Biographical Sketch

Paul Horgan (1903-1995). Paul George Vincent O’Shaughnessy Horgan was born August 8, 1903 in Buffalo, New York. He spent his youth in Albuquerque and Roswell, New Mexico, where he worked as a reporter for the Albuquerque Journal. He returned east to Buffalo in 1923, and that same year entered the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York as a student of voice.

During his Eastman years, 1923-1926, Horgan actively participated in Eastman Theater productions, designing scenery for the school’s opera department and acting as a production assistant to Rouben Mamoulian. Horgan’s stay in Rochester and his involvement with the musical community there inspired a number of his later works, including his first published novel, The Fault of Angels (1933), his first published short story, “The Head of the House of Wattleman” (1929, later incorporated into The Fault of Angels), the novel No Quarter Given (1935), and his personal essay, “How Dr. Faustus Came to Rochester.”

Horgan published seven more novels before leaving the United States Army in 1946. He received a Guggenheim fellowship in 1947, and again in 1958. In 1955, Horgan was awarded the Pulitzer and Bancroft Prizes for Great River; his nonfiction works enjoyed considerable acclaim, including a second Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for Lamy of Santa Fe. Horgan proved himself a versatile and prolific writer throughout his career, with more than seventy novels, short stories, biographies, poems, dramas, juvenile books, and histories to his credit.

In addition to his work as a writer, Horgan worked as librarian at New Mexico Military Institute (now the Paul Horgan Library) from 1926 to 1946. He held teaching positions at the University of Iowa Writers Workshop (1946) and the Center for Advanced Studies at Wesleyan University (1960-1969). In 1969 he was named Professor of English and Permanent Author in Residence at Wesleyan, a position he held until his death on March 8, 1995, at his home in Middletown, Connecticut.

 

Provenance

This collection of manuscript drafts, telegrams, letters, and notes was a gift from Paul Horgan to the Sibley Music Library in 1942. When he presented this gift, Horgan requested that there be no access to the manuscripts for at least twenty five years. (See his correspondence in this collection, Box 6.) The series of telegrams (Box 6) was found inside the Setting Copy of the manuscript. Additional materials concerning Horgan’s activities at the Eastman School of Music were compiled by Special Collections at the Sibley Music Library in the summer of 1995.

 

Scope and Content

The collection mainly contains manuscript drafts of Paul Horgan’s The Fault of Angels, which show the development of the novel from its first draft to the author’s galleys, annotated by the publisher. Also included with the manuscripts are excised and revised passages from earlier drafts. The series of congratulatory telegrams in Box 6 offers insight into Horgan’s personal life and associates at the time of the book’s publication. The collection of articles from Eastman School of Music student newsletters and concert programs (Box 7) provides information about Horgan’s involvement with the music school, and the activities which later influenced several of his works of fiction.

 

Restrictions and Use

There are no restrictions on the use of this collection, other than the usual copyright restrictions.

 

Associations

George Eastman — The Sibley Music Library contains a copy of Carl W. Ackerman’s biography, George Eastman (see Bibliography). Horgan’s character “Mr. Ganson” in The Fault of Angels is based on Eastman’s activities as a patron of the arts in Rochester.

Eugene Goossens — Associate of Horgan at Eastman School of Music; the Sibley Music Library holds a collection of Goossens’s papers.

Paul Horgan — Special Collections in Rush Rhees Library, University of Rochester possesses a collection of Horgan’s letters.

Otto Leuning and Ethel Codd Leuning — Associates of Horgan at Eastman School of Music; the Eastman School Archives holds papers by Ethel Codd Leuning.

Rouben Mamoulian — Associate of Horgan at Eastman School of Music; Mamoulian was assistant director of the Eastman School’s Opera Department during Horgan’s residence, and Horgan worked as his production assistant. The Eastman School Archives holds archival information about the Opera Department, and information about Mamoulian from the Eastman student bulletin is included in this collection (Box 2, folder 2).

Nicholas Slonimsky — Associate of Horgan at Eastman School of Music, and possibly the inspiration for the character “Colya”; the Sibley Music Library possesses manuscripts of several compositions by Slonimsky, including the song “The Boastful Braggart” with words by Horgan (Vault ML96.S634b, M1621.S634B, Pres.Film 10), and the manuscript facsimile of the pantomime “The Prince Goes Hunting”, for which Horgan wrote the plot (Vault M1520 .S634Pr). See also the letter contained in this collection (Box 2, folder 2).

 

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DESCRIPTION OF SERIES

I. Manuscripts

The collection contains five manuscripts, including Horgan’s original working draft of The Fault of Angels, the second script (author’s galleys), the setting copy, excisions from the original manuscript, and Horgan’s notebook.

 

II. Correspondence

Includes Horgan’s correspondence with the Sibley Music Library concerning his presentation of the materials for The Fault of Angels, as well as congratulatory telegrams sent to the author upon the publication of his novel.

 

III. Paul Horgan at the Eastman School of Music

Materials compiled by Special Collections at the Sibley Music Library concerning Horgan’s career at the Eastman School, including information about his work with the opera department and his associations with members of Rochester’s musical community. Also included are materials concerning the background of The Fault of Angels, particularly Rochester musicians who bear resemblance to Horgan’s characters.

 

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INVENTORY

Series I: Manuscripts

Box 1 – Original Script

This is Horgan’s working draft of the novel. His annotation on the final page indicates it is the second draft: “first draft finished Mar. 22, 1931. 2nd draft finished Good Friday 1932.” The author’s annotations (in pencil, crayon, and ink) are primarily concerned with line editing the prose, some stylistic changes, and excisions of lines or paragraphs. Segments of pages are cut away, or pasted onto the manuscript pages. Several passages with a smaller typeface are added in.

The most significant change made in this draft is the switch from the first person point of view to the third person with the character of John O’Shaughnessy, who has been associated with Paul Horgan; the entire original script has been changed in this manner. The largest blocks of text cut are segments of dialogue with minor characters, or observations and thoughts of the first-person narrator. Several characters’ names have been changed as well: “Mr. Westman” is changed to “Mr. Ganson,” “Ebé” is changed to “Vladimir” or “Val,” and “Mrs. Vates” is changed to “Mrs. Kane.” The title “Elegy for That Winter” appears in the final novel as “The Sun in Winter.” (436 pages, unbound)

Box 2 – Second Script

This draft is the author’s galleys, including pencilled originals and typed drafts of the dedication and disclaimer pages. Also included is a layout page for the Harper Prize Novel Contest information, as well as a three page typed draft of this information. The draft is annotated by both the author and editor, with editorial corrections in red ink and other annotations in pencil and black ink. The galley numbers are marked in purple ink. Page 543 is autographed by the author in ink.

The changes in this draft include a number of pages marked “Exchange for page [x] in original manuscript.” Sections of the text on pages 75 and 346 have been cut, and a segment of music manuscript added to page 285. (553 pages, unbound)

Box 3 – Setting Copy

This is a bound copy of the manuscript, annotated on the inside cover: “PH Roswell, N.M. 1932.” The title “Winter Warm” has been changed to “The Fault of Angels” on the title page, with the handwritten note “accepted by Harper and Brothers, N.Y. Friday the 13th, 1932.”

The changes made to this manuscript are the same as those in the second script, including exchanged pages (pasted over pages of the bound copy), elimination of sections of the text, and the addition of a musical excerpt. Further editorial marks include changes of spelling, accents on foreign words, and line editing in pencil and black ink. (563 pages, bound)

Box 4 – Material Cut Out

These include loose pages and page fragments, some stapled, typed with annotations in ink, pencil, and crayon. The excised pages are those replaced in the original draft [A]. The majority of this excised material involves minor characters, several brief subplots, and first person narrative description. The most substantial changes are alterations to the original ending of the novel (pp.454-468, dated 3-27-31), and the original first chapter. Pages 1-13 comprise the original beginning of the novel; the author’s notes on the back of page 1 indicate his ideas about characters and point of view.

Box 5 – “Winter Flowers”

This is Horgan’s notebook, including his original notes and outlines, and brief descriptions of several scenes with short segments of dialogue, in ink and pencil. Some of these descriptions and dialogue segments are used in the final draft of the novel. Also included are notes on the characters, including a partial list of correspondences between real people and their fictional counterparts. Pages have been cut out at the beginning of the paper folder, next to the list of character associations. (26 pages)

 

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Series II: Correspondence

Box 6

folder 1	Letter from Paul Horgan to Sibley Music Library, 6-27-42. Donation of The Fault of Angels materials.
folder 2	Letter from Sibley Music Library to Paul Horgan, 9-9-43. Thank you for donation.
folder 3	Telegram to Horgan from Rouben [Mamoulian], 8-11-33. Congratulations on publication of novel.
folder 4	Telegram to Horgan from Richard Bonelli, 8-10-33. Congratulations on publication.
folder 5	Telegram to Horgan from Martha, 8-8-33. Congratulations on publication.
folder 6	Telegram to Horgan from Andy, 7-17-33. Congratulations.
folder 7	Telegram to Horgan from Henriette and Peter, 7-13-33. Congratulations on publication and invitation to visit Wyeths.
folder 8	Telegram to Horgan from The Starrs, 8-25-33. Thank you for receipt of books, congratulations on publication.
folder 9	Telegram to Horgan from Virginia, 6-9-33. Confidential notification about the Harper Prize.
folder 10	Telegram to Horgan from Saxton, 6-9-33. Notice about the Harper Prize.
folder 11	Telegram to Horgan from Mr. and Mrs. George Ciciva, 8-1-33. Congratulations on Harper Prize.
folder 12	Telegram to Horgan from Virginia, 8-2-33. Birthday greeting and congratulations.
folder 13	Telegram to Horgan from Dwight Starr, 7-31-33. Birthday greeting and congratulations, inquiry about visit.
folder 14	Telegram to Horgan from John A. Kier, 8-1-33. Congratulations on publication and Harper Prize.
folder 15	Telegram to Horgan from Mitch, 7-31-33. Birthday greeting and congratulations on publication.
folder 16	Telegram to Horgan from Hal Lewis Sinclair Monte, 8-2-33.
folder 17	Telegram to Horgan from Vernon, 8-2-33. Congratulations.
folder 18	Telegram to Horgan from Edward Nicholas, 8-4-33. Congratulations.
folder 19	Telegram to Horgan from Marion, 7-19-33. Congratulations.
folder 20	Telegram to Horgan from Myra, 7-19-33. Congratulations.
folder 21	Telegram to Horgan from Mary and Eleanor, 8-1-33. Birthday greeting and congratulations on publication.
folder 22	Telegram to Horgan from Myra, 8-1-33. Birthday greeting and congratulations on Harper Prize notification in newspapers.

 

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Series III: Paul Horgan at the Eastman School of Music

Box 7

1. “The Operatic Department” and “Night Song” from The Note Book, 11-12-23. Horgan mentioned as set and costume designer. Also includes his poem.

2. “Opera School” from The Note Book, 12-10-23. Article by Paul Horgan.

3. “Heard in the Corridor” from The Note Book, 12-17-23. Reference to Horgan in students’ joke column.

4. “Albert Coates” from The Note Book, 1-7-24. Conductor associated with character of “Hubert Regis” (?)

5. “Opera School” from The Note Book, 1-7-24. Horgan mentioned as costume and set designer.

6. “Opera School” from The Note Book, 2-4-24. Horgan mentioned as designer.

7. Concert program of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, 12-12-23. Performers Tina Lerner and Vladimir Shavitch associated with characters of “Nina and Vladimir Arenkoff” (?)

8. Biography of Vladimir Shavitch, from Eastman Theater Program, 8-5-23.

9. The Fault of Angels.

 

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APPENDICES

APPENDIX A. Selected List of Works

1. Novels

A Distant Trumpet. New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1960; New York: Paperback Library, 1971.

A Lamp on the Plains. New York: Harper & brothers, 1937.

The Common Heart. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1942.

Everything to Live For. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1968; New York: Popular Library, 1968.

Far from Cibola. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1938; Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1974.

The Fault of Angels. New York: harper & Brothers, 1933.

Give Me Possession. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Cudahy, 1957; New York: Paperback Library, 1971.

The Habit of Empire. Santa Fe: Rydal Press, 1939.

Main Line West. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1936.

Memories of the Future. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1966; New York: Ballentine Books, 1968.

Mexico Bay. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1982.

Mountain Standard Time. New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1962; New York: Popular Library, 1966.

No Quarter Given. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1935.

The Thin Mountain Air. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1977.

Things As They Are. New York: Farrar, Straus, 1964; New York: Paperback Library, 1971.

Whitewater. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1970; New York: Paperback Library, 1971.

2. Short Fiction Collections

The Devil in the Desert. New York: Longmans, Green, 1952.

Figures in a Landscape. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1940.

Humble Powers. London: Macmillan, 1954. Garden City, NY: Image Books, 1955.

One Red Rose for Christmas. New York: Longmans, Green, 1952.

The Peach Stone. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1967; New York: Paperback Library, 1971.

The Return of the Weed. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1936; Flagstaff: Northland Press, 1980.

The Saintmaker’s Christmas Eve. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Cudahy, 1955; Santa Fe: William Gannon, 1978.

3. Nonfiction

Approaches to Writing. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1973; New York: Noonday Press, 1974.

The Centuries of Santa Fe. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1956; Santa Fe William Gannon, 1976.

Citizen of New Salem. New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1961; New York: Avon Books, 1968.

Conquistadors in North American History. New York: Farrar, Straus and Co., 1963.

Encounters With Stravinsky. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1972.

From the Royal City. Santa Fe: Rydal Press, 1936.

Great River. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1954; New York: Minerva Press, 1968.

Henriette Wyeth. Chadds Ford: Brandywine Conservancy, 1980.

The Heroic Triad. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970; New York: World Publishing, 1971.

Josiah Gregg and His Vision of the Early West. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1979.

Lamy of Santa Fe. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1975; New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1980.

Maurice Baring Restored. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1970.

New Mexico’s Own Chronicle. Dallas: Banks Upshaw and Company, 1937.

One of the Quietest Things. Los Angeles: University of California School of Library Science, 1960.

Peter Hurd: A Portrait Sketch from Life. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1965.

Rome Eternal. New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1959.

4. Poetry

Songs After Lincoln. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1965.

 

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APPENDIX B. Prizes and Awards

1933 – Harper Prize Novel, The Fault of Angels

1947 – Guggenheim Fellowship

1955 – Pulitzer and Bancroft Prizes, Great River

1956 – honorary doctorate, Wesleyan University

1958 – Guggenheim Fellowship

1960-61 – Fellow, Wesleyan University Center for Advanced Studies

1961 – A Distant Trumpet named to New York Times Book Review’s “Best Fiction of 1960” and “1960 Best Sellers” lists

1965 – Things as They Are named to New York Times Book Review’s “Best Fiction of 1964” list.

1965 – Hoyt Fellow, Saybrook College, Yale

1966 – judge, National Book Awards for Fiction

1971 – Permanent Author in Residence, Wesleyan University

1976 – Pulitzer Prize, Lamy of Santa Fe

1976 – Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal

 

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SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ackerman, Carl. W. George Eastman. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1930. Information on the Eastman Theater, Eastman School of Music, Rochester’s musical life.

Carter, Alfred. “On the Fiction of Paul Horgan.” New Mexico Quarterly 7 (1937): 207-16. Discussion of first four published novels.

Cooper, Guy Leroy. “Paul Horgan: American Synthesis.” PhD dissertation, University of Arkansas, 1971. Survey of Horgan’s early, middle, and late career as a writer.

Day, James. Paul Horgan. Austin: Steck-Vaughn, 1967.

Donchak, Stella Cassano. “Paul Horgan: Craftsman and Literary Artist.” PhD dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 1970.

“Festschrift for Paul Horgan.” Edited by Tom Corcoran and Jon Appleby. Aspen: Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, 1973.

Gish, Robert. Paul Horgan. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1983. Comprehensive biography and works list.

Hart, James D. “Horgan, Paul.” The Oxford Companion to American Literature, fifth ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1983. p.344

Horgan, Paul. The Fault of Angels. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1933. Copy in the vault, Sibley Music Library ML 3925 H811

Kraft, James. “No Quarter Given: An Essay on Paul Horgan.” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 80, no.1 (1971):48-52. Biography.

Trimmer, Joseph F. The National Book Awards for Fiction: An Index to the First Twenty-five Years. Boston: G.K. Hall & Co., pp.141-143, 179, 199.

Warfel, Harry R. “Paul Horgan” in American Novelists of Today. New York: American Book Company, p.215.