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Special Collections and Archives

Bruccoli O'Hara collection

Finding Aid for the Matthew J. Bruccoli John O'Hara collection

Author: Brian K. DeLuca, November, 2002.

Revisions: August 2011 Revised by Amanda Faehnel.

Descriptive Rules: DACS

Origination: Matthew J. Bruccoli.

Inclusive Dates: 1927-1976

Bulk Dates: 1962-1975

Extent: 1 cubic foot.

Physical Location: 11th Floor.

Abstract: This collection contains the research materials of Matthew J. Bruccoli's writings on John O'Hara.

Biography of Matthew J. Bruccoli: Matthew J. Bruccoli was born on August 21, 1931 and died on June 4, 2008. He earned his Master degree and Ph.D. from the University of Virginia and began the start of his work on a bibliography of John O'Hara's writings while on the faculty at The Ohio State University, publishing a biography of O'Hara in 1975.

Bruccoli was a specialist in modern American literature and a renowned expert on F. Scott Fitzgerald. In 1962, Bruccoli joined with C. E. Frazer Clark Jr. to start Bruccoli Clark Layman, publishing special limited editions of literary works. The company incorporated in 1976 and began producing the Dictionary of Literary Biography. Bruccoli served as a Professor of English and the Director for the Center for Editions of American Authors at the University of South Carolina from 1969-1976. In 1976, he became the Jefferies Professor of English at the University of South Carolina. Matthew J. Bruccoli is the author and editor of dozens of articles, bibliographies, biographies, and texts on major American writers including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Raymond Chandler, James Gould Cozzens, and John O'Hara.

Biography of John O'Hara: John O'Hara was born in 1905 in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. He began his professional writing career as a reporter for one of Pottsville's two newspapers. His first novel, Appointment at Samarra, was published in 1935. This was followed in 1935 by another novel, Butterfield 8. Rage to Live was published in 1949 and met with tremendous commercial success but was critically panned. O'Hara wrote several other novels over the course of his life but his short stories won him critical acclaim and praise. Possibly influenced by Sinclair Lewis and others, O'Hara was a social novelist whose works focused on the so-called "American Establishment." O'Hara died in 1970.

Scope and Content: The Matthew J. Bruccoli John O'Hara Collection consists of correspondence, manuscripts, and research materials pertaining to Bruccoli's bibliographical and biographical publications on John O'Hara.

Statement of Arrangement: The collection has been divided into the following series:

Series 1: Correspondence, 1935-1976

Subseries 1: Correspondence to Matthew J. Bruccoli, 1962-1976

Subseries 2: Correspondence from Matthew J. Broccoli, 1970-1975

Subseries 3: Other Correspondence, 1935-1975

Series 2: Manuscripts and Proofs, 1967-1975

Series 3: Research Materials, 1927-1970

Preferred Citation: Matthew J. Bruccoli John O'Hara collection. Kent State University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives.

Separated Material: Please note that published materials written by John O'Hara from the extensive personal library of Matthew J. Bruccoli have been catalogued in KentLINK.

Box 1

Folder-- Contents

Series 1: Correspondence, 1935-1976

Subseries 1: Correspondence to Matthew J. Bruccoli, 1962-1976

  1. John O'Hara, October 21, 1962
  2. Donald S. Klopfer, January 22, 1963
  3. John O'Hara, June 26, 1963
  4. John O'Hara, October 21, 1963
  5. Albert Erskine, June 5, 1964
  6. Albert Erskine, July 3, 1964
  7. Albert Erskine, December 9, 1965
  8. John O'Hara, February 12, 1966
  9. Anthony Rota, July 12, 1966
  10. Richard M. Huber, February 13, 1967
  11. Mac E. Barrick, September 7, 1967
  12. Bernard Quaritch, Ltd., November 14, 1967
  13. Bernard Quaritch, Ltd., November 23, 1967
  14. Warren R. Howell, November 29, 1967
  15. George Frazier, December 5,1967
  16. Marilyn Hails, March 14, 1968
  17. Albert Erskine, January 22, 1970
  18. Random House Publishers, May 13, 1970
  19. George Frazier, May 14, 1970
  20. Charles W. Mann, June 4, 1970
  21. W. Carl Jackson, July 27, 1970
  22. Charles W. Mann, July 27, 1970
  23. George Frazier, August 28, 1970
  24. Charles W. Mann, September 4, 1970
  25. G. Hilmer Lundbeck, February 2, 1973
  26. Esther Margolis, March 25, 1975
  27. Linda Williams, April 3, 1975
  28. Anthony Rota, June 20, 1975
  29. Philip B. Eppard, July 2, 1975
  30. Anthony Rota, July 11, 1975
  31. Hampton Books, July 16,1975
  32. Philip B. Eppard, July 23,1975
  33. Frank Darchinger, July 24,1975
  34. Frank Darchinger, August 27, 1975
  35. Frank Darchinger, August 29, 1975
  36. Donald S. Klopfer, September 9, 1975
  37. "J.T.," September 29, 1975
  38. Ruth Sato, October 24, 1975
  39. Albert Erskine, December 29, 1975
  40. B. Barbara Friedberg, February 15, 1976
  41. George Frazier, undated
  42. K.B. O'Hara, undated

Subseries 2: Correspondence from Matthew J. Bruccoli, 1970-1975

  1. Charles W. Mann, May 14, 1970
  2. Charles W. Mann, June 8, 1970
  3. Lynn Strong, March 18, 1975
  4. Norman Kane, undated
  5. H.W. Schwartz, undated

Subseries 3: Other Correspondence, 1935-1975

  1. John O'Hara to Ruth Sato, January 13, 1935
  2. John O'Hara to Ruth Sato, January 23, 1935
  3. John O'Hara to Ruth Sato, February 10, 1935
  4. John O'Hara to Clifford Odets, July 4, 1953
  5. Frederick A. Hetzel to Herrwood Hobbs, April 14, 1965
  6. Albert Erskine to L.L. Winship, November 23, 1965
  7. Albert Erskine to Sidney Jacobs, December 2, 1965
  8. Vernon Sternberg to Peter P. Gates, November 13, 1974
  9. Richard Liebermann to Mrs. Louis Henry Cohn, November 15, 1967
  10. Vernon Sternberg to United States Trust Company of New York, March 19, 1975

Series 2: Manuscripts and proofs, 1967-1975

  1. "Appointment in Samarra," manuscript, Matthew J. Bruccoli, undated
  2. "Appointment in Samarra," typescript, Matthew J. Bruccoli, undated
  3. "Focus on Appointment in Samarra," photocopied page proof, Matthew J. Bruccoli, 1967
  4. John O'Hara: A Descriptive Bibliography, manuscript, Matthew J. Bruccoli, undated
  5. John O'Hara: A Descriptive Bibliography, manuscript, Matthew J. Bruccoli, undated
  6. John O'Hara: A Descriptive Bibliography, page proofs, Matthew J. Bruccoli, undated
  7. John O'Hara: A Descriptive Bibliography, photocopies, Matthew J. Bruccoli, undated
  8. John O'Hara: A Descriptive Bibliography, photocopies, Matthew J. Bruccoli, undated
  9. John O'Hara: A Descriptive Bibliography, typescript, Matthew J. Bruccoli, undated
  10. The O'Hara Concern: A Biography of John O'Hara, book jackets, Matthew J. Bruccoli1975
  11. The O'Hara Concern: A Biography of John O'Hara, mock-ups, Matthew J. Bruccoli, undated
  12. The O'Hara Concern: A Biography of John O'Hara, notes, Matthew J. Bruccoli, undated
  13. The O'Hara Concern: A Biography of John O'Hara, photographs, Matthew J. Bruccoli, undated
  14. The O'Hara Concern: A Biography of John O'Hara, review, Hoke Norris, undated
  15. Untitled essay , Matthew J. Bruccoli, undated

Series 3: Research materials, 1927-1970

  1. Caricature of John O'Hara, undated
  2. Contract, John O'Hara and Robert D. Andrews for Flight from Glory, 1937
  3. Notes on Robert D. Andrews, undated
  4. Payroll records of John O'Hara, Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, 1927
  5. Script, "The General's Return from One Place to Another," [play written by a different John O'Hara], undated