Dalkey Archive Press records, 1972-2018, bulk 1990-2011
Summary Information
Abstract
At a Glance
- Call No.:
- MS#1648
- Bib ID:
- 10194022 View CLIO record
- Creator(s):
- Dalkey Archive Press
- Repository:
- Rare Book and Manuscript Library
- Physical Description:
- 220.75 linear feet (173 record cartons, 1 document box, 2 cassette boxes, 1 disk box, and 7 flat boxes)
- Language(s):
- The majority of the material is in English, but there is some material in Croatian, French, Dutch, Russian, and Spanish.
- 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.
-
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
This collection has no restrictions, however, digital materials are still being processed and are currently inaccessible to researchers.
Description
Summary
The Dalkey Archive Press publishes Review of Contemporary Fiction, Context, and a wide range of contemporary fiction by both American and foreign writers. While the records consist primarily of editorial and production files, they also include author files, business files, correspondence, financial reports, strategic plans, and printed materials such as the Press' books, brochures, catalogs, and literary publications.
The majority of the Press' records are related to the production of books. These records include correspondence, camera-ready copies, original manuscripts, proofer corrections, proofs, and reader's reports. The type and amount of materials available differ from title to title; some titles have a full range of records from uncorrected manuscripts to page proofs, while others, particularly reprints, may only have a small corrections file. Many projects have no related correspondence; where correspondence is available, it is noted in the container list.
There are also substantial files related to the production of the Review of Contemporary Fiction and Context in the collection. The files include correspondence, general files and planning materials, manuscripts, proofs, proofer's corrections, and subscription records. The files contain both chronological and subject files related to the production of issues. Files related to the production of Context are much smaller in size, but there are correspondence, manuscripts, proofs, and proofer's corrections related to its publication in the collection.
The Press routinely filed correspondence in context with related projects rather than maintaining a separate set of correspondence files. There is some additional correspondence filed in Series I: Author Files and general correspondence and unfiled author correspondence has been arranged in Series VI: Correspondence.
The collection lacks both administrative and business records. There is no distinct set of business files of records related to John O'Brien, the founder of Dalkey Archive Press, in the records. The records do include a few of O'Brien's correspondence files, particularly relating to Gilbert Sorrentino. The collection also contains a set of his teaching files from Benedictine University and a few manuscripts relating to Gilbert Sorrentino, but these files are not related to O'Brien's work at Dalkey Archive Press. In addition, there no board records in the collection. The other business records in the collection are also incomplete, and the overall volume of such material in the collection is small. Series V: Business Files does include financial reports, distribution, and sales reports, but few tax records or audited financial statements, as well as records related to consultants, development, fundraising, grants, publicity, and strategic planning.
There is very little audiovisual material in the collection. There are a few photograph files in Series IX: Audiovisual Materials, as well as a few other photographs in other files scattered throughout the collection. In addition, there are several audiocassettes in the collection. Several are related to authors published by the Dalkey Archive Press, but it is unclear if the audiocassettes' content is related to the Press' work. There are also three audiocassettes that contain broadcasts related to new published works, and these are filed with the publicity materials in Series V: Business Files.
Terminology, particularly for production material, was standardized using the Rare Book & Manuscript Section (RBMS): Printing and Publishing Terms: A Thesaurus for Use in Rare Book and Special Collections Cataloging and the Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) where possible; additional dictionaries of printing and publishing terms and the Press' own terminology were used to fill in gaps in these standards. Researchers should particularly note that in standard thesauri the use of term page proof is preferred to the American usage of the term galley proof; where the Press uses the term galley (as it does for uncorrected bound proofs that are cut into pages) it is noted in the container list in parentheses.
The records of the Dalkey Archive Press have been split between two repositories. Although there are some records from 1990 and earlier in this collection, the majority of records from 1980-1990 are in the Review of Contemporary Fiction/Dalkey Archive Press: records, 1980-1990, at Stanford University.
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Series I: Author Files, 1987-2009, bulk 1989-1997
This series consists of Steven Moore's alphabetical files on authors. The files function as both correspondence and subject files and relate to the production of both books and Review of Contemporary Fiction. The files include clippings, correspondence, obituaries, reviews, articles and manuscripts (both corrected and uncorrected), photographs, and other materials relating to book awards, contract discussions, editorial work, exhibitions, events, permissions, proposals, publishing projects, rights, and translation.
There are a few cross-references in these files to files maintained by Chad Post, but Post's files were not received with the collection.
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Series II: Book Production Files, 1975-circa 2013
This series consists of editorial files related to book production. The files include correspondence, camera-ready copies, original manuscripts, proofer corrections, proofs, and reader's reports. The types of records available differ from title to title. Most of the production material is related to books that were ultimately published by Dalkey Archive Press. There are corrections, correspondence, manuscripts, or reader's reports available for a few works that were not published by Dalkey Archive Press; these works either remain unpublished or were ultimately published by another publisher.
The production records are filed and arranged by author, title, and then roughly by production date. The Press itself maintained records loosely by production year, but these records were unfoldered, undated, and in no definite order. In addition, production records related to one title were not always kept together if work went on over multiple production periods. This being the case, the files are arranged in rough order by type - manuscripts, corrections, and page proofs - which reflects a rough rather than a definite progression of the production work. The Press kept cover letters and related correspondence with the production files, and the presence of correspondence is noted in the container list. Where materials are undated, dates were approximated using dated production materials for the same title or the publication date.
Copies of published books can be found in Series VIII: Library.
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Series III: Review of Contemporary Fiction, 1981-2011
This series contains files related to the production and publication of the Review of Contemporary Fiction. The files include correspondence, general files and planning materials, manuscripts, proofs, proofer's corrections, and subscription records.
A topical list of the published issues is as follows:
• Spring 1981 (Volume 1, Number 1) Gilbert Sorrentino
• Summer 1981 (Volume 1, Number 2) Paul Metcalf, Hubert Selvy
• Spring 1982 (Volume II, Number 1) Douglas Woolf, Wallace Markfield
• Summer 1982 (Volume II, Number 2) William Gaddis, Nicholas Mosley
• Fall 1982 (Volume II, Number 3) Paul Bowles, Coleman Dowell
• Spring 1983 (Volume III, Number 1) William Eastlake, Aidan Higgins
• Summer 1983 (Volume III, Number 2) Jack Kerouac, Robert Pinget
• Fall 1983 (Volume III, Number 3) Julio Cortazar, John Hawkes
• Spring 1984 (Volume IV, Number 1) William S. Burroughs
• Summer 1984 (Volume IV, Number 2) Juan Goytisolo, Ishmael Reed
• Fall 1984 (Volume IV, Number 3) Camilo Jose Cela
• Spring 1985 (Volume V, Number 1) Claude Simon
• Summer 1985 (Volume V, Number 2) B.S. Johnson, Jean Rhys
• Fall 1985 (Volume V, Number 3) Charles Bukowski, Michel Butor
• Spring 1986 (Volume VI, Number 1) Special Fiction Issue
• Summer 1986 (Volume VI, Number 2) Italo Calvino
• Fall 1986 (Volume VI, Number 3) Luisa Valenzuela
• Spring 1987 (Volume VII, Number 1) Chandler Brossard
• Summer 1987 (Volume VII, Number 2) Samuel Beckett
• Fall 1987 (Volume VII, Number 3) Harry Matthews
• Spring 1988 (Volume VIII, Number 1) Arno Schmidt
• Summer 1988 (Volume VIII, Number 2) Claude Ollier, Carlos Fuentes
• Fall 1988 (Volume VIII, Number 3) The Novelist as Critic
• Spring 1989 (Volume IX, Number 1) New French Fiction
• Summer 1989 (Volume IX, Number 2) Milan Kundera, Zulfikar Ghose
• Fall 1989 (Volume IX, Number 3) Kathy Acker, Christine Brooke-Rose, Marguerite Young
• Spring 1990 (Volume X, Number 1) Joseph McElroy
• Summer 1990 (Volume X, Number 2) John Barth, David Markson
• Fall 1990 (Volume X, Number 3) Grove Press
• Spring 1991 (Volume XI, Number 1) Alexander Theroux, Paul West
• Summer 1991 (Volume XI, Number 2) Donald Barthelme, Toby Olson
• Fall 1991 (Volume XI, Number 3) William H. Gass, Manuel Puig
• Spring 1992 (Volume XII, Number 1) Robert Walser
• Summer 1992 (Volume XII, Number 2) Jose Donoso, Jerome Charyn
• Fall 1992 (Volume XII, Number 3) New Italian Fiction
• Spring 1993 (Volume XIII, Number 1) Georges Perec, Felipe Alfau
• Summer 1993 (Volume XIII, Number 2) Younger Writers Issue: William T. Vollmann, D.F. Wallace, Susan Daitch
• Fall 1993 (Volume XIII, Number 3) Djuna Barnes
• Spring 1994 (Volume XIV, Number 1) Paul Auster, Danilo Kis
• Summer 1994 (Volume XIV, Number 2) New Flemish Fiction
• Fall 1994 (Volume XIV, Number 3) Angela Carter, Tadeusz Konwicki
• Spring 1995 (Volume XV, Number 1) New Danish Fiction
• Summer 1995 (Volume XV, Number 2) Stanley Elkin, Alasdair Gray
• Fall 1995 (Volume XV, Number 3) Brigid Brophy, Robert Creeley, Osman Lins
• Spring 1996 (Volume XVI, Number 1) The Future of Fiction
• Summer 1996 (Volume XVI, Number 2) New Finnish Fiction
• Fall 1996 (Volume XVI, Number 3) Edmund White, Samuel R. Delany
• Spring 1997 (Volume XVII, Number 1) Mario Vagas Llosa, Joseph Skvorecky
• Summer 1997 (Volume XVII, Number 2) Wilson Harris, Alan Burns
• Fall 1997 (Volume XVII, Number 3) Raymond Queneau, Carole Maso
• Spring 1998 (Volume XVIII, Number 1) New Latvian Fiction
• Summer 1998 (Volume XVIII, Number 2) Curtis White, Milorad Pavic
• Fall 1998 (Volume XVIII, Number 3) Richard Powers, Rikki Ducornet
• Spring 1999 (Volume XIX, Number 1) Edward Sanders
• Summer 1999 (Volume XIX, Number 2) Special Fiction Issue
• Fall 1999 (Volume XIX, Number 3) The Best of the Review of Contemporary Fiction
• Spring 2000 (Volume XX, Number 1) Bradford Morrow
• Summer 2000 (Volume XX, Number 2) Jean Rhys, John Hawkes, Paul Bowles, Marguerite Young
• Fall 2000 (Volume XX, Number 3) Henry Green, James Kelman, Ariel Dorfman
• Spring 2001 (Volume XXI, Number 1) David Antin
• Summer 2001 (Volume XXI, Number 2) Janice Galloway, Thomas Bernhard, Robert Steiner, Elizabeth Brown
• Fall 2001 (Volume XXI, Number 3) Gilbert Sorrentino, William Gaddis, Mary Caponegro, Margery Latimer
• Spring 2002 (Volume XXII, Number 1) Italo Calvino, Ursule Molinaro, B.S. Johnson
• Summer 2002 (Volume XII, Number 2) New Japanese Fiction
• Fall 2002 (Volume XXII, Number 3) Louis Zukofsky, Nicholas Mosley, Coleman Dowell
• Spring 2003 (Volume XXIII, Number 1) Gilbert Sorrentino's Imaginative Qualities of Actual Things
• Summer 2003 (Volume XXIII, Number 2) Rick Moody, Ann Quin, Silas Flannery
• Fall 2003 (Volume XXIII, Number 3) Diane Williams, Aidan Higgins, Patricia Eakins
• Spring 2004 (Volume XXIV, Number 1) Douglas Glover, Blaise Cendrars, Severo Sarduy
• Summer 2004 (Volume XXIV, Number 2) Robert Creeley, Louis-Ferdinand Celine, Janet Frame
• Fall 2004 (Volume XXIV, Number 3) William H. Gass
• Spring 2005 (Volume XXV, Number 1), Gert Jonke, Kazuo Ishiguro, Emily Holmes Coleman
• Summer 2005 Volume XXV, Number 2) William H. Gass, Robert Lowry, Ross Feld
• Fall 200 (Volume XXV, Number 3) Flann O'Brien, Guy Daveport, Aldous Huxley
• Spring 2006 (Volume XXVI, Number 1) Steven Millhauser
• Summer 2006 (Volume XXVI, Number 2) William Eastlake, Julieta Campos, Jane Bowles
• Fall 2006 (Volume XXVI, Number 3) The Cuban Fiction Issue
• Spring 2007 (Volume XXVII, Number 1) Dalkey Archive Annual 1
• Summer 2007 (Volume XXVII, Number 2) Special Fiction Issue: Juan Emar
• Fall 2007 (Volume XXVII, Number 3) New Australian Fiction
• Spring 2008 (Volume XXVIII, Number 1) New Catalan Fiction
• Summer 2008 (Volume XXVIII, Number 2) Dalkey Archive Annual 2
• Fall 2008 (Volume XXVIII, Number 3) New Writing on Writing
• Spring 2009 (Volume XXIX, Number 1) Georges Perec
• Summer 2009 (Volume XXIX, Number 2) Herman Melville's; or The Whale (Edited by Damion Searls)
• Fall 2009 (Volume XXIX, Number 3) Dalkey Archive Annual 3
• Spring 2010 (Volume XXX, Number 1) Writing from Postcommunist Romania
• Summer 2010 (Volume XXX, Number 2) Slovak Fiction
• Fall 2010 (Volume XXX, Number 3) The Editions P.O.L Number
• Spring 2011 (Volume XXXI, Number 1) The Failure Issue (Guest Editor: Joshua Cohen)
• Summer 2011 (Volume XXXI, Number 2) Gilbert Sorrentino and Mulligan Stew
• Fall 2011 (Volume XXXI, Number 3) Flann O'Brien: Centenary Essays
• Spring 2012 (Volume XXXII, Number 1) Robert Coover Festschrift
• Summer 2012 (Volume XXXII, Number 2) Gert Jonke's "Individual and Metamorphosis"
• Fall 2012 (Volume XXXII, Number 3) The Future of British Fiction
Copies of published issues can be found in Series VIII: Library.
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Series IV: Context Files, circa 2000-2006
This subseries contains correspondence, manuscripts, proofs, and proofer's corrections. The files are arranged by issue.
Copies of published issues can be found in Series VIII: Library.
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Series V: Business Files, 1980s-2013
This series contains general business and financial records, as well as publicity materials.
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Series VI: Correspondence, 1972, 1979-2007
The majority of the correspondence in the collection is filed in context within the Press' editorial and production files. This series contains John O'Brien's correspondence files and small amounts of other general correspondence from authors and other business contacts.
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Series VII: John O'Brien Teaching Files and Manuscripts, 1975-1979, undated, undated
This series contains O'Brien's teaching files from Benedictine University and manuscripts relating to Gilbert Sorrentino. The files include syllabi, course assignments, test questions, notes, and student evaluations and papers. The manuscripts consist of a book review of Blue Pastoral and "The Fiction of Gilbert Sorrentino" (156 pages).
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This series contains the publications of the Dalkey Archive Press, and later editions of Dalkey Archives Press titles that were published by other publishers.
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Series IX: Audiovisual Material, 1973-2000s, undated
Series IX contains a small number of photographs and audio cassettes. The photographs are primarily related to the University of Illinois. Many of the persons in these photographs are wearing nametags and can be identified in the photographs. The cassettes were not listened to during processing. While these are related to authors published by the Dalkey Archive Press, it is unclear if the content is related to the Press' work. Cassettes related to publicity are filed with Series V: Business Files.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into ten series and several subseries.
- Series I: Author Files, 1987-2009, bulk 1989-1997
- Series II: Book Production Files, 1975-circa 2013
- Series III: Review of Contemporary Fiction, 1981-2011
- Subseries III.1: Administrative Files, 1981-2007
- Subseries III.2: Correspondence, 1989-2006
- Subseries III.3: Editorial Files, 1981-2011
- Series IV: Context Files, circa 2000-2006
- Series V: Business Files, 1980s-2013
- Series VI: Correspondence, 1972, 1979-2007
- Subseries VI.1: John O'Brien Correspondence, 1972-1991
- Subseries VI.2: Author Correspondence, 1979-2007
- Series VI.3: General Correspondence, 1988-2007
- Series VII: John O'Brien Teaching Files and Manuscripts, 1975-1979, undated, undated
- Series VIII: Library
- Series IX: Audiovisual Material, 1973-2000s, undated
- Series X: Archived Web Site, 2016-present
- Series XI: Art, bulk 1992-1995
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.
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
This collection has no restrictions, however, digital materials are still being processed and are currently inaccessible to researchers.
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); Dalkey Press records; Box and Folder (if known); Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Related Materials
The majority of records from 1980-1990 are in the Review of Contemporary Fiction/Dalkey Archive Press: records, 1980-1990, at Stanford University
Steven Moore Papers on David Markson Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
Review of Contemporary Fiction/Dalkey Archive Press: records, Stanford University.
Accrual
No additions are expected
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
2012.2013.M024: Source of acquisition--Dalkey Archive Press. Method of acquisition--Purchase; Date of acquisition--9/20/2012.
About the Finding Aid / Processing Information
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Processing Information
Papers processed by Catherine C. Ricciardi and Alexander Rocca (GSAS) 2013-2014.
Finding aid written by Catherine C. Ricciardi August 2014.
Revision Description
2014-08-02 File created.
2014-08-05 XML document instance created by Catherine C. Ricciardi
2014-09-12 XML document instance updated by Catherine C. Ricciardi
2014-12-12 XML document instance updated by Catherine C. Ricciardi
2018-04-02 XML document instance updated by Catherine C. Ricciardi. Addition of Series X.
2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.
Historical Note
Dalkey Archive Press publishes and promotes contemporary fiction that is commonly described as avant-garde, experimental, innovative, and highly literary. The Press seeks to publish materials that challenge both readers and literary conventions. Among the authors published by the Dalkey Archive Press are Djuna Barnes, Robert Coover, David Markson, Carole Maso, Nicholas Mosley, Flann O'Brien, Gilbert Sorrentino, Gertrude Stein, and Louis Zukovsky. The Press's objective is to keep all of its books in print in the interest of maintaining the availability of works that it deems culturally and educationally valuable, regardless of their commercial viability.
The Review of Contemporary Fiction was founded in 1981 to provide a forum for the discussion of significant contemporary authors whose work was largely neglected in mainstream circles. The Review has developed into a primary English-language source for the discussion of serious contemporary fiction and serves to introduce readers to writers and new works through in-depth criticism, book reviews, and coverage that is not available through most commercial media sources.
Dalkey Archive Press was founded in 1984 to address problems exposed by the Review of Contemporary Fiction. In particular, it was noted that works discussed in the journal were going out of print and difficult to get published by commercial publishers. In addition, there was concern regarding the decrease in the amount of foreign-language works being translated into English. Initially, the Press focused on reprinting out of print works that had been featured in the Review of Contemporary Fiction, but within a few years it expanded to include the publication of original works that were considered to be too risky for commercial publishers.
In 1999, Dalkey Archive Press began publishing a free newsprint and web magazine, Context. Context aims to create an understanding of the literary, historical, and cultural contexts in which to read modern and contemporary literature, especially for students and younger readers of contemporary literature.
The Press received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Book Critics Circle in 2011, and its authors and translators have been recipients of awards including the Nobel Prize, the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, and the Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize.
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.
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