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Louise Varèse was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 20, 1890, daughter of John Lindsay McCutcheon and Mary Louise Taylor. She attended Smith College (class of 1912), leaving in the fall of 1911 to marry Allen Norton. A son, Michael, was born in 1912. She was separated from Norton in 1916, and they were divorced in 1920. In 1922 she married composer Edgard Varèse. Throughout her life she translated works of French authors and poets into English, including Rimbaud, Proust, Sartre, Stendahl, and Simenon, among many others and was awarded Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Republic of France in 1969. She also wrote articles, stories, and poems. Following the death of Edgard Varèse in 1965, she published Varese, A Looking-Glass Diary, Volume I, 1893-1928 (1972). Volume 2 was in progress when she died on July 1, 1989.
The Louise Varèse Papers consist of correspondence, photographs, writings, printed material, research notes, and memorabilia. There is a large amount of correspondence, both personal and professional. It includes correspondence with her friend Maryette Charlton (1971- 83); to Edgard Varèse (n.d.); from her son Michael Norton and daughter Sylvia (1930-74); re. the death of Edgard Varèse (1965); and with various well known art and literary people including Jacques Barzun (1965-73) and Anais Nin (1963-71). There is also professional correspondence regarding music, museums, publishing, and the "Looking Glass Diary." Also contained in the papers is material related to Louise Varèse's published and unpublished translations: reviews, manuscripts, correspondence, and printed material. There is also material related to Edgard Varèse: research notes, proofs, manuscripts for both Volume 1 and 2 of Looking Glass Diary, as well as reviews of Volume 1; and programs and memorabilia related to his work. Maryette Charlton collected and added much of the material related to Varèse including two audio tape recordings, photographs, biographical chronologies, and memorabilia.
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Louise Varèse Papers, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Mass.