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Inventory of the Sacvan Bercovitch Papers, 1940-2009

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Descriptive Summary

Title
Sacvan Bercovitch Papers, 1940-2009
Creator
Bercovitch, Sacvan
Extent
32.8 Linear Feet
24,376 Items
Repository
Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University
Language
English.
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Administrative Information

Access Restrictions
Access is restricted.
In addition, patrons must sign the Acknowledgment of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this collection.
Also, all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour delay in obtaining these materials.
Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library to use this collection.
Use Restrictions
The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Sacvan Bercovitch Papers, Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University.
Provenance
The collection was given as a gift by Sacvan Bercovitch during the date span 1993-2009.
Processing Information
Processed by Paula Jeannet and T. Walker Robinson
Completed August 26, 1997
Encoded by Lisa Stark
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
Finding aid updated by Meghan Lyon, 2009, to include subsequent additions.
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Biographical Note

Sacvan Bercovitch is a literary scholar and professor of English and American Literature and Language, Harvard University.

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Collection Overview

Collection contains research notes, manuscripts on paper and floppy diskettes, and some correspondence relating to the serial Cambridge History of American Literature, of which Bercovitch is general editor. Research notes chiefly relate to Bercovitch's work on colonial American literature and religion, particularly on the Puritans in New England. Also includes drafts with corrections of "A Cultural Model of Literary Studies," and "Literary Context," both by Bercovitch. Another set of files consists of writings by others, curriculum vitae, and more correspondence pertaining to the Cambridge serial. Some correspondence and articles date from the 1940s and 1950s and were written by Bryna Bercovitch in Yiddish; English translations included. Part of the Jay B. Hubbell Center for Literary Historiography.
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Subject Headings

These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.
List of Series in Collection
Sacvan Bercovitch Papers, 1940s-1999
Addition (2001-0091), 1995-2001
Addition (2001-0211), 1991-2001
Addition (2002-0097), 2001-2002
Addition (2002-0255), 2001-2002
Addition (2003-0276), 2001-2003
Addition (2004-0093), 2003-2004
Addition (2005-0074), 1983-2005
Addition (2006-0057), 2000-2006
Additions (2008-0103 and 2009-0145), 1973-2009
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Detailed Description of Collection

Sacvan Bercovitch Papers, 1940s-1999

(8 boxes)
Research notes, manuscripts on paper and floppy diskettes, and some correspondence relating to the serial Cambridge History of American Literature, of which Bercovitch is general editor. Research notes chiefly relate to Bercovitch's work on colonial American literature and religion, particularly on the Puritans in New England. Also includes drafts with corrections of A Cultural Model of Literary Studies, and Literary Context, both by Bercovitch. Another set of files consists of writings by others, curriculum vitae, and more correspondence pertaining to the Cambridge serial. Some correspondence and articles date from the 1940s and 1950s and were written by Bryna Bercovitch in Yiddish; English translations included. Some later correspondence is comprised of email printed out. There is also material documenting his work as an English professor at Harvard, such as student correspondence and papers.
Box 1
Correspondence (professional), 1969, Dec.-1986, Dec.
Correspondence (professional), 1987, Feb.-1991, Nov.
Correspondence (professional), 1992, Mar.-1994, June
Correspondence (professional), 1994, Aug.
Correspondence, 1997
Writings with some Correspondence (professional): "Deadpan Trickster"
Writings with some Correspondence (professional)
Box 2
Correspondence (professional), 1995, Nov.-1998, Nov.
Correspondence (professional), 1999, Jan.-1999, Mar.
Correspondence (professional), 1999, Apr.-1999, May
Correspondence (professional), 1999, June-1999, July
Correspondence (personal and professional), 1984, Nov.-1999, Mar.
Correspondence (personal and professional), 1999, Apr.-1999, May
Miscellaneous
Box 3
Bryna Bercovitch: Writings, 1940s
Bryna Bercovitch: Writings, 1940s-1950s, including photocopies of original drafts   (4 folders)
Drafts (SB): Fragments, various titles, 1995 and undated
"A Literary Approach to Cultural Studies"
"End-Game Gambit: A Model of Literary and Cultural Studies"
"A Cultural Model of Literary Studies"
Drafts: Fragments, undated
[ "End-Game Gambit" ?]
Box 4
Drafts   (5 folders) :
"A Cultural Model of Literary Studies," 1994 and undated
Nathan Weinstein: Biographical information
Culture in a Faulknerian Context
The Claims of Rhetoric: Miscellaneous publisher information and outline
Box 5
Drafts: Fragments
"A Limitless Field: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Literature" (keynote address for literary symposium, Texas Christian Univ., 1994; version of "A Cultural Model of Literary Studies")
Drafts   (7 folders) : Fragments, undated
"A Cultural Model of Literary Studies"
Handwritten Notes
Bryna Bercovitch: Drafts, 1946-1950 (photocopies of translations, 2 folders)
Box 6
Bryna Bercovitch: "Rokhel" (essay, 1946)
Library of America Volume on Nathanael West   (3 folders)
Box 7
Drafts (Printed from diskettes 1-9, 10 folders), 1993-1994 and undated
"The Winthrop Variation," 1994
"Games of Chess: A Model of Cultural Studies," 1993 and other versions of same works, with various titles
Box 8
Drafts (Printed from diskettes 10-17, 7 folders), 1993-1994 and undated
Variants of "The Winthrop Variation"
Student papers for literature classes
Spanish language exam sample
"Gifts of Faith in the Atonement of Christ" - graduate student essay [SB?]
Diskettes 1-17 (3.5 floppies)
Bundle of notecards, chiefly citations from literary works by Melville, Douglass, Dewey

Addition (2001-0091), 1995-2001

(3 boxes)
Addition (01-091) (1700 items, dated 1995-2001) contains primarily e-mail correspondence with colleagues and students. Also includes teaching materials, a 1996 lecture on John Winthrop, and translations of writings (1943-1950) in Yiddish by Bryna Bercovitch.

Addition (2001-0211), 1991-2001

(2 boxes)
Addition (01-211) (1500 items, 1.2 linear feet; dated 1991-2001 and n.d.) consists primarily of email correspondence with colleagues and students (1995-2001). Also includes drafts of writings sent to Bercovitch (1991-1999 and n.d.) and materials relating to a public television series concerning American literature.

Addition (2002-0097), 2001-2002

(1 box)
Addition (02-097) (375 items, .6 linear feet; dated 2001-2002) consists of professional and personal correspondence, primarily printed email.

Addition (2002-0255), 2001-2002

(2 boxes)
Addition (02-255) (1200 items, 1.2 lin. ft.; dated 2001-2002) contains primarily email correspondence with colleagues, friends, and former students. Also includes publication drafts (n.d.) by Bercovitch, particularly proofs of "Deadpan Huck," which was published in the Kenyon Review, and information about Bercovitch's retirement at the end of 2001.

Addition (2003-0276), 2001-2003

(6 boxes)
Addition (03-276) (2175 items, 3.4 lin. ft.; dated 2001-2003) consists primarily of printouts of email correspondence with colleagues, friends, and former students.

Addition (2004-0093), 2003-2004

(5 boxes)
Addition (04-093) (1500 items, 2.4 lin. ft.; dated 2003-2004) contains primarily printouts of email correspondence with colleagues and friends regarding American literature, Yiddish literature, and other topics.

Addition (2005-0074), 1983-2005

(12 boxes)
Addition (05-074) (4276 items, 7.2 lin. ft.; dated 1983-2005) comprises primarily personal and professional email correspondence (2001-2005); research notes; other correspondence; and teaching materials from courses taught in the 1980s.

Addition (2006-0057), 2000-2006

(6 boxes)
Addition (06-057) (1,875 items, 3.0 lin. ft.; dated 2000-2006) consists primarily of printouts of email correspondence with colleagues, friends, and former students.

Additions (2008-0103 and 2009-0145), 1973-2009

(16 boxes)
Additions (08-103 and 09-145) (7200 items; 9.6 lin. ft.; dated 1973-2009) includes printouts of email correspondence (both professional, personal, and class-related); research/lecture notecards on various books and authors; course packets with articles and readings on Puritans, Jewish-American literature, and general American literature; reviews of some of Bercovitch's books; materials from the publication of The Art of Sylvia Ary; and miscellaneous teaching materials and articles.
Although this addition has not been processed, materials have been arranged into loose series: Correspondence, Book reviews, Materials from The Art of Sylvia Ary, Teaching materials, and Research/Lecture notes. Correspondence consists almost entirely of email printouts, and various folders have been marked as "professional" or "personal" when assigned as such by Bercovitch. The addition originally contained 7 CDs and 1 floppy disk from The Art of Sylvia Ary; these materials have been copied to Duke's electronic records server, and the disks have been transferred to the custody of the Electronic Records Archivist.

Box 1
Email correspondence, 2006 (9 folders)
Box 2
Email correspondence, 2006-2007 (8 folders)
Box 3
Email correspondence, 2007 (8 folders)
Box 4
Email correspondence, 2007 (7 folders)
Box 5
Email correspondence, 2007-2008 (8 folders)
Box 6
Email correspondence, 2006-2008 (10 folders)
Box 7
Email correspondence, February 2008-August 2008 (9 folders)
Box 8
Email correspondence, September 2008-February 2009 (10 folders)
Box 9
Email correspondence, February 2009-May 2009 (7 folders)
Correspondence and drafts of correspondence, 1994-2001
Miscellaneous correspondence, 2000-2008
Professional email correspondence, 2004
Curriculum Vitae
Financial
Box 10
Seminar email correspondence, Spring 2009 (3 folders)
Class email correspondence, September 2008-January 2009 (7 folders)
Box 11
Reviews
Puritan Origins of the American Self (1975), 1975-1976
Reconstructing American Literary History (1986), 1986-1988
Ideology and Classic American Literature (1986), 1986-1987
Typology and Early American Literature (1972), 1973-1986
American Puritan Imagination (1974), 1974-1976
Cambridge History of American Literature (1994), 1995-1998
The American Jeremiad (1978), 1978-1989
The Rites of Assent (1992), 1993-1995
The Office of the Scarlett Letter (1991), 1992-1998
Datebook, 2006
The Art of Sylvia Ary
7 compact discs, 1 floppy disk
These disks have been separated from the collection and are available through Duke's Electronic Records server. See Research Services for assistance.

Drafts and correspondence (3 folders)
Box 12
Email correspondence, 2008 (5 folders)
Correspondence and notes
Final copy
English text (2 folders)
Illustrations
French text
Cover
Proofs and drafts
Box 13
Street scenes
Still lifes: not used
The Actors, 1980: not used
Kubla Khan silkscreen: not used
Portraits: not used
Various photographs and transparencies
Artwork and figures
Extra transparencies and photographs
Publishers
Book final
English draft (3 folders)
French text
Book proofs with edits (3 folders)
Teaching matierals
Supplement to American Literary History
Emerson binder (2 folders)
Sourcebook binder (1 of 2 folders)
Box 14
Sourcebook binder (2 of 2 folders)
"The Myth of America," 1993
"New England Puritanism," 1993
"Hawthorne and Literary History" sourcebooks
"American Identities," 1997
"Three Modern Jewish Writers" coursepack
General teaching materials (2 folders)
Box 15
"Puritanism in America," 1999
Articles (2 folders)
Research/lecture notes
American Revolution
Bellamy
Douglass
Emerson
Emerson and miscellaneous
Emerson and Self-Reliance
Huck Finn
Kerovac
King (2 folders)
Mailer (2 folders)
Scarlett Letter (2 folders)
Steinbeck (2 folders)
Twain
Box 16
Professional papers (2 folders)
"American Literature to 1860" coursebooks, 2000 (2 versions)
Sourcebooks (2 versions)
English 17, 1999
Syllabus materials
Isaac Babel biography