Irwin Cohen Collection
Abstract
Irwin Cohen (1947- ), a bibliophile and book collector, is manager of the Time Warner, Inc., Bookstore in New York City. When was in high school, Mr. Cohen first encountered and read Djuna Barnes's Nightwood, which led him to collect works by and about her. He eventually met Miss Barnes, when his wife, Francesca Belanger, then senior designer at Dial Press was assigned to Miss Barnes's last book, Creatures in an Alphabet. The Cohen collection consists of artwork, clippings, manuscripts, proofs, photographs, and publications by and about Djuna Barnes and her era. Materials related to the publication of Creatures in an Alphabet form a large part of the collection. The books that came with the collection were transferred to the Marylandia and Rare Books Department and the reference collection of the Archives and Manuscripts Department.
Important Information for Users of the Collection
This collection is open for research.
Irwin Cohen Collection, Special Collections, University of Maryland Libraries.
Photocopies of original materials may be provided for a fee and at the discretion of the curator. Please see our Duplication of Materials policy for more information. Queries regarding publication rights and copyright status of materials within this collection should be directed to the appropriate curator.
This collection is PROCESSED.
Historical Note
Irwin Cohen was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 21, 1947, the second son of Lillian and Murray Cohen. He spent the first twenty years of his life in Brooklyn before moving to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to attend the University of Fort Lauderdale. After graduation, Cohen moved to Manhattan and began working for Time Inc., managing their employee bookstore. He is currently manager of the Time Warner Inc. Bookstore. Cohen married Francesca Belanger, a senior designer for Viking publishing company in 1981. They maintain residences in New York City and Kent, Connecticut.
Cohen first became aware of Djuna Barnes's work when he was in high school.
"[M]y mother gave me a dollar a day for food, and two dollars pocket money on each day of the weekend To this day she doesn't know I kept the nine dollars. I didn't eat, figuring I'd be fed at night, and kept the money to spend on books. Every Friday and Saturday night I traveled from Brooklyn into Manhattan via the picturesque "D" line, the subway which crosses over the Manhattan Bridge.
"My favorite bookstore was the famous and greatly-missed 8th Street Bookstore, renowned for the quality and variety of its selection.
"One night, browsing through the fiction section, I came upon the book that changed my life: Nightwood. Its title, the extraordinary photograph of the three leaves on the New Directions paperback cover, caused such a strong reaction, that thirty years later, it is still my classic Proustian experience. It was mystery itself. Somehow I knew that this book would be important to me. And when I turned the book over and gazed at the photo of its author, I knew this book and this woman were about to change my life.
"Seeing the photograph of Djuna Barnes was the end of my adolescence and the beginning of something unknown: I fell in love.
"I read Nightwood and was moved beyond anything I could imagine by Djuna Barnes's exquisite prose. There has not been a time when I reread the book that it did not mean something different to me, depending on my state of mind. Each time I go back to it I encounter new treasures."
Barnes's writing inspired in Cohen a passion for book collecting. He discovered the House of Books, a shop owned by Marguerite Cohn on New York's Madison Avenue.
"I went to the shop, walked in, and spoke to the owner of my new passion for Djuna Barnes. I was amazed by what she told me.
The day before, Ms. Cohn had just purchased a collection that contained, among other items, The Collected Works of Djuna Barnes, inscribed by the author to Natalie Barney. The inscription read, 'After all these years with the author's affection, Djuna Barnes.'
"I was stunned.
"This was the beginning of a journey that lasted twenty years. I was determined to collect everything by her and associated with her. In approximately my fifteenth year of collecting, an extraordinary thing happened.
"My wife, Francesca, was the senior designer at The Dial Press, and was assigned to work on Djuna Barnes's last book Creatures in an Alphabet. Miss Barnes's editor, Frances McCullough, took Francesca to meet Djuna Barnes at her tiny Patchin Place apartment. My surprise and delight at this turn of events were overwhelming. I loved the thought that my wife was working on a new book by my favorite author.
"Ms. McCullough thought that perhaps I might be of some service to Miss Barnes–perhaps organizing her papers, or whatever she might need–and offered to arrange a meeting.
"The idea frightened me to death. Djuna Barnes was someone I had loved from afar. Did I really want to meet her and risk having years' worth of dreams shattered?
"I didn't know how to respond at first, but I finally agreed.
"It was one of the best decisions, though ultimately the saddest, I have ever made.
"I courted her. I brought fancy food items from Balducci's, the gourmet store in Greenwich Village, to tempt her nearly non-existent appetite. But all she really wanted was a concoction that we often shared long past midnight on our nights together–Haagen-Daz coffee Ice cream in a glass of ginger ale.
"She was so set in her ways I was never really able to organize anything for her, but we had a number of long visits during which I listened entranced to her stories and observations.
"Some of my happiest memories are from those nights. She was witty and clever. I saw glimpses of the glamorous, intelligent, beautiful woman of the Berenice Abbott photographs, the woman I wished I could have known when those photographs were taken.
"But the darkness that was such a part of her being finally made its presence felt and I had to stop visiting her.
"Still, I am so grateful to have met her. She made me laugh 'til I cried." (Irwin Cohen's account is taken from his 25 October 1999 letter to Beth Alvarez and Adina Wachman.)
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The Irwin Cohen collection contains artwork, clippings, manuscripts, proofs, photographs, and publications by and about Djuna Barnes and her era. A significant portion of the collection focuses on the publication of Creatures in an Alphabet, a book of Barnes's poetry released posthumously. Also included is a wide assortment of serial publications dating from 1915 to 1938. The entire collection spans the period 1896 to 1982, with the bulk of the material falling in two distinct periods: 1911-1923 and 1982, the year in which Creatures in an Alphabet was published.
Custodial History and Acquisition Information
The University of Maryland Libraries received the collection as a gift from Irwin Cohen in December 1998.
Processing Information
Processed by Adina Wachman, November 1999.
The collection when received had no particular arrangement, except that the books and the Creatures in an Alphabet materials were grouped separately. The books were separated from the remainder of the collection. Twenty-nine titles were transferred to the Marylandia and Rare Books Department of the University of Maryland Libraries, and the rest were added to the reference collection of the Archives and Manuscripts Department. (See Appendix I for a complete listing of the books.) The collection was then sorted into the five series enumerated above. The photographs and art that were among the Creatures in an Alphabet materials were removed to Series IV and Series V, respectively.
Staples and paperclips were removed and replaced with plastic clips. Fragile items were placed in Mylar sleeves. Photographs were separated from the other materials, placed in Mylar sleeves, and housed in an acid-free binder. All items except the photographs were housed in acid-free folders. The first set of galleys and the paste-up proofs of Creatures in an Alphabet were placed in oversize storage as were some of the jacket copy and designs. All other materials were placed in acid-free boxes.
EAD markup created using EAD database in Microsoft Access. Markup completed by Michael Yates, February 2006.
Arrangement of Collection
This collection consists of five series:
Detailed Description of the Collection
Series 1: Writings, 1911-1982 and undated (0.5 linear feet)
This series includes manuscripts, proofs, and publications written by Barnes, as well as a poem titled "The Wind" written by her mother, Elizabeth Chappell Barnes. The series is divided into three sections: "Manuscripts and Proofs," "Publications," and "'The Wind' by Elizabeth Chappell Barnes." Of particular interest are family and biographical notes and miscellaneous handwritten poetry fragments written by Barnes. Also included are a manuscript, proofs, correspondence, and other materials concerning the publication of her Creatures in an Alphabet, which appeared in 1982. The eighteen copies of published works of Djuna Barnes in the series include poetry, interviews, and short stories. Eleven of these are copies of Barnes's poetry not duplicated in the Papers of Djuna Barnes, also held by the University of Maryland Libraries. The three sections of this series are arranged alphabetically, as are the items within each section
| Description | Series | Box / Reel | Folder / Frame | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manuscripts and Proofs of Djuna Barnes -- (Creatures in an Alphabet) -- [Manuscript], 1982 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 1 | |
| Manuscripts and Proofs of Djuna Barnes -- (Creatures in an Alphabet) -- [Galleys (Set 1) -- OVERSIZE], 1982 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 2 | |
| Manuscripts and Proofs of Djuna Barnes -- (Creatures in an Alphabet) -- [Galleys (Set 2)], 1982 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 3 | |
| Manuscripts and Proofs of Djuna Barnes -- (Creatures in an Alphabet) -- [Galleys (Set 3)], 1982 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 4 | |
| Manuscripts and Proofs of Djuna Barnes -- (Creatures in an Alphabet) -- [Uncorrected Page Proof], 1982 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 5 | |
| Manuscripts and Proofs of Djuna Barnes -- (Creatures in an Alphabet) -- [Artwork and text], 1982 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 6 | |
| Manuscripts and Proofs of Djuna Barnes -- (Creatures in an Alphabet) -- [Paste-up Proofs -- OVERSIZE], 1982 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 7 | |
| Manuscripts and Proofs of Djuna Barnes -- (Creatures in an Alphabet) -- [Blues of Text], 1982 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 8 | |
| Manuscripts and Proofs of Djuna Barnes -- (Creatures in an Alphabet) -- [Jacket Copy and Design -- OVERSIZE], 1982 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 9 | |
| Manuscripts and Proofs of Djuna Barnes -- (Creatures in an Alphabet) -- [Publicity Material], 1982 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 10 | |
| Manuscripts and Proofs of Djuna Barnes -- (Creatures in an Alphabet) -- [Memoranda and Correspondence], 1982 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 11 | |
| Manuscripts and Proofs of Djuna Barnes -- ("Dove, The"), undated | series 1 | box 1 | folder 12 | |
| Manuscripts and Proofs of Djuna Barnes -- ("Marian Year, The"), undated | series 1 | box 1 | folder 13 | |
| Manuscripts and Proofs of Djuna Barnes -- (Nightwood, third edition proof), 1936 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 14 | |
| Manuscripts and Proofs of Djuna Barnes -- (Notes, family and biographical), undated | series 1 | box 1 | folder 15 | |
| Manuscripts and Proofs of Djuna Barnes -- (Notes, miscellaneous fragments), undated | series 1 | box 1 | folder 16 | |
| Manuscripts and Proofs of Djuna Barnes -- (Poetry, miscellaneous fragments), undated | series 1 | box 1 | folder 17 | |
| Manuscripts and Proofs of Djuna Barnes -- (Ryder, uncorrected proof), 28 September 1979 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 18 | |
| Publications of Djuna Barnes -- ("Antique") -- [Harper's Magazine], August 1918 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 19 | |
| Publications of Djuna Barnes -- ("Birth") -- [All-Story Weekly], 24 June 1916 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 20 | |
| Publications of Djuna Barnes -- ("Call of the Night") -- [Harper's Weekly], 23 December 1911 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 21 | |
| Publications of Djuna Barnes -- ("Crystals") -- [New Republic], 20 June 1923 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 22 | |
| Publications of Djuna Barnes -- ("Death") -- [All-Story Weekly], 4 March 1916 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 23 | |
| Publications of Djuna Barnes -- ("Dust") -- [All-Story Weekly], 3 June 1916 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 24 | |
| Publications of Djuna Barnes -- ("I'd Have You Think Of Me") -- [Vanity Fair], October 1922 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 25 | |
| Publications of Djuna Barnes -- ("Love-Song") -- [All-Story Weekly], 18 November 1916 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 26 | |
| Publications of Djuna Barnes -- ("Paprika Johnson") -- [The Trend], January 1915 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 27 | |
| Publications of Djuna Barnes -- ("A Philosopher Among Russian Dancers, an Interview with Adoplh Bohm") -- [Bruno's Weekly], 29 January 1916 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 28 | |
| Publications of Djuna Barnes -- ("Renunciation") -- [Smart Set], October 1918 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 29 | |
| Publications of Djuna Barnes -- ("Shadows") -- [Munsey's Magazine], November 1916 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 30 | |
| Publications of Djuna Barnes -- ("Six Carried Her Away") -- [The Trend], November 1914 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 31 | |
| Publications of Djuna Barnes -- ("Suicide Corpse A/Corpse B") -- [The Book of Repulsive Women], November 1915 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 32 | |
| Publications of Djuna Barnes -- ("To One Feeling Differently") -- [Playboy], 1923 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 33 | |
| Publications of Djuna Barnes -- ("Two Lyrics: I. She Passed This Way; II. The Flowering Corpse") -- [Vanity Fair], March 1923 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 34 | |
| Publications of Djuna Barnes -- ("Vaudeville") -- [All-Story Cavalier Weekly], 24 April 1915 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 35 | |
| "Wind, The" -- (By Elizabeth Chappell Barnes), undated | series 1 | box 1 | folder 36 | |
Series 2: Printed Matter, 1986-1995 (0.25 linear feet)
This series contains clippings from serial publications, page proofs of books that were subsequently published, and various other publications. It is divided into three sections: "About Barnes," "On or By Others," and "Other." Some of the items in this series belonged to Miss Barnes and are annotated in her hand.
The first section includes a 1916 clipping from the New York Sun that comments on Miss Barnes's interview with Adolf Bohm; a copy of the 1972 festschrift published in her honor; page proofs from two Barnes biographies; and a copy of a Provincetown Players playbill that lists her play, "An Irish Triangle," on the program for January 1920.
The second section contains a single leaflet from Leaflets from the Beyond, a series published by Barnes's paternal grandfather, the spiritualist H. A. Budington. Also included is a pamphlet published in memory of M. Eleanor Fitzgerald, whom Miss Barnes knew from the Provincetown Players. This copy, which was apparently owned by Susan Jenkins Brown, contains Brown's handwritten comments on Chouteau Dyer (aide to Erwin Piscator), Carlotta O'Neill (Eugene O'Neill's third wife), Kenneth MacGowan, the Provincetown Players, Miss Barnes, and E. J. Ballantine. This second section of the series also includes page proofs for Peter Klappert's The Idiot Princess of the Last Dynasty, a sequence of dramatic monologues purportedly spoken by Daniel Mahoney, the real-life model for Barnes's character Matthew O'Connor in her novels Ryder and Nightwood. This section also includes two items related to Courtenay Lemon, with whom Miss Barnes lived in Greenwich Village between 1917 and 1919.
The final section in this series, "Other," consists of three items clipped by Miss Barnes from serial publications.
The three sections are arranged alphabetically, as are the items within each section.
| Description | Series | Box / Reel | Folder / Frame | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| About Barnes -- (Clipping), 1916 | series 2 | box 1 | folder 1 | |
| About Barnes -- (Festschrift), 1972 | series 2 | box 1 | folder 2 | |
| About Barnes -- (Andrew Field, Djuna: the Life and Times of Djuna Barnes) -- [Page Proof], 1982 | series 2 | box 1 | folder 3 | |
| About Barnes -- (Phillip Herring, Djuna: the Life and Work of Djuna Barnes) -- [Page Proof], 1995 | series 2 | box 1 | folder 4 | |
| About Barnes -- (Provincetown Players, playbill), January 1920 | series 2 | box 1 | folder 5 | |
| On or By Others -- (Gilbert Haven, Leaflets From the Beyond), 1896 | series 2 | box 1 | folder 6 | |
| On or By Others -- (In Memory of Fitzi), 1955 | series 2 | box 1 | folder 7 | |
| On or By Others -- (Peter Klappert, The Idiot Princess of the Last Dynasty), 1984 | series 2 | box 1 | folder 8 | |
| On or By Others -- (Courtenay Lemon), 1903, 1916 | series 2 | box 1 | folder 9 | |
| Other -- (Clippings), 1958, 1964, and undated | series 2 | box 1 | folder 10 | |
Series 3: Serial Publications, 1915-1983 (2 linear feet)
This series includes two press catalogues advertising Creatures in an Alphabet, and a wide assortment of serial publications containing Barnes's early writings and artwork. The serial publications include: Bruno's Weekly, Dial, Theatre Guild Review, Pearson's Magazine, Playboy, Rogue, Transatlantic Review, and Two Worlds Monthly, among others. Only one item, the May 1921 issue of Playboy, is duplicated in the Papers of Djuna Barnes. The April 1938 issue of Delta contains Kay Boyle's "Angels for Djuna Barnes." The series is arranged alphabetically.
| Description | Series | Box / Reel | Folder / Frame | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Press Catalogues -- (Dial Press, Fall-Winter), 1982-1983 | series 3 | box 1 | folder 1 | |
| Press Catalogues -- (Sun and Moon Press catalogue), 1983 | series 3 | box 1 | folder 2 | |
| Serials -- (Bruno's Weekly), 13 May 1916 | series 3 | box 1 | folder 3 | |
| Serials -- (Bruno's Weekly), 17 June 1916 | series 3 | box 1 | folder 4 | |
| Serials -- (Bruno's Weekly), 2 September 1916 | series 3 | box 1 | folder 5 | |
| Serials -- (Caravel), March 1936 | series 3 | box 1 | folder 6 | |
| Serials -- (Delta), April 1938 | series 3 | box 1 | folder 7 | |
| Serials -- (Dial), March 1920 | series 3 | box 1 | folder 8 | |
| Serials -- (Dial), April 1923 | series 3 | box 1 | folder 9 | |
| Serials -- (London Bulletin), June 1938 | series 3 | box 1 | folder 10 | |
| Serials -- (Pearson's Magazine), October 1916 | series 3 | box 1 | folder 11 | |
| Serials -- (Pearson's Magazine), December 1919 | series 3 | box 1 | folder 12 | |
| Serials -- (Pearson's Magazine), November 1923 | series 3 | box 1 | folder 13 | |
| Serials -- (Playboy), May 1921 | series 3 | box 1 | folder 14 | |
| Serials -- (Playboy), 1923 | series 3 | box 1 | folder 15 | |
| Serials -- (Rogue), 15 April 1915 | series 3 | box 1 | folder 16 | |
| Serials -- (Rogue), 1 August 1915 | series 3 | box 1 | folder 17 | |
| Serials -- (Theatre Guild Magazine), January 1929 | series 3 | box 2 | folder 1 | |
| Serials -- (Theatre Guild Magazine), February 1929 | series 3 | box 2 | folder 2 | |
| Serials -- (Theatre Guild Magazine), April 1930 | series 3 | box 2 | folder 3 | |
| Serials -- (Theatre Guild Magazine), December 1930 | series 3 | box 2 | folder 4 | |
| Serials -- (Theatre Guild Magazine), February 1931 | series 3 | box 2 | folder 5 | |
| Serials -- (Theatre Guild Magazine), May 1931 | series 3 | box 2 | folder 6 | |
| Serials -- (Theatre Guild Magazine), June 1931 | series 3 | box 2 | folder 7 | |
| Serials -- (Theatre Guild Magazine), July 1931 | series 3 | box 2 | folder 8 | |
| Serials -- (Transatlantic Review), April 1924 | series 3 | box 2 | folder 9 | |
| Serials -- (Transatlantic Review), December 1924 | series 3 | box 2 | folder 10 | |
| Serials -- (Transition), December 1927 | series 3 | box 2 | folder 11 | |
| Serials -- (Two Worlds Monthly, no. 3), 1926 | series 3 | box 2 | folder 12 | |
| Serials -- (Two Worlds Monthly), January 1927 | series 3 | box 2 | folder 13 | |
Series 4: Photographs, ca. 1980s (20 items)
Seventeen of the photographs in this series depict artwork used in the publication of Barnes's Creatures in an Alphabet. The artwork is overlaid with notes and sketches produced by Francesca Belanger, who designed the jacket and artwork for this book. The three additional photographs in this series are photographs of Barnes. The first is a publicity photograph taken by Berenice Abbott in the 1920s, which was used for the back of the book jacket for Creatures in an Alphabet. The remaining two photographs show Barnes in her later years. One image, taken by Christoph Dershcan, is dated June 11, 1982; the other is a color photograph, probably taken in the 1980s.
The photographs of the artwork precede the photographs of Barnes, which are arranged chronologically.
| Description | Series | Box / Reel | Folder / Frame | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illustrations For Creatures in an Alphabet -- (Two images: griffin used on front cover and page 9; kinkajou used on page 29. Stamped on verso: "Elijah Cobb/Photography/133 East 4 ST./N.Y.C., N.Y. 10003/(212) 982-3743."), circa 1982 | series 4 | box 1 | folder 1 | |
| Illustrations For Creatures in an Alphabet -- (Image of hippopotamus used on page 23), circa 1982 | series 4 | box 1 | folder 2 | |
| Illustrations For Creatures in an Alphabet -- (Image of walrus used on page 53), circa 1982 | series 4 | box 1 | folder 3 | |
| Illustrations For Creatures in an Alphabet -- (Two images: fish used on page 19; tiger used on page 47), circa 1982 | series 4 | box 1 | folder 4 | |
| Illustrations For Creatures in an Alphabet -- (Image of peacock used on page 39. Written on recto: "Fix outline as necessary- silhouette out peacock." Stamped on verso: "Elijah Cobb/Photography/133 East 4 ST./N.Y.C., N.Y. 10003/(212) 982-3743."), circa 1982 | series 4 | box 1 | folder 5 | |
| Illustrations For Creatures in an Alphabet -- (Image of square design showing two dragons swallowing each other's tails to form circle used on page 59. Stamped on verso: "Elijah Cobb/Photography/133 East 4 ST./N.Y.C., N.Y. 10003/(212) 982-3743."), circa 1982 | series 4 | box 1 | folder 6 | |
| Illustrations For Creatures in an Alphabet -- (Two images: image of "blue jay" used on page 27; image of man with hat and robe with animal legs used on page 55. Stamped on verso: "Elijah Cobb/Photography/133 East 4 ST./N.Y.C., N.Y. 10003/(212) 982-3743."), circa 1982 | series 4 | box 1 | folder 7 | |
| Illustrations For Creatures in an Alphabet -- (Two images: hummingbird used on page 11; image of insect used on page 25. Written on recto: "Heavy up fine lines as nec.". Stamped on verso: "Elijah Cobb/Photography/133 East 4 ST./N.Y.C., N.Y. 10003/(212) 982-3743."), circa 1982 | series 4 | box 1 | folder 8 | |
| Illustrations For Creatures in an Alphabet -- (Two images: unicorn used on page 49; antelope used on page 35. Written on recto: "Take out sword and wound/make eye open, like antelope's." Stamped on verso: "Elijah Cobb/Photography/133 East 4 ST./N.Y.C., N.Y. 10003/(212) 982-3743."), circa 1982 | series 4 | box 1 | folder 9 | |
| Illustrations For Creatures in an Alphabet -- (Two images: camel used on page 13, donkey used on page 15, elephant used on page 17, and ocelot used on page 37; lion used on page 31. Stamped on verso: "Elijah Cobb/Photography/133 East 4 ST./N.Y.C., N.Y. 10003/(212) 982-3743."), circa 1982 | series 4 | box 1 | folder 10 | |
| Illustrations For Creatures in an Alphabet -- (Image of seal used on page 45. Written on recto: "Strengthen outline."), circa 1982 | series 4 | box 1 | folder 11 | |
| Illustrations For Creatures in an Alphabet -- (Image of quail used on page 41. Written on recto: "Create foot."), circa 1982 | series 4 | box 1 | folder 12 | |
| Illustrations For Creatures in an Alphabet -- (Image of "vesper wasp" used on page 51. Written on recto: "Vesper wasp. Take out hairs/make outline smooth."), circa 1982 | series 4 | box 1 | folder 13 | |
| Illustrations For Creatures in an Alphabet -- (Image of monkey used on page 33. Written on recto: "Heavy up outline of monkey."), circa 1982 | series 4 | box 1 | folder 14 | |
| Illustrations For Creatures in an Alphabet -- (Image of giraffe used on page 21), circa 1982 | series 4 | box 1 | folder 15 | |
| Illustrations For Creatures in an Alphabet -- Image of racoon used on page 43), circa 1982 | series 4 | box 1 | folder 16 | |
| Illustrations For Creatures in an Alphabet -- (Image of yak used on page 57), circa 1982 | series 4 | box 1 | folder 17 | |
| Photograph of publicity for publication of Creatures in an Alphabet -- (Two copies. Publicity uses photograph of Djuna Barnes seated, wearing hat and corsage) -- [See Djuna Barnes Papers, Series VII, 1.97], circa 1982 | series 4 | box 1 | folder 18 | |
| Djuna Barnes sitting in apartment wearing red robe -- (Color), circa 1980s | series 4 | box 1 | folder 19 | |
| Djuna Barnes lying in bed -- (Black and white. Photograph by Christoph Derschan. On verso: "Djuna Barnes/June 11, 1982/Photograph by Christoph Derschan."), 1982 | series 4 | box 1 | folder 20 | |
Series 5: Artwork, ca. 1914-1915, 1983 and undated (.0.25 linear feet)
This series is comprised of artwork by Barnes and other artists. Clippings of Barness artwork taken from serial publications include "Djuna Barnes' Vampire Baby," "The Midnight Son," and "The Necrophile." Also included in this series is a prospective cover design for the reissued edition of The Selected Work of Djuna Barnes. A cartoon, clipped from a newspaper by Barnes herself, is also included.
This series is arranged into two sections, "By Barnes" and "By Others." The items within each section are arranged alphabetically.
| Description | Series | Box / Reel | Folder / Frame | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| By Djuna Barnes -- ("Djuna Barnes' Vampire Baby") -- [Vanity Fair], July 1915 | series 5 | box 1 | folder 1 | |
| By Djuna Barnes -- ("The Midnight Son") -- [The Trend], June 1915 | series 5 | box 1 | folder 2 | |
| By Djuna Barnes -- ("The Necrophile." Two copies) -- [The Trend], November 1914 | series 5 | box 1 | folder 3 | |
| By Others -- (Proposed cover design for reissue of Selected Works of Djuna Barnes. On verso: "April 9, 1983/This is the 'comp sketch' submitted for the perspective cover design of the reissued edition of The Selected Work of Djuna Barnes (whose original jacket- designed by Marshall Lee, could no longer be reproduced). It was used (with some very minor changes in the rules) on the 2nd edition in 1978 79 80?? I can't remember. Djuna Barnes was said to have liked it, although she was hospitalized at the time./Jeffrey Schanie"), 1983 | series 5 | box 1 | folder 4 | |
| By Others -- ("Avec autant de matiere on peut faire des déjeuners" [man wearing barrells and pitchers holding two glasses].), undated | series 5 | box 1 | folder 5 | |
Related Material
The University of Maryland Libraries acquired four Barnes-related items from Irwin Cohen before this collection was processed. In July 1997, Mr. Cohen donated three of Barnes's original ink drawings, two of which were published as illustrations for her written work. These three drawings were incorporated into the Papers of Djuna Barnes, Series VIII: Art, and numbered III.104-106. Mr. Cohen sold another of Barnes's ink drawings to the Libraries in June 1999. This work, also incorporated into the Papers of Djuna Barnes, Series VIII, and numbered III.107, appears to be an earlier version of an illustration published in Barnes's novel Ryder.
In addition to the Papers of Djuna Barnes, the University of Maryland Libraries' holdings include the Barnes Family Papers, the Papers of Saxon Barnes, the Papers of James Stern, and the Papers of Phillip Herring. Important correspondence between Djuna Barnes and Emily Coleman can also be found in the Emily Holmes Coleman Papers at the University of Delaware Library, in Newark, Delaware.
For other related archival and manuscript collections, please see the following subject guides.
Selected Search Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the University of Maryland Libraries' Catalog. Researchers desiring related materials about these topics, names, or places may search the Catalog using these headings.
Subjects
- Authors, American -- 20th century -- Biography -- Sources
- Barnes, Djuna -- Biography -- Sources
- Barnes, Djuna -- Creatures in an Alphabet
Names (Added Entries)
- Barnes, Djuna
- Barnes, Elizabeth Chappell, 1862-1945
- Cohen, Irwin, 1947-