Inventory of the Benjamin Franklin Fisher Papers, 1963-2001 (bulk 1967-2001)
[top]Descriptive Summary
TitleBenjamin Franklin Fisher
Papers,
1963-2001 (bulk 1967-2001)
Creator
Fisher, Benjamin Franklin
Extent
1.6 Linear Feet
ca. 1006 Items
Repository
ca. 1006 Items
Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special
Collections Library, Duke University
Language
English.
[top]
Administrative Information
Access RestrictionsCollection is restricted.
The majority of the Correspondence Series is
restricted until 2025; the remaining portion is closed
until 2050.
Collection also contains sensitive information.
Patrons must sign a waiver concerning privacy rights.
In addition, all or portions of this collection
may be housed off-site in the Duke University 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], Benjamin Franklin
Fisher Papers, Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special
Collections Library, Duke University.
Provenance
The Benjamin Franklin Fisher Papers were
received by the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special
Collections Library as gifts in 1981-2000.
Processing Information
Processed by Cat Saleeby
Completed August 2002
Encoded by Cat Saleeby
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
[top]
Biographical Note
Benjamin Franklin Fisher IV received his M.A. and Ph. D. degrees from the English Department at Duke University in 1963 and 1969, respectively. Fisher, an Edgar Allan Poe scholar, has published multiple books on the writer, including The Very Spirit of Cordiality: The Literary Uses of Alcohol and Alcoholism in the Tales of Edgar Allan Poe in 1978, Poe and Our Times: Influences and Affinities in 1986, and Poe and His Times: The Artist in His Milieu in 1990. In 1993, Fisher was awarded a Governor's Citation from the State of Maryland for his contributions to Poe studies. Fisher is also the author and editor of numerous other books and articles on Gothic and Victorian Literature, especially the works of Mary Wilkins Freeman, Frederick Irving Anderson, Edith Wharton, Stephen Crane and Frank Norris. He served on the faculties of the University of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann Medical College before joining the English Department of the University of Mississippi in 1979.
Fisher has been active in the leadership of numerous literary societies and professional organizations, including the Poe Studies Association, which awarded him Honorary Membership for his service. He has also been active in the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore, the Tennyson Society, William Gilmore Simms Society, Nathaniel Hawthorne Society, Frank Norris Society and the (A.E.) Housman Society. Fisher served as Secretary-Treasurer for the American Literature Section of the Modern Language Society (MLA) and as an Executive Committee member of the South Central MLA (SCMLA). In addition to serving as editor of the University of Mississippi Studies in English from 1979 to 1995, Fisher also serves on the editorial boards of Poe Studies, Victorian Poetry, English Literature in Transition, American Humor Studies, Gothic Studies, and the Simms Review.
[top]Collection Overview
The papers of Benjamin Franklin Fisher IV, an
American literature scholar, editor, and teacher, span the
years 1963 to 2001, with the bulk dated from 1963 to 2001.
The Fisher Papers consist of correspondence and printed
materials that primarily document Fisher's and his Duke
University advisors' educational and career trajectories.
These materials also provide insight into various scholars'
recent contributions to Poe studies, as well as information
on the general activities of, and Fisher's leadership roles
in, several of the professional organizations of which
Fisher was a member. These organizations especially include
those devoted to the study of Edgar Allan Poe.
The Correspondence Series,
1963-2001 (bulk 1967-2001) consists of letters
between Fisher and other scholars of American literature
from 1963 to 2001, with the bulk dated 1967-2001. Much of
the correspondence mingles professional exchanges with
personal inquiries and salutations. Included are many of
the prominent names in Edgar Allan Poe scholarship,
including Richard Benton, David K. Jackson, Burton Pollin,
Richard Kopley, Alexander G. Rose, and G. R. "Dick"
Thompson. The collection also contains Fisher's
correspondence with Duke faculty members Arlin Turner,
Clarence Gohdes, and Jay B. Hubbell, beginning in Fisher's
graduate student years and continuing until their deaths.
Much of Fisher's correspondence includes manuscript
evaluations, both casually for colleagues and
professionally for publishers or editors. Also included are
Fisher's files regarding conferences, especially records of
the Edgar Allan Poe Society's Annual Speakers Series, for
which Fisher served as chairman. Much of the correspondence
with individuals provides information on the activities of
this and other organizations to which Fisher belonged,
especially the Poe Studies Association. A significant
portion of correspondence from 1999 to 2001 is print-outs
of electronic mail.
The Printed Material Series,
1978-1982 includes a copy of the April/June 1978
issue of
Serials Review, which
features a history of
American Literature, a
journal published at Duke. The article praises
AL's three editors Jay
B. Hubbell, Arlin Turner, and Clarence Gohdes, who also
served as Fisher's mentors at Duke. Tributes to Turner can
also be found in the 1981 issue of
South Atlantic Quarterly
and in the first of two volumes of
University of Mississippi
Studies in English (USME) found in this collection.
In addition to Fisher's tribute to Turner, the first volume
of
USME also contains
Fisher's review of Turner's 1980 book
Nathaniel Hawthorne: A
Biography. Volume 3 (1982) of the
UMSE is entitled
"Poe-purri,"
and
includes Fisher's essay
"A Ten-Year Shelf of Poe
Books."
This series also includes two 1982 Edgar
Allan Poe Society publications written by Alexander Rose,
who had served as the organization's president from
1969-1976. The first volume,
History of the Edgar Allan Poe
Society, is largely in narrative form. It is
accompanied by a second volume of minutes and annual
reports from which the history was drawn.
This collection is part of the Jay B. Hubbell
Center for American Literary Historiography. Related
materials may be found in other Hubbell Center collections,
including the Jay B. Hubbell Papers, Arlin Turner Papers,
Clarence Gohdes Papers, Poe Studies Association Records,
and the Modern Language Association, American Literature
Section Papers.
[top]
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.
- Fisher, Benjamin Franklin.
- American literature--19th century--History and criticism.
- American literature--History and criticism--Periodicals.
- College teachers--Correspondence.
- Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849.
- Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849--Criticism and interpretation.
- Gohdes, Clarence Louis Frank, 1901- .
- Hubbell, Jay B. (Jay Broadus), 1885-1979.
- Jackson, David Kelly.
- Turner, Arlin.
- Kopley, Richard.
- Pollin, Burton Ralph.
- Rose, Alexander Grant, 1913- .
- Thompson, Gary Richard, 1937- .
- Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore (Md.).
- Poe Studies Association (U.S.).
- Duke University--Alumni and alumnae.
- University of Mississippi. Dept of English.
- University of Mississippi--Faculty.
- Jay B. Hubbell Center for American Literary Historiography.
- University of Mississippi studies in English.
- Rose, Alexander Grant, 1913- . History of the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore, 1923-1982.
 | List of Series in Collection | |||||||
 |  | Correspondence Series, 1963-2001 (bulk 1967-2001) | ||||||
 | | Printed Material Series 1978-1982 | ||||||
Detailed Description of Collection
Correspondence Series, 1963-2001 (bulk 1967-2001)
This series is restricted. Boxes 1 and 2 may
not be used before 2025 without prior written permission
from Fisher. In addition, they may contain sensitive
information. Patrons must sign a waiver concerning privacy
rights. Box 3 is closed until 2050. Contact Research
Services.
Box 1
Albert, Walter,
1980-1991
Bendixon, Alfred,
1987-1989
Benton, Richard,
1972-1993
Boyce, Benjamin,
1967-1992
Carlson, Eric W.,
1967-1968
Carroll, Raymond,
(Tennyson Society)
1986-1987
Colvert, James B.,
1994-1995
Dahl, Curtis,
1988-1990,
1999
Dayan, Joan,
1981-1985,
1990
Dwight, Eleanor,
1982-1983
Eddings, Dennis,
1986-1990
Estes, David,
1987-1996
Fusco, Richard,
1988-1992
Gilfond, Duff,
1974-1996
Gohdes, Clarence,
1967,
1972-1998
Hammond, Alex,
1973-1981, 1988,
1992
Harbert, Earl,
1971-1973,
1982
Harris, Styron
(Tennessee Philogical Association),
1986-1988,
undated
Herron, Ima H.,
1981-1982,
1986
Houghton, Walter,
1982
Hubbell, Jay B.,
1969-1979
Irwin, John,
1981-1982
Jackson, David K.,
1978-1989, 1998,
2001
Kennedy, Jerry,
1973-1982
Kopely, Richard,
1987-1990
Kranik, Cliff
1984
Krutzke, Frank,
1982-1983
Box 2
Levine, Stuart,
1974-1979
Longdale, Jay,
1996-1997
Mayfield, John,
1973-1974
McElrath, Joseph,
2000
McElroy, John,
1977-1981
McKeithan, D. M.,
1979-1984
Moore, Rayburn S.,
1983-1988
Polk, Noel,
1974
Pollin, Burtin,
1973-1979
Rickles, Milton,
1979-1984
Riehl, Joseph,
1984-1986
Robinson, E. Arthur,
1974-1980
Rocks, Jim,
1979-1983
Rose, Alexander G.,
1973-1983
Smith, Allen G.
(International Gothic Association),
1991
Spiller, Robert,
1979,
1982-1983
Stasny, John,
1990,
1995
Stevenson, Lionel,
1970-1973
Stovall, Floyd,
1981-1982
Thompson, G. Richard,
1972-1982
Turner, Arlin,
1963-1981
Vanouse, Donald,
1999
Vines, Lois,
1981-1982,
1993-1999
Weiner, Bruce,
1977-1983
Westlake, Neda M.,
1980-1982
Wrobel, Arthur,
1990
Wuttge, Frank Jr.,
1974-1975
Edgar Allan Poe Society of
Baltimore,
1981-1999
American Humor Studies
Association (AHSA),
1992
Poe Studies Association (PSA),
1999,
undated
Conferences, Misc.
Miscellaneous,
1980-2001
(2
folders)
Box 3
Correspondence, closed until 2050
Printed Material Series 1978-1982
University of
Mississippi Studies in English (UMSE), Vol.1,
1980, and
Vol. 3,
1982.
A History of the Edgar
Allan Poe Society of Baltimore, 1923-1982,
1982
Basic Documents for a
History of the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore,
1982
South Atlantic
Quarterly, Vol. 80, No. 1, Winter
1981
Serials Review,
Vol. 4, No.2,
1978
