Collection Overview

Summary
Arrangement
Description
Using the Collection

Note: some material may be restricted or offsite

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information
Subject Headings
History / Biographical Note

Collection Contents

View All
Series I: Cataloged Correspondence
Series II: Cataloged Manuscripts, Photographs, and Art
Series III: Arranged Materials
Series IV: Oversized Materials

Bennett Cerf papers, 1898-1977

After clicking 'Submit Request', users will login with their UNI and password (Columbia affiliates) or their special collections account (external users). Appointments are required and will be arranged according to each individual repository's policy.

Series I: Cataloged Correspondence


Box 1 Adams, Samuel Hopkins

Box 1 Addams, Charles

Box 1 Anderson. Robert

Box 1 Annenberg, Walter

Box 1 Astaire, Fred

Box 1 Auchincloss, Louis

Box 1 Baldwin, Faith

Box 1 Baruch, Bernard M.

Box 1 Baskerville, Charles

Box 1 Baxter, Anne

Box 1 Beer, Thomas

Box 1 Benny, Jack

Box 1 Berlin, Irving

Box 1 Black, Hugo L.

Box 1 Bliven, Bruce

Box 1 Bow, Clara

Box 1 Bradley, Omar N

Box 1 Cabell, James Branch

Box 1 Canby, Henry Seidel

Box 1 Canfield, Cass

Box 1 Capote, Truman

Box 1 Cerf, Bennett A.

Box 1 Cerf, Christopher

Box 1 Cerf, Jonathan

Box 1 Cooke, Alistair

Box 1 Coppard, A. E.

Box 1 Cousins, Norman

Box 1 Crawford, Joan

Box 1 Darrow, Whitney, Jr.

Box 1 Dewey, Thomas E.

Box 1 Douglas, Norman

Box 1 Dreiser, Theodore

Box 1 Early, Stephen

Box 1 Eban, Abba

Box 1 Eisenhower, Dwight David

Box 1 Ervine, St. John

Box 1 Fadiman, Clifton

Box 1 Farley, Walter

Box 1 Farrar, John

Box 1 Faulkner, Estelle (Mrs. William)

Box 1 Faulkner, William

Box 1 Ferber, Edna

Box 1 Fisher, Dorothy Canfield

Box 1 Flower, Desmond.

Box 1 Fontaine, Joan

Box 1 Furness, Betty

Box 1 Geisel, Theodor Seuss

Box 1 Gershwin, George

Box 1 Gershwin, Ira

Box 1 Gingrich, Arnold

Box 1 Goldwyn, Samuel, Jr.

Box 1 Goodson, Mark

Box 1 Grace, Princess of Monaco

Box 1 Green, Martyn

Box 1 Gruening, Ernest

Box 1 Harcourt, Alfred

Box 1 Harriman, William Averell

Box 1 Hart, Moss

Box 1 Hemingway, Ernest

Box 1 Hersey, John

Box 1 Hitchcock, Alfred

Box 1 Hobson, Laura

Box 1 Hogan, Frank Smithwick

Box 1 Hoover, John Edgar

Box 1 Humphrey, Hubert Horatio

Box 1 Huxley, Aldous L.


Box 2 Ingersoll, Ralph

Box 2 Javits, Jacob K.

Box 2 Johnson, Claudia Alta Taylor (Mrs. L.B.)

Box 2 Johnson, Lyndon Baines

Box 2 Jones, James

Box 2 Jovanovich, William

Box 2 Kraing, Kenneth B.

Box 2 Kennedy, Edward M.

Box 2 Kent, Rockwell

Box 2 Kerr, Jean

Box 2 Kiplinger, Willard Monroe

Box 2 Knopf, Alfred A.

Box 2 Knopf, Helen

Box 2 Kober, Arthur

Box 2 Koch, Edward I.

Box 2 Kollek, Theodore

Box 2 Lefkowitz, Louis J.

Box 2 Lindsay, John Vliet

Box 2 Lindsay, Mary (Mrs. John V.)

Box 2 Logan, Joshua

Box 2 Loos, Anita

Box 2 McBride, Mary Margaret

Box 2 McFee, William

Box 2 McGovern, George

Box 2 Machen, Arthur

Box 2 McKuen, Rod

Box 2 Malraux, André

Box 2 Maugham, William Somerset

Box 2 Mencken, Henry Louis

Box 2 Merrick, David

Box 2 Michener, James A.

Box 2 Morley, Christopher

Box 2 Nash, Ogden

Box 2 Nathan, George Jean

Box 2 O'Flaherty, Liam

Box 2 O'Hara, John

Box 2 Onassis, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy

Box 2 Paley, William S.

Box 2 Robinson, Edwin Arlington

Box 2 Rockefeller, Margaretta F.M. (Mrs. N.A.)

Box 2 Rockefeller, Nelson A.

Box 2 Rodgers, Dorothy (Mrs. Richard)

Box 2 Rodgers, Richard

Box 2 Roosevelt, Franklin Delano

Box 2 Roth, Philip

Box 2 Rusk, Dean

Box 2 Russell, Rosalind

Box 2 Schiff, Dorothy

Box 2 Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr.

Box 2 Schulberg, Budd

Box 2 Sevareid, Eric

Box 2 Shaw, Irwin

Box 2 Sherwood, M.H.C.

Box 2 Simon, Richard L.

Box 2 Slesinger, Tess

Box 2 Stein, Gertrude

Box 2 Steinbeck, John

Box 2 Stettinius, Edward R., Jr.

Box 2 Stevenson, Adlai E.

Box 2 Styron, William and Rose

Box 2 Sulzberger, Arthur Ochs

Box 2 Tracy, Honor

Box 2 Truman, Harry S.

Box 2 Tunney, James Joseph

Box 2 Updike, John

Box 2 Van Vechten, Carl

Box 2 Wagner, Phyllis F.C.

Box 2 Wallace, Henry Agard

Box 2 Warren, Robert Penn

Box 2 Weidman, Jerome

Box 2 White, Elwyn Brooks

Box 2 Wiesel, Elie

Box 2 Williams, G. Mennen

Box 2 Willkie, Wendell L.

Box 2 Woollcott, Alexander

Box 2 Wynn, Ed

Series II: Cataloged Manuscripts, Photographs, and Art

Box 2 Benson, Sally

Box 2 Cerf, Bennett A

Box 2 Clegg, Ernest

Box 2 Dwiggins, William Addison

Box 2 Ellis, Havelock

Box 2 Furness, Betty

Box 2 Geisel, Theodor Seuss

Box 2 Gooden, Stephen

Box 2 Haas, Robert

Box 2 Hollister, Paul

Box 2 Hoover, John Edgar

Box 2 Kent, Rockwell

Box 2 Lawrence, David Herbert

Box 2 Leighton, Clare

Box 2 Lindsay, Howard

Box 2 Losch, Tilly

Box 2 McFee, William

Box 2 Mdrley, Christopher

Box 2 Richards, Ceri

Box 2 Robinson, Edwin Arlington

Box 2 Shaw,George Bernard

Box 2 Sinatra, Frank

Item removed to box 74

Box 2 Stephens, James

Box 2 Stevenson, Adlai

Box 2 Van Loon, Hendrik Willem

Box 2 Van Vechten, Carl

Box 2 Weston, Edward

Box 2 Woolsey, John Munro

Series III: Arranged Materials


Box 25 Articles and speeches by Cerf--A-Z

Audio Records


Box 74 "November 22"

Box 74 "Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music"

(Limited Edition)

Item was orginally in box 02

Box 74 "Let's Talk About Writers with Bennett Cerf"

Clippings Books


Box 36 1916-1917

Box 36 1917-1919

Box 36 1918-1933

Condolence Letters

Record of Letters, (1 Volume)


Box 8 A-D


Box 9 E-L


Box 10 M-Z


Box 64 Condolence Message from Random House, Inc. concerning the death of Bennett Cerf


Box 25 Bennett Cerf interviewed by Arnold Michaelis, June 20, 1963, 1 audiocassettes

Access digital content: Bennett Cerf interviewed by Arnold Michaelis, June 20, 1963

Interview from "View from the Top," WOR-TV


Box 31 Lecture Schedules, 1949-1971

Manuscripts and Proofs

Diaries


Box 11 1915-1949


Box 12 1950-1971

Box 12 Notebooks and Passports


Box 13 The Laugh's on Me


Box 14 The Laugh's on Me

Box 14 Treasury of Atrocious Puns


Box 15 The Sound of Laughter


Box 16 The Sound of Laughter


Box 17 The Sound of Laughter


Box 18 Stories to Make You Feel Better

At Random


Box 19 Typed Manuscript (t.ms.)


Box 20 Typed Manuscript (t.ms.)

Typed Manuscript (t.ms.)


Box 21 Cuts and Discards

Box 21 List of Illustrations

Box 21 Index

Box 21 Typesetters copy of typed manuscript (t.ms.)


Box 21a 1st Draft

Box 21a Uncorrected 1st Proof


Box 22 Master Galley

Box 22 Master Page Proofs

Box 22 Page Proofs (foul matter)

Box 22 Photographs and Illustrations for the Book


Box 23 Correspondence

Box 23 Reviews and Related Material


Box 63 Mock-Ups


Box 24 Try and Stop Me

Box 24 Cerfboard

Box 24 Vest Pocket of Anecdotes


Box 64 Miscellaneous


Box 35 Memorabilia and Miscellaneous Items

Oral History Memoir, Columbia University.

These corrected drafts and final copies of Cerf Oral History, formerly in boxes 26-28 of the collection, has been withdrawn from the Cerf Papers and returned to the Columbia University Center for Oral History. Available as Reminiscences of Bennett Alfred Cerf, 1968 at https://dlc.library.columbia.edu/catalog/cul:zgmsbcc4mz

https://clio.columbia.edu/catalog/15684324

Personal Papers


Box 3 1926 1929-1933, 1926, 1929-1933


Box 4 1936-1940


Box 5 1941-1943


Box 6 1943-1945


Box 7 1947-1971 undated, 1947-1971, undated

Photographs


Box 32 Photographs of Cerf


Box 33 Photographs of Bennett Cerf, Phyllis Cerf, Gustave Cerf, Cerf family, and miscellaneous


Box 34 Photographs and photograph albums

(Primarily Cerf, family, and friends; 1981 and 1984 additions to the collection)


Box 75 Photograph Albums


Box 64 Miscellaneous

Printed Material


Box 39 About Cerf


Box 40 Articles by Cerf


Box 41 Articles by Cerf


Box 62 Bookplates of Bennett Cerf


Box 42 Books by Cerf


Box 43 Books by Cerf


Box 44 Books by Cerf


Box 45 Books by Cerf


Box 46 Books by Cerf


Box 47 Books by Cerf


Box 48 Books by Phyllis Cerf Wagner


Box 49 Books from the Library of Bennett Cerf


Box 50 Books from the Library of Bennett Cerf


Box 51 Books from the Library of Bennett Cerf


Box 52 Books from the Library of Bennett Cerf


Box 53 Books from the Library of Bennett Cerf


Box 54 Books from the Library of Bennett Cerf


Box 55 Books from the Library of Bennett Cerf


Box 61 Columbia University; Miscellaneous


Box 75 Inscribed Copy of The Look Book

Box 75 Inscribed Copy of Salt Air


Box 63 Leighton, Clare The Return of the Native, 1929

Box 63 Woodcuts; one of 30 numbered sets of 12 prints, signed; illustrations for Thomas Hardy, The Return of the Native, (New York: Harper Brothers, 1929)


Box 74 Musical Score for "Joanna"

(Autographed by Rod McKuen)


Box 56 Random House and Miscellaneous


Box 57 Random House and Modern Library Catalogues


Box 58 Random House Catalogues (Triplicate)

Box 58 Random House Stock Information


Box 59 Random House Printed Material


Box 60 Random House Printed Material (duplicates)

Scrapbooks


Box 37 1933-1940


Box 38 1940-1943


Box 74 1944 January -October, 1944


Box 65 1944 November -1946 November, 1944


Box 66 1946 December -1949 June, 1946


Box 67 1949-1952 April, 1949-1952


Box 68 1952 April -1954 December, 1952


Box 69 1955 January -1957 October, 1955


Box 70 1957 October -1960 July, 1957


Box 71 1960 July -1964 April, 1960


Box 72 1964 April -1968 February, 1964


Box 73 1968 January -1971, 1968


Box 74 1945-1970


Box 29 Wagner, Phyllis Cerf et al. Charlotte, Isabelle, Phyllis and Susan's New York . New York.


Box 30 Wagner, Phyllis Cerf et al. Charlotte, Isabelle, Phyllis and Susan's New York . New York.

Series IV: Oversized Materials


Box Flat Box 294 Academic Gown


Box Flat Box 293 Charcoal portrait of Bennett Cerf by René Bouchet

Access digital content: Charcoal portrait of Bennett Cerf by René Bouchet

Box Flat Box 296 Condolence message from Random House, Inc. concerning the death of Bennett Cerf

Box Flat Box 296 Honorary Degree Awards


Box Flat Box 295 Manuscripts and Proofs--At Random, the Reminiscences of Bennett A. Cerf, 1977

(Page proofs, photographs, end-paper)

Photographs (Oversized)

Box Flat Box 295 Bennett Cerf in front of the Random House building (photograph by Ray Shorr)

Box Flat Box 295 Bennett Cerf with Marilyn Monroe

Box Flat Box 295 Bennett Cerf in office

Box Flat Box 295 Bennett Cerf in office with Secretary Paulene Kreeswork Freidnear

Box Flat Box 295 Bennett Cerf at desk

Box Flat Box 295 David Klopper, Robert Hoas, and Bennett Cerf

Box Flat Box 295 Jonathan and Christopher Cerf (sons of Bennett and Phyllis Cerf)

Box Flat Box 295 Other Miscellaneous Photographs


Box Flat Box 293 Photograph of Bennett Cerf in office


Box Flat Box 296 Bennett Cerf in office (Photograph by Ray Shorr)

Box Flat Box 296 James Silverman, Robert Berstein, Bennett Cerf, and Lyndon Johnson

Box Flat Box 296 Photograph of sign, "Sioux City Welcomes Bennett Cerf"

Box Flat Box 296 Bennett Cerf in office with children's books

Box Flat Box 296 Bennett Cerf (as younger man)

Box Flat Box 296 Other Miscellaneous Photographs

Box Flat Box 296 John O'Hara (Photograph by Phyllis Cerf)


Box Flat Box 293 Photostat reproduction of front page of "New York Times" 1898 May 25, 1898


Box Flat Box 294 Two mock-ups: cartoon sketches