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Archives of Form Magazine
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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
Philip Steadman (1942-) is an architectural theorist and Professor of Urban and Built Form Studies at University College, London, and served as the primary editor of Form magazine throughout its run from 1966 to 1969, along with coeditors Mike Weaver (1937-) and Stephen Bann (1942-). At Cambridge, prior to founding Form, Steadman served as the editor of Image, a careers magazine for undergraduates, which he transformed into a journal devoted primarily to kinetic art and concrete poetry. The magazine's publishers were unhappy with this change in direction, leading Steadman to resign. In 1966, Steadman founded Form, in which he intended to address the same topics as Image, and more broadly, to further discussion of the relation of form to structure in the arts, specifically in music, poetry, literature, painting, and sculpture. The three editors continued to edit and publish Form quarterly from summer 1966 until October 1969, at which point they decided to cease publication.
Following the dissolution of Form, which was primarily caused by financial difficulties and the increasingly divergent interests of its editors, Philip Steadman went on to teach architectural theory at the University of Cambridge and the Open University, and to publish several books on geometry in architecture and computer-aided design. Stephen Bann became a renowed art theorist, serving as Emeritus Professor of History of Art at the University of Bristol and Professor of Modern Cultural Studies at the University of Kent at Canterbury. Mike Weaver became a leading authority on the history of photography and taught American Studies and Film at Exeter and Oxford universities and the Royal College of Art.
The archives include correspondence, along with editorial and administrative files regarding the British magazine, Form, spanning its entire run from 1966 until 1969, and following the activities of its main editor for several years after the publication of the final issue. Edited by three Cambridge-educated academics Philip Steadman (1942-), Mike Weaver (1937-), and Stephen Bann (1942-), Form was an international magazine of the arts, focusing on concrete poetry, kinetic art, and avant-garde architecture, and known for its modernist content and striking design. The magazine's archives of well over a thousand items, formerly in the possession of principal editor Philip Steadman, provide a full picture of the magazine in all its aspects, with editorial and administrative material supplementing an extensive correspondence, not only from contributors and subscribers, but also from Steadman's two coeditors.
From the first issue of Form, Steadman was joined by Mike Weaver and Stephen Bann, both of whom had contributed to previous projects, including Image and Kinetic Art. Bann and Steadman had met as schoolboys at Winchester College, and later studied together as undergraduates at the University of Cambridge, where they met Mike Weaver, who was then working towards his doctorate. Weaver went on to serve as the magazine's American coeditor. While Bann and Weaver contributed to the editorial workload and helped maintain communications with contributors, the vast majority of the design, printing, and distribution responsibilities fell to Steadman. Editorial correspondence, drafts, and research files show Form's content and aesthetic, which focused primarily on concrete poetry and industrial design, with influences from contemporary Swiss and German graphic and industrial design, the Bauhaus, Russian Constructivism, and Black Mountain College, as reflected in the magazine's modern design, consisting of Helvetica typeface on an extensive field of white, alongside high-quality photography. Beginning with its first issue in summer 1966, Form published concrete poetry, scholarly essays, photographs, and artwork, along with Mike Weaver's "Great Little Magazines" series, which featured excerpts and studies of other international little magazines. Lively correspondence from frequent collaborators, such as Ian Hamilton Finlay and Simon Cutts, demonstrates the important role many members of the British avant-garde of the time attributed to the magazine.
Form's tumultuous finances are documented in bank statements, checks, deposit slips, accounting papers, receipts for expenses, and grant applications found in the administrative files. Despite receiving small amounts of funding from an Arts Council of Great Britain grant and through Reverend William Moelwyn Merchant at the University of Exeter, Form began to face serious financial struggles as early as 1967. The editors also began to express conflicting opinions about finding the right balance between operating Form as a contemporary arts magazine versus as a journal of academic research, which debate is reflected in the editorial correspondence. After only ten issues, the magazine ceased production in October 1969, due to financial troubles. The largest blow came from the withdrawal of the Arts Council of Great Britain grant on which the magazine had relied heavily in previous years.
While most materials date to the late 1960s, during the active run of the magazine, the collection also contains correspondence from disappointed contributors and subscribers, submissions, and financial documents from the several years following the demise of the magazine, as Steadman finished wrapping up operations, including settling on reprint agreements and distributing back issues in an attempt to cover costs.
The collection is organized into the following three series: Series 1: Correspondence, Series 2: Editorial Files, and Series 3: Administrative Files.
Purchase, 2014.
This collection was processed by Kelly Bolding in November 2014, with assistance from Kristine Gift. Finding aid written by Kelly Bolding in November 2014.
Nothing was removed from the collection during 2014 processing.
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Subject
- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Author
- Kelly Bolding
- Finding Aid Date
- 2014
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
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Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. Inquiries regarding publishing material from the collection should be directed to RBSC Public Services staff through the Ask Us! form. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.
Collection Inventory
This series is arranged into two subseries: 1A: Editorial Correspondence and 1B: Magazine Correspondence.
This series includes correspondence between Form coeditors Philip Steadman, Mike Weaver, and Stephen Bann, as well as a significant group of correspondence from over one hundred contributors and other individuals involved with the magazine to the editors of Form. Correspondents include many well-known visual artists, writers, concrete poets, art historians, translators, critical theorists, and architects, including Josef Albers, Roland Barthes, Augusto de Campos, Walter Gropius, Anselm Hollo, Dom Sylvester Houédard, Ernst Jandl, Charles Jencks, Standish Lawder, Frank J. Malina, Victor Pasmore, Roland Penrose, Frank Popper, Hans Richter, Paul de Vree, Pedro Xisto Pereira de Carvalho, and many others.
The variety of correspondents reflects the international nature of the magazine, which brought together the work of artists from across the world, who identified with the modernist aesthetic of the magazine. Correspondence between editors and contributors provides insights into the editorial processes of Form's editors and also highlights the interrelated and sometimes conflicting ties of the magazine to academia, the art world, and the avant-garde.
Physical Description2 boxes
Correspondence is arranged by editor, then chronologically.
This subseries solely contains correspondence from Form coeditors Mike Weaver and Stephen Bann to principal editor Philip Steadman, who retained their letters with the magazine's archives. Letters from Weaver span the entire existence of the magazine from 1966 to 1969, and reflect the anxieties and tensions, particularly regarding finances, surrounding the project to which Steadman and Weaver were deeply committed. Letters from Bann, who was also involved with the magazine from its start, span from 1967 until Form's end in late 1969. Correspondence touches on a variety of editorial concerns, including financial matters such as securing grants and funding, relationships with contributors and subscribers, individual changes to various issues of Form, as well as general conversations regarding the overall direction and aesthetic of the magazine.
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Correspondence files are arranged alphabetically by last name of sender, followed by topical correspondence regarding the magazine's demise.
This subseries includes correspondence from various contributors, subscribers, and collaborators, regarding the publication of Form and related projects. Correspondence is primarily addressed to Philip Steadman, although some letters are addressed to other editors or to the magazine in general.
Of note are extensive communications from collaborators, Ian Hamilton Finlay and Simon Cutts, regarding the magazine's balance of its sometimes conflicting academic and avant-garde leanings, as well as from Charles Biederman, to whom Form 3 was largely dedicated. Also notable is a letter from Brazilian concrete poet Augusto de Campos to Philip Steadman, giving directions as to the production of Campos's "cubepoem" multiple, a copy of which is present in the collection's editorial files, as well as a group of correspondence and related material from David Lyle (1899-1973), an eccentric American engineer and friend of the poet William Carlos Williams, known for his sprawling newsletter-like compositions, some of which are included in the collection.
A group of correspondence from a variety of contributors and subscribers expressing their condolences and disappointment following the demise of Form in late 1969 is also present, following the alphabetical correspondence, and includes letters from French literary theorist Roland Barthes, Bauhaus artist Xanti Schawinksy, poet and New Directions editor James Laughlin, and Fluxus artist Dick Higgins, among others.
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Includes letters from Josef Albers, Roland Barthes, Charles Biederman, John E. Bowlt, Paul de Vree, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Ernst Jandl, Bernard Lassus, Frank J. Malina, Mary McCarthy Mayer, Christopher Middleton, Hans Richter, Xanti Schawinksy, Aaron Scharf, Charles Tomlinson, and Alan Young.
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Includes letters from Joan Barry, Heinz Beck, V. J. Benedetto, Birmingham College of Arts, Michael Brawn, Alan Bullock, Graham Carey, Christopher Carrell, Christopher Cornford, Douglas Coyne, Mario L. Cruz, J. A. da Silva, Alexander Davis, Martin Dodsworth, P. A. Evans, John Evarts, James Farish, Roy Fisher, Oliver Folkard, Kenneth Frampton, Elizabeth Glazebrook, Richard W. Harris, John P. Harthan, Dick Higgins, Robert Hogg, Philip C. Homes, S. J. Howard, Rosemary Ind, Colin Jones, George Johnston, Tom Jones, Robin D. Kinross, James Laughlin, M. F. Lock, J. K. Loker, Norbert Lynton, Arthur H. Minters, Edwin Morgan, Beaumont Newhall, Alan McMurtrie, K. V. Parker, Norman Holmes Pearson, Clive Phillpt, Glyn Pursglove, Janet T. Quance, Ellen C. Rappaport, Maureen H. Reid, Robert Reiss, Eric Rhode, E. Richardson, Catriona Robertson, Edgell Rickwood, Ivan Roots, A. D. Ross, Mary Ellen Solt, Marion K. Stocking, Juliet Standing, Student's Bookshops Ltd, Tony Tanner, Marijke Threlfall, M. Towlson, D. E. Turner, Ian Tyson, Gillian Varley, Herbert Weaver, W. Phyllis White, Edward Wright, and Martin Wright, and others.
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This series is arranged into three subseries: 2A: Issue Files, 2B: Unsolicited Submissions, and 2C: Related Projects.
This series includes editorial files documenting the submission of materials, editing of works for publication, layout design and illustrations for the magazine, and related projects of the editors. Manuscript and typescript drafts and proofs of articles for publication in Form are present for works by international writers and artists, including Pierre Albert-Birot, Thomas Bernhard, Charles Biederman, Simon Cutts, Girard Genette, Oliver Hawkins, R. C. Kenedy, Xanti Schawinsky, Richard Sherwood, and Charles Tomlinson. Contributor lists, paste-ups and page proofs for whole issues, illustrations, and photosetting specifications are also present, as well as unsolicited submissions and related correspondence. This series also contains other editorial and writing projects by Form's editors, including copies of previous publications on which they collaborated, such as Image and Kinetic Art, as well as related projects by individual editors, such as Philip Steadman's printed object poems for Augusto de Campos and the 1967 Brighton Festival and Mike Weaver's academic writings on American studies and concrete poetry.
Researchers should note that editorial files are not complete and represent later issues more thoroughly, especially Form 8 and 10. Occassional unsolicited submissions and proofs are present for materials intended for Form 11, which was never completed.
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Typescripts and manuscripts for individual articles are arranged alphabetically by last name of writer, followed by proofs and illustrations arranged by issue.
This subseries includes editorial materials related to published issues of Form throughout the late 1960s, primarily in association with Form 8 and Form 10, although a smaller amount of materials related to other issues is also present. Typescript and manuscript author's copies and editorial copies for individual articles, notes, and introductions, with hand-written edits, are accompanied by proofs, paste-ups, marked-up illustrations for photosetting, research materials, and a list of possible contributors.
A research file devoted to a feature on the Russian Constructivist magazine LEF (Journal of the Left Front of the Arts, Levy Front Iskusstv), compiled by translator Richard Sherwood for Mike Weaver's Great Little Magazines series in Form 10, provides insight into the magazine's editorial methods. By providing bibliographies and reproductions of materials in other avant-garde little magazines from around the world, Form connected an otherwise diffuse international arts community.
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Typescript editorial copy of material published in Form 8. Includes typescript in French, with some English translations by Barbara Wright.
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Typescript editorial copy of material published in Form 8.
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Offprints of an article republished in Form 10, along with two black-and-white photographs of artwork by Biederman.
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Typescript author's copy of material published in Form 10.
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Typescript editorial copy of Finlay's editorial note for Form 10.
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Typescript author's copy of material published in Form 10.
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Typescript editorial copy of material published in Form 8.
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Typescript author's copy of poem published in Form 10.
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Author's copy, along with a manuscript draft of an introduction by Mike Weaver.
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Editorial copy.
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Typescript editorial copy of material published in Form 8.
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Includes typescripts, galley proofs, copies of magazine covers, author indexes and a bibliography, and some correspondence related to a study of the Russian constructivist magazine, Journal of the Left Front of the Arts (LEF, Levy Front Iskusstv), compiled by translator Richard Sherwood. While some of these materials were published in Form 10 as a part of the Great Little Magazines series, edited by Mike Weaver, others were intended for Form 11, which was never realized. Present are correspondence and typescripts from Sherwood, as well as galley proofs for unpublished material.
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Typescript author's copy published in Form 10.
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Submissions are arranged alphabetically by last name of sender.
This subseries consists of a variety of unsolicited submissions to the magazine from international artists and writers. Submissions include typescripts and manuscripts of essays and poems, photographs, artwork, and related correspondence. Materials submitted range from collaborative work by the Struti group of Calcutta poets to minimalist typewriter poems by the Czech artist Jiří Valoch. Also present are general solicitations inquiring about opportunities for publication of essays, artwork, and reviews in Form. Submissions sent to the editors following the magazine's end in 1969 are also occassionally present.
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Files are arranged alphabetically by title.
This subseries includes related projects by the editors of Form, both before and contemporary with Form. Present are copies of Image and Kinetic Art, both of which were other publications from the mid-1960s, regarding concrete poetry and the Bauhaus aesthetic. Philip Steadman, Mike Weaver, and Stephen Bann collaborated on these projects prior to starting Form, which was deeply influenced by and built upon these predecessors. Also present are materials related to several of the editors' independent projects, such as copies of object poems, printed by Philip Steadman for the 1967 Brighton Festival, including for poet Augusto de Campos, as well as Mike Weaver's writings on concrete poetry and American studies.
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Includes two items designed by Philip Steadman and distributed in conjunction with Form for the Brighton Festival in 1967, one package of printed cards, titled "six concrete poems," containing works by Augusto de Campos, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Eugen Gomringer, Jose Lino Grunewald, Dom Sylvester Houedard, and Gerhard Ruehm, along with "Linguaviagem: cubepoem," by Augusto de Campos, colorfully printed on a cardboard fold-out.
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Includes one copy of each of the three issues of Image magazine, a precursor to Form, which Philip Steadman edited prior to starting Form in 1966.
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Kinetic Art was a group of four essays, published by Motion Books in 1966, that served as a precursor to Form, on which Philip Steadman and Stephen Bann collaborated.
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Includes a Lugano Review (Volume 1/5-6 1966) offprint of Mike Weaver's Concrete Poetry, a typescript of a lecture on "American Arts and Letters: A New Approach to American Studies," and an information sheet on the American Arts Documentation Centre at the University of Exeter.
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Files in this series are arranged alphabetically by topic.
Administrative files include a variety of information on accounts, expenses and banking, advertising and circulars, subscriptions and payments, grants and funding, printing fees and receipts, legal issues and registrations, and reprint agreements, that reflect the practical side of running a small magazine in England in the late 1960s. The series includes many financial documents and records that pertain to the magazine's funding and revenue sources, along with later materials that reflect the financial troubles that eventually brought Form to its end in 1969. Correspondence, bank statements, paying-in books, cancelled checks, and checkbooks for Philip Steadman's "Form Account" at the National Westminster Bank provide information about the magazine's income and expenses, as do invoices and receipts from printers and binders that Steadman worked with to produce the magazine.
Materials related to grants and funding include a 1966 letter from Philip Steadman to Gabriel White, of the Arts Council of Great Britain, explaining, in detail, his plans for Form and a copy of his Arts Council Application for Financial Aid for the 1970-1971 fiscal year, which was a last attempt to secure funding before closing the magazine. Reprint agreements with Xerox University Microfilms and Kraus Reprint Division are also present, along with advertising materials, including Philip Steadman's meticulous lists of bookshops, galleries, and libraries to be approached regarding advertising, as well as copies of Form circulars reminding subscribers to renew and providing news and updates. A large group of subscriptions from a variety of poets, artists, libraries, museums, and other individuals and groups interested in the magazine is also present. Subscriptions and related correspondence, sent following Form's last issue in 1969 are also present, and reflect readers' reactions to the magazine's demise. Many contain checks in payment for unrealized future issues, which were often donated by subscribers in order to cover the editors' losses.
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Receipts, cancelled checks, and statements from National Westminster Bank.
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Includes invoices and receipts.
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Includes copies of Steadman's 1969 Application of Financial Aid to the Arts Council of Great Britain and related correspondence, as a last attempt to keep Form afloat.
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Includes documents regarding copyright and business name registration.
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Includes receipts and quotes, primarily from Hart Printers (W. Hart & Son Ltd.).
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Primarily from Xerox University Microfilms and Kraus Reprint Division.
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Unsorted.
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