The Bobby Fong collection contains notes, correspondence, reference materials, and typescripts concerning the writing of Fong's doctoral thesis in 1978 and a critical edition of Oscar Wilde's poetry that he published with his colleague Karl Beckson in 2000. Most of the collection consists of correspondence regarding the publication of the 2000 critical edition, the first ever compilation of every existing piece of Oscar Wilde's Poetry.

Bobby Fong was born on January 28, 1950 in Oakland, California. His parents were Chinese immigrants, and Fong lived in Oakland's Chinatown neighborhood for most of his childhood. From 1969-1973, he attended Harvard on a scholarship where he obtained a bachelor's degree in English and was elected to the honor society Phi Beta Kappa. He started his PhD program at UCLA in 1975 with a specialization in 19th-20th century English and American literature, poetry, and intellectual and religious history. Between 1977 and 1978, he was a dissertation fellow at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, where he completed his dissertation establishing the texts of Wilde's poetry, including those for poems that had hitherto been unpublished. His thesis would be further expanded in a critical edition that he co-published with Karl Beckson (Brooklyn College) in 2000 that was titled Poems and Poems in Prose.

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Copyright has not been assigned to the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, UCLA. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Clark Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, UCLA as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Collection is open for research, but is housed off-site and advance notice is required for paging. Please contact Clark Library staff regarding this collection.