urn:taro:ttu.rb.00183 Edward Abbey: An Inventory of His Papers, 1968-1989 and undated, at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library Diane Warner The Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library
The Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library Texas Tech University MS 41041 Lubbock, Texas 79409 Phone: (806)-742-3749 Fax: (806)-742-0496 Webpage: http://swco.ttu.edu/ Contact Person: Sowell Collection Librarian
Oct. 2011 Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided Diane Warner, Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Oct. 2011 Finding aid written in English. Inventory for the Edward Abbey Papers, 1968-1989 and undated Diane Warner Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, 2001 Descriptive Summary Abbey, Edward Edward Abbey Papers, 1968-1989 and undated The collection contains correspondence between Edward Abbey, Ralph Newcomb, Edward Hoagland, Doug Peacock and others. R34.1 Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University 1 box (.5 linear feet) English Biographical Sketch

Edward Abbey wrote fiction and non-fiction based upon the belief that an important link exists between individual freedom and the presence of wilderness areas. He was born in 1927 in Pennsylvania. He attended the University of New Mexico, receiving a BA in philosophy and literature in 1951 and a MA in philosophy in 1956. Abbey worked for the National Park Service at Arches National Monument during the summers of 1956 and 1956; experiences there inspired his early work, Desert Solitaire. He is perhaps best known for The Monkey Wrench Gang, whose characters attempt to halt construction of buildings and dams in wilderness areas. Abbey died in 1989, at the age of 62, in Tucson, Arizona.

A list of his publications includes: Abbey, Ed. Jonathan Troy. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1954. Abbey, Ed. The Brave Cowboy: An Old Tale in a New Time. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1956. Abbey, Ed. Fire on the Mountain. New York: Dial, 1962. Abbey, Ed. Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1968. Abbey, Ed. Appalachian Wilderness: The Great Smokey Mountains. Text by Abbey. New York: Dutton, 1970. Abbey, Ed. Black Sun. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1971. Abbey, Ed. Slickrock: The Canyon Country of Southeast Utah. Text by Abbey. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1971. Abbey, Ed. Cactus Country. Alexandria, Va.: Time-Life Books, 1973. Abbey, Ed. The Monkey Wrench Gang. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1975. Abbey, Ed. The Hidden Canyon: A River Journey. Text by Abbey. New York: Viking, 1977. Abbey, Ed. The Journey Home: Some Words in Defense of the American West. New York: Dutton, 1977. Abbey, Ed. Abbey’s Road. New York: Dutton, 1979. Abbey, Ed. Desert Images: An American Landscape. Text by Abbey. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979. Abbey, Ed. Good News. New York: Dutton, 1980. Abbey, Ed. Down the River with Henry David Thoreau and Friends. New York: Dutton, 1982. Abbey, Ed. Beyond the Wall: Essays from the Outside. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1984. Abbey, Ed. In Praise of Mountain Lions. Albuquerque: Albuquerque Sierra Club, 1984. Abbey, Ed. Confessions of a Barbarian. Santa Barbara: Capra Press, 1986. Abbey, Ed. The Fool’s Progress: An Honest Novel. New York: Holt, 1988. Abbey, Ed. One Life at a Time, Please. New York: Holt, 1988. Abbey, Ed. Vox Clamantis in Desert: Some Notes from a Secret Journal. Santa Fe: Rydal Press, 1989. Abbey, Ed. Hayduke Lives! Boston: Little, Brown, 1990. Abbey, Ed. Earth Apples: The Poetry of Edward Abbey. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994.

Scope and Contents

This collection combines separate small collections acquired at different times (between 2000 and 2005). It includes correspondence between Abbey and Ralph Newcomb, Edward Hoagland, and David Petersen, as well as correspondence from other writers who knew Abbey. It also includes two photographs, newspaper clippings, and manuscript material and a Western Wilderness calendar with text by Abbey.

The collection is in good condition and is part of the James Sowell Family Collection in Literature, Community and the Natural World.

Organization

The collection is organized by correspondenct and by type of material.

 Index Terms

The subject headings used by the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library are derived from the Library of Congress and/or locally developed.

 Subjects (Persons) Abbey, Edward, 1927-1989. Abbey, Edward, 1927-1989 -- Correspondence. Abbey, Edward, 1927-1989 -- Confessions of a Barbarian. Grant, Bob -- Correspondence. Hoagland, Edward -- Correspondence. Newcomb, Ralph W. -- Correspondence. Peacock, Doug -- Correspondence. Petersen, David, 1946- -- Correspondence.

Purchase, 2000-2004

 Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research. Copyright is retained by the authors of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by U.S. copyright law.

 Processed by

Diane Warner, 2011

 Preferred Citation

Edward Abbey Papers, 1968-1989 and undated, Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas

For related materials located in the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, see the following collections:

Rick Bass Papers, 1959-2002 and undated Rick Bass Papers, 1986-1997 and undated Max Crawford Papers, 1960-2000 and undated David James Duncan Papers, 1959-2002 and undated David James Duncan Artifact Collection David James Duncan Oversize Items, 1959-2002 and undated Gretel Ehrlich Papers, 1923-2005 and undated Edward Hoagland Papers, 1953-2007 and undated William Kittredge Papers, 1954-2000 and undated William Kittredge Papers, 1919-2007 and undated Barry Lopez Papers, 1964-2001 and undated Barry Lopez Speaking Engagement Papers, 1971-1999 and undated Barry Lopez Photograph Collection: Apológia, 1977 Barry Lopez Audio-Visual Collection, 1964-2001 and undated Barry Lopez Photograph Collection, 1964-2001 and undated Barry Lopez Request for Book Jacket Blurbs, 2003-2004 and undated Walter McDonald Papers, 1945-2003 and undated Bill McKibben Papers, 1971-2001 and undated Doug Peacock Papers, 1950-2000 and undated David Quammen Papers, 1956-1999 and undated Pattiann Rogers Papers, 1960-1999 and undated Pattiann Rogers Papers, 1977-2000 Annick Smith Papers, 1940-2000 and undated Sandra Scofield Papers, 1958-2005 and undated Collection Inventory Correspondence 1 1 Edward Abbey to Ralph Newcomb, Jan. 22, 1968 1 2 Edward Abbey to Ralph Newcomb, Jan. 21, 1969 1 3 Edward Abbey to Ralph Newcomb, April 25, 1969 1 4 Edward Abbey to Ralph Newcomb, Jan. 15, 1983 1 5 Edward Abbey to Ralph Newcomb, July 22, 1983 1 6 Bob Grant to Ralph Newcomb, Jan. 14, 1968 1 7 Bob Grant to Ralph Newcomb, Jan. 11, 1969 1 8 Bob Grant to Ralph Newcomb, May 14, 1969 1 9 Edward Abbey to Dave Petersen, 1983-1988 1 10 Edward Abbey to Dave Petersen, postcards, 1983-1989 1 11 Edward Abbey to Dave Petersen, Feb. 21, 1987 1 12 Edward Abbey to Dave Petersen, and introduction to The Backcountry Handbook, typescript with holographic changes, 1988 1 13 Dave Petersen to Edward Abbey, and A Walk in the Desert With Edward Abbey, typescript with holographic changes, 1987 1 14 Edward Abbey to [correspondent], 1975-1988 1 15 [Correspondent] to Edward Hoagland, 1989 1 16 Edward Abbey to Edward Hoagland, 1970 1 17 Edward Abbey to Edward Hoagland, 1971 1 18 Edward Abbey to Edward Hoagland, 1973 1 19 Edward Abbey to Edward Hoagland, 1977 1 20 Edward Abbey to Edward Hoagland, 1978 1 21 Edward Abbey to Edward Hoagland, 1979 1 22 Edward Abbey to Edward Hoagland, 1980 1 23 Edward Abbey to Edward Hoagland, 1981 1 24 Edward Abbey to Edward Hoagland, 1982 1 25 Edward Abbey to Edward Hoagland, 1983 1 26 Edward Abbey to Edward Hoagland, 1984 1 27 Edward Abbey to Edward Hoagland, 1985 1 28 Edward Abbey to Edward Hoagland, 1986 1 29 Edward Abbey to Edward Hoagland, 1987 1 30 Edward Abbey to Edward Hoagland, 1988 1 31 Edward Abbey to Edward Hoagland, 1989 1 32 Edward Abbey and Dream Garden Press edition of The Monkey Wrench Gang, 1984-1985 1 33 Doug Peacock to Edward Hoagland, 1982-1989 and undated Literary Production 1 34 Confessions of a Barbarian, corrected manuscript sheets and publisher’s final-set pages, 1986 1 35 Greetings to all at the Earth First! Festival, 1983 1 36 The Treasure of the Canyon Country, 3 p. typescript with holographic corrections, Western Wilderness calendar, [1981?]-1982 Photographs 1 37 [Photos of Abbey] 1 color of Abbey on sofa reading newspaper, 1 black and white, standing above Colorado River, near Moab, undated Miscellaneous 1 38 Newspaper articles, 1989