Guide to the Frederick Schiller Faust Papers, ca. 1910-1992 (bulk 1911-1944)
Processed by John Hawk; completed by Mary Morganti
The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu
© 1996
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Note
Arts and Humanities --Literature --American Literature Social Sciences --Publishing
Guide to the Frederick Schiller Faust Papers, ca. 1910-1992 (bulk 1911-1944)
Collection number: BANC MSS C-H 69
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Contact Information:
- Processed by:
- John Hawk
- Completed by:
- Mary Morganti
- Date Completed:
- October 1994
- Encoded by:
- James Lake
© 1996 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved..
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Frederick Schiller Faust Papers,
Date (inclusive): ca. 1910-1992
Date (bulk): (bulk 1911-1944)
Collection Number: BANC MSS C-H 69
Creator:
Faust, Frederick Schiller, 1892-1944
Extent:
Number of containers: 5 boxes, 3 cartons
Linear feet: 5.85
Repository: The
Bancroft Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Abstract: Consists of Frederick Schiller Faust's personal and family correspondence, and working papers, spanning his career from the
1910s to his death in 1944, as well as posthumous reviews, articles, and biogrphical studies. The bulk of the collection concerns
Faust's writings, and includes prose, poetry, and screenplays, along with notes and notebooks.
Includes biographical material gathered and written by Robert Olney Easton, Faust's son-in-law, as well as correspondence
between John Schoolcraft, Leonard Bacon, and Easton, 1944-1975. Included among letters of condolence to Faust's wife Dorothy
are reminiscences of Faust by Carl Brandt, Cass Canfield, Walter Morris Hart, and Grace Flandreau. Also includes Schoolcraft's
typescript, The Fabulous Faust : His Life and Letters, and annotated mockups of The Fabulous Faust Fan-Zine, edited by Darrell
C. Richardson. Also includes a small group of papers of Dorothy Faust, containing family letters and correspondence with publishers.
Languages Represented:
English
Information for Researchers
Access
Access restricted: written permission of the donor, Robert Easton, or his heirs or assigns required for use. This restriction
is to be reviewed every five years. Next review: January 1999.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft
Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which
must also be obtained by the reader.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Frederick Schiller Faust Papers, BANC MSS C-H 69, The Bancroft Library, University of California,
Berkeley.
Materials Cataloged Separately
- Printed materials have been transferred to the book collection of The Bancroft Library.
- Photographs have been transferred to Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library.
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The Frederick Schiller Faust papers were given to The Bancroft Library by Dorothy Faust in 1955, with additions by Faust's
son-in-law, Robert Easton in 1970, 1972, 1988, and 1993.
Biography
FAUST, FREDERICK SCHILLER (May 29, 1892-May 12, 1944), poet and popular author, better known as "Max Brand," was born in Seattle,
Washington, the second child of Gilbert Leander Faust and his third wife, Elizabeth Uriel, of (respectively) German and Irish
background. Faust's father was a lawyer, land speculator, bank president, and lumber-mill owner in Seattle and in California.
Faust's mother died when he was eight; his father died five years later.
On his own at thirteen, Faust lived and worked on a succession of farms and ranches in central California and attended nineteen
different public schools. In 1911, after graduating from Modesto (Calif.) High School, Faust entered the University of California.
Although his major was social science, he was active as the editor of the
Pelican, a campus humor magazine; he also served on the staff of the
Occident, and the 1915 yearbook. Faust left the University during his senior year. Over the next two years he worked on a Honolulu newspaper,
served short terms in the Canadian and American armies, contracted influenza -which left him with a weak heart -and tried
to make a living by writing. On May 29, 1917 he married Dorothy Shillig. They had three children: Jane, John Frederick, and
Judith Anne.
Faust sold his first stories to
All-Story Weekly, and
Argosy, magazines in 1917 under the pseudonym "Max Brand." Two years later his first novel,
The Untamed, launched him upon the career which eventually earned him the title "The King of the Pulp Writers." His novels and stories
were so successful that he purchased the Villa Negli Ulivi in Florence, where he lived from 1926 to 1938. He then became a
writer for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Brothers studios, adapting his own works for motion picture production (most notably
the
Dr. Kildare series) and working on scenarios for other movies. In 1944 he became a war correspondent for
Harper's. That May, at the age of fifty-one, he was killed in action in the assault on Santa Maria Infante, Italy.
Faust was one of the most prolific American writers. It has been estimated that he published more than 30,000,000 words during
his lifetime, the equivalent of at least 400 full-length books; and he reportedly left 15 additional novels in manuscript
form. He wrote both prose and poetry. His work covered many genres: westerns, historical romances, spy thrillers, mysteries,
and poetry. Though best known as "Max Brand," Faust signed at least eighteen pen-names to his writing, including "George Challis,"
"Evan Evans," "George Owen Baxter," "David Manning," "Peter Henry Morland," "Frederick Frost," and "Walter C. Butler."
(excerpted from
Dictionary of American Biography, Supplement Three 1941-1945
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973; p. 264)
Scope and Content
The Frederick Schiller Faust Papers consist of Faust's personal and working papers, spanning his career from the 1910s to
his death in 1944, as well as posthumous reviews, articles, and biographical studies which were gathered by his family as
late as 1992.
The bulk of the collection concerns Faust's writings, and includes prose, poetry, and screenplays by Faust. While much of
the prose is in the form of photocopies of published works, Faust's poems present a fuller representation of his unpublished
works, and many are in draft form. His writings are supplemented extensively by notes and notebooks, which provide insight
to Faust's plots, story sketches, and dialogue. In addition to John Schoolcraft's work on Faust's life, are collected reviews,
articles, and fanzines, along with biographical material gathered and written by Robert Olney Easton.
Faust's personal and family papers includes an extensive group of letters written to his wife, Dorothy, providing insight
to Faust's personality, thoughts, and family life. Among the family's personal papers are several reminiscences and letters
of condolence and Faust's military service records, wedding and obituary documents. Finally, a small group of personal papers
of Dorothy Faust consists of family letters, correspondence with publishers, and a personal miscellany.
Container List
Box 1, folders 1-13
Series 1: Personal Correspondence, 1915-1944
Scope and Content Note
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically, and then chronologically.
Contains primarily outgoing correspondence, with some incoming correspondence interfiled.
Box 1, folder 1
Miscellaneous, A-Z, including
1916-40; n.d.
folder 2
Davis, Robert H. (Robert Hobart), 1869-1942
1917
folder 4-5
Flandreau, Grace
1942; n.d.
folder 6
Greely, Florence
1932-35; n.d.
folder 7
Hart, Walter Morris, 1872-
1931-41
folder 10
Norton, Daniel Silas, 1908-1951
1934-40
folder 12
Saxton, Gene, and Canfield, Cass, 1897-
1940
folder 13
Tillson, Adele Downey
1924
Box 1, folders 14-21; Boxes 2-3
Series 2: Family Correspondence, 1918-1944.
Scope and Content Note
Arrangement
Divided into two sub-series: letters sent and letters received.
Letters sent consist of those written by Faust to his wife, Dorothy. Letters received are from Faust's son-in-law, Robert
Olney Easton.
folder 13
to Dorothy
ca. 1918-30
Physical Description: [typed transcripts]
folder 15-16
to Jane Faust and Robert Easton
1939-43
Letters Received, 1941-1942.
Box 3, folder 17
from Robert Olney Easton
1941-42
Carton 1; Carton 2, folders 1-16
Series 3: Writings, ca. 1910-1974.
Scope and Content Note
Arrangement
Divided into three sub-series: Prose, Poetry, and Plays and Screenplays; arranged alphabetically by title.
Contains copies of published materials as well as materials in typescript or draft form.
Ctn. 1, folder 1
After April
June 10, 1944
Physical Description: (photocopy of article published in
Saturday Evening Post)
folder 2
Casanova
n.d.
Physical Description: (sketch for film studio)
folder 3
The Collector
n.d.
Physical Description: (typescript of article)
folder 4
Explaining Margot
Dec. 1933
Physical Description: (photocopy of article published in
Corner Magazine)
folder 5
The Fate of Llewellyn Cadmon
June 1911
Physical Description: (photocopy)
folder 6
I am the Emperor
June 1911
Physical Description: (photocopy)
folder 7
John Ovington
July 1974
Additional Note
(published in
Argosy)
folder 8
The King is Dead
1910
Physical Description: (photocopy of typescript)
folder 9
The King is Dead
1910
Physical Description: (photocopy of published form)
folder 10-11
Some Doubted
n.d.
Physical Description: (typescript)
folder 12-13
The Squadron
ca. 1943-44
Physical Description: (typescript)
folder 14
We Are Going Home
1940
Physical Description: (photocopy from 25th Reunion, Class of 1915, University of California)
folder 15
Wycherly (Civil War)
n.d.
Physical Description: (typescript)
folder 18
Dionysus in Hades
1933
Physical Description: (mock-up and reviews)
folder 23
Tristan and Iseult
n.d.
Physical Description: (typescript)
folder 24
The Wonderful Maid
1916
Additional Note
(published in
The Bang)
folder 25-26
Miscellaneous poems, A-Z
n.d.
Ctn. 2, folder 1-3
Drafts of poems
n.d.
Physical Description: (untitled)
folder 13
Poems published in
The Occident
ca. 1916
Physical Description: [copyprints]
Ctn. 2, folder 14
The Conspirators
June 7, 1943
Physical Description: (screenplay)
folder 15
The Prophet
n.d.
Physical Description: (typescript)
folder 16
Rimini
n.d.
Physical Description: (typescript)
Carton 2, folders 17-26; Carton 3, folders 1-4; Box 4
Series 4: Notes and Notebooks, 1934-1944 & n.d.
Scope and Content Note
Working notes relating to various topics and projects. Several notebooks contain dialogue and vocabulary notes, with typed
notecards and small pocket notebooks in Box 4.
Ctn. 1, folder 17
Notes on
The Tempest
May 1942
folder 23
Notebook:
Early California,
Dogs, and
The Lost San Saba Mines
n.d.
folder 24
Notebook:
Gypsies,
Hoboes, and
Montana
n.d.
folder 25
Notebook:
Silk,
Woolen and Worsted Glossary,
Weaves,
Lace and Embroidery, and
Printing
n.d.
folder 26
Notebook: [story sketches]
n.d.
Carton 3, folders 5-27
Series 5: Biographical Material, 1915-1992.
Scope and Content Note
Contains bibliographies, articles and reviews, fanzines, and biographies, as well as correspondence, notes, and reminiscences
collected by Faust's biographers, John Schoolcraft and Robert Olney Easton.
folder 6
Collected Reviews
1919-92
folder 7-8
Magazine articles and reviews
1915-87
folder 9-12
The Fabulous Faust fanzines
1948-51
Physical Description: (annotated mockups)
Additional Note
(Vol. 1, Nos. 1-3 ; Vol. 2, No. 1)
folder 13-16
The Fabulous Faust: His Life and Letters by John Schoolcraft
ca. 1955
Physical Description: (typescript)
folder 17
Robert Olney Easton,
Unforgettable 'Max Brand'
1982; 1985
folder 18
Letters sent to John Schoolcraft and Leonard Bacon, including
1916-17; 1950, n.d.
folder 19
Correspondence between John Schoolcraft and Leonard Bacon
1944-51
folder 20
Correspondence between John Schoolcraft and Robert Easton
1944-75
folder 21
Letters sent to Robert Easton, including
1944-75
folder 22
Reminiscences sent to John Schoolcraft and Leonard Bacon, including
1944-51, n.d.
folder 23
Reminiscences, miscellaneous, including
1944-49
folder 24
Reviews of Robert Olney Easton's
Max Brand, The Big "Westerner"
1970
folder 25
Max Brand stories made into film
1918-59
folder 26
Magazine articles, clippings re television shows
1963-77
folder 27
Robert Olney Easton's notes for
Max Brand
1965-68
Box 5
Series 6: Personal and Family Papers, 1915-1992.
Scope and Content Note
Letters of condolence and reminiscences sent to Dorothy Faust and other family members. Also contains a small group of Faust's
personal papers, including a diary, letters of introduction, and military, wedding, and obituary documents. Personal papers
of Dorothy Faust, 1932-1952, include family letters to George Winthrop "Dixie" Fish, correspondence with Faust's publishers,
and a personal miscellany.
Box 5, folder 1
Reminiscences and letters of condolence to Dorothy, including
1944-49
folder 2
Reminiscences and letters of condolence to family members, including
1944-92
George Winthrop "Dixie" Fish
folder 4
Military service records
1915-16
folder 5
Wedding announcement and marriage license
1917
folder 6
Letters of introduction, including
1944
Henry M. Snevily, North American Newspaper Alliance
Robert A. Lovett [to Cass Canfield]
folder 7
Biographical miscellany
1918-44
folder 9-13
Letters to George Winthrop "Dixie" Fish from John, Jane, and Dorothy
1932-45
folder 14
Dorothy Faust correspondence with publishers
1944-52
folder 15
The Cruise of the "Afros" in the Southern Aegean, April-May 1931 by Dino Spranger, with letter of transmittal to Dorothy Faust
1951
folder 16
Dorothy Faust personal miscellany
ca. 1940
