Walker Percy Papers Collections

Descriptions of Primary and Secondary Archives Related to Walker Percy

Overview of Collections

Three universities house collections with original materials pertaining to Walker Percy's work and life for biographical or literary research. These institutions include his personal papers held at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, multiple biographical collections archived at Loyola University, New Orleans, and a historical collection related to the publication of The Moviegoer housed at The University of Texas at Austin. Of note also is an archive located at The Historic New Orleans Collection, an independent cultural and research center located in New Orleans.

Housing Libraries

Select a library from this page-level directory to see a detailed description of its Percy or Percy-relevant collection(s) (as noted in parentheses) as well as to find information on how to access each collection.

Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ("Walker Percy Papers")
J. Edgar & Louise S. Monroe Library, Special Collections, Loyola University, New Orleans (includes the "Walker Percy Collection [donated by family]," "Patrick Samway, S.J. Papers," various Percy correspondence collections, and select John Kennedy Toole materials)
Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin (The Moviegoer publication history, "Alfred A. Knopf Collection")
The Historic New Orleans Collection, New Orleans, Louisiana ("Maple Street Book Shop Walker Percy Collection")
Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane University, New Orleans ("John Kennedy Toole Papers")
Paul Barret, Jr. Library, Archives & Special Collections, Rhodes College, Memphis, Tennessee ("Shelby Foote Collection")

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Specific Collection Descriptions

For brief descriptions of specific archive collections related to Walker Percy, see as follows as a prepared resource for convenient printing.* More detailed descriptions of each collection may be available on the respective collection's hosting website. Links open in a new window.

Housing Library: Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Library Homepage)
- Collection: "Walker Percy Papers #4294, circa 1910-1996"
  The collection includes drafts, notes, and other materials relating to Walker Percy's major works and shorter writings. Materials include two unpublished early novels, "The Gramercy Winner" and "The Charterhouse." Also included are source materials and items regarding authors and topics of interest to Percy, including religious themes in literature and intellectual life in the American South. The collection includes materials relating to John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces (1980), the publication of which Percy was involved in, and correspondence with authors, critics, and others, such as Shelby Foote, a life-long friend, and Caroline Gordon, who provided Percy with in-depth critiques and advice. [About 2200 items.]
  Note: The online directory provides a detailed inventory of the collection.
Housing Library: J. Edgar & Louise S. Monroe Library, Special Collections, Loyola University, New Orleans (Library Homepage)
- Collection: "Walker Percy Papers, 1945-2000 (bulk 1970-1990)"
  This collection originated from Walker Percy's office at his home in Covington and was donated by his daughter after the death of Mrs. Mary "Bunt" Percy. Handwritten notes, typescripts with marginalia, drafts of speeches and lectures, and correspondence and photocopies of correspondence make up the majority of the collection. There are a number of collected articles and academic journals that contain pieces written about Percy as well as unpublished academic papers and theses about him and his writing. The range of the material in the collection focuses mainly on the latter half of Percy's life. [10 boxes]
- Collection: "Patrick Samway, S.J. Papers"
  The Samway Papers includes a range of materials related to Samway's interest in and research on Southern literature with an acute focus on his biography of Walker Percy published in 1997. The types of material in this collection include correspondence, monographs, essays, speeches, ephemera, photographic prints, negatives and audiocassettes. Samway corresponded with a number of writers, scholars, and members of the Percy family. [95 boxes]
- Collection: The New Orleans Review Collection (1968-1980)
  The Special Collections Library at Loyola houses numerous and varied correspondence collections involving Percy, including materials associated with the New Orleans Review. [17 boxes]
- Collection: "John Kennedy Toole Manuscript"
  John Kennedy Toole's posthumously published novel, A Confederacy of Dunces, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1981. However, in the literary world, Toole's novel is noted for the long, tortuous journey from a box in his mother's house in New Orleans to its publication and unexpected, immense popularity. Thelma Toole, the author's mother, worked for years after her son's suicide to get his manuscript published, meeting no success. She decided in 1976 to appeal to Walker Percy, then teaching at Loyola University. After months of Thelma's "insistence," Percy accepted the manuscript, read it, and became instrumental in its publication at LSU Press in 1980. This manuscript was donated by Lyn Hill Hayward, a longtime friend of Walker Percy, and described by her as the manuscript given to Percy by Thelma Toole. [1 box]
Housing Library: Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin (Library Homepage)
- Collection: "Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.: An Inventory of Its Records in the Manuscript Collection at the Harry Ransom Center, 1873-1996"
  The collection includes the records of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Beyond recording the publishing firm's history and publication process, the collection, in particular, includes Walker Percy's heavily annotated white sheet for The Moviegoer (which was published by Knopf), as well as a rejection sheet for an unpublished manuscript titled "Symbol and Existence: A Study in Meaning." Materials relating to The Moviegoer are found in five areas of the archives: General (1915-1961)/Historical (1962-1970) correspondence; Editor Files; Publicity Files; Knopf Personal Files; and Alfred A. Knopf Personal Correspondence Files. Included are 125 pages of letters, in-house memos, newspaper clippings, reviews, and more relating to Percy's National Book Award-winning novel. (Cf., "Walker Percy's The Moviegoer: A Publishing History," Heather Moore (The Library Chronicle of the University of Texas, 22.4: 123-144, 1993.)
Housing Library: The Historic New Orleans Collection, New Orleans, Louisiana (Library Homepage)
- Collection: The Maple Street Book Shop Walker Percy Collection
  This diverse collection concerning Louisiana author Walker Percy was assembled over a period of many years by Rhoda Faust, the proprietor of the Maple Street Book Shop in Uptown New Orleans. Faust was a friend of Percy's and publisher of several of his works, including The State of the Novel, Diagnosing the Modern Malaise and Novel Writing in an Apocalyptic Time. Faust also published Walker Percy: A Comprehensive Descriptive Bibliography, written by Linda Whitney Hobson. Faust kept relevant correspondence, notes, press clippings, photographs, publicity materials, manuscripts, contracts, finished books, and other materials. Among the correspondents represented (in addition to Percy and Faust) are Patrick Samway, Jay Tolson, Lewis Lawson, Linda Whitney Hobson, and Nancy Lemann. Highlights in the overall collection include photographs, a limited edition Walker Percy print, "The City of the Dead" (folder 699); galley proofs and copies of manuscripts with editing notes; and books both by and about Percy, including signed first edition and limited editions. [22 Boxes]
Housing Library: Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane University, New Orleans (Library Homepage)
- Collection: "John Kennedy Toole Papers, 1930-1999"
  The collection primarily consists of the personal and literary papers of John Kennedy Toole, including unbound manuscripts and typescripts, correspondence, pamphlets, drawings, photographs, music, and posters. There is a considerable amount of memorabilia from his mother, Thelma Ducoing Toole, including his undergraduate honors thesis. John Kennedy Toole's correspondence with Robert Gottlieb, his first editor, as well as letters illustrating the process of getting A Confederacy of Dunces published, are in this collection. There are also large numbers of reviews and articles about Toole and his works. [27 Boxes]
Housing Library: Paul Barret, Jr. Library, Archives & Special Collections, Rhodes College, Memphis, Tennessee (Library Homepage)
- Collection: "Shelby Foote Collection"
  The manuscripts and papers in the "Shelby Foote Collection" present a picture of Foote's professional and personal life from records he retained from the 1940s through the early 2000s. The collection is composed of manuscripts, research notes, letters, photographs and diaries, including materials related to his lifelong friendship with Walker Percy.

*The above brief collection descriptions found on this page were compiled November 2014; "Maple Street Book Shop Walker Percy Collection" added 2021. Submit updates or corrections to this page.

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Additional Bibliographical Materials

Along with the above collections, researchers may wish to consult the additional bibliographical materials on Percy located in the Project's Bibliographies on Walker Percy section

Collection Histories & Publications of Interest

Consult the following publications for collection histories and related materials:

"Extending Walker Percy's Legacy: The Story of His Papers at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill," Walter West, Special Collections Librarian (presented at 1992 Walker Percy Symposium, Covington, La.)
"Walker Percy's The Moviegoer: A Publishing History," Heather Moore (The Library Chronicle of the University of Texas, 22.4: 123-144, 1993)
Butterfly in the Typewriter: The Tragic Life of John Kennedy Toole and the Remarkable Story of A Confederacy of Dunces, Cory MacLauchlin (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2012, 319 pages)
The Correspondence of Shelby Foote and Walker Percy, Jay Tolson, Editor (New York: Doubletake/Norton, 1996, 310 pages)

Along with the above collections, researchers may wish to consult the additional bibliographical materials on Percy located in the Project's Bibliographies on Walker Percy section.