Finding Aid for the Albert and Charles Boni, Inc. records, ca. 1916-1974 LSC.1462

Finding aid prepared by Caroline Cubé, 2003.

UCLA Library Special Collections

Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library

Box 951575

Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575

Business Number: 310-825-4988

Fax Number: 310-206-1864

spec-coll@library.ucla.edu

URL: https://www.library.ucla.edu/special-collections

Contributing Institution: UCLA Library Special Collections

Title: Albert and Charles Boni, Inc. records

Creator: Albert & Charles Boni

Identifier/Call Number: LSC.1462

Physical Description: 5 Linear Feet 10 boxes

Date (inclusive): ca. 1916-1974

Abstract: Albert Boni (1892-1981) founded Albert and Charles Boni, Incorporated with his brother in New York City (1923). They introduced Boni Paper Books, and sold them by mail-order subscription. Active in both literary and political fields, the firm published such controversial and influential writers as Marcel Proust, Colette, D.H. Lawrence, Upton Sinclair and Leon Trotsky. The collection consists of papers relating to Albert and Charles Boni, Incorporated.

Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.

General Physical Description note: no content

Language of Material: English .

Restrictions on Access

Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.

Restrictions on Use and Reproduction

Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Albert and Charles Boni, Inc. Records (Collection 1462). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

Provenance/Source of Acquisition

Gift of William Boni, 1985.

Processing History:

Initial processing of collection done by Kayla Landesman, August 1986. Full processing and description by Michael Devine in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), with assistance from Laurel McPhee, Summer 2004.

We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form located on our website: Report Potentially Offensive Description in Library Special Collections.

UCLA Catalog Record ID

UCLA Catalog Record ID: 9942303043606533

Biography/History

Albert Boni was born in 1892 in New York City and attended Harvard University. Between the two World Wars Albert Boni left a lasting impression on the publishing world, first with Horace Liveright (Boni & Liveright) and then with his brother Charles (Albert & Charles Boni, Inc.). Boni's first publishing venture was The Little Leather Library, which sold abridged classics in a very small format through Woolworth's (1914). After selling the Washington Square Bookshop in 1917, he joined Horace Liveright to form the Boni-Liveright Publishing Company, which started the Modern Library of the World's Best Classics. Modern Library intended to copy the success of the popular British Everyman Series; in 1925, Boni's salesman Bennett Cerf bought the line, and went on to start Random House. With Albert and Charles Boni, Inc., he moved away from repackaging the classics in hopes of publishing exciting contemporary literature. By 1923 Boni and his brother founded Albert and Charles Boni, Incorporated, a firm that introduced Boni Paper Books and sold them by mail-order subscription. Active in both the literary and the political fields, the firm published such controversial and influential writers as Marcel Proust, Colette, D.H. Lawrence, Upton Sinclair, and Leon Trotsky. In the 1940s, Boni's interest in photography and light technologies led him to create the Readex Microprint Corporation. He died on July 13, 1981 in Ormond Beach, Florida.

Scope and Content

The bulk of this collection records Boni's commercial concerns as a publisher; his social and literary interests are clear through correspondence with a variety of artists and writers, from Max Eastman and George Bernard Shaw to Jim Tully. The collection also includes papers related to the Readex Microprint Corporation and Boni's photography compilation, A guide to the literature of photography and related subjects.

Organization and Arrangement

Arranged in the following series:

Miscellaneous business papers, 1928-1974 (Boxes 1-2).
Correspondence, 1916-1966 (Boxes 3-5).
Contracts, 1921-1973 (Boxes 5-10).

Related Material

Albert Boni Collection of Material about Photography (Collection 1046). Available at UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Publishers and publishing -- United States -- Archives.

Albert & Charles Boni--Archives.

Boni, Albert

Boni, Charles

Series 1: Miscellaneous Business Papers, . 1928-1974

General Physical Description note: (2 boxes).

Scope and Contents note

Assorted business files.

box 1, folder 1

Articles and Inquiries. 1924-1928.

General Physical Description note: (11 items).

Scope and Contents note

Papers on The American Library, Melville, Mexico.

box 1, folder 2

Business Documents. 1936-1948.

General Physical Description note: (19 items).

Invoices, letters.
1 legal file on Boni vs. R.H. Macy & Company.

box 1, folder 3

Business Letters. 1926-1933.

General Physical Description note: (77 items).

Scope and Contents note

Letters regarding Albert Boni's various publishing interests, including Creative Arts.

box 1, folder 4

Checks Received. 1950 March 9.

General Physical Description note: (2 items).

Scope and Contents note

Check stubs for Devil's Dictionary and World's Best Poems.

box 1, folder 5

Copyright Inquiries. 1947-1949.

General Physical Description note: (6 items).

Scope and Contents note

Inquiries into Boni copyrights.

box 1, folder 6

Disputed Contracts. 1929-1930.

General Physical Description note: (10 items).

Scope and Contents note

Disputed contracts and financial records of A & C Boni, Inc.

box 1, folder 7

Photography Correspondence. 1943-1945.

General Physical Description note: (58 items).

Scope and Contents note

Letters and papers concerning Albert Boni's Index to the Literature of Photography.

box 1, folder 8

Photography Papers. 1943-1947.

General Physical Description note: (15 items).

Letters and papers on photography.
Article on work of Therese Bonney.

box 1, folder 9

Private Bills. 1950-1951.

General Physical Description note: (72 items).

Scope and Contents note

Receipts from Albert Boni's life in Chester, Vermont.

box 1, folder 10

Publishing Inquiries. 1936-1947.

General Physical Description note: (48 items).

Scope and Contents note

Business papers and letters.

box 1, folder 11

Readex Corporation. 1949-1951.

General Physical Description note: (57 items).

Scope and Contents note

Personal and business letters.

box 1, folder 12

Royal Photographic Society. 1950.

General Physical Description note: (3 items).

Scope and Contents note

Membership documents.

box 2, folder 1-4

Thornton Wilder Financials. 1950-1974.

General Physical Description note: (159 items).

Scope and Contents note

International royalty statements for Wilder.

box 2, folder 5-7

Thornton Wilder Translations. 1928-1934.

General Physical Description note: (76 items).

Scope and Contents note

Letters seeking rights to translate The Bridge of Saint Luis Rey.

box 2, folder 8

Titles. n.d.

General Physical Description note: (4 items).

Typed lists of A & C Boni titles.
Handwritten emendations.
A separate list for Charles Boni Titles.

box 2, folder 9

Unsolicited Manuscripts. 1945-1947.

General Physical Description note: (20 items).

Scope and Contents note

Cover letters for various unsolicited manuscripts.

Series 2: Correspondence, . 1916-1966

General Physical Description note: (3 boxes).

Scope and Contents note

Assorted correspondence with various authors. Arranged alphabetically by correspondent's surname.

box 3, folder 1

Archibald, Norman. 1936 June 15.

General Physical Description note: (1 item).

Scope and Contents note

Typewritten letter from Archibald concerning royalties.

box 3, folder 2

Beardsley, Aubrey. n.d.

General Physical Description note: (1 item).

General note

See Box 4, Folder 1 for (slightly oversize) original signed proof: "How King Arthur Saw the Questing Beast and Thereof Had Great Marvel," 1893.

box 3, folder 3

Bierce, Ambrose. 1937-1947.

General Physical Description note: (16 items).

Scope and Contents note

Inquiries into the publishing rights of Bierce's work.

box 3, folder 4

Bonsels, Waldemar. 1927-1930.

General Physical Description note: (27 items).

Letters from Bonsels in German about Indian Journey.
1 postcard.

box 3, folder 5

Brandeis, Alice and Judge Louis. 1929-1931.

General Physical Description note: (8 items).

Letters from Alice about Karl Goldmark.
1 postcard photo of Goldmark.
Letters to Louis on publishing.

box 3, folder 6

Britton, Nan. 1932.

General Physical Description note: (5 items).

Scope and Contents note

Book order inquiries from Britton.

box 3, folder 7

Butts, Mary. 1926-1928.

General Physical Description note: (20 items).

Scope and Contents note

Correspondence with Butts on various manuscripts.

box 3, folder 8

Chubb, Thomas C. 1931-1933.

General Physical Description note: (53 items).

Letters and papers from Chubb on Ships and Lovers and Aretino.
1 photo of Chubb.

box 3, folder 9

Coffin, Robert P.T. 1926-1932.

General Physical Description note: (12 items).

Scope and Contents note

Letters from Coffin about Dew and Bronze.

box 3, folder 10

Croft, F.W. 1927.

General Physical Description note: (12 items).

Scope and Contents note

Publishing records for Croft.

box 3, folder 11

Dakers, A.H. 1919-1921.

General Physical Description note: (24 items).

Scope and Contents note

Correspondence with the Curtis Brown publishing firm.

box 3, folder 12

DeCasseres, Benjamin. 1927-1928.

General Physical Description note: (5 items).

Scope and Contents note

Handwritten letters from DeCasseres.

box 3, folder 13

Draper, Eben and Hazel. 1935.

General Physical Description note: (8 items).

Scope and Contents note

Correspondence with Drapers on PR for Norman Archibald's Heaven High, Hell Deep.

box 3, folder 14

Dunn, Robert. 1949-1950.

General Physical Description note: (12 items).

Scope and Contents note

Correspondence with Dunn about his manuscript.

box 3, folder 15

Eastman, Max. 1927-1930.

General Physical Description note: (12 items).

Typewritten manuscripts of poem, "The Songs of Love", and story, "Something French."
Letters about Marx, Lenin and the Science of Revolution.

box 3, folder 16

Eddison, E.R. 1926.

General Physical Description note: (5 items).

Scope and Contents note

Letters from Eddison about The Worm Ouroboros.

box 3, folder 17

Egerton, [C.?]. 1930.

General Physical Description note: (8 items).

Scope and Contents note

Handwritten letters from Egerton.

box 3, folder 18

Einstein, Elsa. 1930-1931.

General Physical Description note: (2 items).

Scope and Contents note

Personal letters between Einstein and Albert Boni.

box 3, folder 19

Eliot, T.S. n.d.

General Physical Description note: (1 item).

Scope and Contents note

Photostat of handwritten note from Eliot.

box 3, folder 20

Feinberg, Charles. 1947-1950.

General Physical Description note: (6 items).

Scope and Contents note

Personal correspondence with Feinberg on book collecting.

box 3, folder 21

Ferrero, Guglielmo. 1929-1930.

General Physical Description note: (10 items).

Scope and Contents note

Correspondence with Ferrero about Unification of the World.

box 3, folder 22

Field, Sara Bard. 1932-1937.

General Physical Description note: (81 items).

Scope and Contents note

Correspondence with Field about Barabbas.

box 3, folder 23

Flanner, Janet. 1929-1930.

General Physical Description note: (11 items).

Scope and Contents note

Letters from Flanner about her translations of Colette.

box 3, folder 24

Flores, Angel. 1927-1931.

General Physical Description note: (9 items).

Scope and Contents note

Correspondence with Flores on book projects.

box 3, folder 25

Ford, Ford Madox. 1926 January 29.

General Physical Description note: (1 item).

Scope and Contents note

Typewritten letter from Ford about royalties.

box 3, folder 26

Handy, W.C. 1925-1926.

General Physical Description note: (33 items).

Scope and Contents note

Correspondence with Handy and E.A. Niles about Blues Anthology.

box 3, folder 27

Hamilton, Dr. G.V. 1928-1929.

General Physical Description note: (4 items).

Scope and Contents note

Correspondence about A Research in Marriage.

box 3, folder 28

Helm, William P. 1932.

General Physical Description note: (8 items).

Scope and Contents note

Letters from Helm about Washington Swindle Sheet.

box 3, folder 29

Jeffers, Robinson. ca. 1932.

General Physical Description note: (1 item).

Scope and Contents note

Typewritten letter from Jeffers to Sara Bard Field.

box 3, folder 30

Kayser, Rudolph. 1929-1931.

General Physical Description note: (7 items).

Scope and Contents note

Publishing related correspondence.

box 3, folder 31

Kent, Rockwell. 1928-1929.

General Physical Description note: (20 items).

Correspondence with Kent about Creative Arts
Galleys of illustrated Bridge of Saint Luis Rey.

box 3, folder 32

Kropotkin, Peter. n.d.

General Physical Description note: (2 items).

Scope and Contents note

2 photos of Kropotkin.

box 4, folder 1

Beardsley, Aubrey. n.d.

General Physical Description note: (2 items).

Scope and Contents note

Original signed proof and envelope from Beardsley studio: "How King Arthur Saw the Questing Beast and Thereof Had Great Marvel," 1893.

box 4, folder 2

Lavell, Charles. 1926-1938.

General Physical Description note: (35 items).

Scope and Contents note

Business correspondence with literary agent.

box 4, folder 3

Lewisohn, Ludwig. 1927.

General Physical Description note: (4 items).

Scope and Contents note

Letters from Lewisohn about The Case of Mr. Crump.

box 4, folder 4

Liggett, Walter. 1931.

General Physical Description note: (40 items).

Scope and Contents note

Correspondence with Ligget about The Rise of Herbert Hoover.

box 4, folder 5

Liveright, Horace. 1920.

General Physical Description note: (4 items).

Scope and Contents note

Letters from Liveright to Nell Boni.

box 4, folder 6

Locke, Alain. 1926-1933.

General Physical Description note: (15 items).

Scope and Contents note

Correspondence with Locke about The New Negro and Rene Maran's Kongo.

box 4, folder 7

Malcolm-Smith, E.F. 1930.

General Physical Description note: (16 items).

Scope and Contents note

Correspondence with Malcolm-Smith about her translation of Romain Rolland.

box 4, folder 8

Marks, Jeannette. 1928-1929.

General Physical Description note: (31 items).

Scope and Contents note

Correspondence with Marks about Thirteen Days.

box 4, folder 9

Mathers, E. Powys. 1926 May 1.

General Physical Description note: (1 item).

Scope and Contents note

Typewritten letter from Mathers.

box 4, folder 10

McAdoo, William. 1931.

General Physical Description note: (65 items).

Scope and Contents note

Letters, papers, negotiations for serialization of McAdoo's memoirs.

box 4, folder 11

McBride, Henry. 1931 June 22 and n.d.

General Physical Description note: (2 items).

Scope and Contents note

Handwritten notes from McBride.

box 4, folder 12

McFee, Henry Lee. 1929.

General Physical Description note: (5 items).

Scope and Contents note

Correspondence with painter McFee.

box 4, folder 13-15

Miscellany. 1924-1947.

General Physical Description note: (35 items).

Scope and Contents note

Variety of correspondences with friends, writers, booksellers.

box 4, folder 16

Motherwell, Hiram. 1928.

General Physical Description note: (1 item).

Scope and Contents note

Correspondence with the translator of Mussolini's The Cardinal's Mistress.

box 4, folder 17

Newman, Frances. 1927 December 16.

General Physical Description note: (1 item).

Scope and Contents note

Handwritten letter from Newman.

box 4, folder 18

Owen, Robert. 1927.

General Physical Description note: (6 items).

Scope and Contents note

Correspondence with Owen about The Russian Imperial Conspiracy.

box 4, folder 19

Pankhurst, E. Sylvia. 1935 July 5.

General Physical Description note: (1 item).

Scope and Contents note

Typewritten inquiry letter from Pankhurst.

box 4, folder 20

Pinchot, Gifford. 1929-1930.

General Physical Description note: (10 items).

Scope and Contents note

Correspondence with Pinchot over publishing dispute.

box 4, folder 21

Sanford, John. 1937-1950.

General Physical Description note: (69 items).

Scope and Contents note

Papers documenting dispute over Sanford's The Old Man's Place.

box 4, folder 22

Seldes, George. 1928.

General Physical Description note: (2 items).

Scope and Contents note

Handwritten letter from Seldes.

box 4, folder 23

Seldes, Gilbert. 1916.

General Physical Description note: (4 items).

Scope and Contents note

Papers of financial agreement between Seldes and Albert Boni.

box 4, folder 24

Shaw, George Bernard. 1917.

General Physical Description note: (2 items).

Typewritten letter soliciting a World War I book from George Bernard Shaw
Typed transcription of shorthand reply from George Bernard Shaw.

box 4, folder 25

Stewart, Donald Ogden. 1947.

General Physical Description note: (1 item).

Scope and Contents note

Correspondence regarding fees for Stewart reprints.

box 4, folder 26

Tennant, John A. 1949-1950.

General Physical Description note: (12 items).

Scope and Contents note

Letters on book purchases.

box 4, folder 27

Unamuno, Miguel de. 1929.

General Physical Description note: (5 items).

Scope and Contents note

Correspondence with Unamuno about Three Exemplary Novels.

box 4, folder 28

Van Doren, Mark. 1928-1933.

General Physical Description note: (54 items).

Scope and Contents note

Letters from Van Doren on World Poetry Anthology.

box 5, folder 1

Villard, Oswald Garrison. 1931.

General Physical Description note: (9 items).

Scope and Contents note

Publishing inquiries from Villard.

box 5, folder 2

Von Wedel, Carl. 1938.

General Physical Description note: (6 items).

Scope and Contents note

Letters and papers from Von Wedel on photography and science.

box 5, folder 3

Wilder, Isabel. 1949-1950.

General Physical Description note: (20 items).

Scope and Contents note

Letters on international rights of her brother's work.

box 5, folder 4

Wilder, Thornton. 1962 September 18.

General Physical Description note: (2 items).

Scope and Contents note

2 publicity photos of Wilder.

box 5, folder 5

Wylie, Elinor. 1966.

General Physical Description note: (4 items).

Scope and Contents note

Receipts, typewritten letter, notes.

Series 3: Contracts, 1921-1973.

General Physical Description note: (6 boxes).

Scope and Contents note

Publishing contracts for various authors and artists. Arranged alphabetically by author's surname.

box 5, folder 6

Adams - Arens. 1924-1938.

General Physical Description note: (10 items).

box 5, folder 7

Asch - Bierce. 1925-1942.

General Physical Description note: (13 items).

box 5, folder 8

Bigelow - Bonsels. 1925-1932.

General Physical Description note: (9 items).

box 5, folder 9

Book Review Syndicate - Broun. 1925-1935.

General Physical Description note: (9 items).

box 5, folder 10

Burke - Chubb. 1924-1973.

General Physical Description note: (8 items).

box 6, folder 1

Citadel Press - Cornwall Press. 1930-1946.

General Physical Description note: (6 items).

box 6, folder 2

Courier Citizen Co. - Crowder. 1925-1938.

General Physical Description note: (7 items).

box 6, folder 3

Damon - Dial Press. 1923-1932.

General Physical Description note: (8 items).

box 6, folder 4

Diedrichs - Eastman. 1921-1940.

General Physical Description note: (6 items).

box 6, folder 5

Eddison - Ferry. 1926-1940.

General Physical Description note: (9 items).

box 6, folder 6

Field - Ford. 1924-1949.

General Physical Description note: (8 items).

box 6, folder 7

Fornaro - Handy. 1922-1949.

General Physical Description note: (11 items).

box 6, folder 8

Hapgood - Herold. 1925-1941.

General Physical Description note: (6 items).

box 7, folder 1

Hittner - Huston. 1924-1945.

General Physical Description note: (6 items).

box 7, folder 2

Inman - Kayser. 1926-1938.

General Physical Description note: (5 items).

box 7, folder 3

Kemp - Lawrence. 1926-1935.

General Physical Description note: (7 items).

box 7, folder 4

Levine - Liggett. 1926-1931.

General Physical Description note: (6 items).

box 7, folder 5

Lippmann - MacKaye. 1925-1967.

General Physical Description note: (10 items).

box 7, folder 6

Macmillan - McAdoo. 1924-1931.

General Physical Description note: (14 items).

box 8, folder 1

McBride - Motherwell. 1924-1936.

General Physical Description note: (11 items).

box 8, folder 2

Mussey - Niles. 1922-1942.

General Physical Description note: (9 items).

box 8, folder 3

Nock - Paramount Pictures. 1926-1937.

General Physical Description note: (6 items).

box 8, folder 4

Parker - Powers Reproduction Corp. 1925-1946.

General Physical Description note: (9 items).

box 8, folder 5

Proust Publishers - Pyne. 1923-1941.

General Physical Description note: (6 items).

box 8, folder 6

Raushenbush - Rodker. 1925-1935.

General Physical Description note: (6 items).

box 9, folder 1

Rue - Rogers. 1924-1925.

General Physical Description note: (7 items).

box 9, folder 2

Sanford - Smith. 1923-1937.

General Physical Description note: (9 items).

box 9, folder 3

Snyder - Straiton. 1925-1932.

General Physical Description note: (6 items).

box 9, folder 4

Street - Symons. 1924-1931.

General Physical Description note: (5 items).

box 9, folder 5

Taggard - Tully. 1928-1933.

General Physical Description note: (8 items).

box 9, folder 6

Tully - Trotsky. 1927-1931.

General Physical Description note: (7 items).

box 10, folder 1

Unamuno - Van Doren. 1929-1946.

General Physical Description note: (6 items).

box 10, folder 2

Van Rees - Wilbur Mercantile. 1923-1933.

General Physical Description note: (8 items).

box 10, folder 3-4

Wilder. 1928-1959.

General Physical Description note: (7 items).

box 10, folder 5

Wilder - Williams Company. 1928-1939.

General Physical Description note: (5 items).

box 10, folder 6

W.C. Williams - Wolf. 1927-1939.

General Physical Description note: (5 items).

box 10, folder 7

Wortman - Wright. 1924-1935.

General Physical Description note: (5 items).

box 10, folder 8

Ybarra - Zweig. 1928.

General Physical Description note: (3 items).