Search

Strachan's correspondence with his primary publisher, Peter Owen of London relates chiefly to the nuts and bolts of translation and publication. The translations that are the subject matter of the letters are of Hermann Hesse, Caesar Pavese, Marc Chagall, Jean Cocteau, and Julien Gracq. The majority of the letters are accompanied by retained copies of the replies of Peter Owen. Included is Owen's correspondence with the American publisher George Wittenborn.

Correspondence with André Gide, the manuscripts and notes for his biography PORTRAIT OF ANDRÉ GIDE, and for his translations of the JOURNALS OF ANDRÉ GIDE, SO BE IT, and PRETEXTS, and other notes and articles about André Gide. Also, correspondence with many contemporary French writers including Albert Camus, Jean Cocteau, Julian Green, Valéry Larbaud, Jean Malaquais, Roger Martin du Gard, André Maurois, Henry de Montherlant, and Georges Simenon. Prof. O'Brien translated works by Baidouy, Albert Camus, Jean Cocteau, Henry de Montherlant, Nathalie Sarraute, and Jean-Paul Sartre; the typescript of Camus' L'EXILE ET LE ROYAUME is of special interest. Professor O'Brien's files cover a broad range of French culture including correspondence with other French scholars, educational organizations, editors, publishers (notably Blanche W. Knopf), with members of the OSS in wartime France, and with other literary figures such as Gilbert Highet, Dwight Macdonald, and Klaus Mann.