Philipp Flesch Collection

This collection documents the life and literary pursuits of the librarian Philipp Flesch. Prominent subjects of the papers include Flesch's experiences as a recent immigrant and his personal views as expressed through his writing. The collection consists of numerous manuscripts, correspondence, clippings, and official papers.

Philipp Flesch's life as a recent immigrant during the 1940s can be glimpsed in the papers of every series of this collection. Most noteworthy are the manuscripts of his writing in Series III, of which the majority are unpublished. Among his writing are many poems as well as some essays describing his experiences after his immigration to the United States. These reflect on the cultural changes experienced by refugees from Europe as well as Flesch's own observations on life in New York City. The correspondence of Series II also mentions his life during these years, particularly the hardships he faced as an immigrant. Series I includes an extensive amount of letters of recommendation for Flesch from other individuals while he attempted to secure a teaching position.

Flesch's attempts to publish his writing are also well-documented, outside of the examples of his writing in Series III. Series II includes numerous query letters to publishers of books and periodicals regarding the publication of his works. The letters of reference in Series I include some letters for his application to the artists' retreat Yaddo, where Philipp Flesch hoped to work on a book entitled A Popular Philosophy for America ; the book proposal for this work will be found in Series III. Series I additionally holds a copy of Flesch's doctoral dissertation on the writer Gerhart Hauptmann.

Series VI holds some papers added to the collection after its initial processing. Included is a letter, a few photographs and several unpublished manuscripts, including short stories and a retelling of Faust.