James O. Brown Associates records, 1927-1992.
Biographical Note
Literary agency in New York City. Organized in 1949 as the successor firm to George T. Bye & Company, James Oliver Brown later
absorbed the agencies of Maxim Lieber (1951), John Cushman Associates (1978), and others. James Brown Associates merged with
Curtis Brown, Ltd. in 1981.
Scope and Contents
The files of the literary agency include correspondence with authors, publishers, and other agents and deal with editing and
publishing, serial rights, reprints, dramatic rights, translations and foreign rights, promotion, copyright registration,
contracts, royalty statements, tax statements, and other financial materials, and the personal affairs of many clients. Among
the cataloged correspondents are: Louis S. Auchincloss, Erskine Caldwell, Herbert Gold, Alberto Moravia, Eleanor Roosevelt,
and Rebecca West. 1985 ADDITION: 90 personal letters relating to Brown's illness & retirement have been added. 1987 ADDITION:
James Oliver Brown donated selected volumes from his library, including 92 books inscribed to him by the authors, his clients.
These are shelved in 15-21-6a & a shelflist of these uncataloged books is available. Other similarly inscribed books, mostly
by Louis Auchincloss, have been cataloged & added to the Rare Book Collection.
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