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Finding aid for the William Carlos Williams Collection, 1902-1960

PCMS-0024

State University of New York at Buffalo. Poetry Collection


420 Capen Hall
Buffalo, NY 14260
United States
Phone: 716-645-2917
Fax: 716-645-3714
Email: lpo-poetry@buffalo.edu
URL: http://library.buffalo.edu/pl/

Finding aid prepared by James Maynard.
Finding aid encoded in EAD by Isidor Justeson, March 2008.
Finding aid written in English.
Finding aid prepared using local best practices.

Please use the following URL when citing this document:
http://purl.org/net/findingaids/view?docId=ead/poetry/ubpo_pcms0024.xml

© 2008. State University of New York at Buffalo. All rights reserved.


Collection Overview

Title: William Carlos Williams Collection, 1902-1960
Creator: Williams, William Carlos, 1883-1963
Extent: 22 linear feet (88 boxes)
Language of Material: Collection material in English.
Repository: State University of New York at Buffalo. Poetry Collection
Abstract: Totaling approximately 20,000 pages, the William Carlos Williams Collection contains manuscripts including the working papers for The Wedge (1944) and Books 1 and II of Paterson, early fragments, a working journal, and several drafts for the plays A Dream of Love (1948) and Many Loves (1942); and 1,200 letters of Williams’s correspondence to and from Charles Abbott, James Laughlin, Marianne Moore, Ezra Pound, Louis Zukofsky, and others.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Description and dates], Box/folder number, PCMS-0024, William Carlos Williams Collection, 1902-1960, The Poetry Collection, State University of New York at Buffalo.

See the Special Collections' preferred citations instructions for additional information.

Acquisition Information

Some donated by William Carlos Williams to Charles Abbott beginning in 1943. Other letters purchased from William Eric Williams around 1982.

Terms of Access

The William Carlos Williams Collection, 1902-1960, is open for research.

Copyright

Copyright of papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns. Researchers must obtain the written permission of the holder(s) of copyright and the Poetry Collection before requesting photocopies and/or publishing quotations from materials in the collection. Once permission is obtained, most papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures unless otherwise specified.

Processing Information

Collection processed by Poetry Collection staff.

Accruals and Additions

No further accruals are expected to this collection.


Biographical Note

Known for his writing’s attention to the particular details of speech and location, William Carlos Williams (1883-1963) was one of the most influential poets of the twentieth century whose circle of associates includes a long list of modernist writers and artists. His works include Spring and All (1922), The Wedge (1944), Paterson (1946-1958), The Desert Music and Other Poems (1954), and Journey to Love (1955).


Scope and Content Note

Totaling approximately 20,000 pages, the William Carlos Williams Collection contains manuscripts including the working papers for The Wedge (1944) and Books 1 and II of Paterson, early fragments, a working journal, and several drafts for the plays A Dream of Love (1948) and Many Loves (1942); and 1,200 letters of Williams’s correspondence to and from Charles Abbott, James Laughlin, Marianne Moore, Ezra Pound, Louis Zukofsky, and others. These materials are described in Neil Baldwin and Steven L. Meyers’s The Manuscripts and Letters of William Carlos Williams in The Poetry Collection of The Lockwood Memorial Library, State University of New York at Buffalo: A Descriptive Catalogue (1978). In 1982 Williams’s letters to his son William Eric Williams were added to the collection. Supplementing these materials is Williams’s desk and typewriter and The Poetry Collection’s complete set of first editions of Williams’s books and virtually every book of Williams criticism.


Arrangement

This collection is arranged in thirteen series.


Container List

Container list in preparation.


Search Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog.

Contributors

Poetry Manuscripts Collection (State University of New York at Buffalo)
Abbott, Charles D. (Charles David), 1900-1961
Laughlin, James, 1914-1997
Moore, Marianne, 1887-1972
Pound, Ezra, 1885-1972
State University of New York at Buffalo. Poetry Collection
Twentieth-Century Poetry Manuscript Collection (State University of New York at Buffalo)
Williams, William Eric, 1914-
Zukofsky, Louis, 1904-1978

Subject Terms

Poetry--Male authors
Poets, American--20th century--Correspondence
Williams, William Carlos, 1883-1963--Archives
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