Descriptive Summary and Abstract
Cushing Memorial Library
College Station, TX 77843-5000
Asselineau,
Roger
Inventory of the Roger
Asselineau Walt Whitman Collection
1855-2001
3 linear ft.
This collection
consists primarily of the collected writings of Walt Whitman by Roger
Asselineau, assorted manuscripts, programs, newspaper clippings, and
monographs. Over 900 monographs are included as part of this collection,
cataloged separately in the Library of Congress classification and housed in
the repository stacks as part of the Lit/Whitman collection. Integral parts of
this collection include a manuscript titled Walt Whitman
on Burns a Portrait Gallery of Walt Whitman, Walt
Whitman's handwritten critique on the works of various writers, and the
monographs portraying the first editions of Walt Whitman's work, particularly
Leaves of Grass.
Lit/Whitman MSS 00144
English
Biographical Note
Himself a poet and translator of
World War I
British poets' works,
Roger Asselineau (1915-2002) led the scholarly
world for decades as a champion of scholarly work about the 19th century
American poet,
Walt Whitman. Asselineau's interest in American
poetry is reputed to have been inspired by his experiences with the
French Resistance during World War I, aiding
American airmen to escape from occupied
France.
Asselineau himself only escaped being executed by
the
Nazis for his work in the French Resistance forces
by the American invasion of Paris. Asselineau's life-long appreciation and
admiration of American poets' advocation of beliefs in liberty and
individuality may have developed during this time.
Asselineau published his first book of poems,
Traduit de Moi-Même under the name
Robert Maurice in 1949, but other volumes of his
mostly free-verse poetry was subsequently published under his own name. As a
poet he had a particularly sensitive ear for the difficulties and complexities,
often not at first apparent, in translating Walt Whitman's poetry.
Asselineau was active in Whitman scholarship on up until his death 8
July 2002 in
Paris, France. Asselineau's own major work about
Whitman was a critical biography, begun as his dissertation at the
Sorbonne,
L'évolution de Walt Whitman aprés la premiére
édition des Feuilles d'herbe, first published in
Paris by
Didier in 1954, then in a two-volume English
translation,
The Evolution of Walt Whitman (
Cambridge:
Belknap Press, 1960-62), and finally in a slightly
expanded edition, again titled
The Evolution of Walt Whitman, with a
foreword by
Ed Folsom, by the
University of Iowa Press in 1999.
Asselineau was an original member of the
Advisory Editorial Board for The
Collected Writings of Walt Whitman, which
was organized in 1955 to oversee the publication of an authoritative edition of
all of Whitman's writings. Long a professor at the Sorbonne in Paris, France,
Asselineau attended many conferences and was active in bringing
Leaves of Grass to world attention,
particularly encouraging translators to send him new editions of the poem.
Asselineau was also active on the editorial board of the
Walt Whitman Quarterly Review, and wrote
many reviews of scholarly works for several journals.
Asselineau was a close friend as well as fellow Whitman scholar to
Gay Wilson Allen, and became friend and mentor to
all of the major Whitman scholars, biographers, and translators of the
twentieth century.
Asselineau was also a noted scholar of the American 19th century poet
Edgar Allan Poe, and published many articles and
books on other American literary figures including
Washington Irving,
Crèvecoeur,
Ernest Hemingway,
Robert Frost,
Sherwood Anderson,
Nathaniel Hawthorne,
Theodore Dreiser,
Jack London, and
Tennessee Williams. Many of Asselineau's reviews
appeared in the journal
Etudes Anglaises.
In 1987 Asselineau was made an
Honorary Member of the
Modern Language Association of America, an honor
proposed by Whitman scholar,
Jerome Loving, in association with
Daniel Hoffman.
Asselineau's wife was named
Paule and he had a daughter named
Claire.
Scope and Content Note
The
Roger Asselineau
Walt Whitman Collection (1855-2001) consists,
aside from the group of 900 or so monographs collected by Asselineau, chiefly
of correspondence, accompanied by handwritten drafts of reviews written in ink
of pencil by Asselineau on slips of paper, apparent placed in the relevant book
on his shelf as a file. The correspondence and draft of reviews are often
associated with clippings, photographs or snapshots, offprints, programs,
newsletters and a few postcards.
Most of these manuscript materials were found in the process of
cataloging the monograph collection, apparently filed by Asselineau in volumes
of his monograph collection, usually related to the author of the book into
which he inserted the materials over a period of years. A title page of the
relevant book into which the manuscript materials were found inserted is now
clipped to the materials in the collection folder, and the call number of the
book written on the photocopied title page in pencil. Also present are musical
scores of adaptations of Whitman's poetry, and quite a few copies of the
Walt Whitman Circle quarterly newsletter,
published by composer and Whitman enthusiast,
Robert Strassburg.
Series 1. Correspondence (1896-2001), is arranged alphabetically by
the correspondents' last names. Notable correspondents include
Gay Wilson Allen,
V. K. Chari,
Betsy Erkkila,
Ed Folsom,
Donald D. Kummings,
Jerome Loving,
Robert Strassburg, and
Leandro Wolfson,
Series 2. Manuscript book (undated), consists of a bound manuscript
book, titled
Walt Whitman on Burns <![CDATA[&]]> a Portrait
Gallery of Walt Whitman. The book measures 21 cm. by 13 cm. and is
bound in green half-calf with marbled boards. According to a letter pasted into
the book, it was apparently purchased by Roger Asselineau 20 Aug. 1942 from
Alfred F. Goldsmith of
New York, N.Y. Twenty-seven leaves of the manuscript
book are filled with mostly photographic portraits of Walt Whitman, a few
obviously cut from published works, and one leaf containing a section from a
page of handwritten ms. in pencil and ink, labeled Rough draft of a page in Robert
Burns as poet and person in
November Boughs (p. 61). Twenty
other leaves of the book are left blank.
Series 3. Programs, offprints, and newspaper clippings collected by
Asselineau. Contains manuscripts with commentary and suggestions (1856-2000),
programs, announcements and catalogs (1963-2000), and clippings collected
(1962-1992) regarding the life of Walt Whitman, his writings, collections, and
offprints.
Series 4. Monographs collected by Asselineau, contains over 900
monographs, cataloged separately in the
Library of Congress classification and housed in
the repository stacks as part of the
Lit/Whitman collection. These monographs include
first editions of Walt Whitman's works, particularly
Leaves of Grass, many translations of the
poem into an incredible variety of languages, biographies and other scholarly
works. The breadth of Asselineau's scholarly activity and acquaintance is well
represented by the amount of correspondence and other memorabilia which was
found inserted into these volumes.
Organization of the Papers
This collection is organized into 4 series:
- Series 1. Correspondence.
- Series 2. Manuscript book, undated.
- Series 3. Programs, offprints, and clippings.
- Series 4. Monographs collected by Asselineau.
Access
No restrictions.
Usage Restrictions
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or
their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Online Catalog Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online
catalog of Cushing Memorial Library. Researchers wishing to find related
materials should search the catalog under these index terms.
Names
Allen, Gay Wilson, 1903-
--Correspondence.
Asselineau,
Roger--Correspondence.
Loving, Jerome, 1941- --
Correspondence.
Strassburg,
Robert--Correspondence.
Whitman, Walt,
1819-1892--Criticism and interpretation.
Whitman, Walt,
1819-1892--Translations.
Whitman, Walt,
1819-1892--Musical settings.
Organizations
Walt Whitman
Circle.
Subjects
American poetry--19th
century
Biographers.
Titles
L'évolution de Walt Whitman aprés la premiére édition des
Feuilles d'herbe.
The
evolution of Walt Whitman.
Leaves of
grass.
Walt
Whitman quarterly review.
Items Separated
Items separated include over 900 monographs by or about the 19th
century American poet, Walt Whitman, collected by Roger Asselineau. All of
these monographs are cataloged separately using Library of Congress
classification, and housed in the repository stacks as part of the Lit/Whitman
collection. These items may be retrieved by conducting a search in the
Texas A M University Library's
online public access catalog under: Roger Asselineau
Whitman Collection. This monograph collection is rich in first editions
of Whitman's long-evolving poetic work, titled
Leaves of Grass, translations of
Whitman's prose and poetry published in many languages, as well as biographies
and other scholarly works.
Processing Information
Processed by Aletha Andrew in
September 2003
Detailed Description of the Collection
Series 1. Correspondence,
1896-2001
1/1
Adams, R.P.,
7 Jan. 1956
1/2
Albright, Alan,
19 Jan. 1995 and undated
1/3
Allen, Gay Wilson,
[1946?]-19 Nov. 2001 and undated
1/4
Alves, Teresa F.A. and
Teresa Cid,
20-23 June 2000
1/5
Asselineau, Roger (Evolution of Walt Whitman),
18 April 1961-26 May 2001 and undated
1/6
Athenot, Eric,
13 Mar. 2002 and undated
1/7
Banerlein, Mark,
[1991?]
1/8
Bayley, John,
26 May 1984 and undated
1/9
Bellot, Marc (Whitman Conference),
19 Dec. 1993 and undated
1/10
Benito Cardenal, Luis C.,
3-18 Feb. 1977 and undated
1/11
Black, Stephen A.,
3 May 1976 and undated
1/12
Blodgett, Harold W.,
10 Nov. 1953-9 Jan. 1976 and undated
1/13
Bluestein, Gene,
28 Feb. 1973-7 July 1980
1/14
Bode, Carl,
[1959]-20 Mar. 1961
1/15
Boor, Jan,
15 Mar. 1969-25 May 1976 and undated
1/16
Borges, Jorge-Luis,
[1969-1978?]
1/17
Bosquet, Alain,
2001 and undated
1/18
Briggo, Arthur E.,
[1952?] and undated
1/19
Byers, Thomas,
[1989]
1/20
Callow, Philip,
[1990s]
1/21
Camboni, Maria,
21 Nov. 1994-13 Aug. 1995 and undated
1/22
Chandler Press (Chandler Facsimile Series in American
Literature),
6 Aug. 1968-1 Oct. 1971
1/23
Chari, V. K.,
24 Dec. 1973-14 May 1974 and undated
1/24
Chukouskii, Kornei,
4 May 1975 and undated
1/25
Copans, Simon,
1968-3 May 1979
1/26
Coustillas, Pierre,
26 June 1991
1/27
Corona, Mario,
18 Oct. 1994-31 Oct. 1996 and undated
1/28
De Vrieo, Peter,
9 May 1976
1/29
Erkkila, Betsy,
6 Nov. 1980-8 July 1986 and undated
1/30
Etudes Anglaises,
1992-26 Jan. 1993 and undated
1/31
Evans, James and
Elizabeth Evans (By The Way Books),
23 Oct.-17 Nov. 1929
1/32
Feinberg, Charles E.,
2 May-16 July 1961 and undated
1/33
Freeth, Mariolina Meliado,
15 March 1963
1/34
Folsom, Ed.,
20 Jan. 1994-[1998] and undated
1/35
Fone, Byrne R. S.,
[1992] and undated
1/36
Freedman, Florence Bernstein,
[1985]-10 May 1988 and undated
1/37
Frenz, Horst,
1951 and undated
2/1
Giantvalley, Scott,
11 Jan. 1982-27 Aug. 1983 and undated
2/2
Gilkey, Robert,
[1962?]
2/3
Giorcelli, Cristina (Letterature
D'America),
20 March 1988 and undated
2/4
Golden, Arthur,
1961-27 Feb. 1974 and undated
2/5
Greenspan, Egra,
23 Apr. 1992 and undated
2/6
Grier, Edward F.,
[1956?]-17 May 2000 and undated
2/7
Grippin, Charles S.,
11 July 1973-[1976?]
2/8
Grunzweig, Walter,
28 May 1995 and undated
2/9
Guillen, Jorge,
1993-12 Jan. 1996
2/10
Hindus, Milton,
3 July-20 Aug. 1984 and undated
2/11
Hollander, John,
2 Nov. 1993 and undated
2/12
Hollis, Carroll,
16 Mar. 1960 and undated
2/13
Ishill, Joseph (Oriole Press),
31 Aug. 1958-26 Sept. 1961
2/14
James, William,
15 Feb. 1979
2/15
Jeffares, A. Norman,
30 May 1967 and undated
2/15a
Kneller, John and Sherry.,
1981-2000.
2/16
Koltemenyek, Osszes,
1 March 1977 and undated
2/17
Kummings, Donald D.,
3 Nov. 1986-23 Sept. 1999
2/18
Larson, Kerry C.,
[1988?]
2/19
Leon, Philip W.,
2 Feb. 1996 and undated
2/20
Lorca, Federico Garcia,
[1930s?]
2/21
Loving, Jerome,
8 Sept. 1976-28 Jan. 2001
2/22
Lowenfels, Walter,
13-29 Dec. 1970 and undated
2/23
Lynch, Michael,
14 March 1986
3/1
Martin, Robert K.
16 Oct. 1992 and undated
3/2
Matkovic, Marijan
1992
3/3
Matthiessen, F.O.
[1941?]-5 Dec. 1980
3/4
Mendelson, Moris
[1954?]
3/5
Metzgen, Charles R.
[1961]-4 July 1962
3/6
Mickle Street Review
3 Dec. 1987 and undated
3/7
Miller, Edwin Haviland
[1961]-23 Aug. 1977 and undated
3/8
Miller, James E. Jr.
25 Aug. 1986-22 Aug. 1995
3/9
Moore, Bill
8 Dec. 1984 and undated
3/10
Myerson, Joel
[1990's]
3/11
Olivia, Jesus Sierra
1965-1996 and undated
3/12
Padgett, Ron
[1992?] and undated
3/13
Papers on Language and Literature, Suppl. to Summer
1969
3/14
Peltola, Nilo
18 Jan. 1978
3/15
Pound, Louise
[ 1949]-29 June 1958
3/16
Price, Kenneth M.
[30 May 1984]-8 Aug. 1990
3/17
Reynolds, David S.
2 Jan. 1994-2 Sept. 1998
4/1
Salska, Agnieszka
[1985]
4/2
Sarrailh, Michele
[1988]-17 Oct. 1989
4/3
Schmidgall, Gary
[1997?]
4/4
Sill, Geoffrey
8 Oct. 1992
4/5
Smuts, Jan Christian
9 Nov. 1973 and undated
4/6
Snodgrass, W.D.
1996
4/7
Strassburg, Robert
24 Aug. 1987-29 Sept. 1998
4/8
Strassburg, Robert
16 Oct. 1998-16 May 2002
4/9
Svensson, K.A.
7-24 Nov. 1964
4/10
Szuba, Andrezej
26 Feb.-18 May 1995
4/11
Translations (Misc.) on Walt Whitman's Works
[1955]-23 Nov. 1991 and undated
4/12
Traubel, Horace
1896-20 Sept. 1996 and undated
4/13
Vondrasek, Bets (West Hills Review)
18 Jan. 1980 and undated
4/14
Waggoner, Hyatt H.
12 Mar. 1968 and undated
4/15
Walt Whitman on Charles Dickens
11 Aug. 1842-6 Dec. 1974 and undated
4/16
Walt Whitman Quarterly
Review
Fall 2001
4/17
Waskow, Howard J.
[1966?]
4/18
White, William
10 Aug. 1972-[1980?] and undated
5/1
Whitman, Walt (Collected Writings of WW. the Journalism.
vol.1:1834-1846)
21 Jan. 1997 and undated
5/2
Whitman, Walt (Leaves of
Grass)
[1856-1992]
5/3
Wolfson, Leandro
1 Sept. 1976-28 Feb. 1996 and undated
5/4
Woodress, James
1 Sept. 1980-[1983?] and undated
5/5
Zardoya, Concha
[1946?-1967?]
5/6
Zweig, Paul
2 Sept. 1984 and undated
5/7
Correspondence, Misc.
undated
Series 2. Manuscript book, undated.
5/8
Manuscript book
undated
Series 3. Programs, offprints, and clippings
1856-2000
5/9
Programs, Announcements, and Catalogs
1963-2000
5/10
Manuscripts and Commentary
1856-2000
5/11
Clippings
1962-1992
Series 4. Monographs collected by Asselineau.
ITEM SEPARATED held in Lit/Whitman
collection.