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Named in honor of Christian Gauss (1878-1951), one of Woodrow Wilson's original preceptors and dean of the college from 1925 to 1946, the Gauss Seminars in Criticism were conceived in 1949 by Richard P. Blackmur (1904-1965). One of America's foremost literary critics–and one of Princeton's most distinguished professors of English–Blackmur sought to stimulate discussion and the exchange of ideas in the humanities through presentations from scholars, artists, critics, and writers. The collection is composed of correspondence with guest speakers.
The collection is composed of correspondence with the guest speakers. Most folders contain a letter of invitation to speak at the Gauss Seminars, correspondence concerning presentation dates, lodging, and material for distribution during the presentation. Other items include payment for lectures and correspondence requesting additional lecture dates at other institutions during the speaker's stay in the United States. The final folder contains material from a symposium on the subject of Thomas Mann's Dr. Faustus. Symposium speakers, all of whom taught at Princeton at various times, were E.B.O. Borgerhoff (Romance Languages and Literatures); Francis Fergusson, (Comparative Literature); Erich Kahler (Germanic Languages and Literatures); Edmund King (Romance Langauges and Literatures); David Sachs (Philosophy); and Joseph Kerman (Music).
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