Novak (Maximilian E.) Papers on the Stoke Newington Daniel Defoe edition, 1967-2004

Summary

Title:

Maximillian E. Novak Papers on the Stoke Newington Daniel Defoe edition

Dates:

1967-2004

Creators:

Novak, Maximillian E. and Schonhorn, Manuel

Abstract:

This collection is comprised primarily of correspondence made within a circle of scholars of the early modern and Restoration period regarding the publication of a comprehensive, scholarly edition of works by 18th-century thinker Daniel Defoe. The primary correspondents are Maximillian E. Novak (UCLA) and Manuel Schonhorn (Southern Illinois University), who have been editors of the Stoke Newington Daniel Defoe Edition Series since the project was first started in 1968 - then under a different name as "The Collected Works of Daniel Defoe". Along with a sizable quantity of correspondence between these scholars, the collection also contains some of the supplementary documents relating to the production of the Stoke Newington Daniel Defoe Editions.

Extent:

2 boxes

Language:

English .

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Maximilian E. Novak Papers on the Stoke Newington Daniel Defoe edition, MS.2015.006, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Background

Scope and content:

The Maximillian E. Novak papers on the Stoke Newington Daniel Defoe edition consists primarily of written, scanned, and typed correspondence between Novak and a circle of scholars of early modern European writers. The letters span a broad date range starting mostly from 1968 to the late 1990s. Many of the letters were mailed as duplicate copies within the circle of scholars, and many of them are addressed to or written by Novak's colleague Manuel Schonhorn rather than Novak himself. Most folders contain less than 10 pieces of correspondence, with the exception of folders for letters written by Joyce D. Kennedy, Irving Rothman, and Maximillian Novak (to Manuel Schonhorn). Along with the correspondence, the collection also holds project outlines, prospectuses, typescripts, handwritten notes, scans of academic articles, a National Endowment for the Humanities grant application, and survey responses, mostly pertaining to the Stoke Newington Defoe edition (or the project's aliases throughout the years) or to developments in the field of early modern literature at large.

Acquisition information:

Gift of Maximillian E. Novak, 2015.

Processing information:

The documents in the collection exhibited little original order. Many documents were found stashed loose-leaf into a record carton, and items that were placed within folders oftentimes had little relationship to the folder title. While processing, many items were taken out of these folders for better integration into the finding aid's arrangement scheme.

Processing and description of this collection was done by Joyce Wang in 2018.

Arrangement:

This collection has been split into 2 series, one featuring supplementary materials for the publication of the Stoke Newington Daniel Defoe edition and one for correspondence. Materials in the first series are sorted alphabetically by folder title. The correspondence files are arranged alphabetically by the author's last name, and then chronologically when necessary.

Physical location:

This collection is stored at the UC Southern Regional Library Facility - South. Please contact Clark Library staff at least 2 weeks in advance if you would like to view the materials in this collection.

Physical description:

0.8 linear feet, 2 boxes

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Bibliography:

Maximillian E. Novak (1930- ) is a UCLA Distinguished Professor Emeritus specializing in the works of Daniel Defoe, an 18th century trader, novelist, and pamphleteer most well-known for writing Robinson Crusoe, Moll Flanders, and A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain. Novak obtained both his undergraduate degree and doctorate at UCLA, the latter obtained in 1958. He briefly taught at the University of Michigan before returning to UCLA. He has produced numerous essays and books on the philosophical, political, cultural, and economic underpinnings of Defoe's writings and has serve as general editor for the Augustan Reprint series and the Stoke Newington Defoe series. Included among his works on Defoe are three monographs titled Economics and the Fiction of Daniel Defoe (1962), Defoe and the Nature of Man (1963), and Realism, Myth, and History in Defoe's Fiction (1983). In 2001, Novak also produced the biographical work Daniel Defoe: Master of Fictions. In becoming one of the most renowned scholars of Defoe in the world, Novak has also contributed to studies of other early modern writers such as John Dryden, William Wycherly, Jonathan Swift, and William Congreve.

The idea for creating a series of critical, scholarly editions for lesser known works within the Defoe canon was conceived by Maximillian Novak and Manuel Schonhorn in as early as 1968, but a combination of funding issues and other attending priorities delayed the actual publication of the works. In 1999, the first volume in the Stoke Newington Defoe Edition Series was published through New York's AMS Press (also the publisher of The Eighteenth Century Current Bibliography), featuring a textual study of Defoe's 1697 work An Essay Upon Projects. The series has received contributions from scholars such as Joyce Deveau Kennedy, Michael Seidel, Irving Rothman, Jim Springer Borck, Kit Kincade, and John G. Peters.

Indexed terms

Names:

Defoe, Daniel

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:

Finding aid by Joyce Wang

Date Encoded:

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-06-02 11:23:25 -0700 .

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The Clark Library owns the property rights to its collections but does not hold the copyright to these materials and therefore cannot grant or deny permission to use them. Researchers are responsible for determining the copyright status of any materials they may wish to use, investigating the owner of the copyright, and obtaining permission for their intended publication or other use. In all cases, you must cite the Clark Library as the source with the following credit line: The William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Maximilian E. Novak Papers on the Stoke Newington Daniel Defoe edition, MS.2015.006, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Location of this collection:

UCLA, Clark (William Andrews) Memorial Library

2520 Cimarron Street

Los Angeles, CA 90018, US

Contact:

(424) 442-6172

clark@humnet.ucla.edu

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