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Guide to the Albert Léon Guérard Papers,
1909-1959
M0016
M0016
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Title: Albert Léon Guérard Papers,
Identifier/Call Number: M0016
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.5 Linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1909-1959
creator:
Guérard, Albert Léon, 1880-1959.
Letters mainly to Guérard from authors, educators, and statesmen. Includes correspondence relating to world government; pamphlets
and correspondence on "auxiliary languages"; and letters to his publishers, Scribner, and T. Fisher Irwin (England). Correspondents
include Gertrude Atherton, Bernard Berenson, Van Wyck Brooks, D. W. Brogan, James Branch Cabell, Ernest Dimnet, Dorothy Canfield
Fisher, Herbert Hoover, Julian S. Huxley, David Starr Jordan, Thomas Mann, André Maurois, H. L. Mencken, Lewis Mumford, and
André Siegfried.
Stanford's Albert Guérard manuscript collection reveals the former professor to be the "foremost authority in this country
on auxiliary languages," as he is described in the International Auxiliary Language Association General Report of 1945, included
among his papers.
- The Collection, gift of his wife in 1960, includes:
- Two boxes of letters, mostly to him and a few with carbon copies of his replies. There are letters from Albert Camus, Thomas Mann, Bertrand Russell, H.G. Wells, and Mark Van Doren, among others.
- 4 boxes of pamphlets concerning international languages-- many in French, his native language.
- dictionaries, course outlines
- articles explaining and promoting International Languages
- comparison of texts of the International Languages
- 5 manilla envelopes
- selected letters on Public Issues, particularly World War II
- 63 letters from David Star Jordan
- letters to his publisher, Scribner
- couple of his last manuscripts
- notes on his literature readings in preparation for the Agregation, French equivalent of the Doctorate degree.
- Guérard, born in Paris in 1880, came to the United States in 1906 to teach at Williams College. He taught at Stanford from
1907 to 1946 when he retired, except for 12 years between 1913 and 1925 when he was at Rice University and served in the war.
He died in Palo Alto, Nov. 14, 1959.
- He is the author of 29 books; the most important were Testament of a Liberal, France: A Short History, French Civilization in the 19th Century, and Europe Free and United.
- Stanford News and Publications issued a release after Guérard's death quoting Guérard as having described himself: "A Frenchman by birth, an American by choice; a teacher of literature by profession, a philosopher and historian by inclination; and a staunch advocate of world government by conviction."
- Guérard's collection of papers and letters reveal him as the man he described himself to be: Frenchman, American, literature
professor, philosopher, historian and internationalist.
- They show his personality, interests and opinions
- They are a commentary on the times, the current literature, politics and religious issues
- They describe the development of an International Language, the behind-the-scene decisions and struggles, through:
- pamphlets about the history of Esperanto
- publications by the International Auxiliary Language Association concerning their attempts to decide on and promote an International Language
- Guérard's papers, notes and correspondence
Albert Léon Guérard was born in Paris in 1880 and was educated at the University of Paris, the University of London and the
Sorbonne.
In 1906 Mr. Guérard came to the United States and taught one year at Williams College in Massachusetts. Then he joined the
staff at Stanford as assistant professor of French in 1907.
In 1913 he went to Rice Institute at Houston, Texas, where he taught until 1924. In 1925 he went to UCLA and then was appointed
professor of General Literature at Stanford.
He was the author of 20 books, essays, poems, autobiography, besides numerous articles for magazines. He was interested in
creating an international language. Professor Guérard died at his home on the Stanford University campus November 13, 1959.
[Identification of item] Albert Léon Guérard Papers, M0016, Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford,
Calif.
Gift of Mrs Guérard and Albert Guérard, Jr., 1960.
Property rights reside with the repository. Literary rights reside with the creators of the documents or their heirs. To obtain
permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Public Services Librarian of the Dept. of Special Collections.
None.