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Special Collections and Archives: The Brodsky-Faulkner Collection

An overview of the Special Collections and Archives unit of Kent Library, which houses the Regional History Collection, the University Archives and Rare Books and Manuscripts.

Contact Info:

Kent Library, Room 308

(573) 651-2245 (phone)

(573) 651-2666 (fax)

URL: http://library.semo.edu/archives

Email: semoarchives@semo.edu

About the Collector

Louis Daniel Brodsky began collecting Faulkner first editions as an undergraduate student at Yale University in the 1960s; and in the span of his collecting career amassed one of the world's four largest collections of Faulkneria. 

In addition to his extensive collecting enterprise, Brodsky is a prolific poet and the owner and publisher of Time-Being Books in St. Louis, Missouri.

He has authored 74 volumes of poetry and 25 volumes of prose, including nine books of scholarship on William Faulkner.

For more information on Brodsky, his bibliography and his publishing enterprise, visit his website.

Online Resources

Links to sites with additional information on Faulkner:

What's in the Collection?

Kent Library's Rare Book Room houses one of the world's largest collections of material on Mississippi writer, William Faulkner.  The collection contains:

  • Original manuscripts
  • Screenplays
  • Correspondence
  • Photographs
  • Over 2,000 print volumes, including Faulkner first editions, many of them signed, as well as foreign translations and works of criticism
  • and more...

The research material of Joseph Blotner, Faulkner's biographer, is also part of the collection.  A finding aid for the Blotner papers in located on the Southeast Missouri Sate University's Center for Faulkner Studies website

How to access materials

Researchers will be asked to observe the following procedures:

  • Use materials in the Special Collections Reading Room
  • Complete a first-time user registration form and present valid photo ID
  • Register upon each arrival
  • Use pencils or laptops for note-taking
  • Leave all bags in provided lockers
  • Handle materials as directed by staff

Photocopying and scanning services are available.  Digital cameras and handheld scanners are not permitted with Rare Book Room materials.

Individual titles in the Harrison Collection can be located through searching the Kent Library catalog.  Use the Advanced Keyword option to limit your search Location to "SEMO Special Collections."

For information on locating material in the Brodsky-Faulkner or Penn Warren Collection, researchers are encouraged to call or email Special Collections.

University classes, community groups, and schools may schedule Rare Book Room presentations in advance by calling (573) 651-2245.

William Faulkner at the University of Virginia

An excellent 7-minute video from the University of Virginia, where Faulkner was the first Writer-in-Residence in 1957 and 1958.