More Trouble for Mailer Archive

An unnamed “family friend” of Norman K. Mailer ’43 raised questions about the intentions of Harvard’s purchase of an archive from his long-term mistress Carole Mallory, according to the Boston Globe.

In Saturday’s Boston Globe, a family friend of the two-time Pulitzer Prize winner said Harvard’s purchase of Mallory’s archive was a spiteful response to Mailer’s $2.5 million sale to the University of Texas in 2005.

“Harvard wanted Norman to give them his papers, but instead he sold them to Texas,” the person told the Globe. “Buying this stuff now is so beneath Harvard.”

But according to Leslie A. Morris, Harvard’s curator of modern books and manuscripts, Harvard did not purchase Mallory’s archive as a retaliatory act.

“Anger is not a part of the purchasing of this archive,” she sai.

Harvard was never in negotiation with Mailer about his papers, according to Morris.

Dealers are aware that Harvard is not a “big league player” when it comes to the purchasing of multi-million dollar collections like Mailer’s, Morris said, adding that the collection was “too expensive for Harvard to even consider.”

Harvard libraries only use endowed funds to purchase collections, Morris said. While these funds have increased over the past years, so has the price of contemporary literary collections.

Morris said that the purchasing of manuscripts, rare books, and collections is not the highest priority for the University. With other competing interests and the procedural difficulty of making a purchase, such buys are more complex than they seem, according to Morris.

Morris said it is understandable for Mailer to have chosen to sell his documents to the University of Texas.

“Money is always a consideration,” Morris said. “Whether or not it’s the most important one is a very individual decision.”

Had Harvard libraries possessed the requisite funds, Morris would have loved to welcome Mailer’s collection into Harvard’s libraries, she said.

“I just regret that we’re not able to rise to the occasion for these kinds of expensive collections,” Morris said.

According to Mallory, the Globe quote from the “family friend” was mostly likely intended to downplay the value of her archive.

Mallory said the University thoroughly examined her archive before making the final purchase.

“I don’t think Harvard is vindictive,” Mallory said. “That’s childish.”

—Staff Writer Esther I. Yi can be reached at estheryi@fas.harvard.edu.