Contents and Arrangement Collection View
Description:

Consists of the files of David Higham Associates from 1965-1972 on such individuals as Chinua Achebe, William Mann, and Joan Fleming, as well as others.

Arranged chronologically.

A-Z, 1968

3 boxes

A-Z, 1969

4 boxes

A-Z, 1970

5 boxes

A-Z, 1971

5 boxes

A-Z, 1972

5 boxes
Description:

Consists of the files of Bolt & Watson Limited from 1971-1972 on individuals such as Chinua Achebe, Borchardt, and Helena Osborne, as well as others.

This series is first organized chronologically by year, and then alphabetically by correspondent.

Description:

Consists of the files of Hughes Massie Limited from 1968-1972 on individuals such as Sherwood Anderson, Agatha Christie, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Langston Hughes, as well as others.

This series is first organized chronologically by year, and then alphabetically by correspondent.

A-Z, 1968

2 boxes

A-Z, 1969

2 boxes

A-Z, 1970

2 boxes

A-Z, 1971

2 boxes

A-Z, 1972

2 boxes
Description:

Consists primarily of 3 x 5 typed cards (with autograph notes) organized by author name with indications of works sold to magazines.

Cards are grouped in boxes based on which cards appear to be a part of the same card-file group.

Description:

Consists of author files from 1927-1999 on authors such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sherwood Anderson, Pearl S. Buck, Agatha Christie, William Faulkner, and Dylan Thomas, as well as others.

This series is first organized chronologically by year, and then alphabetically by correspondent.

A-Z, 1952

2 boxes

A-Z, 1953

2 boxes

A-Z, 1954

2 boxes

A-Z, 1955

2 boxes

A-Z, 1956

3 boxes

A-Z, 1957

3 boxes

A-Z, 1958

5 boxes

A-Z, 1959

3 boxes

A-Z, 1960

3 boxes

A-Z, 1961

3 boxes

A-Z, 1962

3 boxes

A-Z, 1963

3 boxes

A-Z, 1964

5 boxes

A-Z, 1965

4 boxes

A-Z, 1966

5 boxes

A-Z, 1967

5 boxes

A-Z, 1968

11 boxes

A-Z, 1969

11 boxes

A-Z, 1970

10 boxes

A-Z, 1971

11 boxes

A-Z, 1972

12 boxes

A-Z, 1973

18 boxes

A-Z, 1974

19 boxes

A-Z, 1975

19 boxes

A-Z, 1976

20 boxes

A-Z, 1977

20 boxes

A-Z, 1978

17 boxes

A-Z, 1979

18 boxes

A-Z, 1980

20 boxes

A-Z, 1981

19 boxes

A-Z, 1982

18 boxes

A-Z, 1983

20 boxes

A-Z, 1984

20 boxes

A-Z, 1985

21 boxes

A-Z, 1986

22 boxes

A-Z, 1987

21 boxes

A-Z, 1988

19 boxes

A-Z, 1989

19 boxes

A-Z, 1990

18 boxes

A-Z, 1991

20 boxes

A-Z, 1992

22 boxes

A-Z, 1993

21 boxes

A-Z, 1994

22 boxes

A-Z, 1995

21 boxes

A-Z, 1996

18 boxes

A-Z, 1997

20 boxes

A-Z, 1998

21 boxes

A-Z, 1999

17 boxes
Description:

Consists of additional author files from 2000-2002 on authors such as Chinua Achebe, Sherwood Anderson, Agatha Christie, and Lois Lowry.

This series is arranged into three subseries: 2000, 2001, and 2002.

A-Z, 2000

19 boxes

A-Z, 2001

23 boxes

A-Z, 2002

22 boxes

BB, 2002

1 folder
Description:

Aside from files for individual authors, there are also general or miscellaneous files for each letter per year.

Arranged alphabetically by date.

A, 2005

1 box
Description:

Biographical material for authors ordered alphabetically.

Arranged alphabetically.

Description:

Date books ordered chronologically.

Arranged by date.

Description:

Compiled of organizational ledgers including financial and account books as well as mail receipt ledgers and telephone call ledgers.

Arranged alphabetically by format.

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of the Harold Ober Associates author files (1927-2002), organizational date books (1950-2017), financial and account ledgers (1935-2010), and files of the agency's three London affiliates: David Higham Associates (1965-1972), Bolt & Watson Limited (1971-1972), and Hughes Massie Limited (1968-1972).

The Harold Ober Associates author files contain correspondence with clients and with editors, publishers, and other agents concerning clients' work. Also included are occasional manuscripts of stories or poems, chapter outlines of novels, and revisions/insertions for clients' work, as well as copies of some contracts. The files of the London affiliate agencies generally contain inter-agency correspondence about clients' work, although letters directly from the authors frequently appear.

Authors with major files in the records include Richard Adams, William Barrett, Catherine Drinker Bowen, Pearl Buck, Walter Edmonds, John Gunther, Langston Hughes, John Bartlow Martin, Muriel Spark, and Philip Wylie. Literary estate correspondence for F. Scott Fitzgerald and William Faulkner is also sizable.

Arrangement

All the series are organized chronologically by year and then alphabetically by the correspondent's last name or by organization name, as appropriate.

The Author Files for the years 1973-1982 also contain material from the affiliate agencies.

Collection Creator Biography:

Harold Ober Associates

Harold Ober Associates, Inc., is a literary agency in New York City. Established by Harold Ober in the 1920s, it quickly grew in size and reputation and has been considered one of the leading representatives for American and British writers in the world.

Acquisition:

Harold Ober and Associates made a gift of these materials to the Special Collections.

Appraisal

No appraisal information is available.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by numerous staff over the years as additions arrived. The finding aid was written by Karla Vecchia in 2002. This was updated by Traci Ballou in 2006. The finding aid was updated again in 2018 by Chloe Pfendler with the addition of AM 2019-34. Box and folder inventories prepared by Ben Roberts and Carlos Giron.

In 2022, restrictions on F. Scott Fitzgerald materials and on an Ernest Hemingway letter where researchers were required to use surrogates were lifted as part of a restrictions review project.

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Credit this material:

Archives of Harold Ober Associates; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/b5644r569
Location:
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-3184
Storage Note:
  • This is stored in multiple locations.
  • ReCAP (scarcpxm): Boxes 1-29; 31; 33; 35-37; 39-56; 170-641; 681-819; 821-856; 170R; 171R; 172R; 173R; 174R; 175R; 176R; 177R; 178R; 179R; 180R; 181R; 182R; 183R; 184R; 185R; 186R; 187R; 188R; 189R; 190R; 191R; 192R; 193R; 194R; 195R; 196R; 197R; 198R; 199R; 200R; 201R; 202R; 203R; 204R; 205R; 206R; 207R; 208R
  • Firestone Library (scamss): Boxes 208, 30, 32, 34, 38, 57
  • location_under_review: Box 820