Francis Steegmuller papers, 1877-2012

Summary Information

Abstract

Francis Steegmuller (1906-1994) was a novelist, biographer, and translator. He was the author of many works about French culture and literary figures, and a translator of Gustave Flaubert. The papers include correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, printed materials, research materials, and scrapbooks.

At a Glance

Call No.:
MS#1195
Bib ID:
4079364 View CLIO record
Creator(s):
Steegmuller, Francis, 1906-1994
Repository:
Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Physical Description:
102.5 linear feet (122 manuscript boxes; 32 record cartons, 2 flat boxes; 2 tube boxes)
Language(s):
English , French .
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.

Boxes 1-23 and 2 flat boxes are on-site. The following boxes are located off-site: 24-125 and the 2 tube boxes. You will need to request this material at least five business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

This collection has no restrictions.

Unique time-based media items have been reformatted and are available onsite via links in the container list. Commercial materials are not routinely digitized.

Description

Summary

Letters from Somerset Maugham, Graham Greene, Edith Sitwell, Adlai Stevenson, and Jacques Lipschitz. Notes and correspondence relating to Steegmuller's books, as well as manuscripts of the books, make up part of the collection. Also, seven scrapbooks of clippings and 37 inscribed books; manuscripts and proofs for his translation of Flaubert's MADAME BOVARY; and two solander cases containing 155 photographs, mounted and inscribed, taken by Steegmuller on his trips to France, 1948, 1950, Italy, 1950, and the Virgin Islands, 1949.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into 19 series.

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.

Boxes 1-23 and 2 flat boxes are on-site. The following boxes are located off-site: 24-125 and the 2 tube boxes. You will need to request this material at least five business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

This collection has no restrictions.

Unique time-based media items have been reformatted and are available onsite via links in the container list. Commercial materials are not routinely digitized.

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); Francis Steegmuller papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Selected Related Material

Shirley Hazzard Papers, Rare Book & Manuscript Library

General Manuscripts, Rare Book & Manuscript Library. This collection includes one audio CD, "Audio File Concordance"

Francis Steegmuller collection of Jacques Villon , Yale University.

Accruals

No additions are expected.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Source of acquisition--Steegmuller, Francis. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--1967. Accession number--M-67.

Gifts of Francis Steegmuller and Shirley Hazzard, 1967-2021.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

Cataloged Christina Hilton Fenn 09/--/89.

Processed Patrick Lawlor 2012.

Material in Boxes 122-126 processed by Catherine C. Ricciardi, 2023.

The Rare Book & Manuscript Library holds the papers of both Francis Steegmuller and his wife, Shirley Hazzard (1931-2016). Many papers are intermingled between the two collections, particularly because correspondence and photographs often involved both Hazzard and Steegmuller as a couple after their marriage in 1963. For the most part, it seems that papers were placed in one collection or the other based upon when they were received at the Library. Material that was given prior to Steegmuller's death in 1994, or shortly thereafter, was mostly added to the Steegmuller papers. Later donations, particularly those received after Hazzard's death, were added to the Hazzard papers, with the exception of a few boxes of additional books, manuscripts, and other material that were clearly related only to Steegmuller. This being the case, certain correspondents are filed with the Steegmuller papers, and others are filed with the Hazzard papers. In addition, the majority of the couple's personal photographs are filed with the Hazzard papers.

Revision Description

2009-06-26 File created.

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

2023-04-19 Finding aid updated to include Boxes 122-125 by CCR. These boxes consist of new material that was received by the Library after the death of Shirley Hazzard.

2023-04-20 Rewrote biographical statement. CCR.

2023-07-17 Boxes 127-154 (books) added. kws

Biographical Note

Steegmuller was born on July 3, 1906 in New Haven, Connecticut. He was educated in the public schools of Greenwich, Connecticut, and graduated from Columbia University in 1927. While at Columbia, Steegmuller's friends included Lionel Trilling, Clifton Fadiman, Jacques Barzun, Meyer Shapiro, Richard Snow, and Dwight Minor. After graduation, Steegmuller spent time in Europe, but became disillusioned by events in Germany and Italy in the 1930s and returned home, eventually serving in United States military. After the war, he returned to France, working initially in military intelligence. Steegmuller divided his time between Europe and New York City throughout the rest of his life.

Steegmuller was the author of many works about French culture and literary figures, and a translator of Gustave Flaubert. He was the recipient of many literary honors. He received two National Book Awards: in 1971, for his biography of biography of Jean Cocteau, and in 1981 for his translation for the first volume of Flaubert's complete letters. Steegmuller was awarded a gold medal in biography by the American Academy and Institute of Arts in 1982. He was also a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor.

Steegmuller's first wife was Beatrice Stein (1899-1961), a painter who was a pupil and friend of Jacques Villon. She suffered from polio, and died in 1961. He married the writer Shirley Hazzard (1931-2016) in 1963.

Steegmuller died in Naples, Italy on October 20, 1994.

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.

Genre/Form
Photographic prints CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Name
Apollinaire, Guillaume, 1880-1918 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Cocteau, Jean, 1889-1963 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Duncan, Isadora, 1877-1927 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Flaubert, Gustave, 1821-1880 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Greene, Graham, 1904-1991 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Hazzard, Shirley, 1931-2016 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Lipchitz, Jacques, 1891-1973 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Maugham, W. Somerset (William Somerset), 1874-1965 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Maupassant, Guy de, 1850-1893 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Sitwell, Edith, 1887-1964 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Spark, Muriel CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Stevenson, Adlai E (Adlai Ewing), 1900-1965 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
White, Patrick, 1912-1990 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Place
France -- Pictorial works CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Italy -- Pictorial works CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
United States Virgin Islands -- Pictorial works CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Subject
Authors CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
French literature -- Translations into English CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Scrapbooks CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Translators CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID