Why Schwob at BYU?

“If I don’t do it—who will?”¹

Professor John A. Green devoted his academic career to the study of Marcel Schwob,   completing his dissertation on the “Literary Career of Marcel Schwob: 1867-1905” at the University of Washington and continuing his research at Brigham Young University.  

Green began a Marcel Schwob Memorial Collection at Brigham Young University in the 1960s.  He was particularly interested in Schwob’s unsigned editorials known as “Lettres Parisiennes” (where he discussed politics, religion, crime, the Panama Affair, and most notably, the Dreyfus Affair).

From his own travels, Green gathered letters and collaborated with librarians in the United States, France, England, Scotland, and Switzerland.  Professor Green’s dedication to the study of Marcel Schwob was reflected not only by his professional commitment, but also his considerable personal monetary commitments extended to facilitate research and gather materials.

By 1967, Green had a sizable collection, including more than 300 original letters (personal correspondence), along with first-edition copies of Coeur double (éd. 1891), Roi au masque d’or (éd. 1893), Mimes, La Croisade des enfants, Vies imaginaires, and Spicilège. 

Green also collected the following:

• a brochure from a conference given by Schwob at the Théâtre de l’Oeuvre
• 100 pages on argot, Villon, the Pléaide, and Hugo
• two of Schwob’s essays from Louis-le-Grand
• an 1896 contract (witnessed by Paul Valéry) between Schwob and English editor Fisher Unwin for A Literary History of France
• a microfilm copy of W.G.C. Bijvanck’s manuscript for Un Hollandais à Paris en 1891 (Paris, 1892)
• copies of Schwob’s birth and marriage certificates are also in the collection

Despite suffering a debilitating stroke in 1980 and retiring shortly thereafter, Green successfully published many of Schwob’s “Lettres Parisiennes”and personal correspondence in Chroniques (Droz 1981) and Correspondance Inédite (Droz 1985). 

Green was particularly interested in collecting Schwob’s “Lettres Parisiennes”, as only a small portion were previously published by Pierre Champion.  Green successfully verified that all the anonymous “Lettres Parisiennes”published in Le Phare de la Loire and Le Petit Phare between 1891 and 1905 were written by Schwob.  Green spent the latter part of his career writing about Schwob’s editorials relevant to the Dreyfus Affair ² . 

Green’s papers indicate that he obtained over 1,900 “Lettres Parisiennes”for his culminating work entitled The Dreyfus Affair (slated for publishing in 1991 or 1992).  Unfortunately, illness forced Green into early retirement and he never completed the tome.  Additionally, the “Lettres Parisiennes” mentioned in Green’s notes are not catalogued with Brigham Young University.

John Green passed away in 2001.

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