Bernard Malamud

A Register of His Papers in the Library of Congress

Prepared by Michael McElderry
Revised and expanded by Michael McElderry

Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

Washington, D.C.

2003

Contact information: http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html

Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Manuscript Division, 2005

Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms005011

Table of Contents

Collection Summary

Selected Search Terms

Names:

Subjects:

Occupations:

Administrative Information

Provenance:

Processing History:

Transfers:

Copyright Status:

Preferred Citation:

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note

Organization of the Papers

Description of Series

Container List

Collection Summary

Selected Search Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein.

Administrative Information

The papers of Bernard Malamud, author, were given to the Library of Congress by Malamud in 1970. A subsequent deposit by his wife, Ann, in 1986 was converted into gifts of three equal installments, 1986-1988. Additional gifts were made by Ann Malamud, 1989-1994.

Part I of the papers of Bernard Malamud were reorganized in 1989 following preliminary processing in 1970. Additional material received between 1991 and 1994 was processed as Part II in 1996. A description of the Malamud Papers appears in Library of Congress Acquisitions: Manuscript Division, 1986, pp. 25-30.

Videocassette tapes of interviews and poetry readings have been transferred to the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division of the Library of Congress where they are identified as part of these papers.

Copyright in the unpublished writings of Bernard Malamud in these papers and in other collections of papers in the custody of the Library of Congress is reserved. Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division for further information.

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Bernard Malamud Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note

Part I

Part I of the papers of Bernard Malamud (1914-1986) spans the years 1945-1986, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period after 1949. Although often classified as a Jewish-American writer, Malamud considered himself a universalist who, from the ethnic realities of his own experience and through the use of fable, shaped character and plot into universal themes of suffering and redemption. The papers highlight Malamud's career as a writer through an extensive collection of literary manuscripts, notes, and production materials for all of his novels and volumes of short stories, as well as for many of his other works of short fiction published independently in a variety of magazines and periodicals. The collection also includes correspondence files of Malamud's editors, publishers, and literary agents, which document the publication of his writings from conception through editing to final printing. Although he was a deliberately private writer who shunned involvement in social issues, Malamud assumed a more public presence toward the end of his life, especially in defense of the First Amendment rights of free speech while presiding as president of the American Center of P.E.N., 1979-1981, and in support of the artistic community through the programs of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, which he served as a member of its board of directors. Correspondence and other supportive documents pertaining to Malamud's participation in these organizations and to his communications with other organizations and individuals can be found in the Subject File. Malamud's volume of stories, The Magic Barrel, won the National Book Award in 1959 and his novel, The Fixer, won the same award, as well as the Pulitzer Prize, in 1967.

For each of his novels and short story collections, Malamud not only retained most of the drafts, notes, and outlines used in the composition of the final work, but also carefully identified each draft in its proper sequence, thereby providing insight into the fundamental character of his written texts. The Books and Writings File indicates the meticulous care with which Malamud preserved his many preliminary drafts and discarded only the first, very rough holograph. Especially for his novels, Malamud usually wrote several drafts along with several revisions of each draft. He was an extensive reviser, and most of his drafts are heavily edited, as are many of the proofs. The material collected for Dubin's Lives, which contains multiple, heavily revised drafts of each of the chapters of this lengthy novel, illustrates the care Malamud exercised to edit his text and preserve the record of his literary efforts.

Notes and outlines contained in the Books and Writings File provide further evidence of his methodology. The notes are of two types: the first are Malamud's research notes written during the conception and execution of his work, while the second explain the order in which the drafts and revisions of his literary manuscripts were prepared. The latter, written specifically to assist the researcher, reveal much about Malamud's methods, including his habit of preparing handwritten drafts at various stages of revision. These notes also help to establish the proper order in which the drafts were written and demonstrate the seriousness of purpose with which Malamud considered not only subject and intent, but also style and technique.

Files containing Malamud's correspondence with his editors, publishers, and agents, in particular the publishing firm of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, and his literary agents, Russell and Volkening, are located in the Subject File. These files reveal the editorial decisions and marketing strategies surrounding the printing and publication of Malamud's books and stories. The Subject File also contains correspondence reflecting the scope of his international reputation, including letters exchanged between Malamud and his foreign editors and publishers, as well as those received from students and teachers from the United States and abroad concerning the interpretation of his work. Other topics listed in the Subject File concern Malamud's participation as a member and officer in various cultural and literary organizations, most notably the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters and the American Center of P.E.N., and theatrical and motion picture adaptations of several of his novels and short stories. Part I also contains a small collection of personal letters in the General Correspondence series.

Part II

Part II of the papers of Bernard Malamud covers the period from the 1930s to 1989, with the bulk of the material dated from the 1950s to Malamud's death in 1986. Although Part II supplements many of the topics and files noted in Part I, it also contains new material such as preparatory notes and outlines for classroom lectures taught by Malamud at Bennington College, Harvard University, Oregon State University, and Stanford University; drafts and notes for public lectures and readings; literary notes and story outlines; typescripts of early short stories and writings; and holograph and typewritten drafts, notes and outlines, and research material for Malamud's final novel, The People. Small selections of letters written to Malamud, along with copies of his replies, are located in the General Correspondence series and in selected book and subject files.

The Books and Writings File in Part II contains items relating to most of Malamud's major works. Literary notes, source material, and correspondence complement similar material in Part I. Particularly noteworthy is a complete set of drafts, with accompanying notes and outlines, for Malamud's last, unfinished novel, The People, published posthumously in 1989. Although he had been able to complete drafts for only sixteen of the chapters projected at the time of his death, the novel was published through the combined editorial and transcription efforts of, among others, Robert Dunn, Robert Giroux, and Ann Malamud. Beginning with the early source notes of 1969 that foreshadow the idea for the book and progressing through various levels of the drafts, from the early holograph narrative to the last typescript, the material chronicles the development of Malamud's intent and theme, reflects the refinement of his literary style, and gives voice to his emerging characters. The Books and Writings File also includes a series of early short stories and writings in mostly uncorrected, carbon copy typescript, which, with the exceptions of "The Refugee," "Sunday in the Park," and "Vacancy," remain unpublished at this date. Malamud wrote many of his notes and handwritten drafts on foolscap, a fragile yellow stock paper. In order to preserve these manuscripts, surrogate photocopies were made to reduce use of the originals.

Malamud took methodical notes on a variety of subjects. Whether created as study aids for his lectures or as outlines for his writings, his voluminous notes illustrate the meticulous care with which he conducted his research and are arranged in appropriate series throughout Part II. Classroom notes and material accumulated by Malamud demonstrate the preparation he undertook for his academic duties. The notes further reflect his research into the nature of aesthetics, his studies of the art of writing, and his investigations into the meaning of the literary life.

Originally delivered at Bennington College as part of the Ben Belitt lecture series, 30 October 1984, Malamud's lecture, "Long Work, Short Life," located in the Speeches and Lectures File, serves both as a celebration of work and art and as a self-described "selective short memoir." The lecture portrays his life as a writer and, in lieu of a more formal legacy, serves in union with other revelatory speeches and writings as Malamud's contribution to autobiography. Also of note in the Miscellany series are several commemorative tributes to Malamud delivered at various memorial services held shortly after his death, including a eulogy by Saul Bellow.

The Subject File in Part II contains material relating to Malamud's personal and political interests and includes additions to topics located in Part I, such as his involvement with the American Center of P.E.N., the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, and the artists colony, Yaddo. Malamud's support of Alexander Solzhenitsyn reflected his concern not only for the welfare of the dissident Soviet author but also for the defense of academic freedom. The Subject File contains a file relating to Solzhenitsyn, as well as notes for and transcripts of an interview given by Malamud to the Paris Review.

Organization of the Papers

The collection is arranged in two parts comprising nine series:

• Part I
  • General Correspondence, 1952-1980
  • Books and Writings File, 1952-1985, n.d.
  • Subject File, 1945-1986, n.d.
• Part II
  • General Correspondence, 1959-1986, n.d.
  • Books and Writings File, 1944-1989, n.d.
  • Speeches and Lectures File, ca. 1950s-1986, n.d.
  • Notes, ca. 1930s-ca. 1980s, n.d.
  • Subject File, 1972-1983, n.d.
  • Miscellany, 1974-1986, n.d.

Description of Series

Container List