Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Papers of Julien Green, 1941-1944, Accession #9188-j, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

These letters were purchased by the Library from Walter G. Langlois of Teton Village, Wyoming, on December 12, 1995.

Biographical/Historical Information

Julien Green was born on September 6, 1900, in Paris, France, to U. S. citizens, Edward Moon and Mary Adelaide (Hartridge) Green. He was educated at Lycee Janson-de-Sailly, Paris; attended the University of Virginia, 1919-1922; and studied drawing at La Grande Chaumiere, Paris, 1922-1923. A writer since 1924, Green was the first American novelist to choose French as his medium of expression. He visited the United States several times, including a visit to Virginia, 1933-1934, and in 1940 after France fell to Germany. While in America, he lectured on French writers at Princeton University, Goucher College, Mills College, and a Jesuit college, 1940-1942, and returned to France in 1945. During World War II he joined the U. S. Army (1942) and held a post in the U. S. Office of War Information; he made broadcasts to France in 1943.

Scope and Content Information

There are fifteen letters, 1941-1944, chiefly from Julien Green, Baltimore, Maryland and Oakland, California, to Andre David, Beverly Hills, California. There are also three letters from Green's sister, Anne, Baltimore, Maryland, to David. The letters are in French and are not translated. Persons and places mentioned include: Charles Boyer (1899-1978), Ellis Island, and [ ] Carré (March 16, 1941); [ ] Carré, Madame de Croisset, [Charles?] Couturier; Charles Boyer, and Patrice de La Tour du Pin (1911- ) (October 30, 1941); Robert [de Saint Jean] (1899- ); Mills College, and Charles Boyer (January 22, 1944); Oakland, California (February 3, 1944); Paul [Hélie] Périgord (1882- ), Oakland, California, New York, and Washington, D. C. (March 2, 1944); [Jacques] Schiffrin, [Charles] Péguy (1873- 1914), and Plon (publisher) (March 21, 1944); Charles Boyer, Bear Trap Farm, Virginia, the Alleghany mountains, France, Paris, and George Ke[ ]el (April 26, 1944); Maurice C[rimbeau?], Los Angeles and Hollywood, California, and Charles Boyer (July 15, 1944); Charles Boyer, Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, [Charles] Baudelaire (1821-1867), and Baltimore, Maryland (July 21, 1944); France, Paris, and Robert [de Saint Jean] (October 6, 1944); and, Harper (publisher) (December 21, 1944).