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Burckhardt (Sigurd) Manuscripts
MSS 0117
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Table of contents
Languages:
English
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: Sigurd Burckhardt Manuscripts
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0117
Physical Description:
1 Linear feet
(3 archives boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1955-1969
Abstract: Manuscripts (1955-1969) of Sigurd Burckhardt, literary scholar specializing in Shakespeare, Goethe, and Kleist, and founding
member of the University of California, San Diego, Literature Department. Materials include published and unpublished essays
and articles, reprint copies, chapbooks, drafts, relevant notes, Burckhardt's dissertation entitled "Sprache als Gestalt in
Goethes Blankversdramen,"
Shakespearean Meanings, and a transcript of Michael Kohlhaas. The collection consists of two series: 1) MISCELLANEOUS MANUSCRIPTS, and 2) BOOK-LENGTH
STUDIES.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Sigurd Burckhardt collection contains manuscripts and typescripts of published and unpublished essays, articles, chapbooks,
drafts, notes and book-length studies. Essays and notes related to Shakespearean plays in Series 1 can often be found in finished
form in the manuscript,
Shakespearean Meanings, located in Series 2. The collection is organized into two series: 1) MISCELLANEOUS MANUSCRIPTS, and 2) BOOK-LENGTH STUDIES.
SERIES 1: MISCELLANEOUS MANUSCRIPTS
The MISCELLANEOUS MANUSCRIPTS series contains typescripts, reprints, chapbooks, and holograph drafts. This series is arranged
alphabetically, and a number of manuscripts have been annotated by Robert Elliott. In many cases, each folder contains several
versions of a particular study. Within each folder, manuscripts are arranged chronologically, that is, in order of refinement,
with rough notes and other "groundwork" at the beginning of each folder, and the finished product at the end.
SERIES 2: BOOK-LENGTH STUDIES
This series contains three book-length studies arranged alphabetically. The first study is the manuscript of
Shakespearean Meanings, a collection of Burckhardt's essays on Shakespeare, edited by R. Pearce and R. Elliott in 1967-1968. Press release forms
and reviews, as well as some holograph notes from Elliott are included after the manuscript proper. The second study (exclusively
in German) consists of the numerous preliminary drafts for Burckhardt's dissertation, "Sprache als Gestalt in Goethes Blankversdramen,"
as well as the completed dissertation. The third study is a transcript of Michael Kohlhaas (from an Old Chronicle).
Sigurd Burckhardt was born on November 21, 1916, in Bielefeld, Germany. He received his secondary education at the Friedenauer
Gymnasium, Berlin, from which he graduated in 1935. After absolving two years of compulsory military service, he emigrated
to the United States. Burckhardt's family was relatively large and had long been working to earn enough money to send one
of the children to America. When that sum had been accumulated, Sigurd seemed the most worthy recipient due to his scholarly
inclinations and ambitious intellect. In the autumn of 1938, Burckhardt matriculated at the University of California at Berkeley,
where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in German in 1940 and, after some interruptions of his graduate studies by employment
in a war industry and as a high school teacher, received his Master of Arts degree in English in 1945.
Burckhardt was employed from 1947 to 1953 as an instructor and assistant professor at Saint Mary's College in California.
In the autumn of 1953, he entered Ohio State University to resume his study of German language and literature while simultaneously
teaching as an assistant instructor from 1953 to 1954 and as an instructor from 1954 to 1956. At practical odds with the "New
Critics" such as Brooks and Leavis, Burckhardt straddled the ground between traditional scholarship and "close reading" methodology.
In 1963, Burckhardt left his position at Ohio State and became a professor at the University of California, San Diego. A
posthumous collection of his essays on Shakespeare has been co-edited and published (1967-1968) under the title
Shakespearean Meanings by Pearce and Elliott. This was the first and only book to be published under Burckhardt's name. His preferred form of writing
was the long essay, and he claimed to be intimidated by the scale of the book-length study. Sigurd Burckhardt died on December
15, 1966.
Sigurd Burckhardt Manuscripts, MSS 117. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquired 1970.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Criticism -- United States
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
Kleist, Heinrich von, 1777-1811
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 1749-1832
Burckhardt, Sigurd, 1916-1966 -- Archives