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Creator
Kazin, Alfred, 1915-1998
Call number
Berg Coll MSS Kazin archive
Physical description
48.25 linear feet (194 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation

Alfred Kazin papers, Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, The New York Public Library

Sponsor
The processing of the Alfred Kazin papers was made possible, in part, through the generous assistance of the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.
Repository
Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.
Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online.

Alfred Kazin (1915-1998) was an American literary and cultural critic, essayist, and historian. The Alfred Kazin papers comprise manuscript and typescript drafts and publication-related materials of Kazin's books, essays, book reviews, lectures, and poetry; as well as research files, journals, correspondence, photographs, audio and video recordings, computer disks; awards, and personal items.

Biographical/historical information

Alfred Kazin (1915-1998) was an American literary critic, essayist and historian. He was one of the most influential of the prominent New York intellectuals in the second half of the twentieth century, and belonged to the school of writers and thinkers associated with the Partisan Review.

Kazin was born June 5, 1915, in Brooklyn, New York, to Russian Jewish immigrants Charles Kazin and Gita Fagelman. He attended City College of New York and received an MA from Columbia University in 1938.

Kazin began his career as a book reviewer for The New Republic, where he became a literary editor (1942-1943) and contributing editor (1943-1945). Over his lifetime, he contributed to many influential, New York-based magazines and journals, including The Nation, Partisan Review, The Masses, Modernist Quarterly, and The New York Times.

In 1942, Kazin wrote On Native Grounds, his seminal study of American prose literature written between the years 1890-1940. Optimistic about the future of American literature, On Native Grounds attempted to demonstrate that the literature of the period was a product of the times, and a reaction against modernism. The book was recognized as a major contribution to American literary criticism.

Kazin also won acclaim for his three memoirs, A Walker in the City (1951), Starting Out in the Thirties (1965), and New York Jew (1978), all of which were finalists for the National Book Award. Other notable works by Kazin include The Inmost Leaf (1955), Contemporaries (1960), An American Procession (1984), A Writer's America (1988), Our New York (1990), and God and the American Writer (1997). Philip Roth called Kazin "America's best reader of American literature in this century."

Kazin taught in the English department at SUNY Stony Brook from 1963 to 1973, Hunter College from 1973 to 1978, and the CUNY Graduate Center from 1979 to 1985. He also lectured at Harvard, Smith, Notre Dame, and many other academic institutions.

Kazin was married four times: to Natasha Dohn, Caroline Bookman, Ann Birstein, and Judith Dunford. He had two children, Michael and Cathrael. Kazin died on June 5, 1998, in New York.

Scope and arrangement

The Alfred Kazin papers, dating from 1938 to 2001, document Kazin's career as an author and critic.

The collection includes typescripts of published and unpublished writings by Kazin, including books, essays, poetry, biographical sketches, and lectures; extensive notes and research files; personal and literary correspondence; photographs; audio and video recordings; computer disks; awards; and personal ephemera. The archive also includes a selection of memorials and tributes to Kazin written by family and friends.

The Alfred Kazin papers are arranged in seventeen series:

  • Series I: Works by Alfred Kazin
    1938-1999
    32.96 linear feet (132 boxes)

    This series contains typescript and holograph drafts, notes, and page proofs documenting Kazin's writings in all forms, including books, essays, lectures, interviews, and poetry. Kazin's books An American Procession, God and the American Writer and A Lifetime Burning in Every Moment are especially well-represented, though in total there is material relating to nine of his published works.

    Additionally, there are more than 75 of Kazin's journals from the years 1938 to 1998, as well as his datebooks and address books. There are also an extensive set of notebooks and research files on a variety of American literary figures and topics, including Herman Melville, the Civil War, Harriet Beecher Stowe, slavery, and African-American literature.

  • Series II: Correspondence
    1946-2001
    5.25 linear feet (21 boxes)

    This series includes personal and professional correspondence between Kazin, friends, family, and associates. There is incoming correspondence from over 60 persons, including writers, critics, cultural notables, intimate friends, and family members; fan mail; and outgoing correspondence from Kazin to over 250 recipients.

    Correspondents include Kazin's wife, Judith Dunford, as well as many friends in writing, publishing, and academia, including Louis Auchincloss, Paul Bowles, Anatole Broyard, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Malcolm Cowley, Francine du Plessix Gray, Louise Erdich, Richard Ford, Robert Giroux, Shirley Hazzard, Edward Hoagland, Stanley Kunitz, Gordon Lish, Norman Mailer, Bernard Malamund, James Merrill, Cynthia Ozick, Philip Roth, Arthur M. Schlesinger, William Styron, Truman Capote and John Updike.

  • Series III: Photographs
    0.92 linear feet (4 boxes)

    Includes candid photographs of Kazin with family and friends, professional headshots, and a photo album from Kazin's memorial service with photographs by Jill Krementz.

  • Series IV: Personal Documents
    1944-1996
    0.25 linear feet (1 box)

    Includes biographical material, résumés, marriage and divorce papers, passports, and other personal miscellany.

  • Series V: Awards and Honors
    1965-1996
    0.67 linear feet (3 boxes)

    Includes honorary degrees and other printed certificates and awards.

  • Series VI: Financial Papers
    1977-1998
    1.0 linear feet (4 boxes)

    Includes bank and credit card statements, income tax materials, and real estate documents.

  • Series VII: Medical Papers
    1991-1998
    0.5 linear feet (2 boxes)

    Includes Medicare and other health insurance statements and explanation of benefits.

  • Series VIII: Printed Materials by Alfred Kazin
    1.96 linear feet (8 boxes)

    Includes published essays, articles, book reviews, page proofs, and letters to the editor.

  • Series IX: Ephemera
    0.25 linear feet (1 box)
  • Series X: Audio Cassettes
    0.5 linear feet (2 boxes)

    Contains audio recordings of lectures by Kazin, A Walker in the City book on tape, and some miscellaneous radio and music recordings.

  • Series XI: Video Cassettes
    0.25 linear feet (1 box)

    Contains video recordings of lectures by Kazin as well as an episode of Arena on Phillip Roth.

  • Series XII: Computer Disks
    1990s
    0.5 linear feet (2 boxes)

    Contains 5" and 3" floppy disks, labeled as drafts of various works by Kazin.

  • Series XIII: Obituaries
    1998
    0.25 linear feet (1 box)

    Obituaries of Kazin published in magazines including The American Scholar, The New Yorker, Time, and others.

  • Series XIV: Memorials
    1998
    0.25 linear feet (1 box)

    Memorials of Kazin by Sandee Brawarsky, Morris Dickstein, Sean Wilentz, and others.

  • Series XV: Work by Others
    2.71 linear feet (11 boxes)

    Includes articles about Kazin by Richard Cook and others and reviews of his books, as well as essays and articles by other writers, including a complete typescript of Sabbath's Theater by Phillip Roth and a copy of The Crucible screenplay given to Kazin by Arthur Miller.

  • Series XVI: Realia
    1973-1998
    1.08 linear feet (4 boxes)

    Includes medals, awards, and plaques, as well as miscellaneous personal items including Kazin's wallet and eyeglasses.

  • Series XVII: Miscellaneous Oversize
    0.25 linear feet (1 box)

    Includes original dust jackets of Writing was Everything and A Walker in the City, as well as a large map of Wellfleet and Cape Cod.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Purchased from Judith Dunford in 2002, with additional donations in 2004, 2009, and 2021.

Revision History

Additions in boxes 192-194 processed and finding aid revised by Allison Hughes (2025)

Processing information

Processed by Declan Kiely and Joan Sherman.

Related Material

Alfred Kazin collection of papers, BergColl MSS Kazin, The Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, The New York Public Library.

Photographs of Alfred Kazin and family from the Alfred Kazin papers, 1938-1999, Berg Coll m.b. Kazin ZP8 P46, Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, The New York Public Library.

Using the collection

Location

Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Third Floor, Room 320