Permanent URL: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/rr171x240
Esar Levine Collection of Frank Harris, 1908-1976 (bulk 1920-1930): Finding Aid
C0873
Manuscript Division
One Washington Road
Princeton, New Jersey 08544 USA
Phone: (609) 258-3184
Fax: (609) 258-2324
rbsc@princeton.edu
http://www.princeton.edu/~rbsc
Published in 2000
©2006 Princeton University Library
Summary Information
- Collector:
- Levine, Esar, 1899-
- Title and dates:
- Esar Levine Collection of Frank Harris, 1908-1976 (bulk 1920-1930)
- Abstract:
- The Esar Levine Collection of Frank Harris consists of the writings, correspondence, and printed matter of, and relating to, Frank Harris (1855-1931) as collected by Esar Levine (1899-?), Harris's disciple, agent and friend. Harris, an Irish-born, naturalized American citizen, was a prolific writer and journalist/editor who is perhaps best known for his scandalous autobiography, My Life and Loves, which was censored in America and parts of Europe.
- Size:
- 4.8 linear feet (8 archival boxes)
- Call number:
- C0873
- Location:
- Princeton University Library. Department of Rare Books and Special Collections.
Manuscripts Division.
Princeton, New Jersey 08544 USA - Language(s) of material:
- English.
- Storage note:
- This collection is stored onsite at Firestone Library.
Biography of Esar Levine
In 1926, Esar Levine 1 was convicted and imprisoned for trafficking in obscene books as a result of his attempts to assist Frank Harris in the American publication of Harris's autobiography, My Life and Loves, in New York. As an expression of his gratitude to Levine, Harris dedicated the third volume of My Life and Loves as follows: “To Esar Levine, who has suffered imprisonment for his affection to me and devotion to my welfare, I dedicate this third volume of My Life. It is the best I have to give to the best and bravest of friends, and whatever value it has is due in great part to his help and counsel. Frank Harris. Nice, 1926.”
According to a footnote in the definitive 1963 edition of My Life and Loves edited by John F. Gallagher, Esar Levine was a “writer and anthologist resident in New York” (p. 842). Levine was born in 1899 and worked at the Frank Harris Publishing Company 2, and, later, at the Panurge Press in New York, where two of Frank Harris's books were published in 1930 — Confessional (a book of essays) and Pantopia (a novel) — the manuscripts of which are included in the collection.
The Levine collection also contains over 100 autograph and typed letters from Frank Harris to Esar Levine which chart their personal and business/editorial relationship between 1920 and 1930. At the time of Levine's earliest letter, Harris was the editor of Pearson's magazine in New York. The final letter in the correspondence series is addressed to Levine's wife, Patsy, and reports on the death of Harris's third wife, Nellie, in 1955, and her subsequent burial in the English Cemetery in Nice, France, alongside her husband, Frank (who had died in 1931). Levine's year of death is unknown [to me]; however, the final news clipping in his scrapbook on Harris is dated 1976.
1Esar Levine's admiration of Frank Harris as a writer can be summed up in the following statement by him: “Whatever one may think of the extreme boldness of James Joyce's huge experiment, Ulysses, or Frank Harris's daring autobiography, My Life, or D.H. Lawrence's extraordinary novel, Lady Chatterley's Lover, no one who knows these men and their earlier work can question their desperate sincerity.” (From Esar Levine's Foreword to the first American edition and English translation of Edouard Charles de Beaumont's 1882 work, The Sword and Womankind (Panurge Press, 1929)).
2The Frank Harris Publishing Company was founded in New York in mid-to-late 1920s in order to promote and distribute the works of Frank Harris in America. The names of the young men who worked there are cited together by Frank Harris in his autobiography as follows:
“Fortunately for me, I have found several such disciples: Esar Levine, Ben Rebkhuhn, Raymond Thomson and [Einar] Lyngklip. These young Americans came to my lectures in New York and offered me their services. For years they have helped me in all ways of affection, suffered even fines and imprisonment for me-and no man hath greater love than this! Esar Levine has helped me a great deal with this volume, for he knows my writing better than I do. I think the world will soon recognize-for they are all still in the twenties-that the friendship of these men is to me a title of honor” (page 842 of the 1963 edition of My Life and Loves, edited by John F. Gallagher).
By contrast, in a letter from Nice dated August 22, 1927, Harris disparagingly addressed these same men “To the Trinity, Esar Levine, Ben Rebhuhn & [Raymond] Thomson” and accused them of embezzling money from him: “Remember that all this time the Trinity was dividing up my earnings knowing that I was lame and half-blind and without the money necessary to go to Paris to consult a good oculist — three young men able to work willing to live off — some people would call it by a worse name — the earnings of a half blind old man over seventy, whom they profess to admire and love!”
Another passage in the same letter reads: “Ross [Harris's attorney] has just written to me to say that the Office [Harris Publishing Co.] is abandoned and he can't find the Holy Trinity - Alas! Alas: The ‘devoted, tearful, loving’ Trinity will soon have to find work in order to live - they've starved the goose that laid the golden eggs!!” The personal and business relationship between Harris and Levine, however, appears to have been patched up by 1929, according to the letters between them that are in the collection.
Frank Harris Chronology
- 1855: Born James Thomas Harris on February 14, 1856 1, in Galway, Ireland
- 1883-1914: Freelance writer, journalist and editor of London-based periodical journals including Evening News (1883-87), Fortnightly Review (1886-94), and Saturday Review (1894-99)
- 1914: The Veils of Isis and Other Stories published in New York
- 1916: Oscar Wilde: His Life and Confessions published in New York
- 1916-1922: Edited Pearson's monthly magazine in New York
- 1922: Settles in Nice, on the French Riviera, to write
- 1922-1925: My Life and Loves, Volumes One and Two of his autobiography, are privately printed in Paris
- 1923: Contemporary Portraits, Fourth Series published in NY and London (1924)
- 1924: Undream'd of Shores published in London and New York
- 1925: My Life, Volume One (expurgated version) published in New York
- 1926: Joan La Romée (play) published in Nice and New York
- 1926: Summoned in France and threatened with prosecution on a charge of corrupting public morals with regard to the second volume of his autobiography (charges were later dropped)
- 1927: Latest Contemporary Portraits published in New York. Married his long-time lover, Nellie O'Hara, three weeks after his second wife's death.
- 1930: Confessional (book of essays) and Pantopia (novel) published by the Panurge Press in New York
- 1931: Dies on August 26, 1931, in Nice, France. Bernard Shaw: An Unauthorized Biography Based on First Hand Information, with a Postscript by Mr. Shaw is published posthumously in New York and London.
- 1955: Nellie Harris dies on March 25, 1955, in Nice, France, and is buried alongside her husband in the English Cemetery there.
1The Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN) lists 1855 as the birth year of Frank Harris, which is why the majority of the Harris catalog records in the Princeton University Library system cite 1855 as his birth year. The Concise Dictionary of National Biography and The Oxford Companion to English Literature list 1856 as Harri's birth year, which is the one being used in this collection's finding aid and online manuscript records (MASC).
Description
This collection consists of the writings, correspondence, and printed matter of and about Frank Harris as collected by Esar Levine (1899-?), Harris's American disciple, friend and agent. Harris's personal and editorial/business correspondence with Levine dates from 1920 to 1930 in the collection. There are also letters to Harris and Levine from their mutual business associates, as well as from such notable persons as Otto Kahn, H.L. Mencken, Upton Sinclair, and G.S. Viereck. The collection contains numerous autograph and typed manuscripts of, and/or corrected proofs for, Harris's My Life and Loves (Volumes I to IV), Confessional, and Pantopia, as well as essays, short stories and unpublished material by him. Printed matter consists of photographs, scrapbook pages, contemporary news clippings, magazines, publicity pamphlets, and other ephemera.
Arrangement
The collection basically reflects the order in which the unknown person(s) presumably organized the material prior to the Sotheby's sale.
- Series 1: Writings
- Series 2: Correspondence
- Subseries 2A: Frank Harris/Esar Levine, (1920-1930)
- Subseries 2B: Others to, from or about Harris and/or Levine
- Subseries 2C: Nellie Harris/Esar Levine, (1925-1955)
- Series 3: Printed Matter
Access and Use
Access
Collection is open for research use.
Restrictions on Use and Copyright Information
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. Permission to publish material from the collection must be requested from the Associate University Librarian for Rare Books and Special Collections. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.
Acquisition and Appraisal
Provenance and Acquisition
Princeton University Library purchased the collection in early 2000.
Related Materials
Publications Citing These Papers
The Frank Harris manuscripts found in draft and/or proof form in the collection came to print in the following publications: Latest Contemporary Portraits (Macauley, New York, 1927), My Life and Loves (Frank Harris Publishing Company, New York, 1925), Confessional (Panurge Press, New York, 1930), and Pantopia (Panurge Press, New York, 1930).
Processing and Other Information
Works Cited
Books about Harris:
- Harris, Frank. My Life and Loves (five volumes). Edited and with an introduction by John F. Gallagher. W.H. Allen, London, 1964.
- Pullar, Phillippa. Frank Harris. Hamish Hamilton, London, 1975.
- Pearsall, Robert B. Frank Harris. Twayne Publishers, New York, 1970.
- Root, E. Merrill. Frank Harris. Odyssey Press, New York, 1947.
- The Playwright and the Pirate, Bernard Shaw and Frank Harris: A Correspondence. Edited and with an introduction by Stanley Weintraub. The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1982.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Sylvia Yu in 2000. Finding aid written by Sylvia Yu in 2000.
Descriptive Rules Used
Finding aid content adheres to that prescribed by Describing Archives: A Content Standard.
Encoding
Machine-readable finding aid encoded in EAD 2002 by Techbooks and Cristela García-Spitz on October 06, 2006.
Finding aid written in English.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Esar Levine Collection of Frank Harris, Box and Folder Number; Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
Subject Headings
These materials have been indexed in the Princeton University Library online catalog using the following terms. Those seeking related materials should search under these terms.
- Harris, Frank, 1856-1931.
- Authors and publishers - New York (N.Y.) -- 20th century.
- Authors, American -- 20th century -- Correspondence.
- Censorship -- United States -- 20th century.
- Editors -- New York (N.Y.) -- 20th century -- Correspondence.
- Publishers and publishing -- New York (N.Y.) -- 20th century.
- Correspondence.
- Manuscripts.
- Photographs.
- Harris, Frank, 1856-1931.
Browse other finding aids related to the following terms:
Contents List
Series 1: Writings
(Boxes 1-5)
Series Description
Consists of autograph and typed manuscripts and some complete sets of galley and page proofs, many with autograph revisions and annotations, of Frank Harris's writings arranged alphabetically by title. They include: his autobiography My Life and Loves (Volumes I, II and III/IV); essays from Contemporary Portraits (Fourth and Fifth Series) and Confessional; The Veils of Isis and Other Stories; and the novel Pantopia. There are also miscellaneous essays by Harris which may or may not have been previously published, and additional draft material on a variety of topics.
Series Arrangement
Manuscripts by Harris arranged alphabetically, for the most part, by title.
Confessional:
Note: The first edition of Confessional: A Volume of Intimate Portraits, Sketches and Studies was published in 1930 by The Panurge Press in New York (3,010 copies were printed).
“Introduction,” TMss and TMss (carbon) with autograph corrections, AMs
Box 1, Folder 1 “Columbus,” TMs and TMs (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 1, Folder 2 “Joan of Arc,” TMs and TMss (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 1, Folder 3 “Napoleon,” TMs and TMss (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 1, Folder 4 “Tolstoi's Last Days,” TMs and TMs (carbon) with autograph corrections, TMs, TMs (carbon)
Box 1, Folder 5 “Great Cities of the World,” TMss (carbon) with autograph corrections, AMs
Box 1, Folder 6 “Seville,” TMs and TMs (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 1, Folder 7 “Travel in France,” TMs and TMss (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 1, Folder 8 “Granada and the Alhambra,” TMss (carbon) with autograph corrections, TMs
Box 1, Folder 9 “The Art of Short Story Writing,” TMss (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 1, Folder 10 “The Art of Biography,” TMs (carbon) with autograph corrections, TMs (carbon), AMs
Box 1, Folder 11 “Thoughts on Morals,” TMss and TMs (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 1, Folder 12 “Natural Religion,” TMs and TMs (carbon) with autograph corrections, AMs
Box 1, Folder 13 “An Execution in Paris,” TMss (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 1, Folder 14 “A Strange True Story of Love,” TMss (carbon) with autograph corrections, AMs
Box 1, Folder 15 [Life, Love and Letters]:
Note: “Life, Love and Letters” was Frank Harris's working title for his book of essays that was published as Confessional in 1930. The following group of essays was not included in the final version of the book. It is unclear how many, or if any, of these manuscripts were formally published at a later (or earlier) date.
TMs, TMss (carbon) of early drafts of the Table of Contents page with autograph notations, plus circulars for marketing and ordering Confessional
Box 1, Folder 16 “Gabriel D'Annunzio,” TMs, TMss (carbon), TMss (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 1, Folder 17 “Albert Ballin,” TMs, TMs (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 1, Folder 18 “Swinburne's Love-Story,” TMs, TMs (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 1, Folder 19 “Science and Immortality,” TMs, TMs (carbon), TMs (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 1, Folder 20 “The Story of Emma, Lady Hamilton,” TMs, TMss (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 1, Folder 21 “Balzac,” TMss (carbon) with autograph corrections, AMs
Box 1, Folder 22 “Curio Hunting,” TMss (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 1, Folder 23 “The Life of Rachel,” TMs, TMs (carbon) with autograph corrections, TMss (carbon)
Box 1, Folder 24 “Sainte-Beuve,” TMs, TMss (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 1, Folder 25 “Beatitudes” (poems), TMss (carbon)
Box 1, Folder 26 “Is Democracy Played Out?,” TMs and TMs (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 1, Folder 27 “Famous Love Letters,” TMs (carbon)
Box 1, Folder 28 Contemporary Portraits, Fourth Series:
Note: Contemporary Portraits, Fourth Series was published in 1923 by Brentano's of New York, and in 1924 by Grant Richards of London.
AMs of early draft of Contents page
Box 2, Folder 1 “Memories of Richard Wagner,” AMs (insert)
Box 2, Folder 2 “Gargoyles of Three Presidents and One German Official,” AMs, TMs
Box 2, Folder 3 “Sarah Bernhardt,” AMs, The New Pearson's forMay 1923 (published page) with autograph corrections
Box 2, Folder 4 Latest Contemporary Portraits:
Note: Latest Contemporary Portraits [Fifth Series] was published in 1927 by Macauley Company of New York.
One complete long galley proof with autograph corrections
Box 2, Folder 5 TMs and TMsS (carbon) of early drafts of the Table of Contents page with autograph notations
Box 2, Folder 6 “Introduction,” AMs, TMs with autograph corrections
Box 2, Folder 7 “David Graham Phillips,” AMs, TMss with autograph corrections
Box 2, Folder 8 “Eleonora Duse,” AMs, TMs (carbon) and TMs with autograph corrections
Box 2, Folder 9 “Henri Barbusse,” TMs with autograph corrections
Box 2, Folder 10 “Eugene V. Debs,” AMs, TMs, TMs (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 2, Folder 11 “Charles Schwab,” TMs with autograph corrections
Box 2, Folder 12 “Prince Kropotkin,” AMs, TMs, TMs (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 2, Folder 13 “Thomas Hardy,” TMs, TMs (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 2, Folder 14 “The Brothers de Goncourt and Realism,” TMs (carbon)
Box 2, Folder 15 “Ambassador Bernstorff,” AMs
Box 2, Folder 16 “A Talk With A. E. Housman,” TMs, TMs (carbon)
Box 2, Folder 17 “Annie Besant,” TMs with autograph corrections
Box 2, Folder 18 “Joseph Caillaux,” AMs
Box 2, Folder 19 Printed circulars for marketing the book
Box 2, Folder 20 “George Sylvester Viereck,” AMs, article in Viereck's The American Monthly about Harris's My Life
Box 2, Folder 21 Note: A slightly different version of this “Sixth Book of Portraits” Table of Contents page is attached to Harris's letter to Esar Levine, dated October 3, 1927 (please refer to Correspondence series, Box 6), in which Harris writes: “You also tell me that Macauley & Co. are eager to see the MS. of my 6th vol. of ‘Portraits’… the book itself has been sent to Hardy in New York who can show it to Macauley…”. There is no evidence in the collection to date that this “Sixth Book of Portraits” was ever published, however.
Box 2, Folder 22 My Life, Volume I:
Note: My Life and Loves (privately printed in 1922 in Paris) was published in the United States as My Life, Volume I, in 1925 by The Frank Harris Publishing Company of New York.
One complete long galley proof
Box 2, Folder 23 “Emerson, Whitman and Bret Harte,” TMs, TMs (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 2, Folder 24 Miscellaneous printed materials: circulars, copyright page, tissue paper plate of first six pages
Box 2, Folder 25 My Life, Volume II:
Note: The publication and distribution of My Life, Volume II, initiated the professional and personal collaboration between Harris and Esar Levine. Their correspondence during this period mainly concerns the printing of this volume in New York and the many trials and tribulations resulting from their efforts, including the seizure of printed materials and other legal actions (please refer to their correspondence filed in Box 6).
One complete long galley proof
(chapters X)
Box 2, Folder 26 (chapters IX to XIV)
Box 3, Folder 1 (chapters XV to XX)
Box 3, Folder 2 (chapters XXI to XXIV)
Box 3, Folder 3 “Skobelef,” TMs with autograph corrections
Box 3, Folder 4 Outline notes (in Harris's hand) for chapters V, VI VII
Box 3, Folder 5 “How I met Froude…,” TMs with autograph corrections
Box 3, Folder 6 “Memories of John Ruskin,” AMs
Box 3, Folder 7 “Matthew Arnold…,” TMs with autograph corrections
Box 3, Folder 8 “The Ebb and Flow of Passion!,” TMs with autograph corrections
Box 3, Folder 9 “A Passionate Experience in Paris…,” TMs with autograph corrections
Box 3, Folder 10 “The Foretaste of Death…,” AMs
Box 3, Folder 11 Miscellaneous notes, revisions, etc. by Harris
Box 3, Folder 12 Miscellaneous, including handwritten Contents pages by Esar Levine
Box 3, Folder 13 Miscellaneous printed materials
Box 3, Folder 14 My Life, Volume III:
Note: My Life, Volume III was split into two volumes (III and IV) prior to publication.
Title and dedication page to Esar Levine, TMss
Box 3, Folder 15 Early drafts of Contents page, TMss with autograph corrections
Box 3, Folder 16 “Heine,” AMs, TMss and TMss (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 3, Folder 17 “Marriage and Politics,” TMs with autograph corrections
Box 3, Folder 18 “The Evening News,” TMs
Box 3, Folder 19 “My Pleasures…,” AMs
Box 3, Folder 20 “Grace,” AMs
Box 3, Folder 21 “The Fortnightly Review,” TMs with autograph corrections
Box 3, Folder 22 “Queen Victoria and Prince Edward,” TMs with autograph corrections
Box 3, Folder 23 “Prince Edward,” AMs
Box 3, Folder 24 My Life, Volume IV:
“How I Began to Write,” TMs with autograph corrections
Box 3, Folder 25 “African Adventures and Health,” TMs with autograph corrections
Box 3, Folder 26 “Dark Beauties,” AMs, TMs with autograph corrections
Box 3, Folder 27 “Celebrities of the Nineties,” TMs with autograph corrections
Box 3, Folder 28 “Sex and Self-Restraint,” TMs with autograph corrections
Box 3, Folder 29 “The Prosecution of My Life,” TMs (carbon), TMs with autograph corrections
Box 3, Folder 30 Miscellaneous publicity materials
Box 3, Folder 31 My Life: 3 sets of galley proofs for Volumes II and III/IV
Box 4, Folder (flat box) Pantopia:
Note: Pantopia: a Novel was published in 1930 by The Panurge Press in New York.
TMs (complete)
(128 pages)
Box 5, Folder 1 One complete long galley proof
(56 pages)
Box 5, Folder 2 One complete long galley proof
(56 pages)
Box 5, Folder 3 One complete galley proof
(113 pages)
Box 5, Folder 4 Miscellaneous manuscript autograph corrections, TMs
(57 pages)
Box 5, Folder 5 Miscellaneous revisions, AMs (mostly from chapters 6 and 7), TMss (preface) with autograph corrections, TL from Frank Harris to Esar Levine, paste-up of first chapter pages with typesetter instructors
Box 5, Folder 6 Joan La Romée (play):
AMs (brief excerpt)
Box 5, Folder 7 Undream'd of Shores:
draft contents outline and handwritten notes
Box 5, Folder 8 The Veils of Isis and Other Stories:
Note: Robert B. Pearsall's 1970 biography of Frank Harris states that The Veils of Isis and Other Stories (Doran, New York, 1915) constitutes The Yellow Ticket and Other Stories (Doran, New York, 1914), reformed for the American market. The long story “In the Vale of Tears” has been dropped in favor of “Within the Shadow” and “The Kiss,” and “A Prostitute” has been renamed “A Good Woman.”
“The Veils of Isis,” TMs and TMs (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 5, Folder 9 “Within the Shadow,” TMs and TMs (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 5, Folder 10 “A Good Woman?,” TMs and TMs (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 5, Folder 11 “A Miracle and No Wonder,” TMs and TMS (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 5, Folder 12 Miscellaneous Manuscripts
These manuscripts may or may not have been previously published.
“On Books,” including Werner Fabian's Flaming Youth, AMs
Box 5, Folder 13 “Great Short Stories,” AMs
Box 5, Folder 14 “The Genius as Talker,” AMs
Box 5, Folder 15 “The Writing of Short Stories” (published), TMs with autograph corrections, newspaper clipping
Box 5, Folder 16 “A New Way to Pay the French Debt!,” TMs (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 5, Folder 17 “W. B. Trites: A New Novelist,” TMs (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 5, Folder 18 “Isidore De Lara and His Music,” TMs with autograph corrections
Box 5, Folder 19 Miscellaneous Portraits, TMss with autograph corrections
Box 5, Folder 20 “Vagrant Thoughts About Love,” AMs, TMs with autograph corrections
Box 5, Folder 21 “The Proof of the Pudding in Russia and Great Britain,” TMs (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 5, Folder 22 “Wine and Women,” TMs, TMs (carbon)
Box 5, Folder 23 “Romance of Passion: The Eternal Duel,” TMs with autograph corrections
Box 5, Folder 24 “The Hawk” (poem), TMs (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 5, Folder 25 “My Rogue's Gallery: Mr. Grant Richards,” printed page with annotation by Harris
Box 5, Folder 26 Miscellaneous topics
AMss
Box 5, Folder 27 TMss, TMs (carbon)
Box 5, Folder 28 Frank Harris Gift Book (unpublished): “The Last Kindness: a War-Story,” “Myself,” “A Gambler's Luck,” “Spindrift” (a collection of fables), circulars to market book, drafts of Contents page
Box 5, Folder 29 Miscellaneous:
Lectures, AMs and handbills
Box 5, Folder 30 “Shakespeare's Imperial Intelligence,” TMs (carbon) with autograph corrections
Box 5, Folder 31 “Life of Jesus,” TMs (by Esar Levine?)
Box 5, Folder 32 Oscar Wilde material
Including a TMs (carbon) of Frank Harris's “Introduction to De Profundis” with autograph corrections and a TMs of Harris's “Second Preface to The Life and Confessions of Oscar Wilde
Box 5, Folder 33 Series 2: Correspondence (1920-1955)
(Box 6)
Series Description
Consists of over one hundred autograph and typed letters (chronologically arranged in 8 folders by date), mostly signed by Harris, to his friend and agent, Esar Levine, dating from 1920 to 1930, and discussing various publication and marketing strategies for My Life and Loves in both Mexico and America, as well as personal and financial matters. There are also letters to Harris and Levine from their mutual business associates, and from such notable persons as Otto Kahn, H.L. Mencken, Upton Sinclair, and G.S. Viereck, arranged by correspondent. Also present is a typed copy of a letter from G. Bernard Shaw to Harris's widow, Nellie O'Hara Harris, as well as one folder of her sporadic correspondence with Levine, ending with the news of her death in 1955.
Series Arrangement
Arranged by correspondent by date.
Subseries 2A: Frank Harris/Esar Levine, (1920-1930)
1920-1923
Box 6, Folder 1 1924
Box 6, Folder 2 January-June 1925
Box 6, Folder 3 July-December 1925
Box 6, Folder 4 January-May 1926
Box 6, Folder 5 June-December 1926
Box 6, Folder 6 1927
Box 6, Folder 7 1929-1930
Box 6, Folder 8 Subseries 2B: Others to, from or about Harris and/or Levine
Subseries Arrangement
Filed alphabetically by name.
Box 6, Folder 8 Kahn, Otto
1 TLS to Levine
Box 6, Folder 9 Mencken, H. L.
1 TLS to Harris; 1 TLS to Levine
Box 6, Folder 10 Miller, Locke and Miller, Mrs. Locke
(Editor, Views of Truth magazine of which Harris was European Editor)
1 TL (copy) initialed by Harris to Miller
Box 6, Folder 11 1 TLS to Harris by Mrs. Miller, including Miller's printed preface re. Harris
Box 6, Folder 11 1 TL (carbon) to Mrs. Miller from Harris
Box 6, Folder 11 Rebhuhn, Ben
(President of Harris Publishing Co.; name also spelled “Reuben” and “Rebkuhn” elsewhere)
1 ALS to “Betty” addressed c/o Levine with TL (carbon) of Rebhuhn's letter to “Raymond” [Thomson?]
Box 6, Folder 12 1 TL from Tobin addressed to Levine
Box 6, Folder 12 Ross, Arthur Leonard
(Harris's attorney and literary executor of the Frank Harris Estate)
1 TLS to Harris
Box 6, Folder 13 2 TLs (carbon) from Harris
Box 6, Folder 13 2 TLsS ( 1930 Panurge Press contracts) to the Harrises by Ross
Box 6, Folder 13 1 TL to “Arthur” (with Ros's name pencilled in at the bottom of one sheet)
Box 6, Folder 13 1 TL forwarded to Nellie Harris and signed by Ross
Box 6, Folder 13 Shaw, George, Bernard
(Harris's long-time friend)
1 TL (draft) to G. B. Shaw by Nellie Harris
Box 6, Folder 14 1 TLS to Levine with TL to Nellie Harris by G. B. Shaw and an original copy of the August 1936Esquire article by Frank Scully claiming he ghost wrote most of Shaw's biography for Harris
Box 6, Folder 14 Sinclair, Upton
1 TLS to Harris, forwarded to Levine with pencilled note by Harris
Box 6, Folder 15 1 TL (carbon) to Harris
Box 6, Folder 15 Tobin, A. I.
(co-author of 1931 Harris biography with Elmer Gertz)
3 TLs from Harris (signed by his secretary)
Box 6, Folder 16 1 TLS to Harris forwarded by Tobin to Levine
Box 6, Folder 16 Viereck, G. S.
Box 6, Folder 17 2 TLsS by Harris
Box 6, Folder 17 Subseries 2C: Nellie Harris/Esar Levine, (1925-1955)
Miscellaneous Harris Correspondence
(filed alphabetically by name)
Box 6, Folder 18 Other Miscellaneous Correspondence
Box 6, Folder 19 Letters to Esar Levine Regarding Frank Harris, including 2 ALsS by Elmer Gertz
(filed alphabetically by name)
Box 6, Folder 20 Nellie Harris/Esar Levine Correspondence: 1925-1953
Box 6, Folder 21 Series 3: Printed Matter (1908-1976)
(Boxes 7-8)
Series Description
Consists of Esar Levine's scrapbook pages and contemporary newspaper clippings and magazine tearsheets about Harris and his writings, as well as reports of police arrests and seizures of copies of My Life and Loves in both France and America. Also present are original, printed paperback copies of Harris's Joan La Romée (play) and Stories of Jesus The Christ… including Jesus by George Bernard Shaw, an assortment of magazines edited by Harris or containing articles by or about him, a few photographs of Harris, and other printed ephemera and memorabilia relating to him.
Photographs of Frank Harris and his likeness
Box 7, Folder 1 Scrapbook pages on Frank Harris
1908-1924
Box 7, Folder 2 1924-1926
Box 7, Folder 3 1925-1927
Box 7, Folder 4 News clippings
1924-1926
Box 7, Folder 5 1927-1928
Box 7, Folder 6 1929
Box 7, Folder 7 January-February 1930
Box 7, Folder 8 March 1930
Box 7, Folder 9 April-November 1930
Box 7, Folder 10 obituaries of Frank Harris, 1931
Box 7, Folder 11 clippings on Frank Harris, 1932-1976
Box 7, Folder 12 Joan La Romée (play)
Box 8, Folder 1 Stories of Jesus The Christ, including “The Miracle of the Stigmata”
Box 8, Folder 2 Magazines edited by Frank Harris
Box 8, Folder 3 Magazines containing articles by or about Frank Harris
Box 8, Folder 4 Miscellaneous group of pamphlets and notes in Harris's hand
Box 8, Folder 5 Photographs, negatives, and printed sketches of Frank Harris
Box 8, Folder 6 Miscellaneous accounting ledgers and invoices
Box 8, Folder 7 Contracts between Harris/his agents and printers/publishers
Box 8, Folder 8 Printed matter written by others about Frank Harris
Box 8, Folder 9
Permanent URL: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/rr171x240