A Guide to the Noel Polk Editorial Papers From the Library of America and Random House editions of the works of William Faulkner, 1968-2000
A Collection in
Special Collections
The University of Virginia Library
Accession Number 13902
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Special Collections, University of Virginia Library
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Processed by: Special Collections Staff
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
There are no restrictions.
Use Restrictions
See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.
Preferred Citation
Noel Polk Editorial Papers From the Library of America and Random House editions of the works of William Faulkner, Accession #13902, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.
Acquisition Information
These papers were given to the University of Virginia Library by Noel Polk, May 17, 2007.
Biographical/Historical Information
Since the fall of 2004, Noel Polk (1943-) has been professor of English at Mississippi State University and editor of The Mississippi Quarterly . Noel Polk is also one of the editors of the Library of America volumes of William Faulkner and has edited the texts in all five volumes of the Faulkner novels published by The Library of America.
Polk was born in Picayne, Mississippi on February 23, 1943, and received his B.A. degree in 1965 and his M.A. degree in 1966 both from Mississippi College. His doctorate work was completed at the University of South Carolina in 1970. He was previously Professor of English at the University of Southern Mississippi and editor of The Southern Quarterly for twenty-seven years.
Scope and Content
This collection consists of the editorial papers of Noel Polk, ca. 200 items (9 Hollinger boxes, ca. 4 linear feet), ca. 1968-2000, and undated, chiefly electrostatic copies of Faulkner manuscripts and first editions with Polk's collations, marginal editorial notes, editorial queries and decisions, together with some page and galley proofs of corrected text. Polk's work was used in the Library of America series on Faulkner and Random House corrected texts editions of the works of William Faulkner, or in the case of Sanctuary , the original text as intended by Faulkner.
Arrangement
The manuscript files are arranged in two series. Series I consists of manuscripts arranged alphabetically by the title of the book. Series II consists of correspondence, also arranged alphabetically.
Contents List
- Box-folder 1:1
Absalom, Absalom The Corrected Text - Page Proofs with Corrections by Noel Polk, 19861of 4 folders.
- Box-folder 1:2
Absalom, Absalom The Corrected Text - Page Proofs with Corrections by Noel Polk, 19862 of 4 folders.
- Box-folder 1:3
Absalom, Absalom The Corrected Text - Page Proofs with Corrections by Noel Polk, 19863 of 4 folders.
- Box-folder 1:4
Absalom, Absalom The Corrected Text - Page Proofs with Corrections by Noel Polk, 1986
- Box-folder 1:5
Absalom, Absalom The Corrected Text - Collation of TS Setting Copy with Random House 1936 First Edition by Noel Polk, 1975, n.d.
Includes a copy of a letter from Noel Polk to Jim [Meriwether?] about his trip to Austin to work on the Absalom manuscript with Hershel Parker, a Melville scholar, his hopes of dealing with the actual process of composition based on a study of the relationships between the various inks and papers used by Faulkner, his problems with Faulkner's Revisions of Absalom, Absalom! by Gerald Langford (1911-2003) which he found less than helpful and inaccurate, and the unavailability of the galley proofs "kept under lock and key by Carvel Collins" for use in his own [never published] biography of Faulkner (August 12, 1975).
- Box-folder 1:6
Absalom, Absalom The Corrected Text - Correspondence with Evelyn Harter Glick and Louise Bonino Williams, 1972
Correspondence with Evelyn Harter Glick, a member of Random House production and design staff during 1935-1936, and Louise Bonino Williams, director of publicity and promotion at Random House during 1936, who both include their reminiscences of Faulkner at that time.
- Box-folder 1:7
Absalom, Absalom The Corrected Text - Notes of Albert Erskine, Responses by Noel Polk, and Editorial Decisions, with a letter from Polk to Erskine about the text (March 22, 1985), 1985
- Box-folder 1:8
A Fable - Emendations and Textual Notes, 1995
- Box-folder 1:9
Flags in the Dust - Markup of TS and first edition of Sartoris by Noel Polk with Collations and Editorial Queries and Discussions, [1973]1 of 5 folders.
- Box-folder 2:1
Flags in the Dust - Markup of TS and first edition of Sartoris by Noel Polk with Collations and Editorial Queries and Discussions, [1973]2 of 5 folders.
- Box-folder 2:2
Flags in the Dust - Markup of TS and first edition of Sartoris by Noel Polk with Collations and Editorial Queries and Discussions, [1973]3 of 5 folders.
- Box-folder 2:3
Flags in the Dust - Markup of TS and first edition of Sartoris by Noel Polk with Collations and Editorial Queries and Discussions, [1973]4 of 5 folders.
- Box-folder 2:4
Flags in the Dust - Markup of TS and first edition of Sartoris by Noel Polk with Collations and Editorial Queries and Discussions, [1973]5 of 5 folders.
- Box-folder 2:5
Go Down, Moses - Emendations of TS Setting Copy, [1994?]
- Box-folder 2:6
Go Down, Moses - Textual Notes by Noel Polk for the Library of America editions, [1994?]
- Box-folder 2:7
The Hamlet - Collation with TS Setting Copy with Preliminary Discussions Marked, [1990?]1 of 2 folders.
- Box-folder 2:8
The Hamlet - Collation with TS Setting Copy with Preliminary Discussions Marked, [1990?]2 of 2 folders.
- Box-folder 3:1
The Hamlet - Collation with TS Setting Copy by Noel Polk for the Library of America Text, [1990?]1 of 2 folders.
- Box-folder 3:2
The Hamlet - Collation with TS Setting Copy by Noel Polk for the Library of America Text, [1990?]2 of 2 folders.
- Box-folder 3:3
The Hamlet - Notes by Noel Polk for the Library of America Edition, [1990?]1 of 4 folders.
- Box-folder 3:4
The Hamlet - Notes by Noel Polk for the Library of America Edition, [1990?]2 of 4 folders.
- Box-folder 3:5
The Hamlet - Notes by Noel Polk for the Library of America Edition, [1990?]3 of 4 folders.
- Box-folder 3:6
The Hamlet - Notes by Noel Polk for the Library of America Edition, [1990?]4 of 4 folders.
- Box-folder 3:7
Intruder in the Dust Textual Notes by Noel Polk for the Library of America Edition, [1994?]
- Box-folder 4:1
Intruder in the Dust TS Setting Copy- Collations and Editorial Notes by Noel Polk for the Library of America Edition, [1994?]1 of 2 folders.
- Box-folder 4:2
Intruder in the Dust TS Setting Copy- Collations and Editorial Notes by Noel Polk for the Library of America Edition, [1994?]2 of 2 folders.
- Box-folder 4:3
Light in August Variants between the Library of America Text and the First Edition, [1985?]
- Box-folder 4:4
The Mansion - Collation with First Edition by Noel Polk, with Editorial Notes for Library of America Edition, [1999?]1 of 4 folders.
- Box-folder 4:5
The Mansion - Collation with First Edition by Noel Polk, with Editorial Notes for Library of America Edition, [1999?]2 of 4 folders.
- Box-folder 4:6
The Mansion - Collation with First Edition by Noel Polk, with Editorial Notes for Library of America Edition, [1999?]3 of 4 folders.
- Box-folder 4:7
The Mansion - Collation with First Edition by Noel Polk, with Editorial Notes for Library of America Edition, [1999?]4 of 4 folders.
- Box-folder 5:1
The Mansion - Library of America Initial Printout, Collated by [Library of America staff editors] in blue and Noel Polk in red ink, [1999?]1 of 2 folders.
- Box-folder 5:2
The Mansion - Library of America Initial Printout, Collated by [Library of America staff editors] in blue and Noel Polk in red ink, [1999?]2 of 2 folders.
- Oversize 5
Mosquitoes by William Faulkner, n.d.
Copy text, collation with First Edition by Library of American staff (in red) and Noel Polk's editorial marks, collations, and queries, and decisions in blue and purple.
- Box-folder 5:3
The Reivers Library of America Initial Printout, [1999?]Collated by Noel Polk against TS Setting Copy.
- Box-folder 5:4
The Reivers , [1999?]Collation with First Edition (Random House, 1962) along with editorial questions and decisions by Noel Polk, for the Library of America Text (1 of 2 folders).
- Box-folder 5:5
The Reivers , [1999?]
TS Setting Copy, Collation with First Edition (Random House, 1962) along with editorial questions and decisions by Noel Polk, for the Library of America Text (2 of 2 folders).
- Box-folder 6:1
Requiem for a Nun , [1994?]Collation Notes [comparing] First Edition and TS Setting Copy for Dissertation and Library of America Text by Noel Polk.
- Box-folder 6:2
Requiem for a Nun , [late 1960's]Photocopy of Printed Book with Variant Readings from TS Setting Copy (1 of 2 folders).
- Box-folder 6:3
Requiem for a Nun , [late 1960's]Photocopy of Printed Book with Variant Readings from TS Setting Copy (2 of 2 folders).
- Box-folder 6:4
Sanctuary The Original Text , [1981]
Marginal Notes are Noel Polk's Collation of the Holograph Manuscript of Sanctuary at the University of Virginia with the paste-up printed text, which conflated the J. Cape and H. Smith (1931) First Edition with Faulkner's Revision of Sanctuary (a published collation of the first edition and the uncorrected galleys at the University of Texas at Austin) by Gerald Langford (1 of 3 folders).
- Box-folder 6:5
Sanctuary The Original Text , [1981]
Marginal Notes are Noel Polk's Collation of the Holograph Manuscript of Sanctuary at the University of Virginia with the paste-up printed text, which conflated the J. Cape and H. Smith (1931) First Edition with Faulkner's Revision of Sanctuary (a published collation of the first edition and the uncorrected galleys at the University of Texas at Austin) by Gerald Langford (2 of 3 folders).
- Box-folder 6:6
Sanctuary The Original Text , [1981]
Marginal Notes are Noel Polk's Collation of the Holograph Manuscript of Sanctuary at the University of Virginia with the paste-up printed text, which conflated the J. Cape and H. Smith (1931) First Edition with Faulkner's Revision of Sanctuary (a published collation of the first edition and the uncorrected galleys at the University of Texas at Austin) by Gerald Langford (3 of 3 folders).
- Box-folder 6:7
Sanctuary The Original Text , [1981]
Noel Polk's Collation of the Carbon Typescript of Sanctuary [at the University of Virginia] with the paste-up printed text, which conflated the J. Cape and H. Smith (1931) First Edition with Faulkner's Revision of Sanctuary (a published collation of the first edition and the uncorrected galleys at the University of Texas at Austin) by Gerald Langford (1 of 2 folders).
- Box-folder 6:8
Sanctuary The Original Text , [1981]
Noel Polk's Collation of the Carbon Typescript of Sanctuary [at the University of Virginia] with the paste-up printed text, which conflated the J. Cape and H. Smith (1931) First Edition with Faulkner's Revision of Sanctuary (a published collation of the first edition and the uncorrected galleys at the University of Texas at Austin) by Gerald Langford (2 of 2 folders).
- Oversize 6
Sanctuary The Original Text Edited, with an Afterword and Notes by Noel Polk, Galleys, 1981
- Oversize 6
Sanctuary The Original Text Edited, with an Afterword and Notes by Noel Polk, Page Proofs, 1981
- Box-folder 7:1
The Sound and the Fury , n.d.Typescript Copy Collated against the J. Cape and H. Smith edition with Editorial Notes and Queries by Noel Polk (1 of 3 folders).
- Box-folder 7:2
The Sound and the Fury , n.d.
Typescript Copy Collated against the J. Cape and H. Smith edition with Editorial Notes and Queries by Noel Polk (2 of 3 folders).
- Box-folder 7:3
The Sound and the Fury , n.d.
Typescript Copy Collated against the J. Cape and H. Smith edition with Editorial Notes and Queries by Noel Polk (3 of 3 folders).
- Box-folder 7:4
The Sound and the Fury New, Corrected Edition - Editorial Notes by Albert Erskine and Noel Polk, 1983
- Box-folder 7:5
The Sound and the Fury New, Corrected Edition , ca. 1983-1985
Editorial Queries from Noel Polk and Responses by Jim Hinkle, Cleanth Brooks, and Tom McHaney.
- Box-folder 7:6
The Sound and the Fury Notes by Noel Polk, n.d.
- Box-folder 7:7
The Town , [1999?]
TS Setting Copy with variants from the Random House First Edition (1957) Collated by Noel Polk for the Library of America Text (1of 3 folders).
- Box-folder 8:1
The Town , [1999?]TS Setting Copy with variants from the Random House First Edition (1957) Collated by Noel Polk for the Library of America Text (2 of 3 folders).
- Box-folder 8:2
The Town , [1999?]
TS Setting Copy with variants from the Random House First Edition (1957) Collated by Noel Polk for the Library of America Text (3 of 3 folders).
- Box-folder 8:3
The Wild Palms [If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem] , ca. 1989Collation with TS Setting Copy and Editorial Notes by Noel Polk for the Library of America Text (1 of 2 folders).
- Box-folder 8:4
The Wild Palms [If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem] , ca. 1989
Collation with TS Setting Copy and Editorial Notes by Noel Polk for the Library of America Text (2 of 2 folders).
- Box-folder 8:5
The Wild Palms [If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem] , ca. 1989
Edited Typescript by Noel Polk for the Library of America Text (1 of 3 folders).
- Box-folder 8:6
The Wild Palms [If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem] , ca. 1989Edited Typescript by Noel Polk for the Library of America Text (2 of 3 folders).
- Box-folder 8:7
The Wild Palms [If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem] , ca. 1989
Edited Typescript by Noel Polk for the Library of America Text (3 of 3 folders).
- Box-folder 9:1
The Wild Palms [If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem] , 1989Noel Polk's Copy of the Corrected Proof, Notes are by the Library of America editors (1 of 2 folders).
- Box-folder 9:2
The Wild Palms [If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem] , 1989
Noel Polk's Copy of the Corrected Proof, Notes are by the Library of America editors (2 of 2 folders).
- Box-folder 9:3
The Wild Palms [If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem] , 1989
Working Text- Emendations, Sources, etc. for the Library of America Text (1 of 2 folders).
- Box-folder 9:4
The Wild Palms [If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem] , 1989Working Text- Emendations, Sources, etc. for the Library of America Text (2 of 2 folders).
- Box-folder 9:5
Correspondence- Ruth Ford [Mrs. Zachary Scott], 1972-1975
Polk arranges to see her correspondence concerning Requiem for a Nun (1972); a misunderstanding of the intent of his article about Requiem for a Nun: A Play from the Novel by William Faulkner adapted for the Stage by Ruth Ford and his interest in Faulkner's activities in the summer and fall of 1951 (November 19, 1975).
- Box-folder 9:6
Correspondence- Garland Publishing, Inc. concerning the William Faulkner Facsimiles Manuscript Projects, 1984-1986 January1 of 2 folders.
- Box-folder 9:7
Correspondence- Garland Publishing, Inc. concerning the William Faulkner Facsimiles Manuscript Projects, 1986 March-19872 of 2 folders.
- Box-folder 9:8
Correspondence, 1978-1981
Concerns permission for Polk to edit and publish Sanctuary The Original Text with an introduction and other textual apparatuses, including correspondence with Albert Erskine and Jill Summers.
- Box-folder 9:9
Correspondence- Jill F. Summers (1933-2008), chiefly obtaining permissions, 1970-2000
- Box-folder 9:10
Correspondence- University of Virginia Library and the University Press staff, 1970-1988
- Box-folder 9:11
Correspondence- Joan Williams (1928-2004), 1980, 1989-2000
Chiefly personal letters, discussing her work in a general way; mentions Carvel [Collins?] (April 17 and July 27, 1990); her opinion of [George?] Plimpton and her feelings about divorce (July 27, 1990); William Faulkner (May 11, 1992, January 16, 1996; December 15, 2000, undated Christmas card); the death of Sam [Seymour Lawrence] (July 3, 1994); teaching at the Memphis College of Art (September 5, 1995); and includes a copy of her story "Scoot's Home " [April 11, 1980].