Marilyn French papers, 1957-2009, bulk 1978-2008
Marilyn French papers, 1957-2009, bulk 1978-2008
Summary Information
Abstract
At a Glance
- Call No.:
- MS#1584
- Bib ID:
- 8896265 View CLIO record
- Creator(s):
- French, Marilyn, 1929-2009
- Repository:
- Rare Book and Manuscript Library
- Physical Description:
- 27.83 linear feet (27 record cartons and 2 document boxes)
- Language(s):
- English .
- 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 has no restrictions. 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.
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 The collection also contains a small number of unpublished or not-fully-realized manuscripts and poems, including an unpublished memoir and detailed research files for an unwritten novel.
Arrangement
Material is arranged into four 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.
This collection has no restrictions. 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.
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 |
| Subject |
| Feminism -- History |
| Publishers and publishing |
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.
In this subseries the materials are grouped together by book, and arranged chronologically by publication date of the book. A typical file will include contracts, correspondence, rights and permissions files, promotional material, and reviews (domestic and international) of the book.
Box 1
(contains Contracts, correspondence, reviews and information in the 1993 reissue)
Box 1
Box 1
Box 1
(Includes general publicity, interviews, book tour, parties and lists of galleys sent to reviewers)
Box 1
Box 2
Box 3
Box 3
Box 3
Box 4
(U.S. and International Contracts, bills, etc.)
Box 4
Box 4
Box 5
(U.S. and International Reviews)
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
(includes promotional and book tours in the U.S. and abroad)
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
This subseries, arranged chronologically, includes files not specifically related to a particular book or promotional tour. It includes correspondence, files related to interviews and speaking engagements, and correspondence related to the placement of short stories and journal or magazine articles. The subseries also includes photographs and proposals for films and television programs based on French's work.
Box 12
1979
Box 12
Box 12
1980
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
1981
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
1982
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
1985
Box 12
Box 12
1986
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 13
1987
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
1988
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
1989
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
1990
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
1991
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
1992
Box 13
Box 13
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
1993
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
1993
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
1994
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
1995
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
1996
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
1997
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
1997
Box 14
1998
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
1999
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
2000
Box 14
Box 14
2001
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
2002
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
2003
Box 14
Box 14
2004
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
2005
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
2006
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
2007
Box 14
Box 14
Box 14
2008
Box 14
Box 14
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
(primarily correspondence from Charlotte Sheedy Agency regarding placing French's work)
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
The professional activities subseries documents French's involvement with various scholarly, literary, and feminist organizations, as well as her teaching career. It also includes files on various awards and honors awarded to French over the course of her career. Finally, it includes a subject file of women's issues that French compiled and maintained relating to women's political, activist, and cultural organizations, as well as general subjects affecting women.
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
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.
The books subseries is notable for its inclusion of plot summaries and research files related to an unwritten novel, Sarah Murtagh. It also includes preliminary drafts and notes forDepression Babyan unpublished memoir.
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 19
Box 19
Box 19
Box 19
Box 19
Box 19
Box 19
Box 19
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 21
Box 21
Box 21
Box 21
Box 21
Box 21
(unpublished memoir)
Box 21
Box 21
The Essays and Articles Subseries includes manuscripts and related material for essays and articles that French submitted to magazines and academic journals. They chronicle both her academic interests (in James Joyce, Edith Wharton, and feminist literary criticism) as well as her political activism and her work as a feminist cultural critic.
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 24
Box 23
This subseries is comprised of manuscripts and drafts of French's short stories and poems, several unpublished, and notes and ideas for unrealized literary works. This subseries also includes French's reviews of others' works.
Box 23
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
(includes two unpublished poems--"Fall" and "Hot Spell")
Box 25
(includes drafts, story ideas, inspirations, dreams, and other notes)
Box 25
The Talks and Lectures subseries is comprised of texts of and notes for speeches and lectures French delivered at various events and conferences. Many files also include supporting correspondence, travel information, and other material related to planning and coordinating these lectures.
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
1986
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
(includes transcript of the panel)
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
Box 25
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.
Box 26
1977-1996
Box 27
1997-2008
Box 27
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.
Box 28
(includes her Masters Thesis and Dissertation)
Box 29