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Stephen Michael Tomaske Memorial Collection of Thomas Pynchon: Finding
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mssTomaske papers
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Title: Stephen Michael Tomaske Memorial
Collection of Thomas Pynchon
Dates (inclusive): approximately 1392-2001
Bulk dates: 1770-2001
Collection Number: mssTomaske papers
Creator:
Tomaske, Stephen
Michael.
Extent:
Approximately 2,500 pieces.
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: The collection contains biographical research materials related to author Thomas Pynchon (1937-) collected
by librarian and Pynchon scholar Stephen Tomaske (1956-2002). Many of the documents are photocopies of originals obtained
from various libraries and institutions.
Language:
English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services
Department, with the following restrictions:
- Tomaske obtained a copy from the Ford Foundation of Pynchon’s autobiography, submitted to the Ford Foundation with a grant application. The material was later sealed by the Foundation, who asked that Tomaske return his copies. He did so. Transcriptions of the text in full or in part have been redacted and are to be sealed until January 2, 2040, in accordance with the Ford Foundation’s restriction on the original material (Box 10, Folder 1 [redacted]; Box 22, Folders 7 and 9 [sealed]). Other correspondence with the Ford Foundation and application materials are not sealed.
- The correspondence between Stephen Tomaske and Luc Herman, Tomaske’s taped interview of Herman, and Herman’s notes are sealed for Mr. Herman’s lifetime (Box 21, Folder 7 and 26, Box 22, Folder 6, and Box 25, Folder 10).
- The correspondence between Stephen Tomaske and Terry Reilly is sealed until January 2, 2033 (Box 21, Folders 14 and 38).
Use Restrictions:
- The contents of Box 20 (2), facsimile materials from Brandeis
University, are not to be copied or reproduced in any way and are to be
used for reference only. If you wish to obtain copies of this
information please contact:
Director Robert D. Farber
University Archives & Special Collections Department Brandeis University
415 South St.
Waltham, MA 02454-9110
http://lts.brandeis.edu/research/archives-speccoll/index.html - The contents of Box 20 (3), facsimile materials from Columbia
University, are not to be copied or reproduced in any way and are to be
used for reference only. If you wish to obtain copies of this
information please contact:
Rare Book & Manuscript Library Butler Library
6th Fl. East 535 West 114th St.
New York, NY 10027
rbml@libraries.cul.columbia.edu
Telephone: (212) 854-5153
Fax: (212) 854-1365
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/rbml/index.html - The contents of Box 20 (4), facsimile materials from the Harry Ransom
Research Center, at the University of Texas, are not to be copied or
reproduced in any way and are to be used for reference only. If you wish
to obtain copies of this information please contact:
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center The University of Texas at Austin
P.O. Box 7219
Austin, TX 78713-7219
http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/research/ - The contents of Box 20 (5), facsimile materials from the Rockefeller
Archive Center, are not to be copied or reproduced in any way and are to
be used for reference only. If you wish to obtain copies of this
information please contact:
The Rockefeller Archive Center
15 Dayton Avenue
Sleepy Hollow, NY 10591
http://archive.rockefeller.edu/ - The contents of Box 20 (6), facsimile materials from the University of
Missouri, are not to be copied or reproduced in any way and are to be
used for reference only. If you wish to obtain copies of this
information please contact:
Western Historical Manuscript Collection - Columbia 23 Ellis Library
University of Missouri
Columbia, Missouri 65201-5149 USA
voice 573-882-6028
fax 573-884-0345
WHMC@umsystem.edu http://whmc.umsystem.edu/ - The contents of Box 20 (7), facsimile materials from the Linton R.
Massey Papers, Box 3, Accession 6271-ai, at the University of Virginia,
are not to be copied or reproduced in any way and are to be used for
reference only. If you wish to obtain copies of this information please
contact:
Director, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400110
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4110
434-924-4968 fax
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/small/ - The contents of Box 20 (8), miscellaneous facsimile materials from unknown sources, are not to be copied or reproduced in any way and are to be used for reference only.
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]. Stephen Michael Tomaske Memorial Collection of Thomas
Pynchon, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Gift of Gordon Stuart Tomaske and Lorna Mae Miller, September 2002 and February
2009 (Pynchon Notes Vol. 54-55).
The following books and periodicals can be found in the Rare Books Department or
Reference Library.
- 12 from the sixties / selected and introduced by Richard Kostelanetz. New York : Dell
- Publishing Co., Inc., 750 Third Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017, c1967
- Against the day / Thomas Pynchon. New York : Penguin Press, 2006. Ayisha / by Helen Noga. New York : Arbor House, c1972.
- Best modern short stories : selected from the Saturday evening post. 1st ed. New York : Curtis Books, [c1965]
- Black humor / edited by Bruce Jay Friedman. New York : Bantam Books, c1965.
- A companion to The crying of lot 49 / J. Kerry Grant. Athens : University of Georgia Press, c1994.
- The crying of lot 49 / Thomas Pynchon. Bantam Windstone ed. New York : Bantam, 1982, c1966.
- The crying of lot 49 / Thomas Pynchon. Bantam ed. New York : Bantam Books, 1967, c1966.
- The crying of lot 49 / Thomas Pynchon. 1st Perennial fiction library ed. New York : Perennial Library, 1986, c1966.
- The crying of lot 49 / Thomas Pynchon. 1st Perennial fiction library ed. New York : Perennial Library, [1990], c1966.
- Gravity's rainbow / Thomas Pynchon. New York : Viking Press, [1973]
- Gravity's rainbow / Thomas Pynchon. London : Vintage, 1995, c1973.
- Gravity's rainbow / Thomas Pynchon. New York : Penguin Books, 1987, c1973.
- Gravity's rainbow / Thomas Pynchon. Bantam ed. New York : Bantam Books, 1974, c1973.
- Gravity's rainbow. 4th printing New York : Viking Press, c1973.
- A Gravity's rainbow companion : sources and contexts for Pynchon's novel / by Steven Weisenburger. Athens, Ga. : University of Georgia Press, c1988.
- Lineland : mortality and mercy on the internet's Pynchon-L@waste.org discussion list / by Jules Siegel, Christine Wexler, et al. 1st ed. Philadelphia : Intangible Assets Manufacturing, c1997.
- Low-lands / Thomas Pynchon. [London] : Aloes Books, 1978, c1960.
- Mason & Dixon / Thomas Pynchon. 1st ed. New York : Henry Holt, 1997.
- Mindful pleasures : essays on Thomas Pynchon / edited by George Levine and David Leverenz. 1st ed. Boston : Little, Brown, 1976.
- Mortality and mercy in Vienna / Thomas Pynchon. London : Aloes Books, [197-?]
- Nelson Algren's own book of lonesome monsters. [First printing] [New York] : Published by Bernard Geis Associates : distributed by Random House, [1962?]
- New world writing. [New York] : New American Library of World Literature [etc.], -1964.
- Positively 4th street : the lives and times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Fariña, and Richard Fariña / David Hajdu. New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001.
- The Pulitzer prizes and the National Book Awards for fiction, 1950-1965. [S.l.] : [s.n.] 1966.
- Pynchon Malta and Wittgenstein / P. Bianchi, A. Cassola, P. Serracino Inglott ; with a preface by E. Mendelson. [Malta] : Malta University Publishers, c1994.
- Pynchon notes. Middletown, Conn. : J.M. Kraft and K. Tololyan, c1979- . v.10 (Oct. 1982)- v.11 (Feb. 1983), v.14 (Feb. 1984)- v.44/45 (Spring 1999)
- The secret integration / Thomas Pynchon. London : Aloes Books, 1980.
- Signs and symptoms : Thomas Pynchon and the contemporary world / Peter L. Cooper. Berkeley : University of California Press, c1983.
- Slow learner / Thomas Pynchon. Bantam Windstone ed. Toronto ; New York : Bantam, 1985, c1984.
- Slow learner : early stories / Thomas Pynchon. [1984]
- Slow learner : early stories / Thomas Pynchon. 1st ed. Boston : Little, Brown, c1984.
- The small rain / Thomas Pynchon. London : Aloes Books, [1982] Superfiction : or, The American story transformed : an anthology / edited by Joe David Bellamy. 1st ed. New York : Vintage Books, 1975.
- The teachings of Don B. : satires, parodies, fables, illustrated stories, and plays of Donald Barthelme / edited by Kim Herzinger ; with an introduction by Thomas Pynchon. 1st Vintage International ed. New York : Vintage Books, 1998, c1992.
- Thomas Pynchon / by Joseph W. Slade. New York : Warner Paperback Library, 1974.
- Thomas Pynchon : a bibliography of primary and secondary materials / Clifford Mead. 1st ed. Elmwood Park, IL, USA : Dalkey Archive Press, c1989.
- Thomas Pynchon : the art of allusion / by David Cowart. Carbondale : Southern Illinois University Press, c1980.
- Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's rainbow / edited and with an introduction by Harold Bloom. New York : Chelsea House Publishers, 1986.
- V. / Thomas Pynchon. 1st Modern Library ed. New York : The Modern Library, 1966, c1963.
- V. / Thomas Pynchon. Bantam Windstone ed. Toronto ; New York : Bantam Books, 1981, c1963.
- V. / Thomas Pynchon. 1st Perennial Fiction Library ed. New York : Harper & Row, 1990, c1963.
- V. / Thomas Pynchon. Harmondsworth, England : Penguin Books in association with Jonathan Cape, 1966, c1963.
- V. : a novel / Thomas Pynchon. Bantam ed. New York : Bantam, 1964, c1963.
- V. : a novel / Thomas Pynchon. Bantam modern classic. New York : Bantam, 1968, c1963.
- Vineland / Thomas Pynchon. 1st ed. Boston : Little, Brown, c1990.
Biographical Note on Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Pynchon (born 1937) is an award-winning author, whose books include
V.
and
Gravity’s Rainbow. His fiction is known for being dense
and complex. Especially because of his closely-guarded privacy, his life and works
are the subject of scholarly study and debate around the world.
Biographical Note of Stephen Tomaske
Stephen Tomaske (1956-2002) was an avid Pynchon fan and scholar. A student assistant
and later a staff member in reference services at the library at California State
University Los Angeles, he was familiar with various research methods, meticulously
requesting background information about Pynchon from libraries and institutions
across the U. S. in his spare time. He researched Pynchon’s family history, youth
and literary works, collecting a biographical research collection as his legacy.
The collection contains research materials related to noted author, Thomas Pynchon.
Many of the documents are photocopies of originals obtained from various libraries
and institutions. There is a large collection of Family History materials, arranged
in three sub-series: by the names of individuals in the Pynchon family, by
geographic location, and by the names of other families related to the Pynchons. The
inclusive dates, ca. 1392 – 2001, reflect the depth of Tomaske’s genealogical
research.
Biographical Material includes chronologically arranged information about Pynchon’s
youth and pre- writing career, with particular attention to his time at Cornell
University and in the Navy. Almost all of the logbooks for the USS Hank for 1956,
where and when Pynchon served, are included here.
Literary and Subject Materials include information about various topics found in
Pynchon’s books, as well as literary criticism of Pynchon’s books. This section
includes photocopies of the first issues of
Pynchon Notes, a literary
journal devoted to the works of Thomas Pynchon.
Publishing Material includes copies of various short stories and other works by
Pynchon, as well as information about his literary awards and publishing.
Pynchon Correspondence includes copies of letters by Thomas Pynchon.
The collection also contains Tomaske’s Correspondence with other Pynchon scholars,
various institutions, and people who know Pynchon, as well as some of Tomaske’s
original notes. The collection includes Tomaske’s notecards, which appear to be part
of his chronology project for Pynchon, as well as several audio cassette tapes of
interviews by Tomaske. Finally the collection includes ephemera in the form of
magazines that contain articles about Pynchon.
Organized in the following series:
- Family History (Boxes 1-9)
- Biographical Material (Boxes 10-11)
- Literary and Subject Material (Boxes 12-16)
- Publishing Material (Boxes 17-19)
- Pynchon Correspondence and Material (Box 20)
- Stephen Tomaske Correspondence (Box 21)
- Tomaske Notes (Box 22)
- Miscellaneous Non-Pynchon Materials (Box 23)
- Notecards (Box 24)
- Audio Cassette Tapes (Box 25)
- Ephemera (Box 26 and loose volumes)
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Pynchon, Thomas --
Correspondence.
Tomaske, Stephen
Michael -- Archives
Letters (correspondence) -- United
States -- 20th century.
Photographs
Family papers
Ephemera
Manuscripts
Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
Pynchon, Thomas