|
U.S. Mss 98AN
|
Part 1 (U.S. Mss 98AN, Disc 104A, Audio 1028A): Original Collection, 1910-1977 10.6 c.f. (26 archives boxes and 1 flat box), 1 disc recording and 1 tape recording The Edna Ferber Papers are divided into five series: GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, BOOKS AND ARTICLES, THEATRE, MOTION PICTURES, and MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. The Edna Ferber Papers, presented to the University of Wisconsin by Miss Ferber, her estate, and her family, are divided into two parts, with her large library (approximately 1300 volumes) housed at Memorial Library and her papers held by the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research at the Wisconsin Historical Society. (Memorial Library's Special Collections Department holds one folder of correspondence and one typed script acquired from other sources.) Ferber's library includes not only several shelves of her own works which are housed with the general collection, but also inscribed copies of books by many of her many literary friends and associates that are held in a restricted area. The papers held by the Historical Society document over a half century of Ferber's life, but the coverage is uneven and for many periods, such as the 1920s when she achieved her greatest commercial and critical success, the collection is disappointingly thin. In 1958 when Miss Ferber was first contacted by a representative of the Historical Society she stated that many of her early papers had been given away, auctioned off, or otherwise disposed of. Unlike the draft material which documents well only one book written during the 1920s, the correspondence in the papers is best for the earlier period of Ferber's career, with the majority of the items concerning her personal life rather than her literary work. Later correspondence, however, chiefly consists of extensive and detailed exchanges with her literary agents and editors. The GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, 1910-1969, contains letters from Ferber's friends and acquaintances, including many notables. The collection includes an extensive exchange with William Allen White that begins with their coverage of the 1912 political conventions. There is also documentation of her frequent exchanges with Louis Bromfield, Noel Coward, Jay N. Darling, Moss Hart and Kitty Carlisle Hart, Malcolm Johnson, Daniel Longwell, Kenneth D. McCormick, H.L. Mencken, William Lyon Phelps, Robert Sherwood, Louis Untermeyer, Alexander Woollcott, and Rebecca West. Also represented, but less extensively are Winthrop Ames, James M. Barrie, Russell Crouse, Lynn Fontanne, Zona Gale, Jeannette Gilder, Lillian Gish, Edgar Guest, Richard Halliday, Lillian Hellman, Katharine Hepburn, Leland Heyward, Harry Houdini, George S. Kaufman, Helen Keller, Jerome Kern, Sinclair Lewis, Westbrook Pegler, John Reed, Richard Rodgers, Theodore Roosevelt, Adele Rogers St. John, Upton Sinclair, and Howard Teichmann. Original letters written to her sister and nieces (“the Foxes”) are interspersed among the general correspondence, and they provide the most comprehensive coverage of the day-to-day events of Ferber's life, although this correspondence seldom touches on literary matters. Also scattered through the general correspondence are letters from readers concerning their reactions to her work. Some of the letters from prominent correspondents noted above were apparently received for this reason. A large part of the correspondence (including some items from the prominent correspondents noted above) consists of photocopied material. When the collection was reviewed in 1991 in order to incorporate new material the provenance of the photocopied material was not apparent. Although this material is not attributed, it is suspected that some of the original documents may be on deposit elsewhere. It is possible that they were collected by Ferber's great-niece for her 1978 biography, although this cannot be determined, as the book contains no footnotes or bibliography. It is known that the segregated file of William Allen White correspondence in the Ferber Papers consists of copies of her letters to him held by the Library of Congress. Also filed separately with the correspondence series are letters that Ferber received in reaction to her account of the Bruno Hauptman trial, which appeared in the New York Times on January 28, 1935; as well as letters sparked by her 1953 attack on the grimy condition of New York City streets. The correspondence also documents in detail Ferber's efforts to help her Jewish relatives emigrate from Hitler's Germany to the United States. BOOKS AND ARTICLES form the largest segment of the collection. Organized chronologically, the series begins in 1914 and ends with material concerning the novel on American Indians that she was researching at the time of her death. Included in the series are correspondence, research materials, manuscript drafts and corrected galley pages, notes, reviews, all filed by the title of the work to which they pertain. Researchers interested in the development of individual works will find Cimarron, Giant, and Ice Palace to be among the most extensively documented of her novels. Of her two-volume autobiography, the second, A King of Magic, is also well represented. The THEATRE file consists primarily of scripts and reviews of productions, together with related correspondence. For some productions there are also financial and box office statements. It includes a typed script of her collaboration with George V. Hobart on Roast Beef Medium (Memorial Library Rare Book Room holds a typed version of Our Mrs. McChesney, also done with Hobart), and manuscripts of Bravo! and The Royal Family documenting her relationship with George S. Kaufman. Also included are variant drafts by Morton DaCosta for Saratoga. Notable in the WCFTR photo file are stills of a production of The Royal Family in which Ferber starred. The MOTION PICTURE series contains material on the screen adaptation of many of Ferber's novels, with the best material relating to the production of
Giant. For this title, there are synopses, character profiles, and numerous variant drafts. Other titles are represented by reviews, correspondence, and financial material. The file of MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS includes speeches, clippings, personal financial records, photographs and memorabilia. There are also correspondence and notes related to Ferber (1978), a biography by Ferber's great-niece, Julie Goldsmith Gilbert. For the book Gilbert interviewed a numer of Ferber's friends and associates and summaries of these interviews are included, as well as a taped interview with Frances Charnock. Photographs received with the papers consist of formal portraits; candid shots of her personal life and travel; her family; her work as a correspondent during World War II; and her Connecticut home. These have been separated for storage in the WCFTR Name File.
|
|
|
Series: General Correspondence
|
|
|
General
|
|
|
Box
1A
Folder
1-4
|
1910 November 14-1919 December 6
|
|
|
Box
1
Folder
1-6
|
1920 January 23-1957 December 4
|
|
|
Box
2
Folder
1-6
|
1958 January 27-1968 April 9, undated
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
1
|
White, William Allen, 1915-1938
: Copied from collections of the Library of Congress.
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
2
|
Hauptman trial article, 1935-1938
|
|
|
German relatives
|
|
|
Box
3
Folder
3-6
|
1936 November 8-1943 September 29
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
1
|
1944 January 8-1951 September 4
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
2-3
|
New York City clean-up article response, 1953 April 22-July 18
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
4
|
Correspondence regarding estate and proposed biography, 1968-1969
|
|
|
Series: Books and Articles
|
|
|
“The Gay Old Dog” , (1914)
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
5
|
Notes
|
|
|
Disc 104A
|
Recording
: User copy available as Audio 651A.
|
|
|
U.S. Mss 98AN
|
“Fanny Herself” , (1917)
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
6
|
Correspondence, 1916-1968
|
|
|
So Big (1925)
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
7
|
Correspondence, 1923-1967
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
8
|
Reviews and clippings
|
|
|
“Every Other Thursday” , (1926)
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
9
|
Notes
|
|
|
Show Boat (1926)
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
10
|
Source material
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
11
|
Notes on origin
|
|
|
Disc 104A
|
An incident from Show Boat, read by Ferber, undated
: User copy available as Audio 651A.
|
|
|
U.S. Mss 98AN
|
Cimarron (1929)
|
|
|
Box
4
Folder
12-14
|
Correspondence, 1929-1963
|
|
|
Notes
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
1
|
Dixie Lee
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
2
|
Osage Indians, Watonga, Yancey Cravat, Mrs. Ferguson, early newspaper office, Pete Pitchlynn
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
3
|
Saloons and gambling, Indians, early West, Victor Murdock, peddler, oil, Tulsa
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
4
|
Source material, notes, and chronologies
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
5-7
|
Draft
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
8
|
Revisions
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
9
|
Notes on origin
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
10
|
Reviews and clippings
|
|
|
American Beauty (1931)
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
11
|
Correspondence, 1931
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
12
|
Clippings and note on origin
|
|
|
They Brought Their Women
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
13
|
Correspondence, 1932-1933
|
|
|
Box
5
Folder
14
|
Reviews
|
|
|
Come and Get It (1935)
|
|
|
Correspondence
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
1
|
1933-1934
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
2
|
Polish-American protest, 1934
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
3
|
Notes
|
|
|
“Trees Die at the Top” , (1937)
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
4
|
Notes, Cosmopolitan reprint, and correspondence, 1956
|
|
|
A Peculiar Treasure (1939)
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
5-6
|
Notes and notebook
|
|
|
Correspondence
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
7
|
Woman's Home Companion serialization, 1938
|
|
|
General
|
|
|
Box
6
Folder
8-12
|
1939 April-June
|
|
|
Box
7
Folder
1-7
|
1939 July-1965
|
|
|
Box
8
Folder
1
|
Reviews and clippings
|
|
|
Box
8
Folder
2
|
British reviews
|
|
|
Box
8
Folder
3
|
Inserts for second and revised editions, 1960
|
|
|
Box
8
Folder
4
|
Television adaptation by Virginia Mazer, 1974
|
|
|
“Life Boat” , (1942)
|
|
|
Box
8
Folder
5
|
Typescript, Published story
|
|
|
“Grandma Isn't Playing” , (1943)
|
|
|
Box
8
Folder
6
|
Two typescript versions
|
|
|
Great Son (1943)
|
|
|
Box
8
Folder
7
|
Correspondence, 1944-1945
|
|
|
Box
8
Folder
8-9
|
Notes and notebook
|
|
|
Box
8
Folder
10
|
Typescript
|
|
|
Box
8
Folder
12-13
|
Typescript
|
|
|
Box
8
Folder
11
|
Page proofs for introduction
|
|
|
Box
26
Folder
2-3
|
Galley pages with corrections
|
|
|
Box
9
Folder
1
|
Reviews
|
|
|
Box
9
Folder
2
|
Notes on origin
|
|
|
Box
9
Folder
2A
|
Publicity photographs
|
|
|
One Basket (1947)
|
|
|
Box
9
Folder
3
|
Correspondence, 1956-1967
|
|
|
Box
9
Folder
4
|
Reviews
|
|
|
Giant (1952)
: Literary property and other literary rights relating to the final manuscript of the novel Giant are reserved to Miss Ferber's co-proprietors.
|
|
|
Box
9
Folder
5
|
Notes on sources
|
|
|
Correspondence
|
|
|
Box
9
Folder
6-11
|
1948-1957 August 23
|
|
|
Box
10
Folder
1
|
1957 October-1976 May 3
|
|
|
Box
10
Folder
2-4
|
Source material
|
|
|
Box
10
Folder
5-7
|
Notes and notebooks
|
|
|
Draft manuscripts
|
|
|
Box
11
Folder
1-10
|
Early version, pp. 1-510
|
|
|
Second version
|
|
|
Box
11
Folder
11-14
|
pp. 1-447
|
|
|
Box
12
Folder
1
|
pp. 448-564
|
|
|
Box
12
Folder
2-3
|
Third version
|
|
|
Box
12
Folder
4-6
|
Compositor's copy
|
|
|
Box
26
Folder
4-5
|
Galley pages with corrections
|
|
|
Box
12
Folder
7-8
|
Reviews
|
|
|
Box
13
Folder
1
|
Clippings and publicity
|
|
|
Box
13
Folder
2
|
Bibliography cards for foreign language editions
|
|
|
Box
13
Folder
3
|
Notes on origin
|
|
|
Ice Palace (1958)
|
|
|
Box
13
Folder
4-5
|
Correspondence, 1954-1967
|
|
|
Box
13
Folder
6
|
Source material and clippings
|
|
|
Box
13
Folder
7-9
|
Notes and notebooks
|
|
|
Box
13
Folder
10
|
Working papers and revisions
|
|
|
Box
13
Folder
11
|
Notes on origin
|
|
|
Box
14
Folder
1
|
Typescript, pp. 1-166
|
|
|
Box
14
Folder
2
|
Revised typescript, pp. 1-212
|
|
|
Box
14
Folder
3-6
|
Rewrite material
|
|
|
Box
14
Folder
7
|
Manuscript fragments
|
|
|
Box
15
Folder
1
|
Manuscript fragments, continued
|
|
|
Box
15
Folder
2-4
|
Compositor's typescript, pp. 1-141
|
|
|
Box
26
Folder
6-7
|
Galley pages with corrections
|
|
|
Box
15
Folder
5
|
Ladies Home Journal serialization
|
|
|
Box
15
Folder
6
|
Reviews and publicity
|
|
|
A Kind of Magic (1963)
|
|
|
Box
15
Folder
7
|
Correspondence, 1961-1967
|
|
|
Box
15
Folder
8
|
Notes and source material
|
|
|
Box
16
Folder
1
|
Notes and inserts
|
|
|
Box
16
Folder
2
|
Chapter 1 drafts
|
|
|
Box
16
Folder
3
|
Chapter 2 and 3 drafts
|
|
|
Box
16
Folder
4
|
Draft fragments
|
|
|
Box
16
Folder
5
|
Incomplete draft (near-final draft)
|
|
|
Box
16
Folder
6
|
Inserts
|
|
|
Manuscript drafts
|
|
|
Box
16
Folder
7
|
Typescript 1
|
|
|
Typescript 2
|
|
|
Box
16
Folder
8-9
|
pp. 1-219
|
|
|
Box
17
Folder
1-3
|
pp. 220-423
|
|
|
Box
17
Folder
4-7
|
Typescript 3
|
|
|
Compositor's copy
|
|
|
Box
17
Folder
8
|
pp. 1-141
|
|
|
Box
18
Folder
1-2
|
pp. 142-423
|
|
|
Box
26
Folder
8
|
Galley pages with corrections
|
|
|
Box
18
Folder
3
|
Reviews and publicity
|
|
|
Box
18
Folder
4
|
First printing, with Ferber notes on typos
|
|
|
American Indian Novel (unfinished)
|
|
|
Box
18
Folder
5-6
|
Correspondence, 1959-1968
|
|
|
Source material
|
|
|
Box
18
Folder
7
|
Arizona Indians research by Narcissa M. Espinoza
|
|
|
Box
19
Folder
1
|
Phoenix Indian School
|
|
|
Box
19
Folder
2
|
Indian students writings
|
|
|
Box
19
Folder
3
|
United States Indian policy
|
|
|
Box
19
Folder
4-5
|
Notes
|
|
|
Box
19
Folder
6
|
Miscellaneous
|
|
|
Miscellaneous
|
|
|
Box
19
Folder
7
|
“Fraulein” typescript, undated
|
|
|
Box
19
Folder
8
|
Russian story notes, undated
|
|
|
Box
19
Folder
9
|
Miscellaneous manuscript fragments and notes
|
|
|
Box
19
Folder
10
|
Miscellaneous manuscript reviews, 1917-1941
|
|
|
Box
19
Folder
11
|
List of Ferber stories, indicating availability of motion picture rights, undated
|
|
|
Earnings statements and related correspondence
|
|
|
Box
19
Folder
12
|
1921-1933
|
|
|
Box
20
Folder
1-3
|
1934-1963 November; undated
|
|
|
Box
20
Folder
4
|
Columbia records, 1953 January 22-1967 December 31
|
|
|
Series: Theatre
|
|
|
Roast Beef Medium (1913)
|
|
|
Box
19
Folder
5
|
Typescript of script by Ferber and George V. Hobart
|
|
|
The Gay Old Dog (1914)
|
|
|
Box
20
Folder
6
|
Typescript of script
|
|
|
Show Boat (New York, 1927)
|
|
|
Box
20
Folder
7
|
Typescript of script, annotated
|
|
|
Box
20
Folder
8
|
Reviews and program
|
|
|
Box
20
Folder
9
|
Clippings and programs for revivals
|
|
|
Box
20
Folder
10
|
Financial statements, New York revival, 1946
|
|
|
Box
21
Folder
1
|
Box office statements, New York revival, 1946
|
|
|
Box
21
Folder
2
|
Reviews, 1957 Jones Beach revival
|
|
|
The Royal Family (New York, 1927)
|
|
|
Box
21
Folder
3
|
Typescript, annotated by Ferber and George S. Kaufman, Acts I and II
|
|
|
Box
21
Folder
4
|
Typescript, annotated, Acts I and II
|
|
|
Box
21
Folder
5
|
Typescript, annotated
|
|
|
Box
21
Folder
6
|
Typescript, annotated, Act I
|
|
|
Box
21
Folder
7
|
Script, Act II
|
|
|
Box
21
Folder
8
|
Correspondence, clippings, program
|
|
|
Dinner at Eight (New York, 1932)
|
|
|
Box
21
Folder
9
|
Reviews, programs
|
|
|
Box
21
Folder
10
|
Financial statements, 1932
|
|
|
Box
21
Folder
11
|
Reviews and programs for non-New York City productions, 1933
|
|
|
Box
21
Folder
12
|
Programs, memorabilia, 1966 revival
|
|
|
Stage Door (1938)
|
|
|
Box
21
Folder
13
|
Correspondence, 1950-1963
|
|
|
The Land is Bright (New York, 1941)
|
|
|
Box
21
Folder
14
|
Typescript (partial)
|
|
|
Box
21
Folder
15
|
Reviews, clippings, program
|
|
|
Box
22
Folder
1
|
Financial statements, 1941-1942
|
|
|
Bravo! (New York, 1948)
|
|
|
Box
22
Folder
2
|
Correspondence, 1948-1949
|
|
|
Box
22
Folder
3
|
Typescript by Ferber and George F. Kaufman
|
|
|
Box
22
Folder
4
|
Financial statements, 1948
|
|
|
Box
22
Folder
5
|
Box office statements, 1948
|
|
|
Box
22
Folder
6
|
Clippings, program
|
|
|
Saratoga (New York, 1959)
|
|
|
Box
22
Folder
7
|
Correspondence, 1954-1959
|
|
|
Box
22
Folder
8
|
Typescript by Morton DaCosta
|
|
|
Box
22
Folder
9-10
|
Typescript with revisions by Ferber
|
|
|
Box
22
Folder
11
|
Typescript by DaCosta “Third draft,” 1959 July
|
|
|
Box
22
Folder
12
|
Ferber notes on Philadelphia production
|
|
|
Box
22
Folder
13
|
Miscellaneous insertions
|
|
|
Box
23
Folder
1-2
|
Earnings statements and correspondence, 1956-1967
|
|
|
Series: Motion Pictures
|
|
|
Cimarron (1931)
|
|
|
Box
23
Folder
3
|
Reviews
|
|
|
Come and Get It (1936)
|
|
|
Box
23
Folder
4
|
Reviews, clippings
|
|
|
Nobody's In Town (unproduced)
|
|
|
Box
23
Folder
5
|
Typescript treatment by Sidney Howard, 1939
|
|
|
Saratoga Trunk (1945)
|
|
|
Box
23
Folder
6
|
Reviews
|
|
|
Giant (1956)
|
|
|
Box
23
Folder
7
|
Character profiles
|
|
|
Box
23
Folder
8
|
Synopsis
|
|
|
Box
23
Folder
9
|
Typescript, 1954 August 23
|
|
|
Box
23
Folder
10
|
Mimeo script, 1954 December 1
|
|
|
Box
24
Folder
1
|
Mimeo script, 1954 April 4
|
|
|
Box
24
Folder
2
|
Clippings, reviews
|
|
|
Box
24
Folder
3
|
Publicity
|
|
|
Ice Palace (1960)
|
|
|
Box
24
Folder
4
|
Correspondence, 1958
|
|
|
Box
24
Folder
4
|
Financial statements, 1961
|
|
|
Box
24
Folder
5
|
Clippings and reviews
|
|
|
Cimarron (1961)
|
|
|
Box
24
Folder
6
|
Correspondence and clippings, 1957-1961
|
|
|
Box
24
Folder
7
|
Miscellaneous clippings, reviews, and financial statements, 1925-1960
|
|
|
Series: Miscellaneous Papers
|
|
|
Box
24
Folder
8-9
|
Speeches and articles by Ferber, 1918-1962
|
|
|
Box
24
Folder
10
|
Articles about Ferber
|
|
|
Box
24
Folder
11
|
Clippings
|
|
|
Box
22
Folder
14
|
Clippings, reviews, programs for theatrical productions, 1924-1956
|
|
|
Gilbert biography
|
|
|
Box
24
Folder
12
|
Correspondence, 1969-1977
|
|
|
Box
24
Folder
13
|
Notes
|
|
|
1028A/1
|
Recorded interview of Frances Charnock, 1975
|
|
|
U.S. Mss 98AN
|
Financial records (personal)
|
|
|
Box
24
Folder
14
|
Bank statements (Barclays), 1934-1956
|
|
|
Box
25
Folder
1
|
Treasure Hill daybook and miscellaneous receipts, 1940-1949
|
|
|
Box
25
Folder
2
|
Investments, 1948
|
|
|
Box
25
Folder
3
|
Partnership in A.I.P. Company, 1953-1967
|
|
|
Box
25
Folder
4
|
Memorabilia
|
|
|
Box
25
Folder
5
|
Obituary and memorial speeches by Marc Connelly and others, 1968
|
|
|
Photographs
|
|
|
WCFTR Name File
|
Portraits
|
|
|
Candid photographs of Ferber
|
|
|
Candid photographs of Ferber as a World War II correspondent
|
|
|
Portraits and candid photographs of the Ferber/Fox family
|
|
|
Photographs of Treasure Hill, Connecticut
|
|
|
Photographs relating to research trips for Cimarron, Ice Palace, and Showboat
|
|
|
Miscellaneous and unidentified photographs
|
|
|
WCFTR Title File
|
Still photographs of Ferber in The Royal Family
|
|
|
MCHC82-008
|
Part 2 (MCHC82-008): Additions, undated
0.1 c.f. (1 folder)
: Posters created primarily to promote books by Ferber. Also includes posters from MCHC82-030.
|
|
|
M2006-126
|
Part 3 (M2006-126): Additions, 1960-1962
0.1 c.f. (1 folder)
: Additions, 1960-1962, consisting of correspondence to Ralph Newman from Edna Ferber relating to the details involved in donating Edna Ferber's papers for which Newman acted as middle-man.
|
|
