Maximillian E. Novak Papers on the Stoke Newington Daniel Defoe edition MS.2015.006
Finding aid by Joyce Wang
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
2018
2520 Cimarron Street
Los Angeles 90018
clark@humnet.ucla.edu
Contributing Institution:
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
Title: Maximillian E. Novak Papers on the Stoke Newington Daniel Defoe edition
Creator:
Novak, Maximillian E.
Creator:
Schonhorn, Manuel
Identifier/Call Number: MS.2015.006
Physical Description:
2 boxes
Date (inclusive): 1967-2004
Abstract: This collection is comprised primarily of correspondence made within a circle of scholars of the early modern and Restoration
period regarding the publication of a comprehensive, scholarly edition of works by 18th-century thinker Daniel Defoe. The
primary correspondents are Maximillian E. Novak (UCLA) and Manuel Schonhorn (Southern Illinois University), who have been
editors of the Stoke Newington Daniel Defoe Edition Series since the project was first started in 1968 - then under a different
name as "The Collected Works of Daniel Defoe". Along with a sizable quantity of correspondence between these scholars, the
collection also contains some of the supplementary documents relating to the production of the Stoke Newington Daniel Defoe
Editions.
Physical Description: 0.8 linear feet, 2 boxes
Physical Location: William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
Language of Material:
English
.
Processing Information
The documents in the collection exhibited little original order. Many documents were found stashed loose-leaf into a record
carton, and items that were placed within folders oftentimes had little relationship to the folder title. While processing,
many items were taken out of these folders for better integration into the finding aid's arrangement scheme.
Processing and description of this collection was done by Joyce Wang in 2018.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Maximilian E. Novak Papers on the Stoke Newington Daniel Defoe edition, MS.2015.006, William Andrews
Clark Memorial Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Scope and Contents
The Maximillian E. Novak papers on the Stoke Newington Daniel Defoe edition consists primarily of written, scanned, and typed
correspondence between Novak and a circle of scholars of early modern European writers. The letters span a broad date range
starting mostly from 1968 to the late 1990s. Many of the letters were mailed as duplicate copies within the circle of scholars,
and many of them are addressed to or written by Novak's colleague Manuel Schonhorn rather than Novak himself. Most folders
contain less than 10 pieces of correspondence, with the exception of folders for letters written by Joyce D. Kennedy, Irving
Rothman, and Maximillian Novak (to Manuel Schonhorn). Along with the correspondence, the collection also holds project outlines,
prospectuses, typescripts, handwritten notes, scans of academic articles, a National Endowment for the Humanities grant application,
and survey responses, mostly pertaining to the Stoke Newington Defoe edition (or the project's aliases throughout the years)
or to developments in the field of early modern literature at large.
Arrangement
This collection has been split into 2 series, one featuring supplementary materials for the publication of the Stoke Newington
Daniel Defoe edition and one for correspondence. Materials in the first series are sorted alphabetically by folder title.
The correspondence files are arranged alphabetically by the author's last name, and then chronologically when necessary.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Maximillian E. Novak, 2015.
Bibliography
Maximillian E. Novak (1930- ) is a UCLA Distinguished Professor Emeritus specializing in the works of Daniel Defoe, an 18th
century trader, novelist, and pamphleteer most well-known for writing Robinson Crusoe, Moll Flanders, and A tour thro' the
whole island of Great Britain. Novak obtained both his undergraduate degree and doctorate at UCLA, the latter obtained in
1958. He briefly taught at the University of Michigan before returning to UCLA. He has produced numerous essays and books
on the philosophical, political, cultural, and economic underpinnings of Defoe's writings and has serve as general editor
for the Augustan Reprint series and the Stoke Newington Defoe series. Included among his works on Defoe are three monographs
titled Economics and the Fiction of Daniel Defoe (1962), Defoe and the Nature of Man (1963), and Realism, Myth, and History
in Defoe's Fiction (1983). In 2001, Novak also produced the biographical work Daniel Defoe: Master of Fictions. In becoming
one of the most renowned scholars of Defoe in the world, Novak has also contributed to studies of other early modern writers
such as John Dryden, William Wycherly, Jonathan Swift, and William Congreve.
The idea for creating a series of critical, scholarly editions for lesser known works within the Defoe canon was conceived
by Maximillian Novak and Manuel Schonhorn in as early as 1968, but a combination of funding issues and other attending priorities
delayed the actual publication of the works. In 1999, the first volume in the Stoke Newington Defoe Edition Series was published
through New York's AMS Press (also the publisher of The Eighteenth Century Current Bibliography), featuring a textual study
of Defoe's 1697 work An Essay Upon Projects. The series has received contributions from scholars such as Joyce Deveau Kennedy,
Michael Seidel, Irving Rothman, Jim Springer Borck, Kit Kincade, and John G. Peters.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Defoe, Daniel
Supplementary materials to the publication of the Stoke Newington Daniel Defoe edition
1970-2001
Scope and Contents
Materials in this series include prospectuses, project outlines, and other supporting documents created for what would be
known as the Stoke Newington Daniel Defoe edition. Of particular interest might be the folder of responses taken from various
scholars of early-modern studies providing their suggestions to the publication of the edition.
Arrangement
Arranged by title of the folder.
Box 1, Folder 1
Defoe Edition Project Outline
c. 1981
Scope and Contents
Includes annotated lists of pamphlets and books produced by Daniel Defoe, as well as a list of contributors to the Defoe editions.
Contains a letter written by Novak and addressed to Jack Sawyer of the Mellon Foundation inquiring about potential grant support
for the realization of the Stoke Newington Defoe series, particularly for the third volume
The Esssay upon Projects.
Box 1, Folder 2
Defoe Edition Prospectus
1987
Scope and Contents
This folder contains some correspondence between Maximillian Novak and Herbert Morris (Dean of Numanities) and Scott Mahler
(UC Press) regarding the workflow for the publication of the Defoe series. Includes an unattributed typescript and printed
prospectus of the Defoe project, as well as some misc. letters
Box 1, Folder 3
Misc. typescripts, journal articles, and books scans
undated, 1970s, 2001
Scope and Contents
This folder contains a miscellany of items, including a 2-paged typescript by Novak titled "The Art of Projecting in 'The
Projecting Age'", a scan of a typescript with minor editing likely written for some event honoring Novak, an undated copy
of Novak's bilbiography, a few handwritten notes, book scans, scans of Defoe works, and the first issue of the Daniel Defoe
Society newsletter.
Box 1, Folder 4
NEH Grant Application for 1972-1973
1971
Scope and Contents
A scan of a grant proposal written by Maximillian Novak (presumably in 1971) to the NEH for a project titled "The Collected
Writings of Daniel Defoe". The applied for grant period was from June 1972 to June 1973, with the aim of supporting Novak's
role as both the general editor of a "forty-volume edition of Defoe" to be published by Southern Illinois University Press
and as the primary contributor to the series edition of
Robinson Crusoe.
Box 1, Folder 5
Notes and supplementary info to Daniel Defoe Edition
undated, 1977
Scope and Contents
This folder contains a miscellany of resources used for and produced from the work done on the Defoe editions. Includes some
notes on the typographical and textual analysis framework presumably employed by Novak and co., standards for editing Defoe,
a list of titles to be included in the series, and a couple of guides by the MLA regarding the publishing of scholarly editions.
Includes a copy of the "Outline for preparation of text and textual apparatus for Defoe Edition".
Box 1, Folder 6
Outline for preparation of text and textual apparatus for Defoe Edition
undated
Scope and Contents
Mimeographed copies of an outline of the groundwork needed to create the Defoe editions. Discusses the collation of texts,
selection/reproduction of copy-text, rules for normalizing Defoe, making textual notes, and preparing texts for the printer.
Box 1, Folder 7
Responses to "The Collected Works of Daniel Defoe" survey
c. 1970s
Scope and Contents
A folder of surveys sent out by Novak and Schonhorn inquiring numerous scholars about the types of Defoe works they would
like to see in the edition as well as any general suggestions for the project.
Correspondence
1967-2005
Scope and Contents
The correspondence series features typed, handwritten, and scanned letters addressed primarily to either Maximillian Novak
or Manuel Schonhorn. Given that the letters were often sent within a circle of scholars, many of the typed letters are duplicate
copies. Most folders contain less than 10 pieces of correspondence, with the notable exception of folders for letters written
by Joyce D. Kennedy, Irving Rothman, and between Maximillian Novak and Manuel Schonhorn. The letters range from formal to
casual in tone, but relate predominantly to work on the scholarly editions for select works in the Defoe canon.
Arrangement
Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by the last name of the author.
Box 1, Folder 8
1993 Defoe Edition
1993-1994
Box 1, Folder 9
AMS Press
undated, 1993-1996
Box 1, Folder 10
Baine, Rodney M.
undated, 1970-1972
Box 1, Folder 12
Borck, Jim Springer
1992-1994
Box 1, Folder 14
Hopkins, Robert H.
1969-1972
Box 1, Folder 15
Kennedy, Joyce Deveau
1969-1989
Box 1, Folder 16
Moore, John Robert
1968-1970
Box 1, Folder 17
Novak, Maximillian E.
1973-1980, 1992-1993
Box 1, Folder 18-21
Novak, Maximillian E. to Schonhorn, Manuel (1 of 4)
1968-2001
Box 2, Folder 1
Peterson, Spiro
1969-1973, 1990
Box 2, Folder 2
Playfair, Eddie
1969-1995
Box 2, Folder 3
Rothman, Irving
1969-2005
Scope and Contents
Contains an extensive 15-paged guide (dated 2003) for current and future editors of the Stoke Newington Daniel Defoe Edition
detailing the format and standards (ie for bibliographic description, listing variants, etc.) for future additions to the
series.
Box 2, Folder 4
Schonhorn, Manuel
1971-1984
Box 2, Folder 5
Schonhorn, Manuel to Novak, Maximillian E.
1970-1979
Box 2, Folder 6
Seidel, Michael
1976-1996
Box 2, Folder 8
Snyder, Henry L.
undated, 1970-1971
Box 2, Folder 9
Sternberg, Vernon
1972-1973
Box 2, Folder 10-12
Misc. authors
1967-2000
Scope and Contents
Correspondent whose letters did not have a substantial presence (in terms of quantity) in the collection to warrant their
own files were placed in the category of "misc. authors". Most folders are comprised of just one or two letters from any given
correspondent. In one case, the last name of the author is unclear, so the letters could not be properly attributed to and
placed in their own folder.
