Archives of Southern New Hampshire University
Guide to the Robert J. Begiebing Papers
Collection number: 100.10
Size: 20 boxes
Formats:
Manuscripts and Typescripts
Newspapers and Publications
Letters and Postcards
Audio and Video Recordings
Photographs
About Robert J. Begiebing
Robert J. Begiebing This link opens in a new window was born in Adams, Massachusetts, in 1946, and graduated from Granada Hills High School, California, in 1964. From there he went on to receive his B.A. in English (with high honors) from Norwich University in 1968, his M.A. in English from Boston College in 1970, and his Ph.D in English from the University of New Hampshire in 1977. Between graduate degrees, he served on active duty in the U.S. Army from 1970-72. He married Linda Adams (of Millbury, MA) in 1968, with whom he had two daughters, Brie (1979) and Kate (1982). He taught at New Hampshire College/ Southern New Hampshire University from 1977 until his retirement in 2011 as Professor of English Emeritus, winning three teaching awards during his tenure at the university. He served as the founding director of the university’s B.A. in English and Creative writing and the MFA in Fiction and Nonfiction. In 1983 he served as the founding editor of The New Hampshire College/ SNHU Journal. He also taught, as one of the inaugural faculty members, in the Writing Workshops at the Norman Mailer Center in Provincetown, MA.
Begiebing is the author of many articles and reviews and nine books, including fiction (The Strange Death of Mistress Coffin, The Adventures of Allegra Fullerton, Rebecca Wentworth’s Distraction, and The Turner Erotica), criticism (Acts of Regeneration, Toward a New Synthesis, and The Literature of Nature), memoir (A Berkshire Boyhood), and journalism (The Territory Around Us). In 2003 Rebecca Wentworth’s Distraction won the Langum Prize for Historical Fiction. His fiction writing was supported by grants from the New Hampshire Council on the Arts and the Lila Wallace Fund. In 2007, Governor John Lynch appointed Begiebing to the New Hampshire Council on the Arts.
About the Robert J. Begiebing Papers
The Robert J. Begiebing papers consists of manuscripts, books, literary correspondence, periodical publications (academic articles as well as literary and political journalism), and other items. The collection includes literary correspondence with Donald Hall, Norman Mailer, Wesley McNair, Louis Rubin, and Merle Drown, among others, as well as correspondence with agents, editors, and publishers' marketers for various books and periodicals projects. The collection includes unpublished manuscripts and manuscripts in various stages of revision, and reviews of the author’s works.
Materials in this collection maintains the arrangement established by Professor Begiebing.
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
The author and family members will have access to the materials upon request, as will student or professional scholars, under the university’s guidelines of standard archival practices. Since a considerable amount of the correspondence holds personal information and uncensored expressions of thoughts on a variety of subjects, scholars beyond the author’s family should have specific research projects in mind when granted access to the archive.
Copyright Notice
Contents of this collection are governed by U.S. copyright law. For questions about publication or reproduction rights, contact Archives Collections staff
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], [Folder number], [Box number], Robert J. Begiebing Papers, 100.10, Harry A.B. and Gertrude C. Shapiro Library, Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester, NH, USA
Acquisitions Information
Gift of Robert J. Begiebing, 2015
Collection Contents
Box 1
Box 1, Folder 1 Wesley McNair, 1983 – 1991
Box 1, Folder 2 Wesley McNair, 1992 – 2000
Box 1, Folder 3 Wesley McNair, 2001 – 2014
Box 2
Box 2, Folder 1 Mailer Conference
Box 2, Folder 2 Sam Coale
Box 2, Folder 3 Mailer Talk, Colby-Sawyer, 1985
Box 2, Folder 4 Mailer-Hemingway Dialog
Box 2, Folder 5 Mailer-Hemmingway Research Materials
Box 2, Folder 6 Norman Mailer Correspondence
Box 2, Folder 7 Harvard Interview, Raw Transcript
Box 2, Folder 8 Mailer Interview
Box 2, Folder 9 Michael Lennon, Mailer’s Biographer
Box 2, Folder 10 Donald Hall
Box 3
Box 3, Folder 1 Rebecca Wentworth
Box 3, Folder 2 Rebecca Wentworth UPNE Editorial
Box 3, Folder 3 Rebecca Wentworth
Box 3, Folder 4 Langum Prize
Box 3, Folder 5 Newbury, May 2, 2005, New Hampshire Library
Box 3, Folder 6 Past events, Itinerary, Spotlight Publicity
Box 3, Folder 7 Rebecca Wentworth Scovil Contract
Box 3, Folder 8 Rebecca Wentworth Marketing and Publicity
Box 3, Folder 9 Rebecca Wentworth Reviews
Box 3, Folder 10 Marketing Rebecca Fiction
Box 3, Folder 11 Book ‘Em, Lebanon, New Hampshire, September 9, 2006
Box 3, Folder 12 Dartmouth Bookstore, May 14, UPNE
Box 3, Folder 13 Strawbery Bank Bookstore
Box 3, Folder 15 UNH Library, Stratham Library, Durham Men’s Group
Box 3, Folder 16 NHWP, Manuscript Evaluations, Rambling Recluse
Box 3, Folder 17 The Turner Erotica Novel 2013
Box 3, Folder 18 Book Review
Box 3, Folder 19 Sy Montgomery 2007 Residency
Box 3, Folder 20 Brendan Galvin
Box 3, Folder 21 Professor Paul Lewis, Boston College
Box 3, Folder 22 Larry Kinsman
Box 3, Folder 23 Katie Towler
Box 3, Folder 24 Diane Les Becquets
Box 3, Folder 25 Short Story Correspondence, published
Box 3, Folder 26 Jack Scovil, Publishing Idea
Box 3, Folder 27 J. Parker Huber, Editor & Author
Box 3, Folder 28 Gary Snyder, Paper
Box 3, Folder 29 Emma LeBlanc, Rhodes Scholarship, SNHU
Box 3, Folder 30 Jon Clinch
Box 3, Folder 31 Richard Rhodes
Box 3, Folder 32 Algonquin Books, Novel #2
Box 3, Folder 33 Poetry Masters
Box 3, Folder 34 UPNE
Box 3, Folder 35 Scovil, Wolves
Box 3, Folder 36 Jack Scovil, miscellaneous and MFA
Box 3, Folder 37 Miscellaneous Literary Correspondence
Box 3, Folder 38 Mailer Book Review – USA Today
Box 4
Box 4, Folder 1 Rebecca Wentworth’s Distraction, Version sent to UPNE, May 2002
Box 4, Folder 2 Rebecca Wentworth’s Distraction, Uncorrected Proof, April 2003
Box 5
Box 5, Folder 1 Literature of Nature, Permissions
Box 5, Folder 2 Literature of Nature, Business
Box 5, Folder 3 Literature of Nature and Owen Grumbling
Box 5, Folder 4 Literature of Nature McGraw-Hill Spin-Off As Proposed
Box 5, Folder 5 Literature of Nature Contract and Marketing
Box 5, Folder 6 The Literature of Nature
Box 5, Folder 7 Literature of Nature, Related Correspondence
Box 5, Folder 8 Literature of Nature, Copyright and Permissions
Box 5, Folder 9 20th Century Permissions Accepted
Box 5, Folder 10 Faulkner - Nature
Box 5, Folder 11 20th Century Permissions Not Accepted
Box 5, Folder 12 19th Century Permissions
Box 5, Folder 13 Wendell Berry
Box 5, Folder 14 Aldo Leopold
Box 5, Folder 15 Portsmouth Library, March 31, 2004
Box 5, Folder 16 Enemy Hands Screen Play
Box 5, Folder 17 Enemy Hands Screen Play
Box 6
Box 6 Folder 1 Mistress Coffin, Further Business
Box 6 Folder 2 Mistress Coffin, Sheldon Kaplan, Film Option
Box 6, Folder 3 Mistress Coffin
Box 6, Folder 4 Mistress Coffin Out of Print, Algonquin, Reversion of Rights, 2005 - 2009
Box 6, Folder 5 River City Productions
Box 6, Folder 6 Mistress Coffin, Screen Play
Box 6, Folder 7 Old Copies, 20th Century Introduction, Sample Drafting and Editing
Box 6, Folder 8 Acts of Regeneration, University of Texas Correspondence
Box 6, Folder 9 Acts of Regeneration
Box 6, Folder 10 Acts of Regeneration, University of Missouri Press
Box 6, Folder 11 Acts of Regeneration, University of Missouri Press, Photographs
Box 6, Folder 12 Literature of Nature, Editorial Correspondence
Box 7
Box 7, Folder 1 Mistress Coffin Research Notes
Box 7, Folder 2 Five Revisions
Box 7, Folder 3 17th Vocabulary
Box 7, Folder 4 Mistress Coffin Research Notes
Box 7, Folder 5 Articles
Box 7, Folder 6 Chronologies and Genealogies
Box 7, Folder 7 2 Votes, Subjects Needed Biblical (or Secular…) Needed or Found
Box 7, Folder 8 Local Resources
Box 7, Folder 9 Editorial Correspondence, Mistress Coffin, 1989 - 1990
Box 7, Folder 10 Editorial Correspondence, Mistress Coffin, 1991 - 1998
Box 7, Folder 11 Publicity Photographs
Box 7, Folder 12 Algonquin Promotional Materials
Box 7, Folder 13 Promotional Statements, Algonquin
Box 7, Folder 14 Reprint Pap. Algonquin, 1996 SDMC
Box 7, Folder 15 Algonquin’s Paperback Edition, Correspondence, 1995 – 1997, Mistress Coffin
Box 7, Folder 16 2 PBC 1997
Box 7, Folder 17 SDMC, Talks and Lectures
Box 7, Folder 18 April 12, Frontiers Knowledge
Box 7, Folder 19 Providence, January 21, 1992
Box 7, Folder 20 University of Maine, Farmington, March 26, Farmington Reading
Box 7, Folder 21 November 1, Mistress Coffin, NHC “Spectrum” Series with Dick Pantano
Box 7, Folder 22 Seacoast Writers, September 28
Box 7, Folder 23 Dover Historical Society, 2ndary Information
Box 7, Folder 24 May 6, 1992, Farm Museum, New Hampshire
Box 7, Folder 25 March 17, NHPWP
Box 7, Folder 26 Oct. 18, Academic Librarian Conference, at NHC, Dick Pantano, Emcee
Box 7, Folder 27 May 17, Romance Writers, Framingham, Massachusetts
Box 8
Box 8, Folder 1 The Strange Death of Mistress Coffin, Proof, 1991
Box 8, Folder 2 The Strange Death of Mistress Coffin, Master Page Proof
Box 8, Folder 3 The Strange Death of Mistress Coffin, Edited Manuscript, January 2, 1991
Box 8, Folder 4 Bibliographic Note Cards
Box 9
Box 9, Folder 1 Miscellaneous Reviews, Mistress Coffin
Box 9, Folder 2 Mistress Coffin Public Correspondence
Box 9, Folder 3 Mistress Coffin Reviews
Box 9, Folder 4 Mystery Bookstore, Cambridge Bookstores, Reprint
Box 9, Folder 5 “Hall of Fame,” Doubleday, Mistress Coffin
Box 9, Folder 6 Contemporary Literary Criticism Review Mistress Coffin
Box 9, Folder 7 Boston Globe Review, Profile
Box 9, Folder 8 Boston Magazine Review Mistress Coffin
Box 9, Folder 9 L.A. Times Profile, Mistress Coffin
Box 9, Folder 10 Yankee Magazine Review, Mistress Coffin
Box 9, Folder 11 Local Reviews, Mistress Coffin
Box 9, Folder 12 New Hampshire Life Magazine, Review, Excerpt from Mistress Coffin
Box 9, Folder 13 Foster’s Daily Democrat Review Mistress Coffin
Box 9, Folder 14 Washington State Papers, Mistress Coffin
Box 9, Folder 15 Lawrence Eagle Tribune, Mistress Coffin Reviews
Box 9, Folder 16 New Hampshire Sunday News, Union Leader
Box 9, Folder 17 New Hampshire Premier
Box 9, Folder 18 North Adams Transcript
Box 9, Folder 19 Exeter Newsletter
Box 9, Folder 20 Southern Humanities Review, Mistress Coffin
Box 9, Folder 21 Publishers Weekly
Box 9, Folder 22 Publishers Weekly, Mistress Coffin
Box 9, Folder 23 Mostly Murder Periodical, Mistress Coffin
Box 9, Folder 24 Mistress Coffin, Reviews, New York Times
Box 9, Folder 25 Mistress Coffin
Box 9, Folder 26 Mistress Coffin 1991 Correspondence, Readings, Readers, Etc.
Box 9, Folder 27 Louis Rubin’s Past, Algonquin Projects
Box 10
Box 10, Folder 1 New Synthesis, Gardner, Chapter 1
Box 10, Folder 2 New Synthesis, Gardner Chapter Notes
Box 10, Folder 3 New Synthesis, Mailer Chapter
Box 10, Folder 4 New Synthesis, Mailer Chapter, For Typist
Box 10, Folder 5 New Synthesis, Mailer Chapter, Final Corrections, Poetry
Box 10, Folder 6 Gardner
Box 10, Folder 7 New Synthesis, Final Corrections, Gardner Chapter
Box 10, Folder 8 Mailer Chapter (2)
Box 10, Folder 9 Mailer Chapter (1)
Box 10, Folder 10 Mailer
Box 10, Folder 11 New Synthesis Research Notes, Conclusion
Box 11
Box 11 Folder 1 New Synthesis Introduction
Box 11 Folder 2 New Synthesis Introduction, Cut and Paste
Box 11, Folder 3 Continued Criticism, Synthesis Introduction Research
Box 11, Folder 4 New Synthesis Variant Introduction
Box 11, Folder 5 New Synthesis Introduction to End, Final Typed Version
Box 11, Folder 6 New Synthesis Fowles Chapter and Revisions/Notes
Box 11, Folder 7 Fowles Chapter Final Corrections for Typescript
Box 11, Folder 8 Rewrite, Chapter 2, Fowles
Box 11, Folder 9 New Synthesis, Fowles
Box 11, Folder 10 Fowles Notes, New Synthesis
Box 11, Folder 11 New Synthesis, Gardner Chapter 2
Box 11, Folder 12 Research Notes, Gardner Chapter, New Synthesis
Box 12
Box 12, Folder 1 Sandy Garnett
Box 12, Folder 2 Fruitlands and/or Houghton Mifflin Permissions
Box 12, Folder 3 American Antiquarian Society Permissions/Reproductions, Allegra Fullerton
Box 12, Folder 4 German Permissions
Box 12, Folder 5 Bob Begiebing Figures and Illustrations Permissions Allegra Fullerton
Box 12, Folder 6 Cover and Editorial, Allegra Fullerton
Box 12, Folder 7 UNH Library Current Searches and New Notes to be Integrated
Box 12, Folder 8 AAS, May 1998
Box 12, Folder 9 New Synthesis Colleague Commentary
Box 12, Folder 10 Gordon’s Mails
Box 12, Folder 11 Sam Coale’s Commentary
Box 12, Folder 12 Publisher Prospects, New Synthesis
Box 12, Folder 13 2nd Tier for Submissions, Synthesis, Book Submissions and Correspondence
Box 12, Folder 14 University of Pennsylvania Press
Box 12, Folder 15 Illinois, Southern Illinois
Box 12, Folder 16 Missouri
Box 12, Folder 17 New Synthesis, Grants Results and Effects
Box 12, Folder 18 Synthesis Book and Mailer
Box 13
Box 13, Folder 1 Allegra Fullerton
Box 13, Folder 2 Reader Responses to Early Manuscript in Progress, Allegra Fullerton
Box 13, Folder 3 Allegra Fullerton Correspondence
Box 13, Folder 4 UPNE Correspondence, etc. Allegra Fullerton
Box 13, Folder 5 UPNE Contract, etc. Allegra Fullerton
Box 13, Folder 6 Allegra Fullerton Reviews
Box 13, Folder 7 Allegra Fullerton promotional Correspondence
Box 13, Folder 8 Public Presentations Allegra Fullerton
Box 13, Folder 9 AWP Conference
Box 13, Folder 10 Currier Gallery, October 25, 2010
Box 13, Folder 11 Gibson, February 3 at 7:00 PM
Box 13, Folder 12 UNE, January 24th, 2000 at Noon
Box 13, Folder 13 Nashua Library, January 19th at 7:00
Box 13, Folder 14 Barnes and Noble, Manchester, January 15th at 2:00 PM
Box 13, Folder 15 Laconia, December 5th at 2:00 PM
Box 13, Folder 16 Toadstool Bookshop, Milford, New Hampshire, December 12 at 1:00 to 3:00
Box 13, Folder 17 Water Street, November 3 at 7:30 Reading
Box 13, Folder 18 PEN New England Panel, July 10th
Box 13, Folder 19 OTTE Postcard
Box 13, Folder 20 Correspondence from Readers
Box 13, Folder 21 New Hampshire Writers Project Reading, May 11
Box 13, Folder 22 Allegra Reviews
Box 14
Box 14, Folder 1 The Adventures of Allegra Fullerton, Proof
Box 14, Folder 2 Sandy Garnett
Box 14, Folder 3 Jack Scovil, Agent
Box 14, Folder 4 Bibliographic Note Cards
Box 15
Box 15, Folder 1 By Their Expenditures Ye Shall Know Them, Article in Art times and NHC Journal
Box 15, Folder 2 By Their Expenditures Drafts and Revisions of Article1997 and Agreement to Publish
Box 15, Folder 3 Art Times Serial Version, Parts I, II, III
Box 15, Folder 4 Art Times Serial Version, Parts I, II, III
Box 15, Folder 5 Thinking Like a Cancer
Box 15, Folder 6 South Church, Portsmouth, Fall 2000
Box 15, Folder 7 P.E.E.R. and John Mack
Box 15, Folder 8 Participants, Portsmouth Unitarian Church and John Mack
Box 15, Folder 9 Thinking Like a Camera, the Long Version
Box 15, Folder 10 Thoreau/Nationalistic Radicals
Box 15, Folder 11 Nonfiction Book – Radical ‘97
Box 15, Folder 12 1998 Fall, Final Revision, Master, Camera
Box 15, Folder 13 Short Version, Thinking Like a Camera, to Word Magazine
Box 15, Folder 14 Thinking Like a Camera, Research Notes
Box 15, Folder 15 Sold Down the River, 7 Meditations, Book Efforts Before Articles
Box 15, Folder 16 Op-Ed, Nationalistic Radicals of the Right, Thoreau
Box 15, Folder 17 Originals of All Chapters, Masters
Box 15, Folder 18 7 Meditations Proposals Copying Originals
Box 15, Folder 19 Down The River: 7 Meditations, The Manuscript We Ended Up With, Incomplete
Box 16
Box 16, Folder 1 Toward a New Synthesis, Author Proof
Box 16, Folder 2 Toward a New Synthesis, Cut and Paste Version of Manuscript
Box 16, Folder 3 Bibliographic Notecards
Box 17
Box 17, Folder 1 SNHU Literary Papers
Box 17, Folder 2 Starbuck
Box 17, Folder 3 The Goblin Market
Box 17, Folder 4 David
Box 17, Folder 5 NEASA Plenary Panelist
Box 17, Folder 6 Pine Point Visiting Writer
Box 17, Folder 7 Conference on Fantastic in the Arts
Box 17, Folder 8 New Hampshire Council on the Arts
Box 17, Folder 9 Innovations, Nashua, New Hampshire
Box 17, Folder 10 Spotlight Music Review
Box 17, Folder 11 NHCH Evaluation
Box 18
Box 18, Folder 1 MFA Program Samples
Box 18, Folder 2 MFA, Retirement
Box 18, Folder 3 NHC Publicity
Box 18, Folder 4 NHC Marketing, Mistress Coffin
Box 18, Folder 5 Program Description, 2007 Admissions
Box 18, Folder 6 NHWP, SNHU
Box 18, Folder 7 NHWP, Bob’s Dan Brown Introduction
Box 18, Folder 8 SNHU, NHWP
Box 18, Folder 9 MLA Commentary Proposal Correspondence
Box 18, Folder 10 NEMLA Fowles Talk, 1985 – 1989
Box 18, Folder 11 NEMLA Talk, 1987
Box 18, Folder 12 MA Thesis on Thomas Wolfe, Boston College
Box 18, Folder 13 Profile New Hampshire Times, Merle Drown
Box 18, Folder 14 Sydney Lea, New Hampshire Times
Box 18, Folder 15 Sydney Lea
Box 18, Folder 16 Lowel Ulrich, New Hampshire Times Profile
Box 18, Folder 17 New Hampshire Times
Box 18, Folder 18 New Hampshire Times, Wes McNair
Box 19
Box 19, Folder 1 American Studies Association Conference
Box 19, Folder 2 A Samples of NHC Years, 1977 to 1994, 2001, Community Participation
Box 20
Box 20, Tape 1 NHPR Bob Interview, 2003, Rebecca
Box 20, Tape 2 What’s Your Story? Episode 1, March 25, 2001
Box 20, Tape 3 The Strange Death of Mistress Coffin, WNTN Radio
Box 20, Tape 4 Talk of the Seacoast with Robert Begiebing, The Strange Death of Mistress Coffin, WERZ
Box 20, Tape 5 WEVO Interview Mistress Coffin
Box 20, Tape 6 Interview Maine, Portland Radio
Box 20, Tape 7 Begiebing Interview for NHC Journal
Box 20, Tape 8 Sydney Lea, NH Times, 1983, #1 and 2
Box 20, Tape 9 Sydney Lea, NH Times, 1983, #3
Box 20, Tape 10 Wesley McNair, NH Times, #1 and 2
Box 20, Tape 11 Wesley McNair, NH Times, #3 and 4
Box 20, Tape 12 Laurel Ulrich, NH Times, 1983, # 1 and 2
Box 20, Tape 13 Laurel Ulrich, NH Times, 1983, #3
Box 20, Tape 14 Merle Drown Interview, NH Times, 1983, # 1 and 2
Box 20, Tape 15 Merle Drown Interview, NH Times, 1983, #3
Box 20, Tape 16 Norman Mailer, Harvard
Box 20, Tape 17 Norman Mailer, Harvard
Box 20, Tape 18 Interview, Norman Mailer
Box 20, Disc 1 Longfellow Days, 2013, Wesley McNair
Box 20, Disc 2 The Front Porch, Bob Begiebing, October 1, 2003
Box 20, Disc 3 New Voices, January 31, 2004
Box 20, VHS 1 Bob’s TV Interview, July 1991 and Bob’s NH Outlook Interview, March 2004
Box 20, VHS 2 New Hampshire College, the Humanities Series, Donald Hall and Wesley McNair, November 4, 1988