Collection Summary |
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| Creator: | Provenance, William Fonds, 1897-1956 | |
| Title: | Papers of William Fonds Provenance | |
| Dates: | 1917-1955 | |
| Abstract: | Correspondence, diaries,and writings of an archival theorist and author documenting his experiences in World War I, his literary endeavors, and his ideas on modern archival theory, especially regarding the centrality of the fonds. | |
| Quantity: | 1.6 cubic feet (4 boxes) | |
| Identification: | Mss 2 A | |
Archivist and author William Fonds Provenance was born at Last Chance, Nevada to Fred and Mary Jones Provenance on January 4, 1897. Little is know of his early life prior to serving in World War I as an ambulance driver. After graduating from Freen College in 1924 with a degree in cryptogamic biology, he first followed a career in commercial horticulture and later worked as an itinerant archivist. Provenance also had a lifelong interest in creative writing, producing both novels and poetry. He died at Frostbite Falls,Minnesota, March 15, 1956.
The collection consists of diaries, correspondence, manuscripts, and miscellaneous materials documenting the literary and archival career of William Fonds Provenance.
The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence, principally with his mother, other archivists and writers. His diaries describe his experiences as an ambulance driver in France during World Was I in vivid detail. It also includes manuscripts of novels, poetry, and essays on archival theory as well as the final draft of his seminal work, Quarks: The Tao of Archival Descripton. Many of Provenance's ideas about archival description were thought by his contemporaries to have been obscure or naive. A contemporary reexamination of his theories, however, reveals that in many respects Provenance's ideas were insightful and highly nuanced.
Major correspondents represented in the collection include Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Arthur Miller, H.L. Mencken, Theodore Schellenberg, Ernst Posner, and Provenance's long-time companion Ima Gusdorf.
Organization of the Papers |
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| This collection is organized into three sections: | ||
| Correspondence | ||
| Diaries | ||
| Novels, Poetry, and Essays | ||
This collection is housed in off-site storage. Twenty-fours advance notice is required prior to research use.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Cupcake Corners Historical Society as the owner of the collection and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder which must be obtained by the researcher.
Index Terms |
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| This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Cupcake Corners Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings. | ||
| Persons: | ||
| Fitzgerald, F. Scott (Francis Scott), 1896-1940 | ||
| Fruin, Robert, 1857-1935 | ||
| Gusdorf, Ima May | ||
| Hemingway, Ernest, 1899-1961 | ||
| Mencken, H.L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956 | ||
| Miller, Arthur, 1915- | ||
| Posner, Ernst | ||
| Schellenberg, T.R. (Theodore R.), 1903-1970 | ||
| Organizations: | ||
| Freen University. Center for the Study of the Giants of Archivy | ||
| United States. Army--Transport of sick and wounded. | ||
| Subjects: | ||
| Cataloging of archival materials | ||
| Diplomatics | ||
| United States -- History -- World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, American | ||
| Places: | ||
| Frostbite Falls, Minnesota | ||
| Document Types: | ||
| Diaries | ||
| Novels | ||
| Poetry | ||
| Titles: | ||
| Quarks: The Tao of Archival Descripton | ||
The papers of Ima Gusdorf are located in the Freen University archives.
The James Joyce Collection at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas-Austin, contains correspondence from Provenance to various French literary publications regarding Joyce.
Following his death, Provenance's papers were bequeathed to his brother Harry who attempted several times unsuccessfully to sell them to a private collector. Upon Harry's death, the papers became the property of Provenance's literary executrix and longtime companion Ima Gusdorf who donated them to the Freen University Center for the Study of the Giants of Archivy.
Cite as: Cupcake Corners Historical Society, Frostbite Falls, Minnesota. William Fonds Provenance Papers. Mss. 2 A.
Acquired as a gift from Ima Gusdorf, December 17, 1952
Collection processed and cataloged by B.W. Moos, January, 1962.
A partial index to Fond's correspondence, prepared by Ima Gusdorf, is available at the Cupcakes Corners Historical Society.
This section briefly describes each series in the collection. A more detailed description of the contents of each series may be found in the following section.
Correspondence, 1919-1955. 8 folders |
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| Incoming letters and copies of outgoing correspondence with family, business associates, and prominent archivists and writers. Letters are arranged alphabetically by the writer's or recipient's name. | |||||||||||||
Diaries, 1917-1918. 32 v. in 5 folders |
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| Daily accounts of Provenance's experiences during his military service in France during World War I, primarily documenting the daily activites of camp life, weather, military battles, and operations of the army medical service. Also contains detailed and graphic accounts of his work as an ambulance driver. | |||||||||||||
Novels, Poetry, and Essays, 1947-1954. |
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| Published and unpublished writings of Provenance. All the materials are typescript, though most also include handwritten annotations. Some of text appears to have been deliberately obliterated, perhaps posthumously. The materials are organized into three groups by genre or subject matter: poetry, novels, and works relating to archival science. | |||||||||||||
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.
Correspondence, 1919-1955. 8 folders |
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| Incoming letters and copies of outgoing correspondence with family, business associates, and prominent archivists and writers. Letters are arranged alphabetically by the writer's or recipient's name. | |||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | A-D | |||||||||||
| 2 | E-F | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Gusdorf, Ida, 1942-1955. | ||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | H-M | |||||||||||
| 2 | N-P | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Provenance, Mary Jones, 1931-1942. | ||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | Schellenberg, Theodore | |||||||||||
| 2 | T-Z | ||||||||||||
Diaries, 1917-1918. 32 v. in 5 folders |
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| Daily accounts of Provenance's experiences during his military service in France during World War I, primarily documenting the daily activites of camp life, weather, military battles, and operations of the army medical service. Also contains detailed and graphic accounts of his work as an ambulance driver. | |||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 3 | 2-4 | 1917 | |||||||||||
| 2 | January-March | ||||||||||||
| 3 | April-September | ||||||||||||
| 4 | October-December | ||||||||||||
| 5-6 | 1918 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | January | ||||||||||||
| 6 | February-June | ||||||||||||
Novels, Poetry, and Essays, 1947-1954. |
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| Published and unpublished writings of Provenance. All the materials are typescript, though most also include handwritten annotations. Some of text appears to have been deliberately obliterated, perhaps posthumously. The materials are organized into three groups by genre or subject matter: poetry, novels, and works relating to archival science. | |||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 3 | 6 | Poetry, 1948-1952. | |||||||||||
| Verse in various forms, principally sonnets and limericks. The sonnets contain detailed dedications either to Provenance's mother or to an unnamed "dark lady." Many of the limericks are ribald in their subject matter. | |||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 4 | 1 | Novels, 1947-1955. 1 folder | |||||||||||
| Manuscripts of three unfinished novels, each apparently written in the style of an author Provenance admired. | |||||||||||||
| 1 | For Whom the Chimes Toll, in the style of Ernest Hemingway, 1952 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | The Great Gaspar, 1953. | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Barchester Cathedral, 1954. | ||||||||||||
| 2-4 | Works on archival theory, 1947-1955. | ||||||||||||
| Two unpublished essays and the complete manuscript of his book-length work,Quarks: the Tao of Archival Description. Internal evidence within the collection suggests that this work may have been self-published though no copy of such an edition has been found in his papers. | |||||||||||||
| 2 | "The Effects of Disintermediated Access on Archival Cataloging," 1946 March 17. | ||||||||||||
| 3 | "The Centrality of Provenance," 1951. | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Quarks: the Tao of Archival Description, 1952. | ||||||||||||