Guide to the Kurt von Faber du Faur Papers, 1923-1966

Department of Special Collections
Green Library
Stanford University Libraries
Stanford, CA 94305-6004
Phone: (650) 725-1022
Email: specialcollections@stanford.edu
URL: http://library.stanford.edu/spc
© 1999
The Board of Trustees of Stanford University. All rights reserved.

Guide to the Kurt von Faber du Faur Papers, 1923-1966

Collection number: M0562

Department of Special Collections and University Archives

Stanford University Libraries

Stanford, California

Contact Information

  • Department of Special Collections
  • Green Library
  • Stanford University Libraries
  • Stanford, CA 94305-6004
  • Phone: (650) 725-1022
  • Email: specialcollections@stanford.edu
  • URL: http://library.stanford.edu/spc
Processed by:
Special Collections staff
Date Completed:
1991
© 1999 The Board of Trustees of Stanford University. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Kurt von Faber du Faur Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1923-1966
Collection number: Special Collections M0562
Creator: Faber du Faur, Kurt von, 1890-1966.
Extent: 1 linear ft.
Repository: Stanford University. Libraries. Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives.
Language: English.

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

None.

Publication Rights

Property rights reside with the repository. Literary rights reside with the creators of the documents or their heirs. To obtain permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Public Services Librarian of the Dept. of Special Collections.

Provenance

Gift of Peter Tumarkin, 1986.

Preferred Citation:

[Identification of item] Kurt von Faber du Faur Papers, M0562, Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Biographical Note

Curt von Faber du Faur (1890-1966) was Professor of German and Curator of German literature at Yale University. A rare book expert, he was also known for his work on Goethe and German Baroque literature.
Faber du Faur was born July 5, 1890 in Stuttgart, Germany. His father was a German army general, and his mother, Baroness Berthe Cotta von Cottendorf, came from a publishing family. After serving in the German army as a captain from 1909 to 1919, Faber du Faur studied in Munich and Giessen and published his dissertation in 1921. He then opened a rare book store in Munich, Karl und Faber, where he began his impressive collection of German literature from the Renaissance to 1871.
In 1928 he married the German-American Emma von Ploetz and moved in 1931 to Florence. Faber du Faur emigrated to the U.S. in 1939 and served as visiting lecturer at Harvard University before going to Yale in 1944 as a research associate professor and associate curator of the German collection. At this time he donated to his valuable collection of 7,000 rare volumes to Yale; other frequent donations followed. In 1951 he was promoted to full professor and curator. Although he retired in 1959, he kept his post as curator until his death in January 1966.
In 1965 the Federal Republic of Germany awarded him the Great Cross of Merit for making many friends for German literature in the United States.
Publications:
Curt von Faber du Faur and Kurt Wolff. Tausend Jahre deutscher Dichtung. 1927.
Curt von Faber du Faur, Konstantin Reichardt, and Heinz Bluhm, eds. Wächter und Hüter; Festschrift für Hermann J. Weigand zum 17. November 1957. New Haven: 1957.
Curt von Faber du Faur. Der Hausbuchmeister. Inaug.-Diss.-Giessen. Berlin: 1921.
--------. Deutsche Barocklyrik; eine Auswahl aus der Zeit von 1620-1720. Salzburg: 1936.
--------. German Baroque Literature. New Haven: 1958-69.

Scope and Content

Although this collection includes only a small portion of Curt von Faber du Faur's papers, it nonetheless contains some interesting personal items, such as a draft of an unpublished novel, Schloss Rattenberg, and a few poems. Some German correspondence relates to the production of his dramatic poems in the 1930s. Other curiosities are Faber du Faur's U.S. immigrant card from 1939, his doctoral diploma from 1927, and his wife's divorce papers (from her first husband).
The rest of the collection consists mostly of Faber du Faur's published articles on German literature. There are also several photographs of him and copies of his obituary.

Access Terms

Arnim, Bettina von, 1785-1859.
Babb, James T. (James Tinkham), 1899-1968.
George, Stefan Anton, 1868-1933.
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 1749-1832.
Gryphius, Andreas, 1616-1664.
Hoffmansthal, Hugo von.
Knollenberg, Bernhard, 1892-1973.
Moscherosch, Johann Michael, 1601-1669.
Reichardt, Konstantin.
Seymour, Charles, 1885-1963.
Wehner, Josef Magnus, 1891-1973.
Weigand, Hermann John, 1892-
Wolff, Kurt, 1887-1963.
Wolfskehl, Karl, 1869-1948.
Zabel, Morton Dauwen, 1901-1964.
Zinegref, Julius Wilhelm.
German literature--18th century--History and criticism.
German literature--19th century--History and criticism.
German literature--20th century.
Photoprints.


Box 1, Folder 1

Personal papers and correspondence (Germany), 1923-39

Box 1, Folder 2

Personal papers and correspondence (U.S.), 1944-66

Box 1, Folder 3

Faber's own poetry, 1933, n.d.

Box 1, Folder 4

Other poems by/for Faber, 1957, n.d.

Box 1, Folder 5

Manuscript of novel fragment, Schloss Rattenberg, presumably by Faber, n.d.

Box 1, Folder 6

Drafts of Schloss Rattenberg, 5 spiral notebooks

Box 2, Folder 1

Articles by Faber (1947-1960)

Box 2, Folder 2

Book reviews by Faber (1951-59)

Box 2, Folder 3

Yale University Library Gazette (1948-57)with articles by Faber

Box 2, Folder 4

Article by Hermann J. Weigand

Box 2, Folder 5

2 copies of printed poetry collection, Emma, printed in Florence, no other bibliographical information. Contains some poems by German poet Wolfskehl, others unattributed. Possibly a private printing of poems for Faber's wife, Emma von Ploetz.

Box 2, Folder 6

1 annotated book of Baroque poetry, Der Schöpfungsgarten by Barthold Heinrich Brockes (Hamburg, 1917)

Box 2, Folder 7

Newspaper clippings about Faber, 1942-66

Box 2, Folder 8

Photos [1965 German government award ceremony?]