Papers, 1947-1990, of Edward Abbey, author.
Contains biographical materials, correspondence, journals, notebooks, speeches,
manuscripts, articles, audiotapes, videotapes, and supplemental materials
documenting his life and career.
Collection Number:
MS 271
Repository:
University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collection
University of Arizona
PO Box 210055
Tucson, AZ 85721-0055
Phone: 520-621-6423
Fax: 520-621-9733
URL: http://speccoll.library.arizona.edu/
Biographical Note
Edward Abbey was born on 29 January 1927 in Home, Pennsylvania, the
eldest son of five children born to Mildred and Paul Abbey. At seventeen, he
first hitchhiked across the West on a three month journey. From 1945 to 1946,
he served in the U.S. Army in Alabama and Italy.
In 1948, while attending the University of New Mexico, Abbey began work
on his first novel,
Jonathan Troy (1956). In 1951, he earned a BA in English and
Philosophy from that university, and published an article, "Some Implications
of Anarchy." That same year Abbey received a Fullbright Fellowship to Edinburgh
University. In the early 1950s, he worked as a social welfare case worker in
New Jersey and New York.
In 1956, he received a MA in Philosophy from the University of New
Mexico; his graduate thesis was titled "Anarchism and the Morality of
Violence." The following year, he received a Writing Fellowship at Stanford
University.
Abbey worked part-time as a park ranger and fire lookout in the national
parks and forests of the southwestern United States. He would continue this
work until the 1970s. With the publication of
The Monkey Wrench Gang, he was able to devote his time more
fully to writing. Abbey gave public readings and presentations at many American
colleges and universities, and for the environmental causes and groups he
supported. In 1974, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship. During this time,
Abbey was "Writer in Residence" at the University of Utah and, later, at the
University of Arizona. He taught creative writing at the latter from 1981
onwards, and became a full professor there in 1988.
Abbey died 14 March 1989 in Tucson Arizona at the age of 62. Married
five times, he was survived by his wife, Clarke Cartwright Abbey, and his five
children.
His selected major novels include:
The Brave Cowboy (1956),
Fire on the Mountain (1962),
Black Sun (1971),
The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975),
Good News (1980),
The Fool's Progress (1988), and
Hayduke Lives! (1990). His essays and observations are
compiled in
Desert Solitaire (1968),
The Journey Home (1977),
Abbey's Road (1979),
Desert Images (1981),
One Life at a Time, Please (1987), and
Vox Clamantis in Deserto (1989). He produced several travel
books
Appalachian Wilderness (1970),
Slickrock (1971),
Cactus Country (1972), and
The Hidden Canyon (1978). He contributed to divers college
anthologies, and wrote numerous articles and reviews for national and regional
publications.
Scope and Content Note
The bulk of the collection best documents Abbey's writings and
activities during the last two decades of his life, 1969 to 1989. Over half of
the collection consist of drafts of his novels, essays, articles, and other
works. There are no drafts for his earlier novels,
Jonathan Troy,
The Brave Cowboy, and
Fire on the Mountain, nor for
Appalachian Wilderness and
The Hidden Canyon.
His personal life and professional career are summarily described in the
Biographical Materials. Interviews and recordings of Abbey are available in
that series, and in the Audio-visual series. Articles about him as a writer and
defender of the environment are located in the Works series.
His frank Outgoing Correspondence and Journals provide a thorough
account of his life and thoughts. Especially in the Journals, he chronicles the
progress or regression of his writings; his love for family, friends,
colleagues, and classical music; his thoughts on contemporary society; notes
for his fictional characters; snippets of conversations overheard, jokes told,
or gossip exchanged; his observations on daily life and trips taken; rough
drafts of letters to be sent to editors or friends; and a other notes worth
noting.
See the Series Descriptions below for a fuller narrative of the contents
of each.
Retained by Ms. Clarke Abbey. It is the responsibility of the user to
obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution,
the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates,
or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the
Arizona Board of Regents for the University of Arizona, its officers,
employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting
that he or she is an owner of copyright.
Access Terms
Personal Name(s)
Abbey, Edward, 1927- -- Archives.
Dillard, Annie -- Correspondence.
Eastlake, William -- Correspondence.
Harrington, Alan, 1919- --
Correspondence.
Hoagland, Ted -- Correspondence.
Lopez, Barry Holstun, 1945- --
Correspondence.
Nichols, John Treadwell, 1940- --
Correspondence.
Geographic Name(s)
Arizona -- Fiction.
Southwest, New -- Description and travel.
West (U.S.) -- In literature -- Archival resources.
Subject(s)
Authors, American -- 20th century -- Archives.
Civil disobedience.
Conservation of natural resources -- Citizen participation.
Contains personal data relating to his family and career, including
University of Arizona teaching files, memorials and tributes written after his
death, interviews with Abbey appearing in various publications such as
Bloomsbury Review, and
The Mother Earth News [see also Audio-visual Materials
for additional untranscribed interviews]; and a Federal Bureau of Investigation
file on him obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
box
folder
1
1
Certificates, resumes, vita, family tree,
1947-1988
Family correspondents include his children Aaron, Joshua, and Susie;
his siblings John, Nancy, and Bill Abbey; one of his wives, Judy Abbey; and a
larger set from his parents Mildred and Paul Abbey.
Incoming and outgoing folders contain letters to and from Abbey
chiefly regarding his writing. Selected correspondents include: Horace
Albright; Carroll Ballard; Wendell Berry; Don Congdon (literary agent); Annie
Dillard; William Eastlake; Lawrence Ferlinghetti; Alan Harrington; Ted
Hoagland; Richard Lamm; Jack Loeffler; Barry Lopez; John Macrae (publisher and
editor); John G. Mitchell; John Nichols; Doug Peacock; Robert Redford; Norman
Sanders; Pete Seeger; and Gary Snyder. Also includes unsorted "letters to the
editor" about Abbey and his writings, and "fan" mail.
Contains mostly handwritten accounts of his daily activities and
reflections on his personal relationships and professional accomplishments,
especially in his journals numbered four through twenty accounting for the
years 1951-89 [journals one through three are missing]. Also includes smaller
chronicles on a hospital stay, various trips, and other activities. Abbey
recorded additional diaries and trips in his Notebooks in the following
series.
box
folder
4
1-9
Journals 4-12,
1951-1966
box
folder
5
1-8
Journals 13-20,
1966-1989
box
folder
6
1
A Hospital Journal,
no
date
6
2
Lookout's Logbook, Glacier National Park,
1975
6
3
Cabeza Prieta walks,
1980 [?],
1984
6
4
Trip: Kansas to Home, PA., 1986; Earth First! Rally,
1986
6
5
Trip: Grand Gulch; Notes on drag-line machine,
1988
Chiefly notebooks with handwritten notes pertaining to ideas,
characters, dialogue, and revision of his novels, articles and speeches. Also
contains typescripts of speeches, some with corrections and additions, given by
Abbey over two decades, from 1968 to 1988.Additional
speeches are found in the Audio visual Materials.
box
folder
7
1
The Brave Cowboy,
no
date
7
2
The Good Life,
no
date
7
3
Great books of anarchism;
Black Sun,
ca.
1951
7
4
Untitled,
ca.
1962-1970
7
5
Speeches,
no
dates
7
6
Speeches,
1968-1975
7
7
Speeches,
1976-1988
7
8
Speeches/Notes: Boro Council Minutes, Seneca Evening
Gazette,
Desert Solitaire,
1969
7
9
Speeches/Notes:
Monkey Wrench Gang,
1970
box
folder
8
1-6
Speeches/Notes,
1972-
ca.1980s
8
7
Speeches/Notes: Lake Foul (Powell) trip, teaching,
1982
Arranged alphabetical by title. Contains original handwritten,
typed, carbons, photocopied, and revised manuscripts mostly of Abbey's
published novels and essays. Some titles lack complete versions of text. Many
of the drafts were undated, and many contained handwritten corrections in ink
and pencil by the author. When available, descriptive notes for the folder
headings were copied from envelopes containing the manuscripts. Some
manuscripts for earlier titles are not present.
box
folder
9
1
Abbey's Road (fragment, chapter 4),
n.d.
9
2
"Anarchism and the Morality of Violence," (M.A. thesis),
1959
9
3-4
Beyond the Wall typescript with corrections,
no
date
9
5
Beyond the Wall draft, fragment with corrections,
1983
9
6
Beyond the Wall galley proof with corrections,
1983
9
7-9
Black Sun original manuscript,
no
date
box
folder
10
1-2
Black Sun revised manuscript,
1970
10
3
Cactus Country 1st draft,
1971
10
4
Cactus Country 2nd draft,
no
date
10
5
City of Dreadful Night original manuscript,
no
date
box
folder
11
1-2
City of Dreadful Night original manuscript,
no
date
11
3
Desert Images,
1979
11
4
Desert Music,
1976
11
5-6
Desert Solitaire original manuscript,
1967
11
7-8
Desert Solitaire revised manuscript,
1967
11
9
Down the River,
1980
box
folder
12
1-2
Good News corrected manuscript,
no
date
12
3-4
Good News revised carbon,
1980
12
5-6
Good News master, 1st pass,
1980
box
folder
13
1
Fool's Progress outlines,
no
date
13
2-6
Fool's Progress draft handwritten,
no
date
box
folder
14
1-6
Fool's Progress original typescript with
corrections,
no
date
box
folder
15
1
Fool's Progress original typescript with
corrections,
no
date
15
2-5
Fool's Progress, draft typescript with
corrections,
no
date
box
folder
16
1
Fool's Progress, draft typescript with
corrections,
no date
16
2-6
Fool's Progress proof with corrections,
1988
16
7-8
Fool's Progress, addition to Avon edition,
1990
box
folder
17
1
Good Life outline, notes,
no
date
17
2
Good Life draft with corrections,
no
date
17
3
Hayduke Lives! outline, notes,
no
date
17
4-7
Hayduke Lives! original typescript,
1988
box
folder
18
1-2
Hayduke Lives! carbons,
1988
18
3-5
Hayduke Lives! photocopy with editing by Clarke,
no
date
18
6-7
Hayduke Lives! retyped by Little, Brown,
1989
box
folder
19
1-2
Journey Home draft corrected,
1976
19
3-6
Monkey Wrench Gang 1st draft typescript with
corrections,
no
date
box
folder
20
1
Monkey Wrench Gang 1st draft typescript with
corrections,
no
date
20
2-6
Monkey Wrench Gang draft typescript with
corrections,
1975
20
7
Monkey Wrench Gang miscellaneous carbons, Avon
ed., chapter 21,
no
date
box
folder
21
1
One Life at a Time, Please original and carbons,
ca.
1988
21
2-5
One Life at a Time, Please draft with
corrections,
1988
21
6-7
One Life at a Time, Please proofs author's and
marked set,
no date
box
folder
22
1
One Life at a Time, Please proofs 1st revised
master set,
no date
22
2
Slickrock typescript with corrections,
1970-1971
22
3
Vox Clamantis in Deserto agreement and original
(photocopy) for Rydal Press,
1989
Arranged by title. Contains typescripts, carbons, and corrections
to two novels that were considered for adaptation to film. The bulk relates to
The Monkey Wrench Gang, and has scripts by Abbey and
others. Correspondence between Abbey and Carroll Ballard is filed in that
series.
box
folder
23
1
Black Sun 1st draft,
1969
23
2
Black Sun carbon,
no
date
23
3
Monkey Wrench Gang notes,
1986
23
4-9
Monkey Wrench Gang scripts by Abbey and others,
1985-1988
Arranged chronologically. Contains typescripts, tearsheets and
photocopies of essays and articles published in a wide variety of journals,
newspapers, and similar publications. The predominant themes of the articles
are his experiences as a park ranger and river runner, and his views on the
current state of culture and the environment. Many of his "letters to the
editors" are found in the Correspondence series; outlines and notes to some
articles may be found in the Journal and Notebook series.
Arranged by record type, then chronologically. Contains audio
cassette tapes, video cassette tapes, microfilm, and a photograph. The captions
for the titles were taken from the annotations on the containers, and not all
materials were screened for verification of contents. Master copies of the
tapes were made and are in Box 30.
The tapes are chiefly interviews and speeches by or about Abbey. Of
interest are tapes of a cross-country trip by Abbey from Arizona to
Pennsylvania.
The microfilm is of issues of a newspaper
El Crepusculo de la Libertad (Taos, New Mexico) during
Abbey's editorship; original copies are also present.
One color photograph shows a man wearing a tee-shirt with a quote
from Abbey's fictional character G.W. Hayduke on the back side. There are no
portraits of Abbey in this series.
Contains sundry printed and handwritten items by or about Abbey
including notes; clippings on his friends, Dave Foreman, Ken Sleight, and Doug
Peacock; research for
Hayduke Lives!; some royalty statements; Sierra Club and
Earth First! calendars, some with handwritten annotations by Abbey; and
miscellaneous materials relating to Abbey from other sources added after the
original accession was processed.
box
folder
29
1
Miscellaneous,
no
date
29
2
Friends of Abbey,
ca.
1988
29
3
Research on
Hayduke Lives!,
ca.
1988
29
4
Royalty statements,
1986-1988
29
5
Calendars, some with notes by Abbey,
1974-1984
29
6
Materials added after original processing, from other
sources.
box
30
Masters of audio cassette tapes (14).
Note : Not for researcher use, please use copies in Box
27.
30
Masters of video tapes (3): NBC Almanac, Wilderness
Journal, Edward Abbey's Road. Note : Not for researcher
use, please use copies in Box 28.
