Prudencio De Pereda: An Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center

Prudencio De Pereda was born in Brooklyn, New York's Spanish colony on February 18, 1912, to Spanish immigrant parents. He was first encouraged to be a writer after reading Ernest Hemingway as an undergraduate Spanish major at City College of New York (1929-1933). He published his first story in 1936, and during the Spanish Civil War, met Hemingway. The two collaborated on the commentary for the films Spain in Flames and The Spanish Earth, espousing the Loyalist Republican viewpoint. During this seminal period of De Pereda's writing, his activities brought him into contact with a number of other young New York literati who were similarly affected by the war in Spain and other “radical” causes.

During the 1930s and early 1940s, De Pereda wrote short stories that were published in several small circulation magazines, as well as in better-known periodicals such as Commentary, New Republic, Story, and Nation. De Pereda's stories have been anthologized often, and appeared in the O. Henry Memorial Prize Volume (1937) and O'Brien's Best Short Stories (1938, 1940).

From 1941-1944, De Pereda served in the U.S. Army as a Spanish language censor of letters for the U.S. Bureau of Censorship. After World War II he worked as an advertising copywriter and later as a librarian. During this time De Pereda began combining and expanding his stories, producing three novels: All the Girls We Loved (1948), Fiesta (1953), and Windmills in Brooklyn (1960). Fiesta became his best known work, having been published in Canada, England, France, Finland, and the German Democratic Republic. Robert Hanell set it to music as an opera, and it has been adapted as a radio play. De Pereda also translated from the Spanish, Alberto Gerchunoff's Jewish Gauchos of the Pampas in 1953.

Scope and Contents

Manuscripts of short stories, novels, and other writings, correspondence, clippings of reviews, and miscellany trace the writing career of Prudencio De Pereda, 1935-1973. The collection depicts the author's early career in New York, his interactions with editors and publishers, and with other writers of the period. De Pereda's work reflects the influence of Ernest Hemingway, especially during the Spanish Civil War, when they met and worked together on the commentary for the films Spain in Flames and The Spanish Earth. De Pereda's later literary output is represented by manuscripts of his three novels ( All the Girls We Loved, Fiesta, and Windmills in Brooklyn) and his translation of Jewish Gauchos of the Pampas.

The collection is arranged in four series: I. Correspondence, 1935-1973; II. Works, 1935-1960, III. Publicity Material and Reviews, 1947-1961, and IV. Miscellaneous, 1940-1964.

The correspondence is divided into two subseries. Acceptance letters (1935-1951, bulk 1936-1940) from editors and publishers were kept in chronological order by De Pereda. Personal letters received (1935-1973) are arranged alphabetically by author. Correspondents include Carlos Baker, Alvah Cecil Bessie, Paul Bowles, Whit Burnett, Richard Burton, Padraic Colum, Victor Gollancz, Ernest Hemingway (photocopies), James Laughlin, William March, Anäis Nin, Edward O'Brien, Philip Rahv, and Richard Wright. Only one item of outgoing correspondence, from De Pereda to Carlos Baker, survives in this collection. An index of all correspondents is included at the end of this inventory.

The bulk of the materials in Series II., Works (1935-1960), consists of literary manuscripts. Drafts and final versions, typed and handwritten, many with corrections, these manuscripts are arranged in three subseries: Short Stories, Novels, and Other Works. Included are manuscripts of thirty-one short stories and three novels, as well as his English translation of Jewish Gauchos of the Pampas. Also present are manuscripts of commentaries for the film The Spanish Earth, edited and expanded by Ernest Hemingway. One photocopy draft bears Hemingway's editorial marks.

Manuscripts of two of the novels have been arranged in order of final publication. For All the Girls We Loved, working titles of the chapters are included in the folder list in parentheses. The arrangement of Fiesta (original title The Unshared Man) follows categories set up by the author. Within each category, pages are for the most part unnumbered or not numbered consecutively.

Series III., Publicity Material and Reviews (1947-1961), concerns only De Pereda's three novels. Series IV., Miscellaneous (1940-1964), includes other clippings and miscellaneous information, as well as a typescript by author William March, which was posthumously published as 99 Fables in 1960.

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Prudencio De Pereda Papers--Index of Correspondents

Ader, Paul Fassett (Ed. FASSETT'S)--1.2
Algren, Nelson--1.3
Alpert, Hollis (MATRIX)--1.2
Baker, Carlos, 1909-1987--1.4
Bemmish, Rae (Ed. CHAMELEON)--1.1
Bernstein, David E. (THE NEW TALENT)--1.1
Berriault, Arline--1.5
Bessie, Alvah Cecil, 1904- --1.6
Bowles, Paul, 1910- --1.7
Burnett, Whit, 1899- (STORY)--1.1-1.2
Burton, Richard, 1925- --1.8
Caliver, Alan (INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHERS CO.)--1.1
Coates, Robert M.--1.8
Colum, Padraic, 1881-1972--1.8
Conroy, Jack (THE NEW ANVIL)--1.2
Crews, Judson--1.1
Erlich, Leonard--1.9
Field, Ben--1.10
Finsterwald, Maxine (NEW WRITERS)--1.1
Funaroff, Sol--1.10
Gardner, Leonard--1.10
Garfinkel, Sid (Ed. FORGE)--1.1
Gibson, Bill--1.10
Gollancz, Victor, 1893-1967--1.11
Goolman, Paul--1.11
Hansen, Harry (NEW YORK WORLD-TELEGRAM)--1.1, 1.11
Haydn, Hiram Collins--1.11
Hemingway, Ernest, 1899-1961--1.12
Herring, Robert (LIFE AND LETTERS TO-DAY)--1.2
Hudson, Charlotte (NEW MASSES)--1.2
Kent, Ira Rice (HOUGHTON MIFFLIN)--1.1
Kievits, Jules L. (BLACK & WHITE)--1.2
Kingman, Gordon (Ed. KOSMOS)--1.1
Kirchwey, Freda (THE NATION)--1.13
Laughlin, James, 1914- (NEW DIRECTIONS)--1.13
LeSeur, Meredith (MIDWEST)--1.1
Ligocki, Michael (CREATIVE)--1.1
Lukes, Lee (DECADE)--1.1-1.2
Mangione, Jerre Gerlando--1.13
March, William, 1893-1954--1.14
Moore, Herbert (SHE)--1.2
Neff, Barbara (THE NATION)--1.2
Nin, Anäis, 1903-1977--1.15
Norman, Dorothy (TWICE A YEAR)--1.2
O'Brien, Edward Joseph Harrington, 1890-1941 (THE BEST SHORT STORIES)-- 1.1-1.2, 1.15
Rahv, Philip, 1908-1973 (PARTISAN REVIEW)--1.1
Reid, Arnold (NEW MASSES)--1.1
Rosten, Norman--1.16
Schwarz, B. H. (TOLERANCE)--1.2
Still, James--1.17
Villa, J. (WAKE)--1.2
Watts, Richard --1.17
Wheeler, Ed (TOLERANCE)--1.2
Wright, Richard, 1908-1960--1.17
Wynn, Dudley (THE NEW MEXICO QUARTERLY)--1.2
Zinberg, Len (Ed. LACY)--1.18