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mssNordhoff Papers
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Title: Charles Nordhoff Papers
Dates (inclusive): 1907-1953
Bulk dates: 1909-1947
Collection Number: mssNordhoff Papers
Creator:
Nordhoff, Charles, 1887-1947.
Extent:
943 items in 9 boxes
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection contains the professional and personal papers of American writer Charles Bernard Nordhoff (1887-1947),
who collaborated with James Norman Hall to write The Mutiny on the Bounty, Men Against the Sea, Pitcaim's Island, and other
novels.
Language: English and French
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities.
The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the
researcher.
[Identification of item]. Charles Nordhoff Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Gift of Mrs. L.G.W. Nordhoff, June 1983.
Novelist Charles Bernard Nordhoff (1887-1947), alone and in collaboration with James
Norman Hall, drew from experiences in turn-of-the-century California, where he was
raised, in France during his stint as a pilot and ambulance driver during World War I,
and in the South Seas, notably Tahiti, as well as from historical events and native myths
to produce successful and popular novels. During the course of his life he authored or
co-authored sixteen books between 1919 and 1946, as well as numerous articles and essays.
Nordhoff was best-known for his collaborative efforts with Hall in the writing of
Mutiny on the Bounty,
Men Against the Sea,and
Pitcairn's Island. The two men's approaches combined well, as they often
wrote alternating chapters in their works, integrating their styles more and more
seamlessly as the years passed.
Professional and personal papers of writer Charles Nordhoff (1887-1947). The material consists of typescripts of Nordhoff's
works, correspondence to and from
Charles Nordhoff to his co-author James Hall, to various publishers, and letters to and
from a variety of friends and relations, including former Secretary of the Interior
Gifford Pinchot, Adlai Stevenson, A.P. Watt, Ellery Sedgwick, and others. The collection
includes typescripts of Nordhoff's works, extensive family and writing-related
correspondence, numerous photographs, and copies of magazines, journals, and comic books
in which articles or works by Nordhoff were published. There are approximately one dozen items in French, primarily incoming
correspondence.
This relatively small but important collection appears to be the only extensive primary
source of Nordhoff materials available.
Arrangement
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Hall, James Norman, 1887-1951 -- Correspondence.
Nordhoff, Charles, 1887-1947 -- Archives.
Nordhoff, Charles, 1830-1901 -- Family -- Archives.
Pinchot, Gifford, 1865-1946 -- Correspondence.
Stevenson, Adlai E. (Adlai Ewing), 1835-1914 -- Correspondence.
Authors, American -- 20th century -- Archives.
World War, 1914-1918.
World War, 1939-1945.
Tahiti (French Polynesia : Island)
United States -- History -- 20th century -- Sources.
United States -- Intellectual life -- Sources.
Letters (correspondence) United States 20th century.
Manuscripts from publication United States 20th century.
Personal papers United States 20th century.
Photographs United States 20th century.
Professional papers United States 20th century.
Hall, James Norman, 1887-1951.
Nordhoff, Charles, 1830-1901.
Pinchot, Gifford, 1865-1946.
Sedgwick, Ellery, 1872-1960.
Watt, A. P. & Sons.