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Ezra Pound Collection
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Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
American poet and critic, leader of the Imagists, Ezra Pound was also a scholar and respected translator.
The collection consists of selected correspondence, manuscripts, and documents of and about Ezra Pound. The correspondence includes two Pound letters to Anna Robeson-Burr; six letters, two note cards, and a signed, typed "Literary Note" to John Chamberlain; five letters to Edith Hamilton; two letters to Joan Martindale; and two letters from Dorothy Pound to Edith Hamilton. In his letters Pound discusses poetry, literature, and several poets, including James Joyce and Mirabeau, and he mentions Sylvia Beach and the Shakespear Company, publisher of James Joyce's Ulysses. Also included is correspondence between Princeton Prof. Samuel Hynes and James Laughlin, the poet and New Directions publisher, regarding an essay by Pound published in The Commonweal and about other Pound material. There is a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice in response to an inquiry from Hynes about the Ezra Pound case. Accompanying the letter is a carbon copy typescript of the treason indictment of Pound of Oct. 1945. There is also a carbon copy typescript of the "Italian Appeals for the Liberation of Ezra Pound."
The manuscripts include a typed copy of Pound's Canto 21, "Whose World, or Mine or Theirs," and an original manuscript of Pound's The Dawn, copied by Dorothy Pound in 1909. Included are two verses by Pound, "Oh my dear" and "We are the end", both of which contain sketches by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska on the verso. Also included are several royalty receipts from sales of Pound's writings about Brzeska, an autograph receipt for six pounds received from Pound by Brzeska dated 30 Jan. 1914, a "Memorandum of Agreement" between the Bodley Head (publisher) and Ezra Pound to publish a work on Gaudier-Brzeska, and "A copy of a document entrusted to me by Zefia Brzeska" signed by Dorothy Pound.
Folders are arranged by accession number.
The collection was formed as a result of a Departmental practice of combining into one collection material of various accessions relating to a particular person, family, or subject.
Letters to Edith Hamilton were a gift of Doris Fielding Reid on May 3, 1968.
Letters and two note cards to John Chamberlain were purchased on May 20, 1968.
Early draft for "Whose world" was purchased on May 6, 1969.
Two letters to Anna Burr were purchased on January 21, 1970.
Correspondence between Hynes and Laughlin, letter from the State Department, and "The Italian appeals for the liberation of Pound" were a gift of Princeton University Prof. Samuel Hynes in Dec. 1982.
Original manuscript of The Dawn copied by Dorothy Shakespeare Pound was a gift of Omar S. Pound on Nov. 2, 1984.
Manuscripts and documents relating to Brzeska were a gift of Omar S. Pound on Dec. 7, 1993.
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
This collection was processed by Dina Britain on March 13, 2007. Finding aid written by Dina Britain on March 14, 2007. Folder Inventory prepared by Peter Runfola in 2011.
No appraisal information is available.
People
- Burr, Anna Robeson Brown, 1873-1941
- Chamberlain, John
- Gaudier-Brzeska, Henri, 1891-1915
- Hamilton, Edith, 1867-1963.
- Hynes, Samuel Lynn
- Laughlin, James
- Pound, Dorothy
- Pound, Ezra, 1885-1972.
Subject
- Poets, American -- 20th century -- Correspondence
- Poets, American -- 20th century -- Manuscripts
- Poets, American -- 20th century -- Political activity
- Trials (Treason) -- United States
- Manuscripts -- 20th century
Place
- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Date
- 2007
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
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Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.
Collection Inventory
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