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Peter Neagoe Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: -
Date: Mar 2006

Biographical History

Peter Neagoe (1881-1960) was a Romanian-Amerian artist, novelist, short short writer.

Neagoe was born November 7, 1881, in Transylvania (now Romania). He attended the University of Bucharest and the Romanian Academy of Fine Arts before coming to the United States in 1901 to study at the National Academy of Design in New York. He eventually became a naturalized U.S. citizen, then relocated to Paris following World War I. During World War II he worked for the U.S. Office of War Information, preparing radio broadcasts for the Romanian people. He married married Anna Frankeul, an artist, on July 31, 1911. He died October 28, 1960, in Woodstock, NY.

Neagoe wrote essays, short stories, and novels, many about Romanian peasant life, and edited the periodical New Review as well as an anthology of stories and poems by many of Neagoe's fellow expatriates entitled Americans Abroad. While many of his stories had Romanian settings or characters, he also wrote a number of stories set in America. His characterization and style were praised by critics; regarding his book Easter Sun, a reviewer for the Times Literary Supplement wrote, "Mr. Neagoe writes with an unaffected simplicity perfectly adapted to his subject...and one feels that his peasant characters are created out of an intimate understanding, not merely observed." Neagoe also wrote a book of childhood reminiscences entitled Time to Keep, in which he describes his boyhood in Romania.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Peter Neagoe Papers consist of biographical material, correspondence, memorabilia, and writings.

Biographical material contains interviews and essays, as well as several typescript drafts and a published edition of David Sturdevant's monograph on Neagoe.

Correspondence is primarily incoming with a few drafts of outgoing letters, mostly related to the publication of Americans Abroad, an anthology of expatriate prose, and Neagoe's book of short stories, Storm. Correspondence of greatest depth and duration includes that of Djuna Barnes, Alexander Berkman, Kay Boyle, William Aspenwall Bradley, Bob Brown, Whit Burnett, Emanuel Carnevali, John Cournos, John Dos Passos, James T. Farrell, Emma Goldman, Eugène Jolas, Alfred Margul-Sperber, Robert McAlmon, Henry Miller, Edward J. O'Brien, Ezra Pound, Samuel Putnam, Laura Riding, Richard Thoma, Laurence Vail, and William Carlos Williams.

Writings, by far the majority of the collection, comprises manuscripts, typescripts, drafts and notes for more than fifty of Neagoe's stories and novels (both published and unpublished) as well as miscellaneous notes on story ideas. For some titles there are also galleys, camera-ready copy, book jackets, and other material related to production and publication.

Memorabilia includes clippings, diaries, address lists, drawings, photographs (including some used in Americans Abroad), and printed material (issues of magazines containing Neagoe's work).

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

A number of books by both Peter Neagoe and his wife have been transferred to Rare Books for separate cataloging; please refer to Libraries Search to locate these items.

Subject Headings

Persons

Aiken, Conrad, 1889-1973.
Bald, Wambly.
Barnes, Djuna.
Barr, Alfred H., Jr., 1902-1981.
Berkman, Alexander, 1870-1936.
Boschère, Jean de, 1878-1953.
Boyle, Kay, 1902-1992.
Bradley, William Aspenwall, 1878-1939.
Brancusi, Constantin, 1876-1957.
Breton, André.
Brown, Bob, 1886-1959.
Burnett, Whit, 1899-1973.
Cannell, Kathleen.
Cappon, Alexander P. (Alexander Patterson), 1900-1997.
Carnevali, Emanuel.
Charpentier, Albert, 1872-
Coleman, Emily Holmes, 1899-1974.
Cotruș, Aron, 1891-1961.
Cournos, John, 1881-1966.
Cowley, Malcolm, 1898-1989.
Crosby, Caresse, 1892-1970.
Diamant, Gertrude, 1901-
Dos Passos, John, 1896-1970.
Fadiman, Clifton, 1904-1999.
Farrell, James T. (James Thomas), 1904-1979.
Foley, Martha.
Ford, Charles Henri.
Fraenkel, Michael, 1896-1957.
Gillespie, Abraham Lincoln, 1895-1950.
Goldman, Emma, 1869-1940.
Guggenheim, Peggy, 1898-1979.
Hersch, Virginia, 1896-
Jolas, Eugène, 1894-1952.
Jolas, M.
Kahane, Jack, 1887-1939.
Kamin, Martin.
Kreymborg, Alfred, 1883-1966.
Larsson, Raymond Ellsworth, 1901-1991.
Lhevinne, Isador, 1896-
Llona, Victor.
Loving, Pierre, 1893-1950.
Mangan, Sherry, 1904-1961.
Margul-Sperber, Alfred, 1898-1967.
McAlmon, Robert, 1896-1956.
Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956.
Miller, Henry, 1891-1980.
Neagoe, Anna.
Neagoe, Peter.
O'Brien, Edward J. (Edward Joseph), 1890-1941.
Orage, A. R. (Alfred Richard), 1873-1934.
Owens, Philip.
Perlès, Alfred.
Pound, Ezra, 1885-1972.
Putnam, Samuel, 1892-1950.
Reavey, George, 1907-1976.
Riding, Laura, 1901-1991.
Rodman, Selden, 1909-2002.
Rosenfeld, Paul, 1890-1946.
Schrank, Joseph.
Targ, William, 1907-1999.
Thoma, Richard, 1874-1957.
Vail, Laurence, 1891-1968.
Williams, William Carlos, 1883-1963.

Subjects

Authors, American -- France -- Paris.
American fiction -- 20th century.
American literature -- 20th century.
American literature -- Romanian American authors.
Art, American -- 20th century.
Authors, American.
Exiles' writings.
Expatriate painters -- France.
Novelists, American.
Painters -- United States.
Romanian Americans.

Places

Paris (France) -- Intellectual life -- 20th century.
United States -- Intellectual life -- 20th century.

Genres and Forms

Audiocassettes.
Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence.
Diaries.
Drawings (visual works)
Manuscripts for publication.
Photographs.
Scrapbooks.
Sketches.
Sound recordings.

Occupations

Novelists.
Painters.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Peter Neagoe Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Anna Neagoe, 1976-1984.

Table of Contents

Biographical material

Correspondence

Memorabilia

Writings

Miscellaneous

Inventory