Summary
Overview
Richter, Conrad,
1890-1968.
47.0 linear feet, 100 archival boxes, record center carton, 1 oversize
flat box
Princeton University. Library. Dept. of Rare
Books and Special Collections
Manuscripts Division
One Washington Road
Princeton, New Jersey 08544 USA
Abstract
Consists of material relating to the American author Conrad Richter, including
manuscripts, writing notebooks, notes, and galley proofs for several of his novels
and other writings. Includes a substantial amount of personal and professional
correspondence, as well as photographs.
Description
Description
The collection contains manuscripts for various works of fiction and nonfiction
by Richter: notes, notebooks, autograph and typescript manuscripts, galley
proofs, related correspondence, clippings, and other background material for his
trilogy The Trees (1940), The
Fields (1946), and The Town (1950),
collectively published as The Awakening Land
(1966); the introduction and early drafts for The Sea of
Grass (1937); outlines, notes on the Delaware Indian language,
drafts, galley proofs, and early chapters entitled "My Enemy, My Son" for The Light in the Forest (1953); and corrected
typescripts for The Grandfathers (1964) and A Country of Strangers (1966).
Additional material includes James Lee Barrett's screenplay of The Awakening Land, a chronology of the trilogy,
several articles, four chapters from The Fields and
a few early manuscript pages from The Lady (1957),
notebooks on writing and various western topics, correspondence with Alfred
Knopf (Richter's publisher), Paul R. Reynolds (both the father and son were
Richter's literary agents), Erdmann N. Brandt (of The
Saturday Evening Post), friends, literary associates, and readers.
There is also a large selection of correspondence between Conrad Richter and his
wife and daughter. Furthermore, there are miscellaneous notes and outlines for
short stories and articles, including stories published in his Early Americana and Other Stories (1936), and
personal journals (1925-1966), as well as four drawers of file cards on which
Richter kept notes and ideas. The collection includes a fair amount of
genealogical material on the Richter and Achenbach families, with items dating
to the early 19th century.
Collection Creator
Biography
Conrad Michael Richter was born on October 16, 1890, in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania. He
won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1951 for The
Town, the third and final installment in his pioneer trilogy entitled The Awakening Land. Richter may be best-known for two of
his other novels -- The Sea of Grass and The Light in the Forest -- both of which were made into
films. Richter, his wife, Harvena (Harvey) Maria Achenbach, and their daughter,
Harvena (Vene), moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1928. In 1950, Richter returned
to Pine Grove and lived there until his death on October 30, 1968.
Collection History
Acquisition
Acquired as gifts from Conrad Richter and, after his death, from his wife and
daughter.
Processing Information
This collection was processed in 2003
and the original finding aid was written in 2003. Sylvia Yu processed the collection again starting
in September 2010 through 2012. Jill Baron processed the final
additions of materials to the collection and completed the finding aid in 2012, with great assistance from
Lauren Hoffman '15.
Access and Use
Access Restrictions
Collection is open for research use.
Use Restrictions
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication
of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University
Library does not own the original. Permission to publish material from the
collection must be requested from the Associate University Librarian for Rare
Books and Special Collections. The library has no information on the status of
literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for
determining any questions of copyright.
Preferred Citation
Conrad Richter Papers; 1801-1977, Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
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