- Collection Overview
- Collection Description & Creator Information
- Access & Use
- Collection History
- Find Related Materials
Expanded View
Collection Overview
- Creator:
- Bok, Curtis, 1897-1962
- Collector:
- Princeton University. Library. Special Collections
- Title:
- Curtis Bok Collection
- Repository:
- Manuscripts Division
- Permanent URL:
- http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/ks65hc28j
- Dates:
- 1941-1948
- Size:
- 3 boxes
- Storage Note:
- ReCAP (rcpxm): Box 1-3
- Language:
- English
Abstract
Consists primarily of several versions, reflecting the printing stages, of Backbone of the Herring (1941), Curtis Bok's fictionalized look at courtroom justice seen through the eyes of a judge. Bok was a common pleas court judge in Pennsylavnia at the time.
Collection Description & Creator Information
- Description:
The collection contains several versions, reflecting the printing stages, of Backbone of the Herring, Bok's fictionalized look at courtroom justice seen through the eyes of a judge: the typed manuscript (carbon) of the book under its earlier title, Midmost of the Fish; a later typed copy marked for the printer; first galleys with corrections; and partial author's proofs. Also included is a manuscript, a typescript, and printed drafts of Bok's decision involving his definition of obscenity in literature, handed down in the case of Commonwealth v. Gordon et al, tried in the Court of Quarter Sessions, Philadelphia, June, 1948.
- Collection Creator Biography:
Bok, Curtis, 1897-1962
Born in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, Curtis Bok became a common pleas court judge in Pennsylvania in 1937 and was elected as a justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1958. He published a number of books dealing with aspects of law.
Collection History
- Acquisition:
Court case material was the gift of Curtis Bok on April 11, 1950 .
- Custodial History
Originally, Backbone of the Herring material formed part of Princeton's Archives of American Literature.
- Appraisal
No appraisal information is available.
- Processing Information
Folder inventory added by Allyse Terrel '2014 in 2013.
Access & Use
- Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
- Conditions Governing Use
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. Inquiries regarding publishing material from the collection should be directed to RBSC Public Services staff through the Ask Us! form. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.
- Credit this material:
Curtis Bok Collection; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library
- Permanent URL:
- http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/ks65hc28j
- Location:
-
Firestone LibraryOne Washington RoadPrinceton, NJ 08544, USA
- Storage Note:
- ReCAP (rcpxm): Box 1-3
Find More
- Existence and Location of Copies
Published under same title (New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, 1941)
- Subject Terms:
- American fiction -- 20th century.
Judges -- United States -- 20th century.
Judicial process -- United States -- Cases.
Judicial process -- United States -- Fiction.
Obscenity (Law) -- United States -- 20th century. - Genre Terms:
- Manuscripts, American -- 20th century.
