Descriptive Summary
Lorna Novak Papers
1963-1966
TXRC95-A5
2 boxes, 1 galley folder
(.5 linear feet)
Novak,
Lorna.
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center,
University of Texas at Austin
The papers of this Texas
author consist of drafts of her two novels.
English.
Biographical Sketch
Lorna McCormick Novak was born in Amarillo, Texas, on April 27, 1927.
Her father worked in advertising and Lorna enrolled in the University of Texas
in 1945. Lorna belonged to a number of honorary societies during her stay at
the University. She withdrew from the University in 1946 and married Gordon
Shaw Novak, proprietor of Novak Construction Company. Lorna Novak has three
children, and currently lives in Amarillo, Texas.
Novak's principal literary genre is the novel. Her two published works
include
Does It Make Into a Bed? (1963) and
How Amelia Secured the Tie that Binds with a Very
Loose Knot (1966). She also wrote an original play for children,
Amorinda and the Caterpillar, as well as play adaptations on popular
children's stories that includes Jack and the Beanstalk and Sleeping
Beauty, which are not represented in the collection.
Scope and Contents
The Lorna Novak papers consist of original and carbon copy typescripts,
printer's copies, and galley proofs of her two published works.
The collection represents Lorna Novak's two creative endeavors as a
novelist. Examples of her revision process include unpublished versions of the
novels and holographic editing of the final drafts. Each of the drafts is
identified by Novak on the title page. Early drafts are not dated. Drafts
entitled
The Swackhammer Nose and The Blight From the East are
earlier versions of
Does It Make Into a Bed? There's Nothing
Else to Marry is a first draft of Novak's second novel,
How Amelia Secured the Tie that Binds with a Very
Loose Knot. All drafts of the two novels are arranged alphabetically by
title.
Acquisition
Gifts of Lorna Novak, 1965, 1967
Access
Open for research
Processed by
Christopher Filippi, 1995
Index Terms
Subjects
Novelists,
American--Texas
Document Types
First drafts
Galley proofs
Lorna Novak Papers--Folder List
1
1-3
The Blight From the East,
n.d. carbon typescript, second
version,
Does it Make Into a Bed?,
1963
1
4-6
Printer's copy with holograph revisions
Galley proof,
Nov. 1966
(oversize housing)
How Amelia Secured the Tie that Binds with a Very Loose
Knot,
1966
1
7-8
Late draft, publisher's copy,
Jan. 1965
1
9
Final draft with holograph revisions,
April 1966
(folder 1 of 2)
2
1
Final draft (folder 2 of 2)
2
2-5
The Swackhammer Nose,
n.d. typescript, first version,
2
6-7
There's Nothing Else to Marry,
n.d. first draft with holograph revisions,