Collection Summary
Donald Friede Papers
1919-1980
(bulk 1925-1965)
1919-1980
(bulk 1925-1965)
MSS47092
Friede,
Donald
1,200
items
7 containers
3 linear feet
1 microfilm reel
English
Collection material in
English
Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress
Washington, D.C.
Literary agent,
publisher, and writer. Correspondence, drafts of writings, reports, diaries,
photographs, and biographical material pertaining to Friede's career in
publishing.
Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
People
Bemelmans, Ludwig, 1898-1962.
Dreiser, Theodore, 1871-1945.
Friede, Donald.
Friede, Eleanor. Eleanor Friede papers.
Gump, Richard, 1906-
Hemingway, Ernest, 1899-1961.
Kantor, MacKinlay, 1904-1977.
Lolli, Giorgio, 1905-1979.
Subjects
Authors and publishers.
Publishers and publishing--United States.
Occupations
Literary agents.
Publishers.
Provenance
The papers of Donald Friede, publisher and literary agent, were the
gift of Friede's widow, Eleanor Kask Friede, in 1980.
Processing History
The papers of Donald Friede were arranged and described in 1991. The
finding aid was revised in 2007.
Related Material
Significant material related to Donald Friede is included in the
[papers of
MacKinlay Kantor] available in the Manuscript Divison.
Copyright Status
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Donald Friede
is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
Access and Restrictions
The papers of Donald Friede are open to research. Researchers are
advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many
collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these
items for research use.
Microfilm
A microfilm edition of part of these papers is available on one reel.
Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division concerning
availability for purchase or interlibrary loan.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the
following information: Container number, Donald Friede Papers, Manuscript
Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Biographical Note
Date
Event
1901, May 12
Born, New York, N.Y.
1901
circa 1915
Lived in Europe and Japan
1915
Returned to New York from Russia
circa 1918
Expelled from Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
1919
Expelled from Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
1920
Expelled from Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.
Inherited fortune upon death of father
1920
1923
Held positions in the banking, tobacco, retail, locomotive
works, and message-exchange industries
1922
Married Grace Abrams (divorced 1923)
1923
Stock clerk, Alfred A. Knopf publishing firm; left Knopf to
join Boni and Liveright publishing firm as an assistant
1925
Invested in Boni and Liveright; became first vice-president
Married Evelyn Johnson (divorced 1929)
1927
Arrested in Boston, Mass., on charges of selling an obscene
book to undercover police agents
1928
Withdrew investment in Boni and Liveright and left the
firm
Formed the publishing firm of Covici, Friede, Inc., in
partnership with Pascal Covici
1930
Married Anna Fleischer (divorced 1936)
1936
1937
Story editor, Zeppo Marx Agency
circa 1937
Covici, Friede, Inc., declared bankrupt in New York
circa 1938
Married Carol Zerbe (divorced 1943)
1940
Authored newspaper column about books for
The Hollywood Reporter
1940
1942
Story editor, Myron Selznick and Co.
1942
1943
Served in United States Army in air corps and as intelligence
officer
1943
1947
Story editor, A & S Lyons
1945
Married Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher (divorced 1951)
1947
Coauthored with H. Bedford-Jones (pseud. Donald F. Bedford)
John Barry
, New York: Creative Age Press
1947
1948
Story editor, Ralph Blum Corp.
1948
Published memoir,
The Mechanical Angel: His Adventures and Enterprises in the
Glittering 1920's
, New York: A. A. Knopf
1950
1951
Literary agent for AFG Literary Agency; hosted television
show about books
1951
Married Eleanor Kask
1952
1953
Coordinated "Centennial Editions" project for the Literary
Guild
Editor, World Publishing Co.
1963
Senior editor, Prentice-Hall
1964
Senior editor, Doubleday and Co.
1965, May 30
Died, Bridgehampton, Long Island, N.Y.
Scope and Content Note
The papers of Donald Sergey Friede (1901-1965) span the years
1919-1980, with the bulk from 1925 to 1965. Friede was an insider in the world
of publishing for several decades and published, represented, or associated
with influential and prize-winning authors. His father was a Russian immigrant
who served as Ford Motor Company's representative to Czarist Russia. Because
his father's business dealings required his family to move frequently, Friede
lived in several of the world's principal cities and toured the globe twice
before he was a teenager. As a result of his heritage and places of residence,
he was fluent in four languages and was well connected financially.
Friede married six times and divorced five. He was expelled from
Harvard, Yale, and Princeton universities and held nine different jobs in the
first three years after leaving Princeton in 1920. He cofounded a publishing
firm that went bankrupt, and he left numerous places of employment under
diffficult circumstances. Despite turmoil in his professional and personal
associations, Friede published or represented several well-known authors, among
them Theodore Dreiser, Ernest Hemingway, MacKinlay Kantor, Richard Gump, Ludwig
Bemelmans, and Giorgio Lolli.
Friede's career is well documented by these papers. The
[
Subject File
](Subj) contains
correspondence and related attachments and reports concerning his associations
with various authors and publishing firms. It is a professional file and
contains little of a personal nature. The
[
Writings
File
](Writ) contains newspaper columns, short stories, and book-length works by
Friede, both published and unpublished, with limited correspondence. The
[
Miscellany
File
](Misc) contains correspondence, daily activities diaries, passports, last
wills and testaments, photographs, and other documentation regarding Friede's
vital statistics, father, library, and death. This file also contains an
appraisal of the Friede Papers. Notes by Friede's widow explaining numerous
items have been placed with the materials that they describe.
Arrangement of the Papers
This collection is arranged in three series:
-
[
Subject File,
1925-1965
](Subj)
-
[
Writings File,
undated
](Writ)
-
[
Miscellany
File, 1919-1980
](Misc)
Catalog Record: [https://lccn.loc.gov/mm81047092]
Container List
Container
Contents
1-3
Subject File,
1925-1965
1925-1965
Correspondence between Donald and Eleanor Friede and business
associates and clients, financial reports, newspaper clipping, and other
material regarding literary business conducted by Friede on a free-lance basis
or when associated with publishing firms.
Arranged alphabetically by name of principal person or firm to
which the subject relates.
Correspondence dated 1942 between Ernest Hemingway and Friede
regarding motion picture adaptation of
For Whom the Bell Tolls
is available on microfilm.
1
A & S Lyons,
1944-1945
1944-1945
1
Advertisement for free-lance
work,
1953, undated
1953, undated
1
AFG Literary Agency,
1949-1951
1949-1951
1
"Ballet Mechanique,"
1927, undated
1927, undated
1
Bemelmans, Ludwig,
1959-1966, undated
1959-1966, undated
(4
folders)
1
Boni & Liveright,
1925-1930
1925-1930
1
Brown, Ned,
1948-1949
1948-1949
1
"Centennial Editions,"
1952-1954
1952-1954
1
Correspondence, miscellaneous,
1933-1964
1933-1964
2
Covici, Friede, Inc.,
1929-1938
1929-1938
2
Doubleday and Co.,
1964
1964
2
Dreiser, Theodore,
1962-1965
1962-1965
2
Gump, Richard,
1950-1965
1950-1965
2
Harlow, Jean,
1960-1961
1960-1961
2
Hemingway, Ernest,
1942-1944, 1965
1942-1944, 1965
Correspondence dated 1942 between Hemingway and Friede (typed
copies) regarding production of the movie
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1942), based on a novel
by Hemingway of the same title is available on microfilm. Shelf no. 18142.1
2
Kantor, MacKinlay,
1944-1965
1944-1965
2
"Let's Look at Books" (television
program),
1950-1951
1950-1951
2
Lolli, Giorgio,
1958-1964
1958-1964
2
Maugham, W. Somerset,
1943
1943
2
Maximilian Becker AFG Literary
Agency
[
See AFG Literary
Agency](afg1)
2
"A Plan for Publishers,"
1948-1949
1948-1949
2
Prentice-Hall,
1963-1964, undated
1963-1964, undated
2
Ralph Blum Corp.,
1947-1949
1947-1949
3
Roosevelt, Eleanor,
1959
1959
3
Volkening, Henry,
1946-1950
1946-1950
3
World Publishing Co.,
1953-1964
1953-1964
3-4
Writings,
undated
undated
Published and unpublished newspaper columns, short stories, and
book-length works by Friede.
Arranged by type of material and thereunder alphabetically by
keyword of title.
3
Book-length works
3
John Barry
3
Life in the Twenties
3
Mechanical Angel
3
Yesterday's Rebels
4
Newspaper column, "Of Books and
Writers"
4
Short stories
4
"The Answer is Yes"
4
"The Art of Table-Hopping"
4
"Fat Boy Series"
4
"The Rape of Television"
4
"This, My Country"
4
"Three Meals a Day"
4
"Wrinkles in Their Bellies"
4
Untitled
4-7
Miscellany File,
1919-1980
1919-1980
Address and telephone listings, daily activity diaries,
photographs, and other documentation regarding Friede's life, death, father,
and personal library.
Arranged alphabetically by subject or type of material.
4
Address and telephone listings,
1949-1965
1949-1965
4
Daily activity
diaries
4
1949, 1951-1952
1949, 1951-1952
5
1953-1957, 1959
1953-1957, 1959
6
1960-1965
1960-1965
7
Undated
Undated
7
Death, obituaries and
condolences,
1965
1965
7
Friede, Marcus Sergey (father),
including newspaper clippings, biography, passport, and certificate of
naturalization,
1919-1921
1919-1921
7
Gift of papers to the Library of
Congress,
1980
1980
7
Library, personal,
1928
1928
7
Personal documents,
1901-1965
1901-1965
7
Photographs,
circa 1925-1965
circa 1925-1965