Erich Maria Remarque Papers: Erich Maria Remarque Papers: NYU Special Collections Finding Aids

Call Number

MSS.095

Date

1893-1990, inclusive

Creator

Remarque, Erich Maria, 1898-1970

Goddard, Paulette, 1911-1990

Extent

89.5 Linear Feet

in 113 manuscript boxes, 6 half manuscript boxes, 4 card boxes, 20 oversized flat boxes, 3 box binders, 3 oversized folders, 1 film can, 2 record cartons, 1 LP box, and 2 tall manuscript boxes.

Language of Materials

Collection is mostly in English and German, with some Italian, French, Spanish, Dutch, Polish, and other European languages.

Abstract

Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970) was a German-born novelist and screenwriter, best known for All Quiet On the Western Front. The collection contains manuscripts and articles written by Remarque, correspondence, personal documents, photographs, clippings, and memorabilia. The collection also includes some materials created by his wife Paulette Goddard.

Biographical Note

Novelist Erich Maria Remarque was born on June 22, 1898 in Osnabrück, Germany. He spent his childhood in imperial Osnabrück, and later served in the German army in World War I on the Western Front. Remarque's books were burned and banned in Nazi Germany, and he lived in exile in Switzerland and the United States following the revocation of his German citizenship in 1938. Remarque married, divorced, and remarried Ilse Jutta Zambona. In 1958 he married American actress Paulette Goddard, and they remained married until his death.

Remarque is best known for his novel All Quiet On the Western Front, which was first published in 1929. His other published novels include The Road Back (1931), Three Comrades (1936), Flotsam (1941), Arch of Triumph (1945), The Black Obelisk (1956), Heaven Has No Favorites (1961), and The Night in Lisbon (1962). Many of these works were adapted into films, often shortly after their publication. According to the Erich Maria Remarque-Peace Center, Remarque critically examined German history in his works, upholding "the preservation of human dignity and humanity in times of oppression, terror and war." Remarque died on September 25, 1970 in Locarno, Switzerland.

Sources: http://www.remarque.uni-osnabrueck.de/internet.htm

http://remarque.org/about_remarque.html

Arrangement

The series is arranged in the following series:

Series 1: Manuscripts
Series 2: Writings in Print
Series 3A: Correspondence from Remarque
Series 3B: Correspondence to Remarque
Series 3C: Correspondence with Attached Manuscripts
Series 3D: Field Correspondence
Series 3E: Envelopes
Series 4A: Diaries
Series 4B: Address books and notebooks
Series 4C: Calling Cards
Series 4D: Notes and lists
Series 5: Drawings
Series 6A: Personal Documents
Series 6B: Medical Documents and Correspondence
Series 6C: Astrology Documents and Correspondence
Series 6D: Financial and Business Correspondence
Series 6E: Correspondence with Agents
Series 6F: Correspondence with Publishers
Series 7A: Photographs
Series 7B: Portraits
Series 8A: Printed Materials about Remarque (Clippings)
Series 8B: Printed Materials about Remarque (Full Copies)
Series 9A: Material collected by Remarque (Clippings)
Series 9B: Material collected by Remarque (Full Copies)
Series 10A: Art Collecting Materials
Series 10B: Art and Auction Catalogs
Series 11: Memorabilia
Series 12: Paulette Goddard
Series 13: Music
Series 14: 2003 Accretion

Scope and Content

The papers of Erich Maria Remarque document his work as a writer: the collection contains manuscripts of his novels, screenplays, scripts, poetry and articles dating from the 1910s until his death in 1970, as well as correspondence related to the publication and publicity of his work. Additionally, the collection is also made up of personal materials related to Remarque, including correspondence, medical documentation, horoscopes, vital records, photographs, memorabilia, and diaries. There are also extensive clipping files as a part of the collection, both related to articles in newspapers and magazines on Remarque as well on topics that pertained to his interests that he wrote about in his novels, such as World War I and II, automobiles, celebrity culture, and other topics on Europe.

Remarque was also an art collector, the collection also consists of correspondence with art dealers and reproductions of art, as well as lists of what art was in his art collection. There is also a significant amount of material in the collection related to his life in Porto Ronco, Switzerland with his wife Paulette Goddard, who was an actress and socialite.

Subjects

Genres

Personal correspondence.; Paperbacks.; Novels.; Paintings (visual works); Financial records; Briefs (legal documents); Black-and-white negatives.; Black-and-white photographs.; Appointment books.; Administrative records; Accounts; business records; Marginalia (annotations); Manuscripts; Manuscripts for publication.; Legal documents.; Legal correspondence.; Writings (document genre); Tax returns.; Editor author correspondence.; Drafts (documents); Datebooks.; Correspondence.; Contracts; Tax records.; Postcards.; Photographs.; Personal papers.; Film stills.

People

Goddard, Paulette, 1911-1990 (Role: Former owner); Pilpel, Harriet F.

Topics

Novelists, German -- 20th century; Paperbacks -- Publishing -- United States -- History -- 20th century; German Americans -- Ethnic identity; Booksellers and bookselling; Authors and publishers.; Art -- Collectors and collecting.; Art objects -- Collectors and collecting.; Actresses -- United States; Acting; Collectors and collecting.; Motion picture plays.; Motion pictures.; Motion picture actors and actresses.; Literature publishing -- United States -- History -- 20th century.; Manuscript preparation (Authorship).; Literary agents.; Law -- New York (State) -- History; Law -- United States -- History; German Americans -- New York (State) -- New York; Holocaust.; Literature, Modern -- Translations; Theater.; Theatrical publishing.; Television plays.; Fiction -- 20th century; Editing; Drama.; Publishers and publishing -- United States -- Correspondence; Publishers and publishing; Film.

Places

New York (N.Y.).; Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Conditions Governing Access

Series 6B is closed due to privacy concerns. The rest of the collection is open to researchers.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright was transferred to New York University by Paulette Goddard, Remarque's widow, in 1986.

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Identification of item, date (if known); Erich Maria Remarque Papers Accretion; MSS 095; box number; folder number; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University Libraries.

Provenance

Remarque's papers were transferred by Paulette Goddard to New York University beginning in 1977.

Accretions were transferred between 1993 and 2000 from the offices of Richard Kay, who served as a legal and financial advisor to Paulette Goddard. Many of the documents appear to have previously come from the offices of Harriet Pilpel, Erich Remarque's attorney and friend.

Separated Materials

The following books were removed to be catalogued:

Erich Maria Remarque Jahrbuch/Yearbook I (1991)

Pirchan, Emil. Buehnen Brevier.

Reue ist undeutsch.

Spoto, Donald. Blue Angel. (1992)

Marlene Dietrich's ABC (1962)

Inscribed to "Mein lieber Alfred" signed "Tante Lena" - Marlene by Marlene Dietrch (1989)

Man Kann alten Dreck nicht vergraben, er fängt immer wieder an zu stinken: Materialien zu einem Erich Maria Remarque-Projekt der Universität Osnabrück, Fachbereich Sprache, Literatur, Medien und zu der Inszenierung der Probebühne Der schwarze Obelisk, eine Textkollage [herausgegeben von Lothar Schwindt und Tilman Westphalen]..

Der schwarze Obelisk : eine Textkollage : Stück in 36 Bildern nach dem gleichnamigen Roman und unter Verwendung anderer Romane Erich Maria Remarques sowie von Originaldokumenten / erarbeitet auf der Grundlage des Entwurfs einer Bühnenfassung "Der schwarze Obelisk, Geschichte einer verspäteten Jugend" in drei Teilen von Hans Jürgen Meyer durch eine Projektgruppe der Universität Osnabrück, Fachbereich Sprache, Literatur, Medien im WS 1982/83 und SS 1983, Harald Keller ... [et al.] ; Endredaktion, Tilman Westphalen.

Krieg und Literatur

Sekundärmaterial in Auswahl

Erich Maria Remarque ein Weltbürger wider Willen (partly in Russian)

Mitteilungen der Erich Maria Remarque Gesellschaft Osnabrueck E.V. Heft 4 September 1988

Erich Maria Remarque : der Weg Zurück : eine Ausstellung / [herausgegeben vom Vorstand der Erich Maria Remarque Gesellschaft e.V., Osnabrück ; in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Erich Maria Remarque Archiv/Forschungsstelle Krieg und Literatur, Universität Osnabrück ; Bild- und Textredaktion: Brigitte Jorden-Kellermeier und Detlef Vornkahl ; in Zusammenarbeit mit Thomas Schneider ; Kataloggestaltung und Ausstellungsdesign: Michael Fischer.

Das Erich Maria Remarque-Archiv Osnabrück / [herausgegeben vom Erich Maria Remarque-Archiv/Forschungsstelle Krieg und Literatur im Auftrag von Stadt und Universität Osnabrück ; Redaktion: Claudia Glunz].

The Hurrell Style: 50 Years of Photographing Hollywood

What becomes a Legend most?: The Blackgama Story by Peter Rogers

with inscription to Paulette from author

Savini un nome nella storia

Related Materials

Paulette Goddard Papers (MSS 197)

Fales Manuscript Collection (MSS 001) (contains Goethe manuscripts believed to have belonged to Erich Remarque)

Julie Gilbert Papers (MSS 038)

New American Library Archive (MSS 070)

Other Finding Aids

An item level German language inventory for Series 1-11 is available from the Fales Library. Please contact special.collections@nyu.edu for further assistance.

Collection processed by

Nicole Greenhouse. 2003 Accretion processed by Liza Harrell-Edge in 2013.

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-05-08 12:11:51 -0400.

Language: Description is written in: English, Latin script.

Processing Information

In 2023, Nicole Greenhouse translated the original German guide to the collection. The folder and item numbers were maintained and box numbers were assigned to each box. Unprocessed materials found in the repository were arranged, described, and put in archival housing. Oversized materials were rehoused by Lizzy Zarate.

Previous to 2023, no processing information was documented. Series 8A and 9A were arranged by subject sometime in between when the original guide was created and 2023. As much as possible the items listed in the guide were identified in the subject based folders and the item numbers from the original guide are listed on the folders.

Revisions to this Guide

November 2023: Translated and updated for DACS compliance by Nicole Greenhouse

Repository

Fales Library and Special Collections