Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1307

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

0.2 linear feet (1 box)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Brandt & Brandt collection of authors' typescripts, circa 1952, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania.

Date:

circa 1952 (inclusive)

Creator:

Hahn, Emily, Brandt & Brandt, Lawrence, Josephine, and Coxe, George Harmon

Form:

Typescripts and Writings (documents)

Abstract:

Brandt & Brandt Literary Agents, Inc. has been in business since 1913 and still operates today in New York City, as Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents, Inc. The three typescripts in this collection are by authors under contract at Brandt & Brandt: George Harmon Coxe (1901-1984), an American writer of crime fiction (The Crimson Clue); Emily Hahn (1905-1997), an American journalist and author(Love Conquers Nothing: A Glandular History of Civilization); and Josephine Lawrence (1889–1978), an American novelist, journalist, and children's author (Song in the Night). The books represented as typescripts here in this collection were all published in 1952.

Originally founded by Carl Brandt as an adjunct to the Mary Kirkpatrick Dramatic Agency around 1913, Brandt literary agents represented the bestselling authors of the time. A succession of family members culminating in Carl Brandt's son, Carl D. Brandt (1935-2013), subsequently expanded the firm to Brandt & Brandt Literary Agents, Inc. In 2001, Gail Hochman became president of Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents, Inc., currently operating today in New York City.

George Harmon Coxe (1901-1984), born in Olean, New York, was an American writer of crime fiction. Coxe attended Purdue and Cornell Universities and worked in advertising. He started writing around 1922, initially working as a newspaperman and penning stories for nickel-and-dime pulp fiction publications. He married Elizabeth Fowler in 1929 and the couple had two children. Coxe's characters in the mystery genre are Jack "Flashgun" Casey, Kent Murdock, Leon Morley, Sam Crombie, Max Hale, and Jack Fenner. The "Flashgun" Casey series was adapted into a radio show through the 1940s. Two films were made from his stories,Women Are Trouble (1936) and Here's Flash Casey (1938). The typescript in this collection is for his novel The Crimson Clue, which was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1952. Also in 1952, Coxe was elected president of the Mystery Writers of America, and in 1964, the organization named him a Grand Master for a lifetime of writing. He wrote a total of 63 novels, the last being published in 1975, and he was a writer for MGM film studios. Coxe died in Hilton Head, South Carolina, on January 30, 1984.

Emily Hahn (1905-1997), an American journalist and author, was born in St. Louis, to Isaac Newton Hahn, a dry goods salesman, and Hannah Hahn, a suffragette. Considered an early feminist, Emily Hahn was the author of nearly 60 books and more than 200 articles and short stories. Her extensive travels throughout her life and her love of animals influenced much of her writing. In 1926, she became the first woman to receive a degree in Mining Engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. After living in Florence and London, she traveled to the Belgian Congo and hiked across Central Africa in the 1930s. In 1932, she traveled to Shanghai, where she taught English for three years and became acquainted with prominent figures, including the Soong Sisters and the poet Zau Sinmay. Hahn's early books include Seductio ad Absurdum: The Principles and Practices of Seduction—A Beginner's Handbook (1930), Congo Solo: Misadventures Two Degree North (1933), and China to Me: A Partial Autobiography (1944). She married Charles Boxer, a British intelligence officer in China, in 1945 and the couple moved to Dorset, UK, in 1946. The couple had two daughters, Carola and Amanda. In 1950, Hahn moved to New York City and visited her husband, now a university professor, and children in London. The typescript in this collection is for her book, Love Conquers Nothing: A Glandular History of Civilization, published by Doubleday in 1952. She was a staff writer at The New Yorker from 1928 to 1996, and was one of few writers to work for the first four editors of the magazine (Harold Ross, William Shawn, Robert Gottlieb, and Tina Brown). Hahn died on February 18, 1997, in New York City.

Josephine Lawrence (1889–1978), an American novelist and journalist known for her focus on the role of class in America, was born in Newark, New Jersey, to Dr. Elijah W. Lawrence and Mary Barker Lawrence. In 1915, Lawrence became editor of the children's page of theNewark Sunday Call, writing some of the short pieces for the paper. In 1918, she also assumed responsibility for the household page of the paper. In addition to writing and editing articles for the page, she also ran its question-and-answer column, devoted to a different topic each week. In 1940, she married Artur Platz, a soloist in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, after which, Lawrence moved to an apartment in Manhattan with her husband, but continued to commute daily to the Newark Sunday Call. When the paper folded in 1946, Lawrence moved to the Newark Sunday News, where she became book editor and, in later years, also contributed a weekly column, "Bookmarks." The typescript in this collection is for her novel, Song in the Night, which was published by William Morrow in 1952. The author of 33 novels and nearly 100 books for children, her other novels include Glenna (1929), Head of the Family (1932), Years Are So Long (1934) — which was made into the movie Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) —If I Have Four Apples (1935), Sound of Running Feet (1937), and Bow Down to Wood and Stone (1938). Lawrence died in New York City on February 22, 1978.

The three typescripts in this collection are by authors under contract at the literary agency Brandt & Brandt: George Harmon Coxe (1901-1984), an American writer of crime fiction (The Crimson Clue); Emily Hahn (1905-1997), an American journalist and author (Love Conquers Nothing: A Glandular History of Civilization); and Josephine Lawrence (1889–1978), an American novelist, journalist, and children's author (Song in the Night).

The typescripts are arranged in three files, arranged alphabetically by book title: The Crimson Clue by George Harmon Coxe; Love Conquers Nothing: A Glandular History of Civilization by Emily Hahn; and Song in the Night by Josephine Lawrence. There is light handwritten editing present on the typescripts and likely these were close to the final versions that were sent to the printer for publication. All pages are present.