Finding aid of the Edgar H. Leoni Papers
Coll2007-019
Michael P. Palmer
Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
909 West Adams Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90007
(213) 821-2771
askone@usc.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Title: Edgar H. Leoni papers
creator:
Leoni, Edgar H.
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2007-019
Physical Description:
2.8 Linear Feet
7 archive cartons
Date (inclusive): 1935-1995
Date (bulk): bulk
Abstract: The collection consists of correspondence, writings, drafts, copies, research files, diaries, photographs, and miscellaneous
ephemera, of Edgar H. Leoni, author under his real name of
Nostradamus: Life and Literature (1961), and under his pseudonym of Noel I. Garde of
Jonathan to Gide: The Homosexual in History (1964).
Physical Description: 6 archive cartons + 1 archive shoebox.
Access
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.
Publication Rights
Researchers wishing to publish materials must obtain permission in writing from ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives as the
physical owner. Researchers must also obtain clearance from the holder(s) of any copyrights in the materials. Note that ONE
National Gay and Lesbian Archives can grant copyright clearance only for those materials for which we hold the copyright.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain copyright clearance for all other materials directly from the copyright
holder(s).
Preferred Citation
Box #, folder #, Edgar H. Leoni Papers, Coll2007-019, ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.
Acquisition Information
Papers donated to the International Gay & Lesbian Archives in 1992 by Edgar H. Leoni.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Michael P. Palmer, December 31, 2007.
Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Additional materials added by Kyle Morgan in 2015.
Biography
Edgar Hugh Leoni was born in 1925. He graduated BA from Harvard in 1945, and later earned an MA from Columbia. He worked in
the insurance industry in New York City, and retired to Clearwater, Florida.
Leoni's intellectual interests were the work of Nostradamus and the homosexual in literature and history. His
Nostradamus: Life and LiteratureNostradamus: Life and Literature (New York 1961) was in its time considered the standard work on the subject. He published
on homosexual themes under the name "Noel I. Garde", an anagram of his real name. As Garde he published
The Homosexual in Literature (New York 1959) and
Jonathan to Gide: The Homosexual in HistoryJonathan to Gide: The Homosexual in History (New York 1964), and contributed articles, book reviews, and notes to both the
Mattachine Review and the
ONE Institute Quarterly in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection consists of correspondence, drafts and copies of Leoni's writings, both under his real name and under his pseudonym
of Noel I. Garde, research files on the occult and on gays in literature and history, diaries, photographs, and miscellaneous
ephemera. The collection is divided into five series: (1) Correspondence, (2) Writings, (3) Research Files, (4) Personal,
and (5) Miscellaneous.
Separated Materials
Separated to the ONE periodical collection:
HIV/AIDS Surveillance, October 1991.
New Dimensions, v.2, no.2.
Professional Advisory Council calendar, March 1979.
PWA Coaliition Newsline, no.52, February 1990; no.63 March 1991.
SCW News, v.3, no.2, March 1979.
Spinning Off, v.2, no. 12-14, 1979.
You 'N' Rights, San Gabriel Valley Coalition for Human Rights, v.2, no.1, January 15, 1979.
Separated to ONE's non-LGBT magazine cover story collection:
New York, "Q an A on AIDS," v.20, no.12, March 23, 1987.
Separated to the ONE subject files and ONE performing arts collections:
Clippings regarding HIV/AIDS; venereal diseases; gay rights movement; and gay-related theater, books, and film.
Deaccessioned:
Pan Russia Institute of Technical Information. Synopotic Journal: Journal of Abstracts, 18. Physics. 1992.
UFO Literature Reference Guide and Catalog. Arcturus Book Service. 1981.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Homosexuality -- History
Diaries
Prophecies (Occultism)
Homosexuality in literature -- Bibliography
Astrology
One, Inc
Garde, Noel I.
Leoni, Edgar H.
Leoni, Edgar H.
Correspondence Series 1:
1956-1993
Physical Description: 18 folders.
Series Scope and Content
This series consists of Leoni's correspondence, both under his own name and the pseudonym Noel I. Garde. The Leoni correspondence
contains a notable series of letters to and from John Wojtowicz and George Heath relating to the former (whose fictionalized
story is told in Sidney Lumet's 1975 film,
Dog Day Afternoon). Much of the Garde correspondence with ONE appears to have been added to the collection after its acquisition by ONE from
ONE's own files: the letters are Leoni's originals, stamped with the date they were received by ONE. See the Book Service
Materials in the Personal Series for correspondence related to Leoni's book service activities.
Box 1, Folder 4
Forman Brown ("Richard Meeker")
circa 1980-1991
Box 1, Folder 7
John Wojtowicz & George Heath
1975-1981
Box 7, Folder 1-2
AIDS-related correspondence
1985-1992
Box 4, Folder 13-15
Assorted correspondence
1948-1991
Writings Series 2:
circa 1942-1985
Physical Description: 16 folders.
Series Scope and Content
This series consists of drafts of Leoni's writings, together with relevant correspondence, notes, and research materials.
The majority of the articles, essays, biographical sketches, and book reviews written under his Garde pseudonym were intended
for publication by ONE. Many of the materials are stamped with the date of receipt by ONE and are accompanied by ONE's publications
committee, recommending publication or rejection, suggesting that, like the Garde correspondence with ONE, they were added
to the collection after its acquisition by ONE, from ONE's own files.
The Homosexual in Literature (Garde)
1959
Nostradamus (Leoni)
circa 1942-1993
Box 1, Folder 12
Dust Jackets & Table of Contents
1961-1982
Box 1, Folder 13
Library Holdings, Sales, Returns
circa 1961-1970
Box 1, Folder 15
Pamphlets & Articles
circa 1942-1982
Jonathan to Gide (Garde)
1964-1971, 1984
Box 2, Folder 5
Correspondence
1969-1971, 1984
Box 2, Folder 7
Library Sales, Gifts, Returns
circa 1965-1971
Box 2, Folder 8
Articles, Essays & Biographical Sketches (Garde)
circa 1960-1985
Box 2, Folder 9
Book Reviews (Garde)
circa 1957-1963
Box 3, Folder 17
Despised and Rejected, correspondence and other papers
1958-1961
Box 7, Folder 8
Edits for Kepner's "A Gay World..." text
undated
Research Files Series 3:
1953-1991
Physical Description: 28 folders + 1 box of note slips.
Series Scope and Content
This series contains general research files. The most significant item is a file containing several hundred 6-by-4 inch slips
of paper containing detailed analyses of English-language fiction with homosexual characters and themes, perhaps preparatory
to an unrealized update to Young's 1975 The Male Homosexual in Literature. The materials also include transcripts of graffiti
found in railroad and bus terminals between 1949 and 1959 and a handwritten transcript of
Priapea sive diversorum poetarum in Priapum lusus.
Box 7, Folder 3
AIDS-related reference material
1985-1992
Box 2, Folder 11
Astrology & the Third Reich (Ellic Howe). Miscellaneous Photocopies
1984
Box 2, Folder 12
Biology Notes
circa 1960-1985
Box 2, Folder 13
Chronology Chart, 395-1915. Part 1 (385-1453)
1935
Box 2, Folder 14
Cordan, Wolfgang. "Days with Antonio"
1960
Box 2, Folder 15
Erotic Book Flyers
circa 1960-1970
Box 2, Folder 16
European Royalty. Genealogy
circa 1960-1985
Box 2, Folder 17
Excerpts from Other Authors
circa 1960-1985
Box 7, Folder 9
Gay-related subject files and notes
circa 1960-1979
Box 2, Folder 19
Graffiti (Train/Bus Stations)
1949-1959
Box 3, Folder 1
Hemingway, Ernest.
Suppressed Poems
circa 1960
Homosexuality Bibliography
1970-1977
Box 3, Folder 2
Parker, William.
Homosexual Bibliography
1970-1977
Box 3, Folder 3
Young, Ian.
The Male Homosexual in Literature
1975
Box 3, Folder 4
Homosexuality Bibliographies & Book Lists
circa 1960-1985
Box 3, Folder 7
Summaries of English-language fiction with homosexual characters and themes
circa 1958-1987
Physical Description: 1 box of paper slips
Physical Description: (4 x 6 inches)
Box 3, Folder 5
Human Rights Practices for 1993, Country Reports on (103d Congress, 2d Session)
1994
Box 3, Folder 6
Miscellaneous Notes
circa 1960-1985
Box 3, Folder 7
Newspaper Clippings
1941-1992
Box 3, Folder 8
Newspaper Clippings. Yukio Mishima
1958-1974
Box 3, Folder 9
Palaeontology
circa 1960-1985
Box 3, Folder 10
Photocopies, Miscellaneous
no date
Box 3, Folder 11
Priapea sive diversorum poetarum in Priapum lusus. Transcript (manuscript)
circa 1960-1985
Box 3, Folder 12
Prokosch, Frederic.
The Asiatics
circa 1941
Box 3, Folder 13
Roberts, Hermese E.
The Third Ear: A Black Glossary
1971
Box 3, Folder 14
Rochester, John Willmott, Earl of.
Rochester's Sodom (1904). Transcript (typescript)
circa 1960-1985
Box 3, Folder 15
Saul, John.
Sins of the Cities of the Plain (1881)
circa 1960-1985
Box 3, Folder 16
Sexology; Sex Science Magazine
June 1953
Box 4, Folder 1
Symmonds, John Addington.
A Problem in Greek Ethics (1901)
circa 1960-1985
General note
Photographic copy.
Box 7, Folder 4
Unidentified flying object (UFO) material
1976-1991
Box 4, Folder 2
Weston, Patrick (Gerald Hamilton).
Desert Dreamers (1914)
circa 1960-1985
Box 4, Folder 3
Windham, Donald.
The Hitchhiker (1950)
circa 1960-1985
Personal Series 4:
1935-1993
Physical Description: 30 folders.19 volumes and 11 folders
Series Scope and Content
This series contains documents of a personal nature, including extensive diaries from 1935 to 1993, as well as materials relating
to Leoni's status as a Harvard alumnus, including a copy of the 1941 freshman class yearbook and his correspondence with Harvard
Magazine. The photographs appear to document a visit to Europe in the late 1940s or early 1950s. The book service materials
relate to a side interest in books and studio releases.
Box 4, Folder 4
Harvard Class of 1945. Freshman Yearbook
1941
Box 4, Folder 5
Harvard Class of 1945. Newspaper Clippings
circa 1945-1955
Box 4, Folder 6
Harvard Class of 1945 in Print
circa 1995
Box 4, Folder 7
Harvard Magazine
1977-1991
Box 4, Folder 8
Class Notes (Government)
circa 1941-1945
Box 7, Folder 5-7
Book service
1962-1979
Scope and Contents
Includes correspondence with Victor Hall, Samuel Steward, Victor Banis, James Edward Dial, and Roger Austen.
Box 4, Folder 10
Christmas Cards
circa 1990
Box 4, Folder 11
Photographs
circa 1945-1960
Miscellaneous Series 5:
circa 1960-1985
Physical Description: 8 items.
Series Scope and Content
This series contains miscellaneous materials found in the collection, including graphics of homosexual erotic images and ephemera
with both homosexual and heterosexual erotic images.
Box 6, Folder 8
Microfilm (unidentified)
no date
Box 6, Folder 9
Microfilm (unidentified)
no date
Box 6, Folder 10
Climax 69 Playing Cards (heterosexual)
circa 1960-1975
Box 6, Folder 11
DSI Playing Cards (homosexual)
circa 1960-1975
Box 6, Folder 12
Coin of Elizabeth II in lucite
1965
Box 6, Folder 13
Miss Demontagia (German)
circa 1960-1975
Box 6, Folder 14
Keyholder with color male physique transparency
circa 1960-1975