Sub-Group and Series Statements
 

Collection Outline

Sub-Group I.  Correspondence

Series 1:    Correspondence / Business
          2:    Correspondence / Professional
          3:    Correspondence / Publications
          4:    Correspondence / Personal

Sub-Group II.   Writings and Publications – Unpublished & Published

Series 5:    Unpublished Book Manuscripts
          6:    Published Journal Articles
          7:    Manuscript Poetry
          8:    Literary Critiques

Sub-Group III.   Research Notes

Series  9:   Notes on Authors and Writers
         10:   Subject and Topical Files

Sub-Group IV.   Personal Files and Memorabilia

Series 11:  Brooklyn College Files and Memorabilia
 
 
 

Sub-Group & Series Statements
 

Sub-Group I.  Correspondence        [8 bxs, 4.0 cu ft]

Series 1:     Business, 1958 –1976    1 bx.   0.5 cubic ft.
Alphabetically arranged by last name.

This series includes letters from literary agents informing Charles Glicksberg on the status of his books.  There are letters from his attorneys addressing lawsuits that he was involved in.  In addition, there is a copyright form from the Library of Congress for one of his books.  The miscellaneous correspondences are chronologically arranged.  One letter is from a hospital discussing Charles Glicksberg’s treatment for Parkinson’s.

Series 2:     Professional, 1931 –1979    3 bxs.  1.5 cubic ft.
Alphabetically arranged by last name and organization.

These folders have letters from Glicksberg’s former students at the New School and Brooklyn College requesting recommendations and letters of gratitude. There are also letters from colleagues giving their opinions on his work, as well as colleagues asking him to read their manuscripts.  Included in this series are letters of congratulations, invitations to lecture, and requests for permission to reprint Professor Glicksberg's articles.  There are letters here to colleagues.  Series 2 also contains correspondences with various Jewish organizations that Glicksberg was associated with, such as the B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundation.

Series 3:     Publications, 1933 - 1972   3 bxs. 1.5 cubic ft.
Alphabetically arranged by organization.

This series contains correspondences from various publishing houses stating they had  received Glicksberg’s manuscripts or informing him that they would or would not be publishing his work.  There is also a breakdown of his book sales, and what he received in royalties.  This collection also includes correspondences to and from Glicksberg to various American and International University Presses.

Series 4:     Personal, 1923-1974   1 bx.  0.5 cubic ft.
Alphabetically arranged by last name.

This series contains letters received by Charles Glicksberg from friends and family. There are also carbon copies of letters sent by him to friends.  Included in this series also are correspondences from Glicksberg to his wife Dorothy, from his son and daughter to him, and postcards/letters from friends congratulating him on the successful publication of his various books, sometimes giving Glicksberg their opinions of the books.

Sub-Group II.  Writings / Publications –  Unpublished & Published      [12 bxs., 6.0 cu. ft]

Series 5: Unpublished Book Manuscripts   5 bxs.  2.5 cu ft.
Arranged alphabetically by title.

This series contains five boxes of unpublished typescripts.   The dates of these typescripts are unclear.  The novels on view here: The Art of a Novel; The Creative Life; Dilemmas of Modern Literary Criticism; The Sexual Revolution in Modern Literature; Poets and Poetic Imagination; Literature ant the Modern man; The New Direction For Teaching English; The literary Struggle For Selfhood; Technology and Literature; Jung’s Philosophy. In these, as in other writings, Glicksberg touched on a wide range of topics.

The Art of the Novel, The Creative Life and The New Direction for Teaching English are all forms of textbooks.  With chapters like “Quest For Originality and Problems Confronting the Novelist”, it is obvious  Glicksberg wanted this book to be used by students in a college writing course.  Some chapters deal with the perils and frustrations of writers block, and how surrealism can help writers.  The Creative Life also seems to be a book written for college students to use in a writing course.

The intended audience for Glicksberg’s The New Direction for Teaching English was probably high school English teachers.  Dilemmas of Modern Literary Criticism, Poets and Poetic Imagination and Literature and the Modern Man likely were collections of articles and essays Glicksberg put together for a book.  His Sexual Revolution in Modern Literature covers a wide range of topics, such as the ethic of permissiveness and religion’s attempt to restrain sexual activities.  Technology and Literature provides information on how technologies affect humans. Jung’s Philosophy reveals what Glicksberg made of Jung's use of symbolism. The Literary Struggle for Selfhood seems two be part two of a larger work that is not in this collection.

There is a folder that contains a series of articles Glicksberg was trying to turn into a book.  There are several duplicate drafts of The Art of a Novel, The Create Life and Poets and Poetic Imagination.  Also, on view here is a folder with a selected Bibliography of his writings, one folder with a table of contents for a book titled The Literature of Commitment, and a folder with different chapters from different books.

Series 6:  Published Journal Articles, 1940’s – 1960’s,  5 bxs. 2.5 cubic ft.
Arranged alphabetically by title.

This series contains complete and incomplete articles written by Glicksberg during the  1940’s, 1950’s and 1960’s in different publications. Some of his articles need to be handled with extra care because they are fragile (see the container list for specific fragile articles).  A number of the articles have numerous copies and are arranged in alphabetical order by title.  The  subjects found in these articles are:  semantics, literature, nihilism, surrealism, Communism, college youth, poetry, English, science, education, religion, existentialism, and articles on individuals such as Henry Adams, Marx and Engels, Aldous Huxley, Wiliam Cullen Bryant, and Walt Whitman.

Series 7:  Manuscript Poetry, 1924-1962.  1 bx.  0.5 cu. ft.
Arranged chronologically.

This series consists of poetry written by Glicksberg.  The bulk of the material is dated from 1924-1932, the same time period in which Glicksberg attended graduate school. Much of the material is undated and untitled.  Notable poems included A Poem Whitman Might Have Written, and a collection of poems Glicksberg composed for his wife Dorothy.  Also present in this series are meditations, or poetic reflections spanning broad topics of life, religion, and love.  These journal-like entries range from 1930-1962 but do not form a continuous record.  The entries tend to be sparse and sporadic.

There are a few items in typescript, but the bulk of the material here is in manuscript and very difficult to read.  Items composed late in Glicksberg’s life become nearly illegible, due to the onslaught of Parkinson’s disease.  Glicksberg recycled paper, and much of his material is written on the back of student papers, letters, or on scraps of paper.  These materials are extremely fragile, and cannot withstand frequent use.

Series 8:  Literary Critiques, Undated materials. 1 bx.  0.5 cubic ft.
Arranged alphabetically by topic.

This series contains literary critiques of other’s works written by Glicksberg, arranged alphabetically by subject.  Subjects include death, suicide, morality, philosophy, poetry, psychology, religion, and sex.  In addition to critiques written by Glicksberg, one file contains published reviews of Glicksberg’s works.

The majority of the items in this series are undated.  Most of the reviews are typed, often on the backs of miscellaneous sheets of paper.  These materials are fragile, and must be handled with extreme care.

Sub-Group III.  Research Notes      [8 bxs., 4.0 cubic ft]

Series 9:  Notes on Authors and Writers, 1930 - 1998.  5 bxs.   2.5 cubic feet.
Arranged alphabetically.

This series contains notes on various literary figures.  Some items here are Glicksberg’s opinions and critiques on an author’s life and work.  There is a folder of notes on Walt Whitman’s views of the Civil War, a folder containing analysis of Mark Twain’s writings, and a folder with interpretations of Bernard Shaw’s novels.  Part of the material is Glickberg’s thoughts, critiques and reviews on what others wrote of the authors in question.  An example of this is Helen Kazantzakis writings about her father, Nikos Kazantzakis.  In addition, there are newspaper and magazine clippings about writers, such as a New York Times’ Review on Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. The amount of material on each author varies.  Some of this might have been research for articles Glicksberg planned to write; often the author and title will appear on the top of the page and page numbers will be interspersed throughout, indicating which statements Glicksberg was planning to cite.

Much of the material here is fragile and crumbling around the edges so that these items should be handled with extreme care.  Quite a bit of the material here was written on or attached to pieces of scrap paper such as student’s exams, letters and random magazine pages.  Most of the notes Glicksberg wrote by hand are quite illegible.

Series 10:  Subject and Topical Files, 1930 – 1998.  3 bxs.  1.5 cubic feet.
Arranged alphabetically.

This series contains essays, thoughts and opinions, newspaper and magazine clippings, and research notes on a wide variety of topics covering many disciplines --science, psychology, technology, religion, semantics, politics, art, metaphysics, literature, and philosophy.  Regarding politics, there is a file here on communism and a file on war.  With regard to metaphysics, there is a file on God, another on the Devil, Satan and Evil.  As to psychology, there is a file on madness and a file on psychoanalysis.

Glicksberg’s interests varied dramatically and he published items on a large variety of topics.  Much of the material here seems to be research for publications already in existence, or preparation for articles Glicksberg still planned to write.  Part of the material is in essay form, and some of it in the form of notes, taken from books, with the author and title on top of the page.

There are three miscellaneous folders in this series that contain a conglomeration of everything described above. They contain single page essays or notes on various topics and people; there is an opinion piece on Germany and Nazism; there is an excerpt from a book by Henry Wood; and, a brief review of Simone de Beauvoir’s writings. The format of part of these miscellaneous items is:  author and title as the heading,and then page numbers in parenthesis within the document, indicating which statements Glicksberg planned to quote. The other miscellaneous documents are in short essay form and cover a variety of topics that do not fit into a specific category.  These items, too, appear to have been used as research material for various publications.

A large portion of the material here is very fragile and is disintegrating; therefore, the papers should be handled gently.  The writing on back of some of the papers is sometimes not related to the material.  Glicksberg often used random pieces of paper to write on or attach his material to.  Most of the handwritten notes are quite illegible.
 

Sub-Group IV. Personal Files and Memorabilia        [3 bxs., 1.5 cu ft]

Series 11: Brooklyn College Files and Memorabilia, 3 bxs.  1.5 cu. ft.

This series contains miscellaneous items such as correspondence, lists bearing Glicksberg’s students’ grades, notes, examinations, memorandums, and minutes of meetings with regard to his position as professor at Brooklyn College.

In this series, the viewer can see see Charles Glicksberg’s numerous interests and concerns regarding Brooklyn College and education in general.  There are folders that contain correspondence with faculty members of the New School for Social Research, the Graduate School and University Center, the City University of New York, as well as Brooklyn College.  Other folders contain correspondence with members of other institutions, such as the Board of Education of the City of New York, the Congress of the United States, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the Teachers’ Retirement System.

Also on view is a box containing personal items and memorabilia.  For example, there are items such as a passport, awards and certificates, checks and bills, health information, life insurance policy, and letters to both family and friends.

Finally, there is a box containing several books.  Several of them were written by Charles Glicksberg, others were edited by him.  There is one that was written by his friend and colleague, Don Marion Wolfe, and another one written by Walt Whitman.