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This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the FAQ section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 1.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 625 items) |
| Abstract | Lewis Gaston Leary was an English professor and scholar. Leary taught English at the University of Miami, 1935-1941; Duke University, 1941-1951; Columbia University, 1951-1968, serving as department chairman, 1962-1968; and was William Rand Kenan Professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1968-1976. Correspondence, subject files, writings, and photographs of Leary and others. Correspondence is with writers and other critics and scholars. It includes letters, 1954 and 1972(?), from Robert Penn Warren (1905- ); 1928-1964, from Marc Van Doren (1894-1972); and 1944-1968, from Lionel Trilling (1905-1975). These letters discuss academic and critical matters, and include some letters from Van Doren and Trilling to persons other than Leary. Also included are letters, 1952-1970, between Leary and poet Ezra Pound and others related to the publication of books and articles by Leary about Pound's work; and letters, 1909-1932, to A. H. Thorndike (1871-1933), professor of English at Columbia University, concerning academic and scholarly matters. Subject files deal largely with Leary's experiences as a faculty member, especially at Columbia University. |
| Creator | Leary, Lewis Gaston, 1906-1990. |
| Language | English |
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Information For Users
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Biographical Information
Lewis Gaston Leary, Jr., son of Lewis Gaston, a Presbyterian clergyman, and Beatrice Knight Leary, was born 18 April 1906 in Blauvelt, New York. In 1928, he received a B.S. in education from the University of Vermont. He received an M.A. in English in 1932 and a Ph.D. in 1941, both from Columbia University. On 7 March 1932, he married Mary Warren Hudson. They had two children, Carolyn Warren (Mrs. William Bartholet) and Martha Hudson (Mrs. Ted Allen).
Leary was an instructor in English at the American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon, from 1928 to 1931. He taught English at the University of Miami from 1935 to 1941 and at Duke University, 1941-1951. In 1951, he returned to Columbia University as a professor of English, serving as chairman of the Department of English and Comparative Literature from 1962 to 1968. He was William Rand Kenan Professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1968 until his retirement in 1976. In 1976, Leary received the Jay B. Hubbell Award for distinguished service in the study of American literature, presented by the American Literature Section of the Modern Language Association.
Leary wrote or edited numerous books on American authors, including works on Philip Freneau, Nathaniel Tucker, Mark Twain, John Greenleaf Whittier, Ezra Pound, Herman Melville, Henry David Thoreau, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and William Faulkner.
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Scope and Content
Correspondence, subject files, writings, and photographs of Leary and others. Correspondence is with writers and other critics and scholars. It includes letters, 1954 and 1972(?), from Robert Penn Warren (1905- ); 1928-1964, from Marc Van Doren (1894-1972); and 1944-1968, from Lionel Trilling (1905-1975). These letters discuss academic and critical matters, and include some letters from Van Doren and Trilling to persons other than Leary. Also included are letters, 1952-1970, between Leary and poet Ezra Pound and others related to the publication of books and articles by Leary about Pound's work; and letters, 1909-1932, to A. H. Thorndike (1871-1933), professor of English at Columbia University, concerning academic and scholarly matters. Subject files deal largely with Leary's experiences as a faculty member, especially at Columbia University.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. General Correspondence, 1909-1985 and undated.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Mostly professional correspondence of Lewis Leary. This series also contains several letters to his wife Mary Warren. Included is some correspondence of A. H. (Ashley Horace) Thorndike (1871-1933), professor of English at Columbia University, 1906-1933. Folder 53 also contains correspondence with Thorndike about Lionel Trilling.
Series 2 and 3 also contain items of correspondence. Letters from Ezra Pound are in Series 2, folder 75.
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Series 2. Subject Files, 1920-1984.
Arrangement: chronological.
Correspondence and other items relating primarily to Lewis Leary's career as an English professor and to his tenure at various universities. The original folder names have been maintained.
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Series 3. Writings, 1933-1984.
Arrangement: chronological.
Correspondence relating to That Rascal Freneau (1941), a photocopy typescript of The Book-Peddling Parson (1984), and articles and book reviews by Lewis Leary.
| Folder 78-81 |
That Rascal Freneau #04110, Series: "3. Writings, 1933-1984." Folder 78-81Folder 78Folder 79Folder 80Folder 81 |
| Folder 82-84 |
The Book-Peddling Parson #04110, Series: "3. Writings, 1933-1984." Folder 82-84Folder 82Folder 83Folder 84 |
| Folder 85 |
Other writings #04110, Series: "3. Writings, 1933-1984." Folder 85 |
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Series 4. Pictures, 1926-1982 and undated.
Mostly black-and-white photographs of Lewis Leary and others. An item list follows.
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Items Separated
Processed by: Gina Overcash, March 1988
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
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