Collection Spotlight: Robert Giroux Papers, Christina Stead Correspondence
Today we look at correspondence between Harcourt, Brace & Co. and Christina Stead as one of the many examples within our Robert Giroux Papers illustrating the behind-the-scenes world of the publishing industry.
Robert Giroux (1914-2008) was an award-winning American editor who worked for Harcourt, Brace & Co. and Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc., where he was a vice president, partner (as of 1963), editor-in-chief, director, and chairperson of the board of editors.
Christina Stead (1902-1983) was an Australian writer of short stories and novels and is considered one of Australia’s greatest writers and is most well-known for her novel The Man Who Loved Children (1940).
The correspondence featured here concerns her book A Little Tea, A Little Chat (1948), a story of an middle aged American scoundrel during World War II who seduces and betrays women.
In the correspondence we find that the book’s sales have dwindled and Harcourt, Brace & Co. are offering her both the remaining copies and the plates from which the book was struck at a discount.
This is only a taste of what will prove to be an exciting research collection.
This collection’s status is currently in processing, but is available for research with an appointment at the Special Collections & Archives in Monroe Library at Loyola University New Orleans, M-F 9:00-4:30.
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Here is a little something extra! A program about Christina Stead from Radio National: The Character And Situation Of Christina Stead.