
• Subseries II.1: Books, 1964-2009
• Subseries II.2: Essays and Articles, 1957-2005
• Subseries II.3: Short Stories, Poems, and Reviews, undated and 1994, undated, 1994
• Subseries II.4: Talks and Lectures, 1978-2002
• Series III: Calendars, Datebooks, and Personal Correspondence, 1977-2008
• Series IV: Books by Marilyn French, 1964-2007

Using the Collection

Restrictions on Access

You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

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); Marilyn French Papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Accruals

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

Immediate Source of Acquisition

2009.2010.M111: Source of acquisition--Sterling Lord Literistic. Method of acquisition--Purchase; Date of acquisition--04/04/2010.

2011.2012.M077: Source of acquisition--Chris Calhoun Agency. Method of acquisition--Purchase; Date of acquisition--02/02/2012.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

Papers processed ceh 2012.

Finding aid written ceh 03/28/2013.

Revision Description

2013-03-29 xml document instance created by Carrie Hintz

2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.

Biographical Note

Marilyn French was born in New York City in 1929. She married the attorney Robert M. French, Jr. in 1950; the couple divorced in 1967.

She received her B.A. in English from Hofstra University in 1951, and later returned to Hofstra for her M.A. degree in the Humanities, which she was awarded in 1964. The couple had two children, and Robert. She earned her Ph.D. in English from Harvard University in 1972. Her dissertation on James Joyce was published by Harvard University Press in 1976 with the title The Book as World: James Joyce's Ulysses, and constitutes her first major work of literary criticism.

Upon completion of her PhD, French began teaching at the College of the Holy Cross, where she remained until 1976 when she took a one year teaching fellowship at Harvard University, after which she left the academy to focus on her career as a writer.

Though French had an impressive academic career, she is best known as a novelist and a feminist critic. Her feminist novel The Women's Room was published in 1977 and her second novel, The Bleeding Heart followed in 1980.

In addition to her fiction she was a feminist critic and her works of feminist criticism, Beyond Power: On Women, Men, and Morals and The War Against Women established her as a leading voice in radical feminist intellectual discourse.

French was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 1992; she documented her experience as a cancer patient in the memoir My Season in Hell.

French died of heart failure in 2009. She was 79.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

All links open new windows.

Name
French, Marilyn, 1929-2009	CLIO Catalog	ArchiveGRID
Subject
Feminism -- History	CLIO Catalog	ArchiveGRID
Publishers and publishing	CLIO Catalog	ArchiveGRID