Guide to the Duncan and Fredrika Brent Collection
Arrangement and description by Special Collections staff; latest revision by D. Tambo
Department of Special Collections
Davidson Library
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Phone: (805) 893-3062
Fax: (805) 893-5749
Email: special@library.ucsb.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/speccoll.html
© 2011
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Duncan and Fredrika Brent Collection, ca. 1669-1983 [bulk dates 1958-1983]
Collection number: Mss 9
Department of Special Collections
Davidson Library
University of California, Santa Barbara
- Processed by:
- Arrangement and description by Special Collections staff; latest revision by D. Tambo
- Date Completed:
- June 15, 2011
- Encoded by:
- A. Demeter
© 2011 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Duncan and Fredrika Brent Collection
Dates: ca. 1669-1983
Bulk Dates: 1958-1983
Collection number: Mss 9
Collection Size:
0.4 linear feet
(1 document box).
Repository:
University of California, Santa Barbara. Library.
Dept. of Special Collections
Abstract: Correspondence from Duncan Brent to Lawrence Clark Powell, as well as a typescript draft and other materials pertaining to
Powell's publication of
Le monde passé [a remembrance of Brent]. Also, a collection of the Brents' books, mainly 19th-20th century literature and Californiana.
A highlight of this collection is the two volume
Hollinshed's Chronicles [of England, Scotland, and Ireland] (London, 1587), one of William Shakespeare's sources for his historical plays.
Physical location: Del Sur.
Languages:
English
Access Restrictions
None.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or
quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given
on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply
permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
Preferred Citation
Duncan and Fredrika Brent Collection. Mss 9. Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California,
Santa Barbara.
Biography
Joseph Duncan Kenner Brent (ca. 1907-1981) was born and reared in Baltimore, and was a graduate of the Gilman School and the
University of Virginia. His grandfather was Joseph Lancaster Brent, who came to southern California before the Civil War and
after whom Brentwood (in Los Angeles) is named.
Fredrika (Freddie) Chase Brent (1904-1981) was a Connecticut native, graduate of St. Timothy's School and Bryn Mawr College.
She was a painter.
The Brents were married on October 21, 1929 and lived abroad for a number of years, where they pursued their studies. After
returning to the U.S., Duncan worked for the Justice Department and served in the Army during World War II. Around 1949 the
Brents moved to Malibu, California, where they were neighbors and became close friends with Lawrence Clark Powell, University
Librarian at UCLA, and his wife.
In the 1960s Powell helped Duncan publish his manuscript
Of the Seer and the Vision (Amsterdam, Menno Hertzberger, 1967) in a limited edition of 100 copies. As Powell described it in his
Le monde passé, the book contained "...erudite discussions of Oriental and European philosophy, explicitly footnoted, and was apparently
written years before when Brent was undertaking an unfinished Columbia University doctorate in philosophy. What was really
unexpected is the inclusion of a short four-act play, a searching morality on adulterous love."
In the latter 1970s the Brents moved to Montecito, California (by Santa Barbara). Duncan served as a member of the executive
board of the Santa Barbara Mission Archives and as a fellow of the Huntington Library, in San Marino.
The Brents remained together until December 14, 1981, when they ended their lives in their Montecito home.
Acquisition Information
Donated by Lawrence Clark Powell, 1984.
Scope and Content Notes
These materials were donated by Lawrence Clark Powell in 1984. They include correspondence from Duncan Brent to Powell, as
well as a typescript draft and other materials pertaining to Powell's publication of
Le monde passe, la figure de ce monde passe: a remembrance of Duncan Brent in a memoir and commentary on his correspondence
with Lawrence Clark Powell
(privately printed, 1983) [Spec Printers Z239.H4823 B74 1983].
Special Collections also has a collection of Duncan and Fredrika Brent's books, donated by Duncan's sister Hally Brent Dame
in their memory and mainly containing 19th-20th century literature and Californiana. These have been cataloged separately
and may be searched on Pegasus, the UCSB Libraries online catalog. One of the highlights of this collection is the two volume
Hollinshed's Chronicles [of England, Scotland, and Ireland] (London, 1587), one of William Shakespeare's sources for his historical plays.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Brent, Duncan.
Brent, Fredrika
Authors, American -- 20th century.
Box 1: 1
Correspondence to Duncan Brent,
1958,
1977,
n.d.
Box 1: 2
Correspondence to Lawrence Clark Powell,
ca. 1962-1981
Box 1: 3
Correspondence to Fredrika,
1959,
n.d.
Box 1: 4
Correspondence to Mr. and Mrs. Ray Billington (one with elaborate drawing),
1972,
1980
Box 1: 5
Notes and notebook (autobiographical notes, drawings, and poems, much of it apparently written at an early age)
Box 1: 6
Correspondence to Powell re Brents' death,
1981
Box 1: 7
Correspondence to Powell, mainly re Powell's memorial volume to Duncan Brent,
1981-1983
Box 1: 8
Transcriptions of Brent-Powell correspondence and notes for memorial volume
Le monde passé (memorial volume)
Box 1: 9-10
Typescript (2 copies, one annotated by Doyce Nunis and Mabel Billington)
Box 1: 11
Final Proofs (also copies of photos for the book)
Box 1: 12
Billington, Ray Allen (copy of "Selling the West" and typescript of "Cowboys, Indians, and the Land of Promise: The World
Image of the American Frontier," inscribed by Billington, to the Brents),
1975
Box 1: 13
Sermons (bound vellum volume, with handwritten text, author unknown),
ca. 1669-1671
Box 1: 14
Miscellany (includes notes, cards, clippings - much unidentified),
ca. 1912-1976,
n.d.
Box 1: 15
Brent Dame, Hally (sister of Duncan) - Correspondence
