Jane Hamilton Papers, 1983-2000 | Carleton College Archives

By Jane Hamilton & Tom Lamb

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Collection Overview

Title: Jane Hamilton Papers, 1983-2000

ID: 03/245

Primary Creator: Hamilton, Jane (Class of 1979) (1957 July 13 -)

Extent: 6.0 Cubic Feet

Arrangement: Arranged by the author by novel in loose chronological.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Papers of author and Carleton College graduate Jane Hamilton, class of 1979. This collection contains materials created during the writing, editing, publication, and promotion of Hamilton's novels and other writings. Included are drafts, editor's notes, and research, as well as screenplays for movies based on The Book of Ruth and Map of the World. Correspondence with Oprah Winfrey and other materials related to The Book of Ruth's and Map of the World's selection for the Oprah Book Club, and Hamilton's appearances on the Oprah Winfrey Show, are also included.

Biographical Note

Biographical note contributed by Jane Hamilton - Jane Hamilton was born in Oak Park, Illinois in 1957. Both her grandmother and her mother were journalists and fiction writers, and she assumed that if you were a girl you were supposed to become a writer. She graduated from Carleton in 1979 with that aim in mind, although she’d been told by various professors that writing fiction was not usually a viable profession. This was sound advice. She married an apple farmer, Robert Willard, in Rochester, Wisconsin in 1982. Between harvest and planting she wrote her first novel, The Book of Ruth, published in 1988. She has written six novels since, several short stories, and many essays.

Her daughter Hannah graduated from Carleton in 2010. Her son attended Lawrence University, where he had an English class from a Carleton grad who’d studied with the great professors of the 1980s, Carleton doing its work in Wisconsin.

Hamilton’s work has won prizes and two of the novels, The Book of Ruth and A Map of the World, have been made into films. She has taught at Carleton College, in the Warren Wilson MFA program, at Luther College, as well as conducting many workshops nationally and internationally. Although there was not a writing program at Carleton when she matriculated, the two workshops she took, and the professors she studied with, were instrumental in teaching her the craft of writing.

Administrative Information

Repository: Carleton College Archives

Access Restrictions: See Deed of Gift dated 2018-06-14

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: The Book of Ruth],
[Series 2: A Map of the World],
[Series 3: The Short History of a Prince],
[Series 4: Disobedience],
[Series 5: Essays, Reviews, and Talks],
[Series 6: When Madeline Was Young],
[Series 7: Laura Rider's Masterpiece],
[Series 8: The Excellent Lombards],
[Series 9: Various],
[Series 10: Unpublished],
[Series z: Jane Hamilton's Indexes and Guides to Papers],
[All]

Series 3: The Short History of a Prince

Container ID: Box 5

Folder 1: Hand-written notes: From Hamilton: Crumpled up notes that look to me like the first ideas for the book, organization-alternating time with every chapter. And for some reason some figures about money and best seller bonus -- ??; Container ID: Box 5
Folder 2: Letter to Uncle Howard re: Glen Carrie: From Hamilton: Letter to my Uncle Howard, Uncle Noh, I call him, 1992, hoping to persuade him not to sell the lake house, Glen Carrie, or not to demand an exchange of money from his family members. This is a plot point in the Short History.; Container ID: Box 5
Folder 3: Three short stories: From Hamilton: Three short stories, very rough/unfinished, that served as springboards into the book one way or another. "The Fall of the Holy Roman Empire", "Prince", "Health Valley, 1968."; Container ID: Box 5
Folder 4: Notes; miniature furniture: From Hamilton: Various notes taken along the way, a very small portion of a copy of a book on making furniture in miniature.; Container ID: Box 5
Folder 5: Draft 1, incomplete: From Hamilton: As best as I can tell first draft-ish materials.; Container ID: Box 5
Folder 6: Draft 2, incomplete: From Hamilton: I suspect I didn't actually get to the end before I went on to Draft Three.; Container ID: Box 5
Folder 7: Draft 3, part 1: Container ID: Box 5
Folder 8-9: Draft 3, part 2
Folder 10-12: Draft 4: Container ID: Box 5
Folder 13-15: Draft 5: Container ID: Box 5
Folder 16-19: Drafts 6 and 7: From Hamilton: Draft Six with a bit of Draft Seven. Don't know if the rest of Draft Seven ever existed.; Container ID: Box 5
Folder 20-22: Ragdale draft: From Hamilton: Do not know the sequence of this but it appears to be coming together to the final draft. (The Ragdale Foundation is the artist residency community in Lake Forest, Illinois.); Container ID: Box 5
Folder 23-25: Setting copy: With edits by Deb Futter; Container ID: Box 5
Folder 26-27: Rough master: Container ID: Box 6
Folder 28: Edits for Deb Futter
Folder 29: Correspondence with Deb Futter: From Hamilton: Correspondence with Deb Futter about disclaimer, (and also concern by me that I've taken some of the edits in File Four too far); letter by JH to Leslie 0., lawyer for Random House; examples sent to me of disclaimers.; Container ID: Box 6
Folder 30: Covers: From Hamilton: Possible covers all of which I rejected.; Container ID: Box 6
Folder 31: Correspondence re: Random House and Doubleday: From Hamilton: Correspondence between Amanda Urban, Jack Hoeft, Marty Asher, Betsy Lerner RE: my getting out of my Doubleday contract to follow Deb Futter, who left her job at Doubleday to go to Random House. There was a shake up and many people left Doubleday.; Container ID: Box 6
Folder 32: Correspondence, contract, etc.: From Hamilton: Contract with Transworld Publishers (Doubleday UK); correspondence with Marianne Velmans, several reviews, and a new cover for The Book of Ruth; Container ID: Box 6
Folder 33: Questions and answers for the Dutch translation: Container ID: Box 6
Folder 34: Foreign contracts: Container ID: Box 6
Folder 35: Correspondence about the audio version: Container ID: Box 6
Folder 36: Contract for the movie: From Hamilton: It was never made; Container ID: Box 6
Folder 37: Letter from Betsy Weinstein: From Hamilton: With suggestions and approbation; Container ID: Box 6
Folder 38: Correspondence outlining the novel: From Hamilton: Letter I wrote to Amanda Urban and to Deb Futter outlining The Short History of a Prince for the purposes of getting an advance.; Container ID: Box 6
Folder 39: Book tour, 1998: Schedule and correspondence; Container ID: Box 6
Folder 40-41: Reviews and interviews: Container ID: Box 6
Item 1: La Brève Histoire d'un Prince (French version): Container ID: Box 6
Item 2: De Kleine Geschiedenis van Een Prins (Dutch version): Container ID: Box 6