Joseph Prescott: An Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Center Descriptive Summary Creator: Prescott, Joseph, 1913-2001 Title: Joseph Prescott Papers Dates: 1867, 1903-2000, undated Extent: 55 document boxes, 14 card boxes (cb), 4 oversize boxes (osb) (32.19 linear feet), 1 galley folder (gf), 1 oversize folder (osf) Abstract: The papers of noted American James Joyce scholar Joseph Prescott include manuscripts of his books, articles, and reviews, his correspondence, and his voluminous research materials on Joyce and other literary figures. Correspondents include Sylvia Beach, Richard Ellmann, Stuart Gilbert, Lucie Léon (Mrs. Paul Léon), Harriet Shaw Weaver, and many others. A small amount of teaching files and personal and family papers are present, as well as numerous works by other scholars, mainly in the form of offprints and papers given at conferences. Call Number: Manuscript Collection MS-04931 Language: Most of the materials are written in English, although materials in French, German, Italian, and Hebrew are also present. Access: Open for research. Researchers must create an online Research Account and agree to the Materials Use Policy before using archival materials. A small amount of documents containing confidential information have been replaced with redacted photocopies. Items in cold storage may be accessed but require 24 hours advance notice. Use Policies: Ransom Center collections may contain material with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in the collections without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the Ransom Center and The University of Texas at Austin assume no responsibility. Restrictions on Authorization for publication is given on behalf of the University of Prescott, Joseph, 1913-2001 Manuscript Collection MS-04931 Restrictions on Authorization for publication is given on behalf of the University of Use: Texas as the owner of the collection and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder which must be obtained by the researcher. For more information please see the Ransom Center's Open Access and Use Policies. Administrative Information Preferred Joseph Prescott Papers (Manuscript Collection MS-04931). Harry Citation Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin. Acquisition: Gift, 2002 (02-12-006-G / G12225) Processed by: Amanda Price, 2003; Joan Sibley, 2011; Anne Kofmehl, 2019 Repository: Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin 2 Prescott, Joseph, 1913-2001 Manuscript Collection MS-04931 Biographical Sketch Joseph Prescott was a noted American James Joyce scholar and professor of English at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He was born July 3, 1913 in Fall River, Massachusetts. He received his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees from Harvard University. His doctoral dissertation on James Joyce's Ulysses was the first dissertation ever completed on Joyce in the United States. Prescott published numerous articles, books, and reviews on the subject of Joyce, as well as other important twentieth-century literary figures, including Joseph Conrad, William Faulkner, and Dorothy Richardson. He was considered one of the foremost scholars on Joyce and contributed a lifetime of work to furthering the understanding and enjoyment of Joyce. His works include "Local Allusions in Joyce's Ulysses" (1953), "Concerning the Genesis of Finnegans Wake" (1954), "James Joyce's Stephen Hero" (1959), "The Characterization of Molly Bloom" (1962), and Exploring James Joyce (1964). Many of his works have been translated into multiple languages. Prescott taught English at Wayne State University for a number of years and traveled the globe researching Joyce and others. Other interests of his reflected by his papers at the Ransom Center include art history, performing arts, theatre, and Hebrew literature. Prescott died on October 4, 2001 at the age of eighty-eight. Sources: Prescott, Joseph. Exploring James Joyce. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1964. Deaths - Prescott, Joseph. New York Times, October 6, 2001. Accessed 22 January 2020 https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/06/classified/paid-notice-deaths-prescott-joseph.html Scope and Contents The papers of noted American James Joyce scholar Joseph Prescott include manuscripts of his books, articles, and reviews, his correspondence, and his voluminous research materials on Joyce and other literary figures, as well as numerous works by other scholars, mainly in the form of offprints and papers given at conferences. Also present are a small amount of teaching files and personal and family papers. The papers are arranged in five series: I. Works, 1936-1993; II. Correspondence, 1939-2000; III. Research Materials, 1867, 1903-1999; IV. Career and Personal Papers, 1942-1998; and V. Works by Others, 1948-1978. Most of the materials are written in English, although materials in French, German, Italian, and Hebrew are also present. 3 Prescott, Joseph, 1913-2001 Manuscript Collection MS-04931 Series I. consists of manuscript materials for works by Prescott ordered alphabetically by title, except for works that Prescott edited, reviewed, or translated, which are filed under those headings. Most of Prescott's manuscripts represent academic books or articles concerning James Joyce, including his dissertation ("James Joyce's Ulysses as a Work in Progress," Harvard University, 1944), which was the first dissertation ever completed on Joyce in the United States. Other manuscripts reflect his additional interests, including Charlotte Brontë, Joseph Conrad, William Faulkner, Sinclair Lewis, H. L. Mencken, and Dorothy Richardson, as well as Hebrew literature. The works are represented by manuscripts, research materials, proofs or other printed versions of the final work, and sometimes correspondence relating to research, publishing, or sending out offprints of the works to colleagues. Prescott frequently retained handwritten drafts of his outgoing correspondence, and these were retained during processing with the relevant incoming letters. For most of his works, he also kept a detailed record of offprints that he mailed to family, friends, colleagues, and others over the years. The names of correspondents in this series are included in the Index of Correspondents listed at the end of this finding aid. Series II. contains correspondence, generally in alphabetical order by correspondent name. A few groups of correspondence revolve around research topics such as Sherwood Anderson, James Joyce's Ulysses page proofs, or translating a Joyce article by the Polish author Jan Parandowski. There is also a file containing transcripts of letters, dating mainly to 1939, written by Prescott while teaching at the University of Alabama. These letters record his observations about working and living in the South. The series primarily contains letters written to Prescott, although he frequently saved his handwritten drafts of outgoing letters, and these were retained during processing with relevant incoming correspondence. In a few instances, only his outgoing correspondence is represented. Most of the correspondence was generated in the course of conducting extensive research, publishing his writings, exchanging information with academic colleagues, attending conferences, or teaching his students. There is also some family correspondence, including a group of letters from various correspondents in Israel, and some genealogical correspondence relating to the Paretsky and Abramsky families. Correspondents include Sylvia Beach, Frank Budgen, H. K. Croessmann, Guy Davenport, Leon Edel, Richard Ellmann, Stuart Gilbert, T. Edward Hanley, Hugh Kenner, John Lehmann, Lucie Léon, Jane Lidderdale, Marvin Magalaner, Ellsworth Mason, Adrienne Monnier, Rose Isserlis Odle (sister-in-law of Dorothy Richardson), Ludmila Savitsky, John J. Slocum, Thomas F. Staley, William Bedell Stanford, Harriet Shaw Weaver, and many others. A complete Index of Correspondents is included in this finding aid. Series III. consists of research material for Prescott's projects, including numerous notecards, clippings, photocopies of articles, offprints, book catalogs, microfilm, and collected ephemera. The materials are arranged into two subject groups, Joyce and Non-Joyce, and placed in alphabetical order within each subgroup. The materials for Joyce include a collection of ephemera (brochures, newsletters, film and theatre programs, exhibitions, etc.), notecards related to various book projects and articles, as well as photocopies of Hanley's proofs for Ulysses and slides of various episodes in the novel. Materials for his non-Joyce research projects include notes, microfilm, clippings, and photocopied articles for literary figures such as Joseph Conrad, Charles Dickens, William Faulkner, Dorothy Richardson, and William Shakespeare. There is also a small 4 Prescott, Joseph, 1913-2001 Manuscript Collection MS-04931 amount of material related to art history and Hebrew literature. A small amount of photographic negatives and slides were separated to cold storage. Series IV. Career and Personal Papers contains a small amount of papers