Paul Kresh: A Preliminary Inventory of His Collection in the Manuscript Collection at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center

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Series I. Works by Paul Kresh, 1940-1991, nd

Series II. Other Material, 1974-1980, nd

Paul Kresh:

A Preliminary Inventory of His Collection in the Manuscript Collection at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center



	Creator:	Kresh, Paul, 1919-1997
	Title:	Paul Kresh Collection
	Dates:	1940-1991 (bulk 1974-1981)
	Abstract:	Paul Kresh, an author whose career included working as a publicist, record producer, and critic, wrote the first full-length biography of Yiddish writer Isaac Bashevis Singer. The Paul Kresh Collection is divided into two series, I. Works by Kresh and II. Other Material, and includes items dating from 1940 to 1991. The bulk of the papers relates to Kresh’s biography of Singer, Isaac Bashevis Singer: The Magician of West 86th Street, and dates from 1975 to 1979.
	Extent:	16 boxes (6.72 linear feet)
	Language:	English and Yiddish
	Repository:	The University of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center

Scope and Contents

Paul Kresh, an author whose career included working as a publicist, record producer, and critic, wrote the first full-length biography of Yiddish writer Isaac Bashevis Singer. The Paul Kresh Collection is divided into two series, I. Works by Kresh and II. Other Material, and includes items dating from 1940 to 1991. The bulk of the papers relates to Kresh’s biography of Singer, Isaac Bashevis Singer: The Magician of West 86th Street, and dates from 1975 to 1979.

Among the papers are multiple drafts and fragments as well as research material, including copies of Singer’s manuscripts and correspondence, photographs of Singer, transcripts of numerous interviews Kresh conducted with friends, family, associates of Singer, and Singer himself, and copies of works about Singer. Kresh accompanied Singer on his trip to Stockholm to receive the Nobel Prize, and material relating to that trip is included. Galley proofs and Kresh’s correspondence regarding the book are also present.

Kresh also used material from The Magician of West 86th Street to write a juvenile biography of Singer, Isaac Bashevis Singer: The Story of a Storyteller, and that work is represented by drafts, proofs, and correspondence. Kresh’s other manuscripts included in the collection are typescripts of "Through Darkest Stockholm with Dauntless Isaac,""E. B. White’s Affable, Adaptable Animals Come to Life in Unabridged Recordings," and several drafts of his biography of George Gershwin, American Rhapsody: The Story of George Gershwin.

Kresh was also a music critic and writer who was involved in recording poetry and other readings. Series II. contains his correspondence about music articles, poetry recordings, and the 1978 Records of the Year Awards, as well as record catalogs, various flyers and brochures, and Kresh’s notes on recordings of radio broadcasts. A notebook contains Kresh’s notes on various stage productions, and a file on Sweeney Todd includes a transcript of an interview with Angela Lansbury. These items all date from 1974 to 1980.

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Open for research

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Series I. Works by Paul Kresh, 1940-1991, nd
Box	Folder
1		American Rhapsody: The Story of George Gershwin (early title "Man of Two Worlds")
	1		‘Gershwin book (original),’ typescript
	2-3		Typescript, with additional fragments
	4		Typescript, pp. 1-76
	5-6		Typescript, with photocopy photographs
	7		Typescript
	8		Correspondence
Box	Folder
2	1	"E. B. White’s Affable, Adaptable Animals Come to Life in Unabridged Recordings," typescript
		Isaac Bashevis Singer: The Magician of West 86th Street
			Typescript drafts
	2-3			'Original copy,' including pp. 111-221
	4-6			'Original of first draft,' fragments, beginning with p. 242
Box	Folder
3	1			Fragment, pp. 1-223, titled "Isaac Means Laughter: A Portrait of Isaac Bashevis Singer"
	2-4			Incomplete, with additional fragments, including title page "Isaac Means Laughter: A Portrait of Isaac Bashevis Singer"
	5-6			Typescript
Box	Folder
4	1-3			Typescript, continued
	4-5			Fragment, pp. 1-141. With additional draft pages (pp. 163-166, 212-241, 348-363), correspondence with Knopf, and photocopies of Yiddish correspondence
Box	Folder
5	1-2			Fragments, pp. 189-763
	3			Fragments, pp. 777-779 and 764-790
	4-5			Fragment, pp. 247-452
	6			Fragment, pp. 12-167
	7-9			Fragment, pp. 171-493, with p. 501 insert and p. 771
Box	Folder
6	1-2			Fragments, pp. 462-653, 501, 462-467
	3			Fragments, including pp. 652-779 and 751-787
	4-5			Fragment, pp. 750-787
	6			pp. 1-106, transcript of Maurice Carr interview, pp. 777-834, letter to Adrienne Rich
	7-8			With letter to Dial Press
Box	Folder
7	1-2			With letter to Dial Press, continued
	3			Miscellaneous fragments
	4			Miscellaneous fragments and notes, with transcript of 15 Nov. 1978 lecture
	5			Fragments
	6			‘Revise and incorporate,’ fragments
	7			‘Corrections still to be made Singer book Feb. 13, 1979,’ typescript pages, proofs of acknowledgements, photocopy tearsheet of "The Mistresses of Singer" by Tova Reich
	8			‘Outline and summaries,’ notes and fragments, correspondence, and photocopy tearsheet of Singer’s review of Sovietish Heimland
Box	Folder
8	1-5		Typesetting copy
Box	Folder
9	1		Galley proofs fragment (to page 165)
	2-3		Galley proofs
	4-5		Galley proofs, with Kresh's corrections
	6		Handwritten notes by unidentified person re. Magician draft
			Research material, including copies of items by Singer
				Correspondence
	7-8				Photocopies of Yiddish correspondence, [ca. 1940s-1959]
	9				Photocopy letters to Singer, some in Yiddish
Box	Folder
10				Interviews by Kresh
	1-2				‘Transcripts of interviews 1975,’ interview and lecture transcripts
	3-5				‘Transcripts of interviews 1976-77'
	6				‘Singer interviews,’ transcripts, 1975-1976
Box	Folder
11	1				‘Singer interviews,’ transcripts, 1975-1976, continued
	2-3				Interview transcripts, 1976-1978, with transcripts of reviews, 1957, 1967, 1969, 1975
				Nobel Prize trip and research
	4-5				Scandinavian travel brochures
	6				‘Singer book: Stockholm 12/5-10/78,’ Stockholm and Nobel Prize material
	7				Receipts, flyers, pass to Nobel Prize events
	8				Kresh’s Nobel Prize trip journal, typescripts
	9-10				Nobel Prize clippings, including Kresh’s "The Pixie Who Enchanted Stockholm" and other clippings about Singer
	11				‘Nobel Prize material,’ clippings
	12				Nobel Prize speeches and press conference transcriptions
Box	Folder
12	1				Nobel Prize press information packet and typescript address by Lars Gyllensten
	2				Gyllensten, Lars. The Nobel Prize in Literature, 1978 publication
	3				"Translation of the Speeches at the Nobel Festival, 1978," printed copy
				Notes
	4				Notes, interview transcripts, draft fragments
	5				Notes about Dvorah Telushkin and other subjects, on versos of typescript brochure for Hebrew University of Jerusalem and American Friends of the Hebrew University
				Photographs
	6				Early photograph of Singer, with negative
	7				Photographs
				Printed material
	8				'Articles' by and about Singer
	9				‘Articles,’ interviews, reviews, and other articles. With Singer’s review of Bruno Schulz’s Sanatorium under the Sign of the Hourglass
	10				Articles, interviews, reviews, Magician notes and draft pages, photocopies of Singer works, including "What’s in it for Me?" and "The Future of Yiddish and Yiddish Literature," and a transcript of "Literature and Folklore" lecture questions and answers
	11				‘Book reviews,’ clippings of reviews of Singer’s books, with photocopy clipping of review by Singer of Afanasyev’s Russian Fairy Tales
	12				‘Buchen book,’ Irving Buchen’s "Isaac Bashevis Singer and the Eternal Past," photocopy
	13				‘Children’s books,’ lists, Cricket, "The Fable as Literary Form," script for "A Very Young Old Man" filmstrip about Singer, and photocopy tearsheets of "Filming Zlateh the Goat" by Gene Deitch
Box	Folder
13	1				‘Encyclopedia articles,’ with clippings, photocopies of Singer’s Yiddish correspondence, press releases, and other research material
	2				Miller-Brody/Newbery Media catalog, 1979 [with listing for Why Noah Chose the Dove]
	3-6				Printed material about Singer (primarily whole issues of periodicals but including Paul Rosenblatt and Gene Koppel’s "A Certain Bridge: Isaac Bashevis Singer on Literature and Life")
	7-8				Theater and film reviews, photographs, program
Box	Folder
14				Singer works
	1				In My Father's Court, typescript notes on
	2				A Little Boy in Search of God, bound galley proofs
	3				"The Magician" [screenplay by Irving S. White, Joseph Gross, and Menahem Golan, based upon The Magician of Lublin], bound typescript
	4				"Once on Second Avenue There Lived a Yiddish Theater," photocopy clipping
	5				The Penitent, photocopy corrected typescript
	6-7				Yarme and Kayle, typescript outline
	8-10				A Young Man in Search of Love, photocopy of typescript translation by Joseph Singer with corrections by Singer, two copies, one with additional markings [by Kresh]
				Kresh correspondence
	11				1975-1976, including transcripts of letters by Singer
	12-16				1975-1981, with suggested script for "A Day in Coney Island with Isaac Bashevis Singer"
Box	Folder
15	1-2				Dial Press agreement and correspondence
	3				Ginsberg, Mirra, interview transcripts and correspondence with/about after publication
	4				'Singer 1991,' obituaries; articles, including ones by Kresh; and correspondence about Kresh's book and other subjects
				Isaac Bashevis Singer: The Story of a Storyteller
	5				'Original manuscript,' corrected typescript, with early photograph of Singer, correspondence, dust jacket, royalty statements
	6				Typescript
	7				Replaced on 2/84,' corrected typescript, with correspondence with publishers and photocopies of "My Family the Singers" by Brett Singer and reviews of books about sibling authors
	8				‘Feb. 84 version,’ corrected typescript
Box	Folder
16	1-2				Final typescript, typesetting copy
	3				Corrected proofs
	4				Correspondence, clipping, proposal, quotes
	5				"Through Darkfest Stockholm with Dauntless Isaac," typescript

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Series II. Other Material, 1974-1980, nd
Box	Folder
16	6	Correspondence re. music article, poetry recordings, and other subjects, 1975-1980, nd
	7	Flyers and brochures (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Strand Book Store, Vocal Record Collector’s Society, New York Shakespeare Festival)
	8	Kresh’s typescript biographical statement, [1974]
	9	Murray Hill Records catalogs, 1976-1977
	10	Notebook re. various stage productions, nd
	11	Notes on recordings of radio broadcasts, nd
	12	Stereo Review correspondence re. 1978 Records of the Year Awards and lists of recordings
	13	Sweeney Todd / Angela Lansbury material, 1979

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Paul Kresh:

A Preliminary Inventory of His Collection in the Manuscript Collection at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center

Scope and Contents

Restrictions

Access:

Administrative Information

Acquisition:

Processed by:

Folder List

Series I. Works by Paul Kresh, 1940-1991, nd

Series II. Other Material, 1974-1980, nd