Call Number:

C0834

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 3 boxes
• 1.2 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Eileen B. Simpson Papers, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1979-1991 (bulk) and 1941-1991 (inclusive)

Creator:

Simpson, Eileen B.

Form:

Correspondence -- 20th century, Galley Proofs (Printing) -- 20th century., and photographs -- 20th century

Abstract:

Consists of papers primarily related to Eileen Simpson's book, Poets in their Youth: A Memoir, about her married years with poet John Berryman.

Eileen Simpson was married to the poet John Berryman (1914-1972) from 1942 until their divorce in 1953, and published a book, Poets in their Youth: A Memoir (1982), recalling those years with Berryman and his circle of friends in the literary world.

The collection consists of papers primarily related to Simpson's book . Included is correspondence (approx. 300 letters) with her publishers, Random House (U.S.) and Faber and Faber (England), before and after publication, and many letters in response to the book from Simpson's friends, former associates of the poets, and people mentioned in the book, such as James Atlas, Saul Bellow, Jack Barbera, Carl Brandt, Robert Giroux, Allan Gurganus, Lili Kahler, Nancy Milford, Joyce Carol Oates, and Daniel Stern, as well as from the general public. Some letters also discuss another of Simpson's autobiographical books, Reversals: A Personal Account of Victory Over Dislexia (1979). Also present are photographs of John Berryman, Delmore Schwartz, Mark Van Doren, and others, used in the book, clippings from newspapers, magazines, and journals of reviews of the book, and four sets of proof, one with author's corrections.