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William W. Johnson collection on B. Traven
MS 244
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Title: William W. Johnson collection on B. Traven
Date (inclusive): 1946-1987, undated
Date (bulk): 1966-1985
Collection Number: MS 244
Creator:
Johnson, William Weber, 1909-1992
Extent:
1.25 linear feet
(3 boxes)
Repository:
Rivera Library. Special Collections Department.
Riverside, CA 92517-5900
Abstract: The William W. Johnson collection on B. Traven contains publications, correspondence, and other material related to Johnson's
research on the author B. Traven, which spanned more than forty years. This collection includes various articles on B. Traven,
newspapers from Chiapas, Mexico covering the three-day homage to B. Traven, and Johnson's B. Traven related research notes.
Also includes correspondence with Rosa Elena Lujan (B. Traven's wife), Lawrence Hill (B. Traven's United States publisher),
and Paul Kohner (B. Traven's agent) as well as a rare certified copy of Traven Torsvan Croves' will dated March 4, 1969 (in
English).
Languages: The collection is primarily in English. Also contains items in German and Spanish.
This collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to the University of California, Riverside Libraries, Special Collections & University Archives.
Distribution or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission
of the copyright owners. To the extent other restrictions apply, permission for distribution or reproduction from the applicable
rights holder is also required. Responsibility for obtaining permissions, and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
[identification of item], [date if possible]. William W. Johnson collection on B. Traven (MS 244). Special Collections & University
Archives, University of California, Riverside.
The William W. Johnson collection on B. Traven was acquired in 1986.
Processed by Heidi Hutchinson, Processing Archivist, 2011.
William Weber Johnson (1909-1992) was a journalist, a professor of journalism at UCLA, and an author of countless articles
and a dozen books, the best known of which is
Heroic Mexico: the narrative history of a twentieth century revolution (New York: Doubleday, 1968). He served with Time, Inc. from 1941-61 as a writer (New York), war correspondent (European Theater
and WWII) and chief of various domestic and foreign bureaus (Mexico and Central America, Argentina and South America, Dallas,
Boston and Beverly Hills). Johnson's interest in B. Traven began while Johnson was Time, Inc. bureau chief in Mexico City
and continued well after Traven's death. Johnson was personally acquainted with the elderly Hal Croves (as Traven was calling
himself in Mexico City) and his wife Rosa Elena Lujan. Johnson had many conversations and a lengthy cordial correspondence
with Rosa Elena Lujan, and at one time intended to write the definitive B. Traven biography. This was never fully realized,
but his thirty years of collected research and correspondence on B. Traven came to University of California, Riverside in
1986.
B. Traven was the pseudonym for an internationally famous writer who guarded his identity with jealousy and determination
throughout his life, creating one of the greatest literary puzzles of the 20th century. Other names he went by in his lifetime
are Traven Torsvan, Hal Croves, and Ret Marut. His twelve novels, the best known of which are
The Death Ship and the
Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and many short stories have been translated into numerous languages. Films have been made of his the
Treasure of the Sierra Madre,
White Rose,
Macario,
The Death Ship, and
Rebellion of the Hanged. He died in March 1969 in Mexico City, Mexico.
The William W. Johnson collection on B. Traven contains publications, correspondence, and other material related to Johnson's
research on the author B. Traven, which spanned more than forty years. This collection includes various articles on B. Traven,
newspapers from Chiapas, Mexico covering the three-day homage to B. Traven, and Johnson's B. Traven related research notes.
Also includes correspondence with Rosa Elena Lujan (B. Traven's wife), Lawrence Hill (B. Traven's United States publisher),
and Paul Kohner (B. Traven's agent) as well as a rare certified copy of Traven Torsvan Croves' will dated March 4, 1969 (in
English).
This collection is arranged into three series. The contents of each series are arranged sequentially according to box and
folder number. The series arrangement of this collection is as follows:
- Series 1. Publications, 1948-1987, undated
- Series 2. Correspondence, 1946-1986
- Series 3. Research material, 1966-1986, undated
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog.
Lujan, Rosa Elena
Traven, B.
Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence
Manuscripts
Notes