Bennett Cerf papers, 1898-1977

Summary Information

At a Glance

Call No.:
MS#0206
Bib ID:
4079659 View CLIO record
Creator(s):
Cerf, Bennett, 1898-1971
Repository:
Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Physical Description:
52 linear feet (71 boxes 45 volumes 22 oversized items)
Language(s):
English .
Access:
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

The following boxes are located off-site: Boxes 3-75. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

This collection has no restrictions.

Unique time-based media items have been reformatted and are available onsite via links in the container list. Commercial materials are not routinely digitized.

Description

Summary

Correspondence, manuscripts, memorabilia, photographs, phonograph and tape recordings, and printed files. Included are Cerf's personal correspondence files, 1929-1945, and the diaries and scrapbooks which he maintained from his school days throughout his active career. The diaries, in date-book format, contain terse notes on Cerf's meetings with authors and friends, on his travels and publishing activities; the scrapbooks contain correspondence and photographs, as well as memorabilia and printed items, and were annotated by Cerf and his wife, Phyllis Fraser Cerf Wagner. Also in the collection are manuscripts and proofs for Cerf's books including "The Laugh's on Me""Treasury of Atrocious Puns""The Sound of Laughter""Stories to Make You Feel Better", and "At Random: the Reminiscences of Bennett Cerf", which was edited by Phyllis Cerf Wagner and Albert Erskine, 1977. The papers also include condolence letters written at the time of Cerf's death, photographs and photo albums,certificates and awards, and miscellaneous printed material, including Random House and Modern Library catalogues. Among the major correspondents are: Truman Capote, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Edna Ferber, Moss Hart, J. Edgar Hoover, Hubert Humphrey, Lyndon B. Johnson, John Lindsay, Joshua Logan, John O'Hara, Jacqueline Onassis, Richard Rodgers, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Gertrude Stein, Adlai Stevenson, Harry Truman, and Robert Penn Warren

Arrangement

Selected materials cataloged; remainder arranged.

Using the Collection

Restrictions on Access

You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

The following boxes are located off-site: Boxes 3-75. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

This collection has no restrictions.

Unique time-based media items have been reformatted and are available onsite via links in the container list. Commercial materials are not routinely digitized.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Bennett Cerf papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Accruals

Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

Ownership and Custodial History

Gift of Phyllis Cerf Wagner and the Cerf Foundation, 1975, 1978-1981 (yearly), 1983& 1984; Gift of Random House, 1988.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Source of acquisition--Wagner, Phyllis Cerf. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--1975. Accession number--M-1975.

12 letters to & from M.H. Sherwood: Source of acquisition--2293B. Method of acquisition--Purchase; Date of acquisition--10/09/1998. Accession number--M-98-10-09.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

Processed 12/--/1988.

12 letters to & from M.H. Sherwood Cataloged HR 10/15/1998.

Revision Description

2009-07-07 File created.

2012-11-28 XML document instance created by Catherine C. Ricciardi

2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.

2020-03-05 Links to digitized material added

Biographical / Historical

Author & publisher. Columbia A.B. 1919; Litt.B. 1920.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

All links open new windows.

Genre/Form
Albums (books) CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Articles CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Audiocassettes CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Awards CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Bookplates CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Certificates CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Diaries CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Illustrations CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Lectures CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Memoirs CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Notebooks CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Passports CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Phonograph records CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Photographs CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Proofs (printed matter) CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Sound recordings CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Speeches (documents) CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Tape recordings CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Name
Adams, Samuel Hopkins, 1871-1958 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Annenberg, Walter H., 1908-2002 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Astaire, Fred CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Auchincloss, Louis CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Baldwin, Faith, 1893-1978 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Baruch, Bernard M. (Bernard Mannes), 1870-1965 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Baxter, Anne CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Benny, Jack, 1894-1974 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Berlin, Irving, 1888-1989 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Bliven, Bruce, 1916-2002 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Bow, Clara, 1905-1965 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Bradley, Omar Nelson, 1893-1981 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Cabell, James Branch, 1879-1958 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Canfield, Cass, 1897-1986 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Capote, Truman, 1924-1984 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Cerf, Christopher CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Cooke, Alistair, 1908-2004 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Cousins, Norman CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Dewey, Thomas E (Thomas Edmund), 1902-1971 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Dreiser, Theodore, 1871-1945 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Eban, Abba Solomon, 1915-2002 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Fadiman, Clifton, 1904-1999 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Faulkner, William, 1897-1962 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Ferber, Edna, 1887-1968 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Fisher, Dorothy Canfield, 1879-1958 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Flower, Desmond, 1907-1997 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Fontaine, Joan, 1917-2013 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Fraser, Phyllis, 1911-2006 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Gershwin, George, 1898-1937 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Gershwin, Ira, 1896-1983 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Gingrich, Arnold CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Goldwyn, Samuel, Jr., 1926-2015 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Green, Martyn, 1899-1975 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Gruening, Ernest, 1887-1974 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Harriman, W. Averell (William Averell), 1891-1986 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Hart, Moss, 1904-1961 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Hemingway, Ernest, 1899-1961 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Hersey, John, 1914-1993 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Hitchcock, Alfred, 1899-1980 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Hoover, J. Edgar (John Edgar), 1895-1972 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Humphrey, Hubert H. (Hubert Horatio), 1911-1978 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Hurlock, Madeline, 1899-1989 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Huxley, Aldous, 1894-1963 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Ingersoll, Ralph, 1900-1985 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Javits, Jacob K. (Jacob Koppel), 1904-1986 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Jones, James, 1921-1977 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Jovanovich, William CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Kennedy, Edward M. (Edward Moore), 1932-2009 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Kent, Rockwell, 1882-1971 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Kerr, Jean CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Knopf, Alfred A., 1892-1984 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Koch, Ed, 1924-2013 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Kollek, Teddy, 1911-2007 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Lefkowitz, Louis J. CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Lindsay, John V. (John Vliet) CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Logan, Joshua CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Loos, Anita, 1893-1981 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Machen, Arthur, 1863-1947 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Malraux, André, 1901-1976 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Maugham, W. Somerset (William Somerset), 1874-1965 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
McBride, Mary Margaret, 1899-1976 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
McFee, William, 1881-1966 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
McKuen, Rod CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Merrick, David CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Michener, James A (James Albert), 1907-1997 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Morley, Christopher, 1890-1957 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Nash, Ogden, 1902-1971 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Nathan, George Jean, 1882-1958 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
O'Flaherty, Liam, 1896-1984 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
O'Hara, John, 1905-1970 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy, 1929-1994 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Paley, William S (William Samuel), 1901-1990 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Random House (Firm) CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Robinson, Edwin Arlington, 1869-1935 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Rockefeller, Nelson A. (Nelson Aldrich), 1908-1979 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Rodgers, Richard, 1902-1979 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Roosevelt, Franklin D (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Roth, Philip CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Rusk, Dean, 1909-1994 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Russell, Rosalind CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Schiff, Dorothy, 1903-1989 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr (Arthur Meier), 1917-2007 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Schulberg, Budd CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Sevareid, Eric, 1912-1992 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Shaw, Irwin, 1913-1984 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Slesinger, Tess, 1905-1945 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Stein, Gertrude, 1874-1946 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Steinbeck, John, 1902-1968 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Stevenson, Adlai E (Adlai Ewing), 1900-1965 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Styron, William, 1925-2006 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Tracy, Honor, 1915- CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Updike, John CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Van Vechten, Carl, 1880-1964 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Wallace, Henry A (Henry Agard), 1888-1965 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Warren, Robert Penn, 1905-1989 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Weidman, Jerome, 1913-1998 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
White, E. B (Elwyn Brooks), 1899-1985 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Wiesel, Elie, 1928-2016 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Williams, G. Mennen, 1911-1988 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Willkie, Wendell L (Wendell Lewis), 1892-1944 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Woollcott, Alexander, 1887-1943 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Wynn, Ed, 1886-1966 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Subject
Authors, American CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Editors CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Literature CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Publishers and publishing CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Scrapbooks CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID