Series II: Writings by Ferro, 1963-1988
Scope and Contents
The subseries Books contains files of correspondence, drafts, reviews, and fan mail for Ferro's four published novels, The Blue Star (1985), The Family of Max Desir (1983), The Others (1977), and Second Son (1988). The subseries Reviews contains typescripts and tear sheets of Ferro's work for four periodicals, Advocate, Christopher Street, New York Native, and Philadelphia Gay News, with some related correspondence. Other Writings holds academic papers from his graduate school days, novels and short stories that went unfinished or unpublished during his lifetime, ideas for screenplays and musicals, and a few poems he composed. The largest sets of files in the subseries document his more extensive work on two book-length projects, "Chiaroscuro," and "The Minnehaha Bequest"/"The Finishing Touch," the latter co-written with Michael Grumley. The subseries also contains a paper, "Gay Literature Today," that Ferro presented at Oberlin College in November 1987; it later appeared in the anthology The Violet Quill Reader.
All files on Atlantis: the Autobiography of a Search, which was co-authored with Michael Grumley, are held in Grumley's papers (YCAL MSS 323).
An excerpt from Ferro's last novel Second Son appeared in the anthology Men on Men: Best New Gay Fiction (1986); material related to that project is with the files for his novel.
File titles in quotes were taken from the author's annotations or from his original folders/envelopes/containers
Dates
- 1963-1988
Creator
- From the Collection: Ferro, Robert
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Arrangement
The series is organized into three subseries: Books; Reviews; and Other Writings
Extent
6 Linear Feet (6 boxes)
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.