ARCHIVE: Kohn Archive of Hannah Arendt/Mary McCarthy material.
Unpublished children’s story, “The Wise Animals”
Arendt, Hannah. The Wise Animals. (1945; trans 1991.)
Photocopies (2) of Arendt’s unpublished 1945 German story for children (16 pp.) from the Library of Congress, together with unpublished Kohn’s English translation: a first draft annotated by Kohn (20 pp.), a first draft annotated by “Iris” (20 pp.), a clean copy incorporating changes (20 pp.), and a further annotated “2nd Draft,” with a proposed new title on a post-it note: “A Wild Goose Chase” (20 pp.). Also present is a rejection letter from “Michael D.” at St. Martin’s Press.
Correspondence
Typed letter signed, “Hannah A.,” to “Jerry,” June 18, 1974; one leaf, two pages.
Arendt writes from Switzerland, where she was ill, about politics at the New School. She diagnoses as depressed someone named Dove, who wants to be chairman; he is unable to work or write, and with a tendency to lie: “He tries to overcompensate by all kinds of tricks and probably self-deceptions.” Kohn writes back addressing her as Dr. Arendt and telling her about his trips to see his sick mother among other things.
Typed letter signed, “HA,” to “Jerry Kohn,” September 14, 197[ ]; one leaf, one page.
Arendt responds to his letter, sends thanks for small favors, offers her return schedule, and concludes,
I saw Solzhenitsyn’s Nobel price [sic] Speech. I had a good summer except for a little accident, fell down a flight of stairs and broke my breastbone. Sheer idiocy on my part. All the best, yours…”
Additional material
Lecture courses
Syllabi and test material for “The Life of the Mind: Thinking,” “The History of the Will,” “Philosophy and Politics,” “The Concept of History,” “Kant’s Political Philosophy,” and “Basic Moral Propositions” – with Shakespeare, Melville, Dostoevsky, and Sartre’s St. Genet, as well as Jasper’s, Heidegger, Augustine, Plato, Aristotle, and Epictetus.
Proof copies
Essays in Understanding, 1930-54, uncorrected proof
Thinking. HBJ proof, 1977. Annotated by Kohn
Arendt’s personal dictionaries (not annotated)
German dictionary, 1837.
Homeric dictionary, 1889
Offprints, pamphlets, periodicals
Sech Essays, 1948
Social Science Techniques and the Study of Concentation Camps, 1950.
Rosa Luxemburg, 1966
Philosophie und Soziologie, 1974
Religion and Politics
La Philosophie de L’Existence (2 copies, browned and fragile)
Arendt newsletters (2), 2001
Karl Marx offprint, in Social Research, 2002.
French periodicals (3), 2005-06
Clippings
Scrapbook clippings, in German, 1940s.
Aftermath of Nazi Rule (Commentary), 1950;
Reflections (NYer), 1970;
Lying in Politics (NYRB), 1971.
Kohn’s working files:
The Life of the Mind
The Life of the Mind. Kohn’s working material toward his publication of Arendt’s essays. Includes photocopies and typed copies of original publications and translations, annotated by Kohn; Kohn’s own typescript, with his notes; sometimes with notes by others. 1 cubic foot.
Life of the Mind – publication (1 file)
Life of the Mind – translation (1 file)
Life of the Mind – reviews (1 file)
Chapter files:
“Dedication to Karl Jaspers,” tr. by Jerome Kohn. for Essays in Understanding, originally published as “Zueignung an Karl Jaspers,” written in German, 1947; published in German, 1948 COPY
“The Eggs Speak Up,” edited manuscript, circa 1950, concerning the post-WWII use of totalitarianism to refer to Communism and the fight against it; epigraph by Randall Jarrell, Essays in Understanding.
“What Is Existential Philosophy?” edited typescript., revised and simplified from original PR essay (orig. pub. 8-1-1946, acc. to handwritten note on xeroxed copy of published article), Essays in Understanding.
“Rand School Lecture” orig. pub. 1948 or 1949, acc. to handwritten note, Essays in Understanding
“Our Foreign Language Groups,” subtitled, “Foreign Affairs in the Foreign Language Press,” orig. pub. Fall, 1944 in
Print Inquire