Victor Serge papers

The Victor Serge Papers document the life and work of the Franco-Russian writer and revolutionary, Victor Serge (1890-1947). The Papers consist of correspondence; manuscripts and notes for articles, books, and poems; subject files; immigration and identification documents; and memorabilia. The Papers also contain various materials concerning Serge (including correspondence, clippings, and photocopies of writings) that were collected by his son, Vlady Kibalchich. The collection spans the years 1912-1994, but the bulk of the material is from 1936 to 1947.

The Papers are organized into six series: Correspondence, Writings, Subject Files, Personal Papers and Memorabilia, Envelopes, and Materials Collected by Vlady Kibalchich. The collection is housed in 27 boxes. The Papers are chiefly in French, but there are also materials in Russian, Spanish, English, and German. Before arriving at The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the Papers (excluding the materials collected by Vlady Kibalchich) had been housed in oversized envelopes, which had been labeled and numbered. These numbered envelopes are now filed in Series V.

Series I, Correspondence , is organized into three subseries, General Correspondence, Family Correspondence, and Third Party Correspondence. Each subseries contains a number of carbon and holograph drafts of letters from Serge, as well as typescript and holograph drafts of letters to him.

The first subseries, General Correspondence, contains correspondence with friends and colleagues, including André Breton, Michael Fraenkel, André Gide, Julián Gorkin, Daniel Guérin, Lucien Laurat, Dwight and Nancy Macdonald, Jean Malaquais, Marcel Martinet, Magdeleine Marx (Paz), Emmanuel Mounier, Leon Trotsky, Leon Werth, and Maurice Wullens. This subseries also contains correspondence with publishing companies and journals regarding Serge's writing and his response to the published writing of others, as well as correspondence with organizations, including the Comision Socialista Internacional and the P. O. U. M. Letters written by an individual on behalf of an organization have been filed under the name of the organization, and cross-references have been made from the person's name (e.g., letters written by Julián Gorkin on behalf of the Comision Socialista Internacional have been filed under the Comision Socialista Internacional).

The second subseries, Personal Correspondence, contains letters between Serge and his wife, Liouba, many concerning her hospitalization for mental illness; one letter to Serge from his son, Vlady; and letters to Serge from other relatives, including Cécile, Henri, and Tina. The third subseries, Third Party Correspondence, contains a small number of letters between Serge's friends and colleagues.

Series II, Writings , is organized into nine subseries (the first two being the largest): Articles, Books, Conferences, Newspaper and Journal Clippings, Notes, Open Letters, Poems, Reviews, and Writings of Others. The first subseries, Articles, contains typescript and typescript carbon versions of articles, many of them corrected. Mostly written in French (a few are in Spanish), the articles are about politics and culture in Mexico, Europe, and Russia, and many articles deal specifically with the Russian Revolution and various aspects of World War II. Some of Serge's articles were translated into Spanish after his death; these translations are filed in Series VI.

The second subseries, Books, contains notes, outlines, drafts, and page proofs for some of Serge's books. There is also some fan mail, advertisements for the books, and reviews. Many books are represented in this series, including L'affaire Toulaév, Les années sans pardon, Les derniers temps, Mémoires d'un révolutionnaire, S'il est minuit dans le siècle, and Vie et mort de Trotsky. There is also a translation by Serge of Leon Trotsky's Staline, which Serge titled Vie de Staline. The chapter titles for the drafts of Mémoires d'un révolutionnaire have been listed individually, since varying versions of this book have been published, and the chapter numbers and titles of the drafts do not necessarily correlate with the published versions.

The third subseries, Conferences, contains drafts and speaking notes for three papers presented at conferences. The fourth subseries, Newspaper and Journal Clippings, contains clippings of articles published by Serge in various newspapers and journals. The subseries is arranged by the title of the newspaper or journal and then by the title of the article. The newspapers and journals include Acción social, La batalla, The Call, The New Leader, and La Wallonie, and the dates of the articles range from 1936 to 1947. The articles are mainly written in French, Spanish, and English.

The fifth subseries, Notes, contains notebooks and loose notes, mainly holograph, but some typescript, on a wide variety of topics, including politics and culture in Russia, Europe, Mexico, and South America. There are also two daybooks for 1936; notes about Serge's meetings and conversations with Laurette Séjourné (filed under her name); and some notes that are either autobiographical or possibly ideas for a novel (filed under [Dmitrovna, Tat'iana. Orenburg?], [V lesakh severa], and [A woman]). The titles in brackets have been supplied by the Library; Russian titles have been transliterated and placed in brackets. The sixth subseries, Open Letters, contains typescript carbon, mimeograph, and printed versions of open letters in Spanish, French, and English addressed by Serge and others to various political figures.

The seventh subseries, Poems, contains typescript and holograph versions of poems by Serge in French and Russian. Any poem that was titled by Serge has been listed under that title; poems that Serge did not title have been listed under their incipit, which has been placed in brackets. The titles of the Russian poems have been transliterated and placed in brackets. There is one file of fragments. The eighth subseries, Reviews, contains reviews written by Serge of a wide variety of books and journals, including Esprit, Partisan Review, Bertrand Russell's A History of Western Philosophy, and Leon Werth's Deposition. The reviews are arranged alphabetically by the name of the author being reviewed, or, in the case of journals, by the title. The ninth subseries, Writings of Others, contains mainly printed versions (but some typescript carbon versions) of political writings by various friends and colleagues of Serge, including Fritz Fraenkel, Julián Gorkin, Lucien Laurat, and Leon Trotsky.

Series III, Subject Files , is arranged alphabetically by title. The material was grouped into subjects by Serge, but all of the titles were supplied by the Library. The files mainly contain clippings, but some also include articles, press releases, and correspondence. The subjects include Mexico, South America, Russia, and various political figures, such as Otto Ruehle, Vicente Lombardo Toledano, and Leon Trotsky.

Series IV, Personal Papers and Memorabilia , mainly contains material pertaining to Serge himself, including many immigration and identification documents, as well as his address book, business card, and wallet. There is also a brief description by Serge of the seizure of his manuscripts in April 1936 by "La Censure du Commissariat du Peuple à l'Instruction Publique" in Moscow. Other material in this series includes many health and identification documents and receipts relating to Serge's wife, Liouba; a certificate regarding the placement of his daughter, Jeannine, during World War II; and a copy of the birth certificate of his son, Vlady. There are also two undated photographs of Vlady with his paintings and two sketches that were possibly done by Vlady. The materials in this series are arranged alphabetically by the name of the individual and then chronologically. The death masks of Serge and Vsevolod Mikhailovich Eikhenbaum are housed with Restricted Fragile Papers; reference prints have been made and are filed in place of the masks in Series IV.

Series V, Envelopes , contains the envelopes that were numbered and labeled to house the Papers (what is now Series I-IV) before they were acquired by the Library.

Series VI, Materials Collected by Vlady Kibalchich , is organized into six subseries, Correspondence, Serge's Writings, Reviews of Serge's Writings, Translations of Serge's Writings, Writings about Serge, and Writings of Others. The first subseries, Correspondence, contains letters to and from Vlady Kibalchich concerning Serge and his work; photocopies and transcripts of a few letters to and from Serge; and photocopies of third party letters concerning Serge. The second subseries, Serge's Writings, contains photocopies (made by or for Vlady Kibalchich) of typescript and printed versions of articles that were published during Serge's lifetime; clippings of a serial version of Mémoires d'un révolutionnaire that was published posthumously in Combat; and a 1994 transcription by Emilio Brodziak of Serge's "Vers un renouvellement du socialisme?". The third subseries, Reviews of Serge's Writings, contains clippings of reviews published from 1949 to 1981 (in newspapers and journals) of books by Serge. There are also several advertisements for posthumous published versions of some of Serge's books.

The fourth subseries, Translations of Serge's Writings, contains translations into Spanish of some of Serge's articles. Most of the translations are bound in the volume, "Trabajos de y sobre Víctor Serge," put together by Emilio Brodziak (housed in the fifth subseries), for which cross-references have been made. The fifth subseries, Writings about Serge, contains articles, mainly in Spanish, about Serge and his writings (especially about his novel, L'affaire Toulaév). Many of the articles are bound in two volumes that are contained in this series: "Trabajos de y sobre Víctor Serge" and "Dossier: diaris i revistes, centenari Victor Serge, 1890-1990." Appropriate cross-references have been made. There are also several files of obituaries and biographical articles that were clipped from newspapers and journals. The sixth subseries, Writings of Others, contains a printed version (1958) of "La seule urgence" by François Bondy.