Thomas Bohen papers regarding Grace Paley

id
6025
origination
Bohen, Thomas
date statement
1956-1989 [bulk 1958-1961]
key date
1956
identifier (local_mss)
5981
org unit
Manuscripts and Archives Division
call number
MssCol 5981
b-number
b16588027
total components
3
total series
0
max depth
1
boost queries
(none)
component layout
Default Layout
Extended MARC Fields
false
Extended Navigation
false
created
2013-04-01 15:05:29 UTC
updated
2026-06-26 18:20:23 UTC
status note
(missing)
Display Aeon link
true

Description data TOP

physdesc
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>".2 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"1 box", "unit"=>"containers"}], "supress_display"=>true}
unitid
{"value"=>"MssCol 5981", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"5981", "type"=>"local_mss"}
unitdate
{"value"=>"1956-1989", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1956/1989"}
{"value"=>"1958-1961", "type"=>"bulk", "normal"=>"1958/1961"}
date_inclusive_start
1956
date_inclusive_end
1989
keydate
1956
unittitle
{"value"=>"Thomas Bohen papers regarding Grace Paley"}
repository
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">The New York Public Library. <span class=\"subarea\">Manuscripts and Archives Division</span></span> <div class=\"address\"><span class=\"addressline\">New York, New York</span></div>"}
abstract
{"value"=>"Grace Paley was a writer of poetry and short stories during the second half of the twentieth century. The collection consists of her agent Thomas Bohen's papers regarding Paley's work, including correspondence with publishers, reviews, photographs, and manuscripts. The papers primarily concern the publication of Paley's first book of short stories, <span class=\"title\">The Little Disturbances of Man.</span>"}
prefercite
{"value"=>"<p>Thomas Bohen papers regarding Grace Paley, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library.</p>"}
origination
{"value"=>"Bohen, Thomas", "type"=>"persname"}
bioghist
{"value"=>"<p>Grace Paley was born in 1922 in the Bronx, New York, to a family of Russian-Jewish immigrants. She married in 1942 and subsequently had two children in 1949 and 1951. Regardless of her status as a housewife in New York during the 1950s, Paley focused on her writing, mainly poetry and short stories. In 1959, a collection of her short stories were published in <span class=\"title\">The Little Disturbances of Man.</span> Although the book received excellent reviews from critics in both Britain and America, it was never entirely welcomed by the general public. She won the Guggenheim Fellowship in Fiction in 1961, and continued writing into the 1990s.</p> <p>Thomas Bohen was an employee of MCA Artists, Ltd., a division of the Music Corporation of America, which was solely a music booking agency and television distributor during the 1950s. Bohen spent much of his time searching for and reading new TV scripts for programs. He signed Grace Paley onto an MCA Exclusive Management Contract in 1957, but later left the company to pursue other career opportunities, retaining Paley as a client.</p>"}
scopecontent
{"value"=>"<p>The collection consists of Thomas Bohen's papers regarding Grace Paley and her work from 1956-1989, primarily concerning the publication of her book <span class=\"title\">The Little Disturbances of Man</span> in 1959. The bulk of the papers include correspondence between Bohen and publishers in New York and London. There are also numerous MCA (Music Corporation of America) inter-office memos regarding publishing and contracts as well as correspondence with an MCA office in London regarding British publicity and reviews.</p> <p>The correspondents include Ken McCormick, the editor-in-chief of Doubleday & Co, Inc. which first published <span class=\"title\">The Little Disturbances of Man</span> in 1959 and Aaron Asher of Meridian Books, Inc. which published the book in paperback in 1960. The few letters between Bohen and Paley are generally informal, usually regarding contract agreements or enclosing new manuscripts. The remainder of correspondence is comprised of assorted letters to and from Bohen about further reviews, publications, and adaptations of the book for Broadway, CBS Films, the Theatre Guild, the Atlantic Monthly Press, and others. The collection also includes photographs of Paley, proposed jacket designs for the book, and two short story typescripts, \"A Gloomy Tune\" and \"An Irrevocable Diameter.\" In addition, there are many newspaper clippings of reviews of <span class=\"title\">The Little Disturbances of Man</span> in Britain and the United States and stories about her receipt of the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1961.</p>"}
acqinfo
{"value"=>"<p>Donated by Thomas Bohen, 1996</p>"}
processinfo
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Dianne Pierce.</p>"}
extent_statement
.2 linear feet (1 box)
date_start
1956
date_end
1989
date_bulk_start
1958
date_bulk_end
1961

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https://nyplorg-data-archives.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/collection/pdf_finding_aid/bohen.pdf

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