Hoffman, Frederick John. 

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public in accordance with state law. However, the researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).  

The Archives owns but does not hold the copyright to any of the materials in the Hoffman Collection.  The Archives does not have specific information on who holds the copyright to any of the materials.  The Archives will provide researchers with fair-use copies of materials from the collection, but it cannot and will not authorize, license, or control any specific uses of the materials.  Copyright information may be available from:

Copyright Office
Room LM401
James Madison Memorial Building
101 Independence Ave., S.E.
Washington, DC 20540

SCOPE AND CONTENT: Most of the items donated to the Archives are from Hoffman's years at Ohio State University (1942-1947).  A majority of the correspondence and interviews are related to the research and publication work that Hoffman conducted for his books Freudianism and the Literary Mind (1945), The Little Magazine: A History and a Bibliography (1946), and The Twenties: American Writing in the Postwar Decade (1949).  They include letters from collaborators, responses to research inquiries, and letters relating the publication of his works.

ARRANGEMENT: The collection is arranged into the following series and subseries:

1. Correspondence
• Freudianism and the Literary Mind relates to the publication of this 1945 monograph work, and consists of correspondence relating to the book's publication by Louisiana State University Press, responses to research inquiries (Conrad Aiken), and post-publication correspondence (A.A. Brill, Anaïs Nin).
• General is perhaps the most interesting and important part of this collection. These materials consist primarily of responses to Hoffman's research inquiries by various literary figures including Henry Miller, Frieda Lawrence (widow of D.H. Lawrence), Floyd Dell, Thomas Mann, and Ezra Pound.  In some cases, Hoffman's letters of inquiry are available as well.  The correspondence deals with a variety of topics and lines of research, especially Freudianism and its influence on the responding authors, literature in the 1920s, and sales figures of various books and publishers.  
• The Little Magazine contains materials relating to the publication of The Little Magazine: A History and a Bibliography.  It consists of correspondence with collaborators Carolyn Ulrich and Charles Allen, and various letters that cover publishing details.  This series also contains letters from, and responses to, James Laughlin, a publisher who was considerably dissatisfied with the portrayal of his magazine, New Directions, in the first edition of Hoffman's book.
• The Twenties relates to the publication of The Twenties: American Writing in the Postwar Decade. This series consists primarily of correspondence with publishers, as well as a few research-related letters.  Also in this series are letters relating to the fellowship that the Rockefeller Foundation awarded to Hoffman in 1945.
2. Interviews consists of notes from Hoffman's interviews with H.L Mencken, Sinclair Lewis, Malcolm Cowley, and others.  A small but noteworthy number of materials relate to the poet McKnight Black, including an interview and collection of poems. 
3. Literary Magazine Correspondence and Brochures consists primarily of letters and magazine brochures that Hoffman collected following the publication of The Little Magazine: A History and a Bibliography.  This correspondence consists of research responses from various literary magazine publishers and editors as well as the brochures and flyers from their publications.  These brochures have been filed with their accompanying letter.  The series also contains some post-publication correspondence concerning The Little Magazine: A History and a Bibliography.  This series also contains flyers or brochures that have no accompanying letter.
4. Miscellaneous contains various undated non-correspondence that is not associated with any of the letters in the collection. Their sources are unidentified but most appear to have been written by Hoffman.

The files within each series are organized alphabetically by personal name, then chronologically when there is more than one letter or interview by a particular person. The one exception is the General Correspondence series where for the sake of clarity and to preserve original order copies of Hoffman's letters of inquiry, rather than being filed under "H," are filed with the respondent's letters. In this series, letters are to Hoffman unless otherwise noted on the finding aid.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Frederick J. Hoffman was born September 21, 1909 in Port Washington, Wisconsin.  His education consisted of a Bachelor of Arts in English from Stanford University (1934, Phi Beta Kappa), a Master of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Minnesota (1936), and a Doctor of Philosophy in English from Ohio State University (1942).  In 1945 Hoffman received the prestigious Rockefeller Fellowship.  His teaching positions included Ohio State University where he served as assistant professor from 1942 to 1947; associate professor at the University of Oklahoma (1947-1948); associate professor and professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison (1948-1960); and professor at the University of California, Riverside (1960-1965) where he served as chairman of the English department (1961-1963).  Hoffman served the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as Distinguished Professor of English from 1965 until his death on December 24, 1967, which occurred shortly after his August 1967 marriage to Mary C. Holm.  During his teaching career Hoffman also held visiting professorships at Duke, Harvard and Stanford Universities, and was a Fulbright professor in France and Italy (1953-1954).

During his career Hoffman was the author of twenty-one books and approximately 250 essays published in books and magazines.  His books include Freudianism and the Literary Mind (1945), The Little Magazine: A History and a Bibliography (1946, with Charles Allen and Carolyn F. Ulrich), and The Twenties: American Writing in the Postwar Decade (1949).  Hoffman also lectured widely on his primary field of interest, American literature, especially that of the modern era.  He was particularly interested in psychoanalysis and modern literature, and in the literary and cultural history of the 1920s.

COLLECTION CITATION: This collection should be cited as:

Hoffman, Frederick John. Papers, 1942-1955.  UWM Manuscript Collection 141. University Archives. UWM Libraries. University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

RELATED COLLECTIONS:

Anderson, Margaret C. Papers. (UWM Manuscript Collection 12)

Little review (Chicago, Ill.). Records. (UWM Manuscript Collection 1)

ACQUISITION:  Mary John, Hoffman's widow and the former Mary C. Holm, donated the collection to Archives in 1998.

PROCESSING:  Processed by Maria Schoeberl from November 1998 to February 1999. 

MARC RECORD SEARCH TERMS: The following terms were used in the online bibliographic MARC record to this collection:

• American Literature--20th Century--History and Criticism.
• Arts--Great Britain--Periodicals.
• Arts--United States--Periodicals.
• Lewis, Sinclair, 1885-1951.
• Literature, Modern--20th Century--History and Criticism.
• Mann, Thomas, 1875-1955.
• Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956.
• Miller, Henry, 1891-   .
• Nin, Anaïs, 1903-1977.
• Pound, Ezra, 1885-1972.
• Psychoanalysis and Literature.
• Wilson, Edmund, 1895-1972.

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URL: http://www.uwm.edu/Libraries/arch/findaids/uwmmss141.htm
Last edited on Monday, June 20, 2005.
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