Scope and Content Note
The American Scholar is a quarterly magazine of public affairs, literature, science, history, and culture published by the Phi Beta Kappa Society since 1932. Its records span the years 1926 to 2010, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period between 1944 and 2009. The collection is arranged in four parts.
While the American Scholar is anchored in the academic world, it is produced for a public audience and modeled on the call for independent thinking and interaction with the world as expressed in Ralph Waldo Emerson's Harvard College speech in 1837 of the same name. The editors of the publication built the magazine around a core of polished essays and wide-ranging book reviews. The volumes include poetry and, since 2006, fiction, along with varying departments, such as an editor's column, writer's journals, or thematic gleanings designated as "Commonplace Book." The magazine publishes works by noted authors, academic stars, and Nobel laureates, as well as new and otherwise obscure writers. Publication of reader replies has been a constant throughout its history.
Part I
Part I of the records of the American Scholar span the years 1926 to 1980, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period between 1944 and 1976. It is arranged by accession number in the order in which it was received by the Library and thereunder as General Editorial File, Author File, or Miscellany.
The General Editorial File documents the daily activities of publishing the quarterly magazine. The correspondence reveals the relationship between the editor and his staff, especially after the editorial office moved to Williamsburg, Virginia, while the editor remained in New York. The routine tasks involved in printing, advertising, and distributing the magazine are also detailed. A significant aspect of this series is the correspondence between the editor and the members of the editorial board who were recognized authorities in a variety of fields.
The Author File contains correspondence with authors who submitted material to the magazine. It is possible to follow the progress of a manuscript from original submission through publication and the file includes comments by editorial board members, revisions or suggestions for revision, and requests for reprints. Very few of the actual manuscripts remain in the files; they were apparently returned to the author after publication or rejection.
Part II
Part II of the records of the American Scholar spans the years 1931 to 1988, with the bulk concentrated in the period between 1976 and 1988. It is arranged in General Editorial File, Author File, and Miscellany series.
The earliest correspondence and financial reports in the General Editorial File pertain to the launching of the magazine and its formative years. Most of the later correspondence concerns regular features such as "The Revolving Bookstand," a book review column, and "The Reader Replies," a column for subscribers' responses to articles and occasionally rebuttals from the authors.
The Author File contains correspondence with authors who submitted articles for publication, including those authors who were rejected. In addition, the editor frequently solicited articles from well-known scholars. There is some overlap between the General Editorial File and the Author File because many writers who contributed regularly to standing departments of the magazine also submitted feature articles. Some of the correspondence pertains to copyright transfers and reprint permissions.
The Miscellany series primarily consists of correspondence soliciting poetry for publication. Included are Japanese sketches presented to Hiram Haydn as a Christmas greeting in 1957.
Part III
Part III of the records of the American Scholar spans the years 1984 to 2006, with the bulk concentrated in the period between 1984 and 2005. It is arranged in Correspondence and Production File series.
The Correspondence File principally documents administrative matters of publication and includes exchanges between editors and staff and the authors of articles, book reviews, poetry, and other regular departments of the magazine. The series also includes correspondence from readers and subscribers as well as business files on printing, binding, advertising, and promotion. Alphabetical lists of authors prepared by American Scholar staff are included for files dated 2000-2006.
The Production File documents the editorial work of the magazine and includes original manuscripts, edited drafts, corrected galleys, as well as editorial correspondence with authors and between the staff who worked from afar at separate locations while communicating heavily by email and fax, with print copies preserved in the files. The editorial process during this phase of publication is described by Anne Fadiman in her final 2004 "Letter from the Editor," as pouring each piece through a “series of increasingly fine-gauged sieves.”
Records for volumes dated 1984-1997 were arranged by American Scholar staff as "Original Manuscripts" and "Author's Galleys." The revised arrangement of records for volumes dated 1998-2005 reflects the organization of the magazine during this later period. Indexes printed in the Autumn issue of each volume facilitate location of specific works.
Part IV
Part IV of the records of the American Scholar spans the years 1970 to 2010, with the bulk of the material concentrated between 2004 and 2009. It documents the production and organization of the American Scholar magazine and its business and editorial office and includes material from the tenures of editors Joseph Epstein, Anne Fadiman, and Robert Wilson. The majority of the records in Part IV document the creation and editing of magazine issues under the leadership of Wilson, although administrative files largely represent the business and management decisions made under Fadiman. It is organized into Author Correspondence, Production File, and Administrative File series.
The Author Correspondence series consists of the files of correspondence with published and inquiring authors maintained by the American Scholar office from 2006 to 2007.
The Production File consists of files documenting the magazine's editorial process, from initial manuscript submission through the editing and formatting process, and its published content.
The Administrative File documents the business and management work of the American Scholar office, largely during the tenure of editor Anne Fadiman.