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Finding Aid for the Jake Zeitlin Papers on D.H. Lawrence Manuscripts, 1933-1981, bulk 1933-1955
1353
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Title: Jake Zeitlin Correspondence and Papers Related to D.H. Lawrence Manuscripts,
Date (inclusive): 1933-1981
Date (bulk): (bulk 1933-1955)
Collection number: 1353
Creator: Zeitlin, Jake, 1902-
Extent: 1 oversize box
Abstract: Correspondence between Jake Zeitlin, a Los Angeles antiquarian book dealer, Frieda Lawrence and others regarding the sale
of D.H. Lawrence manuscripts. Includes correspondence with book dealers, publishers, and academic institutions regarding the
appraisal and exhibition of Lawrence manuscripts, books, and related materials.
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library,
Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of
the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC
Regents do not hold the copyright.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Jacob Zeitlin, ca.1981.
Lilace Hatayama arranged the collection into topical folders and created an item-level inventory in 1985. Four series levels
were assigned in 2004 to enhance ease of access. The title has also been changed in the online catalog from "Correspondence
and papers related to D. H. Lawrence manuscripts, 193--1981, bulk 1936-1955" to the current title. Front matter by Geneva
Gano, with assistance from Laurel McPhee as part of the CFPRT project, August 2004.
[Identification of item], Jake Zeitlin Papers on D. H. Lawrence Manuscripts (Collection 1353). Department of Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
4234055
Expanded Biographical Narrative
Jake Zeitlin was born on November 4, 1902, in Racine, Wisconsin and worked as a bookseller, poet and book reviewer in Ft.
Worth, Texas before moving to Los Angeles in 1925. He began his career in bookselling when employed by Holmes Book Company
and the book departments of the May Company and Bullock's before opening his first shop, designed by Lloyd Wright, in 1927.
Wright designed a more elaborate shop in 1929 that became a meeting place for the city's intellectuals. In collaboration with
his wife, Josephine Ver Brugge, Zeitlin moved his shop into a large red barn on La Cienega Blvd. in 1948, selling rare books,
prints and paintings. He lectured widely on subjects related to rare books and the history of science, and was instrumental
in bringing many collections to UCLA, including the Grunewald Graphic Arts Collection. He personally donated several manuscript
collections to the Department of Special Collections before his passing in August 1987.
Frieda Lawrence was born Frieda von Richthofen August 11, 1879 to Prussian Baron Friedrich von Richthofen and Anna Marquier
von Richthofen, near Metz, Germany. David Herbert Lawrence was born in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, England, Sept. 11, 1885.
In 1912 Frieda met Lawrence, then a student of her first husband. They eloped, and the Lawrences were married in July 1914.
They traveled continuously for the next few years in France, Italy, Germany and Australia before settling at Kiowa Ranch near
Taos, New Mexico. D.H. Lawrence was a novelist, essayist, and poet, best known for
Lady Chatterley's lover (1928); his numerous publications include:
Sons and Lovers (1913),
Women in Love (1920), and
The Plumed Serpent (1926). Lawrence died in France in 1930; after his death, Frieda traveled to Europe briefly before returning to the ranch
in 1931 with her companion, Angelo Ravagli. Frieda and Ravagli married in 1950, and she died in New Mexico August 11, 1956.
After D.H. Lawrence's death in 1930, his widow Frieda Lawrence made the financially necessary decision to sell the manuscripts
that he left behind. In 1936, Galka Scheyer introduced Frieda Lawrence to Los Angeles book dealer Jake Zeitlin, and she agreed
to make Zeitlin her exclusive agent. The financial and emotional negotiations for these papers between Frieda Lawrence, her
partner Angelo Ravagli, and Jake Zeitlin are the central subjects of the correspondence. The collection also includes drafts
and correspondence related to the sale catalog (written by Lawrence Clark Powell with an introduction by Aldous Huxley, and
printed by Ward Ritchie with an M.F.K. Fisher frontispiece). Zeitlin's various appraisals, exhibition-related materials from
the Los Angeles Public Library, and three photographs of Frieda Lawrence.
Arranged in the following series:
- Correspondence (1933-1981).
- Appraisals (1937-1954).
- Exhibitions and catalogs (1937-1938).
- Photographs (1955).
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Zeitlin, Jake, 1902- --Archives.
Zeitlin, Jake, 1902- --Correspondence.
Antiquarian booksellers--California--Los Angeles--Archival resources.
Lawrence, Frieda von Richthofen, 1879-1956--Correspondence.
Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert), 1885-1930.
Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert), 1885-1930--Exhibitions.
Correspondence.
Other Index Terms Related to this Collection
Lawrence, Frieda von Richthofen, 1879-1956.
Abramson, Ben, 1898-1955.
Argus Book Shop, Chicago.
Aldington, Richard, 1892-1962.
Best, Marshall A.
Biddle, George, 1885- .
Blanck, Jacob Nathaniel, 1906-1974.
Brett, Hon. Dorothy, 1883- .
Brewster, Aschah Barlow.
Brewster, Earl Henry, 1878- .
Brill, Abraham Adren, 1874-1948.
Carswell, Catherine McFarlane, 1879-1946.
Cerf, Bennett Alfred, 1898- .
Chaplin, Charles, 1889- .
Collamore, Bacon.
Duschnes, Philip C.
Gregory, Horace, 1898- .
Haflin, Harry James.
Hogan, Francis Joseph, 1877-1944.
Huxley, Aldous Leonard, 1894-1962.
Johnson, Spud.
Lawrence, Frieda (von Richthofen), 1879-1956.
Ludington, Flora Belle.
Luhan, Mrs. Mabel Dodge (Ganson), 1879-1962.
MacDonald, Edward David
McWilliams, Carey, 1905-1980.
Maggs bros., London.
Powell, Lawrence Clark, 1906- .
Ravagli, Angelo.
Rota, Bertram.
Ruder, Barnet B., bookseller, New York.
Rugg, Harold Goddard, 1883- .
Sproul, Robert Gordon, 1891- .
Warren, Althea Hester, 1886-1958.
Van Patten, Nathan, 1887- .
Worthen, John.
Collection of Materials Relating to Jake Zeitlin (Collection 485).
Available at the Department of Special Collection, UCLA.
Jake Zeitlin Papers (Collection 334).
Available at the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.
Books and the imagination: fifty years of rare books [oral history transcript] / Jake Zeitlin, interviewee. UCLA Oral History Department interview, 1980. Available at the Department
of Special Collections, UCLA.
Selected correspondence from this collection has been published in Michael Squires's
D.H. Lawrence's Manuscripts: The Correspondence of Frieda Lawrence, Jake Zeitlin, and Others (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991).