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James Purdy manuscripts

 Collection
Identifier: MSS 0370

Scope and Content Note

The James Purdy Manuscript Collection spans the years 1961 to 1978 and contains three items: a short story, Everything Under the Sun; and two novels, I am Elijah Thrush, and Narrow Rooms.

Originally published in Partisan Review, Everything Under the Sun was included in Purdy’s 1961 collection Children is All (New Directions). This ten page carbon typescript includes several minor corrections by the author.

Purdy began writing Narrow Rooms in 1975 in Brooklyn and finished the novel two years later while staying in Berkeley. His inscription on the title page indicates that it was based upon a true story. The 234-page typescript is the printer’s final copy and includes only minor corrections by the author.

The typescript of I am Elijah Thrush is perhaps most interesting from a scholarly standpoint because it contains extensive corrections and additions by the author. Pages eight through ten were almost entirely reworked, and Purdy inserted an additional page of material which he labeled “48a” for the printer. I am Elijah Thrush was first published by Doubleday in 1972.

Dates

  • Creation: 1961–1978

Creator

Language of Materials

Materials entirely in English.

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, http://library.udel.edu/spec/askspec/

Biographical Note

Born in Ohio on July 17, 1923, James Purdy is one of the United States’ most prolific, yet little known writers. A novelist, poet, playwright and amateur artist, Purdy has published over fifty volumes. He received his education at the University of Chicago and the University of Peubla in Mexico. In addition to writing, Purdy also has served as an interpreter in Latin America, France, and Spain, and he spent a year lecturing in Europe with the United States Information Agency (1982).

From the outset of his writing career, Purdy has had difficulties attracting the attention of both publishers and critics. His first several short stories were rejected by every magazine to which he sent them, and he was forced to sign with a private publisher for his first two books, 63: Dream Palace and Don’t Call Me by My Right Name and Other Stories, both published in 1956. Hoping to increase his readership, Purdy sent copies of these first two books to writers he admired, including English poet Dame Edith Sitwell. Sitwell raved about Purdy’s work and helped convince an English publisher, Gollancz, to publish and distribute Purdy’s books in England. Purdy’s writing was introduced in the United States a year later when his previous books were published together in one volume, Color of Darkness: Eleven Stories and a Novella (1957).

Most of Purdy’s work has been the subject of mixed critical response. While some, like Sitwell and book dealer Robert A.Wilson, appreciate the artistry of Purdy’s work, many American publishers and critics regard his work as too daring and risque. In a 1990 letter to Wilson, Purdy wrote, “Dame Edith Sitwell once told me I was the wrong color, race, religion, and talent ever to be accepted by the New York Establishment. I didn’t understand quite the full meaning of her words at the time. Now I do. I want to leave the US eventually and never come back. But I haven’t earned enough money to live here, let alone depart” (F3). Many of Purdy’s letters reflect this frustration.

Despite his lack of commercial popularity in the United States, Purdy is not entirely without critical success. He won a National Institute of Arts and Letters grant in literature in 1958, followed by Guggenheim fellowships in both 1958 and 1962. Purdy is also the recipient of a Rockefeller grant, a Ford Foundation Grant (1961), and a P.E.N.-Faulkner Award nomination in 1985 for On Glory’s Course. Most recently, he was awarded a Morten Dauwen Zabel Fiction award from the Academy of Arts and Letters (1993).

Though Purdy has had much critical and commercial success abroad particularly in the Netherlands, he struggled to increase his readership in the United States. As he lamented in a 1988 letter to Wilson, “The good thing about the Dutch for me is they are very enthusiastic about my work while the American publishers seem to do everything in their power along with the New York Times to starve me to death.” (F3).

Metzger, Linda, Ed. Contemporary Authors. New Revision Series, Volume 19. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1984. pp.389-395.

Extent

.3 linear foot

Abstract

The James Purdy Manuscript Collection spans the years 1961 to 1978 and contains manuscripts for a short story and two novels by twentieth century American author James Purdy.

Source

Purchase, June 1998.

Related Materials in thisRepository

MSS 0369 Robert A. Wilson collection related to James Purdy

Shelving Summary

  1. Box 1: Shelved in SPEC MSS manuscript boxes

Processing

Processed by Meghan J. Fuller, July 1998. Encoded by Natalie Baur, March 2010. Further encoding by Lauren Connolly, February 2016, and Tiffany Saulter, May 2016.

Title
Finding aid for James Purdy manuscripts
Status
Completed
Author
University of Delaware Library, Special Collections
Date
2010 March 23
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the University of Delaware Library Special Collections Repository

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