Finding Aid for Daniel Curley Papers, 1932-91 | University of Illinois Archives

Title: Daniel Curley Papers, 1932-91

ID: 15/7/37

Primary Creator: Curley, Daniel (1919-1988)

Extent: 28.0 cubic feet

Arrangement: Alphabetical by correspondent and chronological

Subjects: Accent, Ascent Magazine, Children's Literature, Creative Writing, Faculty Papers, Illinois Arts Council, Little Magazines, Novels, Plays, Poetry, Short Stories

Formats/Genres: Papers

Languages: English

Papers of Daniel Curley (1919-88), professor of English (1955-88), including correspondence with contributors to Accent about rejection and acceptance of manuscripts, style, advice concerning writing and revising poetry and short stories, review of manuscripts, and related topics (1955-63); correspondence, manuscripts, mailing lists and production documents for Ascent (1974-88); manuscripts for criticism articles, book reviews, program notes, poetry, plays, short stories, children's books and novels (1954-90); Illinois Arts Council grants (1974-87); family (1941--76) and general and personal (1950--88) correspondence; and obituaries and memorials (1988-89). Major correspondents include Stanley Elkin, Roger Ebert, Hilton Kramer, Fred Manalli, John Moffitt, and C. P. Snow.

Accent
Ascent Magazine
Children's Literature
Creative Writing
Faculty Papers
Illinois Arts Council
Little Magazines
Novels
Plays
Poetry
Short Stories

Repository: University of Illinois Archives

Accruals: 9/18/1986; 4/13/89; 7/17/89; 10/20/89;10/10/90; 3/28/2011

Processing Information:

Provenance and processing note: Files in Box 80 other than the 7 folders of correspondence and all those in Boxes 81, 82, 83, and 84 were received on March 28, 2011 from Sean Curley of Greensboro, North Carolina. (Note: Issues of Ascent in Box 84 were supplemented by Aillinn Dannave of Urbana). The files from Sean had been partially organized into related folders and batches (e.g., correspondence, letters, short stories, etc.).  Within folders, there was some internal chronological order, sometimes earliest to latest and sometimes latest to earliest, but often with smaller batches in their own order, but out of sequence within the folder as a whole (e.g, a half-dozen of 1958-59 letters at the end of a run of 1956-63 letters). The folders also contained a number of examples where there appeared to be more than one copy of the same poem or short story and of some of the letters. To ensure that variant drafts of the same work were not discarded all apparent duplicates were retained.

Overall, Daniel Curley was quite consistent with dating his carbon copies, but there were occasions of a carbon copy without a date or an incoming letter without a date or post-mark.  On examination of the text of such undated letters, they often seem to have ended up in the correct chronological place within the overall sequence of letters adjoining it, leaving the impression that either Dan or Sean had filed them there following a clear order.

Where there was a sizeable, e.g., six or so letters to/from a single correspondent, or where there is a significant individual such as Hilton Kramer or Roger Ebert, separate folders have been created for those letters.  Because so many letters were addressed without the full name of the intended recipient or simply as “dearest” or “girl,” multiple letters were examined closely to establish the best estimate of the correspondent’s identity and to separate these out into separate folders by presumed name of correspondent.  Although such decisions cannot be infallible, the resultant overall arrangement will provide greater accessibility as well as enhanced means for future users to second guess and correct what misidentifications may have been made.

Other Note: 53 Pages

URL: https://files.archon.library.illinois.edu/uasfa/1507037.pdf

PDF finding aid for Daniel Curley Papers (15/7/37)