Scope and Contents
The collection contains correspondence, writings, artwork, and other papers by or relating to the writer David Plante. The bulk of the collection consists of letters to Plante from authors, artists, critics, editors, and film directors, as well as correspondence with Plante's partner, Nikos Stangos, and family members.
Correspondents include W. H. Auden, John Ashbery, John Berger, Raymond Carver, Alfred Corn, Margaret Drabble, Kenward Elmslie, Nuruddin Farah, Suzi Gablik, Derek Jarman, Jill Johnston, R. B. Kitaj, Ann Lauterbach, John Lehmann, Harold Norse, A. Poulin, Hilary Spurling, Jerl Surratt, Diana Trilling, and Jonathan Williams. Among the other correspondents are the three subjects of Plante's Difficult Women, Jean Rhys, Sonia Orwell, and Germaine Greer. The collection additionally contains letters and artwork by David Hockney; letters and writings of Mary Gordon and Steven Runciman; and photographs by Fay Godwin. Also present are professional and personal correspondence of art editor Nikos Stangos, and papers of English author Stephen Spender, which include letters to Plante and Stangos, writings, photographs, materials related to his copyright infringement lawsuit against David Leavitt, several original poems by Auden, and ephemera.
Correspondents include W. H. Auden, John Ashbery, John Berger, Raymond Carver, Alfred Corn, Margaret Drabble, Kenward Elmslie, Nuruddin Farah, Suzi Gablik, Derek Jarman, Jill Johnston, R. B. Kitaj, Ann Lauterbach, John Lehmann, Harold Norse, A. Poulin, Hilary Spurling, Jerl Surratt, Diana Trilling, and Jonathan Williams. Among the other correspondents are the three subjects of Plante's Difficult Women, Jean Rhys, Sonia Orwell, and Germaine Greer. The collection additionally contains letters and artwork by David Hockney; letters and writings of Mary Gordon and Steven Runciman; and photographs by Fay Godwin. Also present are professional and personal correspondence of art editor Nikos Stangos, and papers of English author Stephen Spender, which include letters to Plante and Stangos, writings, photographs, materials related to his copyright infringement lawsuit against David Leavitt, several original poems by Auden, and ephemera.
Dates
- 1927-2014
Creator
- Plante, David (Author)
Language of Materials
Primarily in English, with some material in Greek, French, and Italian.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Box 13 (computer disk): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies of electronic files may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Box 13 (computer disk): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies of electronic files may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Conditions Governing Use
The David Plante Papers is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from David Plante on the James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection Fund, 2019.
Arrangement
Organized into four series: I. Correspondence, 1957-2014. II. Personal Papers, 1961-2014. III. Nikos Stangos Correspondence, 1956-2007. IV. Stephen Spender Papers, 1927-2004.
Extent
11.34 Linear Feet (13 boxes)
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Overview
The collection contains correspondence, writings, artwork, and other papers by or relating to the writer David Plante. The bulk of the collection consists of letters to Plante from authors, artists, critics, editors, and film directors, as well as correspondence with Plante's partner, Nikos Stangos, and family members.
David Plante (1940-)
David Robert Plante is a novelist, diarist, memoirist, and educator. He is a retired professor of creative writing at Columbia University, where he taught from 1998 to 2010. Plante is the author of Difficult Women (1983), a memoir of his relationships with Jean Rhys, Sonia Orwell, and Germaine Greer; and the Francoeur Trilogy, consisting of The Family (1978), which was nominated for a National Book Award, The Country (1980), and The Woods (1982). Plante’s work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, New York Times, Esquire, and Vogue. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Plante moved to London in 1966 and holds dual American-British citizenship. He now lives in Lucca, Italy, and Athens, Greece. Plante was in a relationship with Greek editor and poet Nikos Stangos for over forty years until Stangos's death in 2004. Stangos was the subject of Plante’s memoir The Pure Lover (2009).
Processing Information
Collections are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections [as they are acquired], and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.
This collection received a basic level of processing, including rehousing and minimal organization.
Information included in the Description of Papers note and Collection Contents section is drawn from information supplied with the collection and from an initial survey of the contents. Folder titles appearing in the contents list below are often based on those provided by the creator or previous custodian. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. Otherwise, folder titles are supplied by staff during initial processing.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
This collection received a basic level of processing, including rehousing and minimal organization.
Information included in the Description of Papers note and Collection Contents section is drawn from information supplied with the collection and from an initial survey of the contents. Folder titles appearing in the contents list below are often based on those provided by the creator or previous custodian. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. Otherwise, folder titles are supplied by staff during initial processing.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
- American literature -- 20th century
- American literature -- 21st century
- Ashbery, John, 1927-2017
- Auden, W. H. (Wystan Hugh), 1907-1973
- Authors -- United States -- 20th century
- Authors -- United States -- 21st century
- Authors, American -- 20th century -- Archives
- Authors, American -- 21st century -- Archives
- Authors, English -- 20th century
- Authors, Expatriate
- Berger, John, 1926-2017
- Born digital
- College teachers -- New York -- 21st century
- Corn, Alfred, 1943-
- Drabble, Margaret, 1939-
- Drawings (visual works)
- Editors -- Great Britain
- Elmslie, Kenward, 1929-
- Farah, Nuruddin, 1945-
- Gablik, Suzi
- Gay authors
- Godwin, Fay
- Gordon, Mary, 1949-
- Greer, Germaine, 1939-
- Hockney, David
- Inkjet prints
- Jarman, Derek, 1942-1994
- Johnston, Jill
- Kitaj, R. B.
- LGBTQ resource
- Lauterbach, Ann, 1942-
- Leavitt, David, 1961-
- Lehmann, John, 1907-1987
- Norse, Harold
- Orwell, Sonia
- Photographs
- Postcards
- Poulin, A., Jr., 1938-1996
- Rhys, Jean
- Runciman, Steven, 1903-2000
- Spender, Stephen, 1909-1995
- Spurling, Hilary
- Stangos, Nikos
- Surratt, Jerl
- Trilling, Diana, 1905-1996
- Williams, Jonathan, 1929-2008
Creator
- Title
- Guide to the David Plante Papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- by Brooke McManus
- Date
- January 2022
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in 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.