Robert B. Heilman: His Life in Letters

826 Pages·2009·3.464 MB·English

by  Edward Alexander (editor), Richard J. Dunn (editor), Paul Jaussen (editor)

ROBERT B. HEILMAN
His Life in Letters

ROBERT B. HEILMAN
His Life in Letters
(cid:2)
Editedby
EDWARD ALEXANDER,
RICHARD DUNN,
and PAUL JAUSSEN
IntroductionbyEdward Alexander
Universityof WashingtonPress
Seattle&London
Thisbookispublishedwithsupportfrom
agenerousbequestestablishedbyRobertB.Heilman,
distinguishedscholarandchairoftheUniversityof
WashingtonEnglishDepartmentfrom1948to1971.
TheHeilmanBookFundassistsinthepublication
ofbooksinthehumanities.
©2009bytheUniversityofWashingtonPress
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
1412111009 54321
Firstedition2009
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedor
transmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronicormechanical,
includingphotocopy,recording,oranyinformationstorageorretrieval
system,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher.
UniversityofWashingtonPress
P.O.Box50096,Seattle,WA 98145U.S.A.
www.washington.edu/uwpress
Creditforpermissiontoreproducecertainletters
canbefoundatthebackofthebook.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Heilman,RobertBechtold,1906–
[Correspondence.Selections]
RobertB.Heilman:hislifeinletters/editedbyEdwardAlexander,
RichardDunn,andPaulJaussen;introductionbyEdwardAlexander.
—1sted. p. cm. Includesindex.
ISBN978-0-295-98866-5(alk.paper)
1. Heilman,RobertBechtold,1906—Correspondence. 2. Englishphilology—Study
andteaching(Higher)—UnitedStates—Correspondence. 3. Critics—UnitedStates—
Correspondence. 4. Educators—UnitedStates—Correspondence. 5. College
teachers—UnitedStates—Correspondence. 6. Authors,American—20thcentury—
Correspondence. 7. Scholars—UnitedStates—Correspondence. I. Alexander,
Edward,1936– II. Dunn,RichardJ.,1938– III. Jaussen,Paul. IV. Title.
PE68.U5H4542009 820.9—dc22 2008030222 [B]
Thepaperusedinthispublicationisacid-freeand90percentrecycledfromatleast
50percentpost-consumerwaste.ItmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmerican
NationalStandardforInformationSciences—PermanenceofPaperforPrinted
LibraryMaterials,ANSIZ39.48–1984.
Frontispiece:RobertB.Heilman,late1960s.CourtesyUniversityofMissouriPress
IN MEMORIAM
RichardBlessing
EdwardE.Bostetter
DorotheeBowie
MargaretDuckett
WilliamDunlop
AlanFisher
DavidC.Fowler
JamesHall
AndrewR.Hilen
SherryLaing
ArthurOberg
TheodoreRoethke
KarenShabetai
ArnoldStein
BrentsStirling

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
EditorialPractices xi
IntroductionbyEdwardAlexander 3
1. ReadingMindsandIntentions:The1940s 54
2. Categoriesof Existence:The1950s 211
3. AMindGrapplinginaNewWay:The1960s 353
4. TheKultur-Kampf overLiteraryStudies:The1970s 463
5. GainsandLosses:The1980s 568
6.CastMeNotOª inOldAge:The1990sandBeyond 696
Chronology 777
Heilman’sCorrespondents 780
Permissions 789
Index 790
vii

Acknowledgments
(cid:2)
NearlyallletterstoRobertHeilmanincludedinthisbookcomefromthe
(beautifullyorganized)RobertB.HeilmanPapersintheSpecialCollections
Division of the University of Washington. The letters from Heilman to
TheodoreRoethke,SolomonKatz,EdwardAlexander,DonaldW.Treadgold,
andRaymondAllenarealsolocatedinUWSpecialCollections.Wearegreatly
indebtedtotheUniversityarchivistJohnBolcer,andothermembersofthe
SpecialCollectionsstaª,especiallyGaryLundell,NicoletteBromberg,and
NicoleBouche.Heilman’sletterstoCleanthBrooksandRobertPennWar-
rencomefromtheBeineckeLibraryatYaleUniversity;letterstoEricVoegelin
fromtheHooverInstitution;letterstoJosephEpsteinfromtheLibraryof
Congress;letterstoDorotheaKrookfromtheCentralZionistArchives,Israel;
letterstoRichardEberhartfromtheDartmouthCollegeLibrary;lettersto
AllenTatefromthePrincetonUniversityLibrary;letterstoMalcolmCowley
fromtheNewberryLibrary;letterstoKennethBurkefromthePennsylva-
niaStateUniversityLibrary;letterstoMarkVanDorenandLionelTrilling
fromColumbiaUniversity;thelettertoHowardNemerovfromWashing-
tonUniversity,St.Louis;letterstoJohnSiskfromGonzagaUniversity;let-
terstoRaymondHavensfromtheJohnsHopkinsUniversityLibrary.
ThanksarealsoduetoBethChandlerandEveCrawfordatUniversityof
MissouriPressforphotographsofHeilmanandCleanthBrooksandAllen
Tate.ProfessorJamesJ.Claussof theUniversityof WashingtonDepart-
mentofClassicshasprovidedindispensablehelpintranslatingwordsand
phrases(andpuns)fromLatinandGreek.Forquashingseveralcomputer
rebellionswithafirmhand,weareindebtedtoRobWeller.Financialsup-
portforourresearchhasbeenprovidedbytheUWDepartmentofEnglish,
ModernLanguageQuarterly,andtheGraduateSchoolFundforExcellence
andInnovationof theUWGraduateSchool.
Wearemuchindebtedtothefollowinglibrariansandarchivistsforeffi-
cient and intelligent help: Liz Apodaca, Library of Congress; Joy Austria,
ix