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Allen Ginsberg poems and letters
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Held at: University of Delaware Library Special Collections [Contact Us]181 South College Avenue, Newark, DE 19717-5267
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Delaware Library Special Collections. 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
Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) was born in Newark, New Jersey, and educated at Columbia University. Before achieving success as a writer, Ginsberg worked as a dishwasher, a welder and served in the Merchant Marine. Literary notoriety followed publication of Ginsberg’s
Howl and Other Poems (1956) in the Pocket Poet Series of Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s City Lights Books. This collection, which includes "Supermarket in California," "Sunflower Sutra," and "America," distinguished Ginsberg as a leading poet of the Beat movement. After 1956, Ginsberg traveled extensively, became involved with civil rights campaigns and war resistance movements, and continued to write poetry. One of Ginsberg’s most celebrated later poems is "Kaddish," a poem on the death of his mother collected in Kaddish and Other Poems, 1958-1960. Ginsberg died on April 5, 1997.Perkins, George and Barbara Perkins and Phillip Leininger. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia of American Literature. New York: Harper Collins, 1991.
The Allen Ginsberg collection contains typescript poetry, a published letter, a postcard, and items related to the article "The Sound of Beat" published in the July 1959 issue of
Playboy.The seventeen items in the collection span the dates 1959-1984 and include primarily typescript copies of poetry with handwritten notes published between 1962 and 1966. The typescript of "Chances R" includes a note and illustration by Robert Branaman. The postcard dated June 6, 1966, and addressed to Poets Press publisher, Alan Marlowe, contains Ginsberg’s forward to Herbert Huncke’s book entitled
Huncke’s Journal, which is an account of his experiences with his Beat-poet friends, published in 1965.The collection also includes items related to the July 1959 issue of
Playboy, including typescripts of Ginsberg’s "To Lindsay," Gregory Corso’s "Made By Hand," and Kerouac’s "To Harpo Marx." The collection also has publisher's requisition of payment forms, a proof mockup, an interoffice correspondence sheet, the original Playboy filing envelope, and a copy of the July 1959 issue of Playboy.Box 49, F0759: Shelved in SPEC MSS 0099 manuscript boxes.
Purchase, August 2005.
Processed by Karalee Kopreski, October 2005. Encoded by Anita Wellner, December 2007. Further encoded by George Apodaca, October 2015.
People
- Ginsberg, Allen, 1926-1997
- Branaman, Robert R.
- Corso, Gregory
- Kerouac, Jack, 1922-1969
- Orlovsky, Peter, 1933-2010
Subject
Occupation
- Publisher
- University of Delaware Library Special Collections
- Finding Aid Author
- University of Delaware Library, Special Collections
- Finding Aid Date
- 2007 December 12
- Access Restrictions
-
The collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
-
Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, http://library.udel.edu/spec/askspec/
Collection Inventory
To Poets Press publisher Alan Marlowe. The text contains Ginsberg's complete foreward for
Huncke's Journal . Physical DescriptionHolograph postcard
Coauthored by Peter Orlovsky, with Ginsberg's holograph corrections.
Physical DescriptionTypescript with holograph corrections (1 leaf)
Poem inscribed on page 1 "For Ted Berrigan" and bearing in Ginsberg's hand "A. Gensberg POB 582 Stuyvesant Station." Also signed by Ginsberg on page two, with Ginsberg's holograph note "For 'C' Magazine April 1966."
Physical DescriptionTypescript (2 leaves)
Typescript (photocopy) of Ginsberg's poem with author's holograph note on page 6 "Epilogue to Kaddish for Bob Sharrard City Lights 10/12/84."
Physical Description1 item (6 leaves)
Typescript poem signed by Ginsberg and bearing the printer's setting copy notations. Accompanied by the original velox illustration for Chances "R," by illustrator Robert R. Branaman and Branaman's typed letter to Sam Edward regarding the illustration.
Physical Description3 items (3 leaves)
Typescript poem by Ginsberg for the article, "The Sound of Beat," published in the July 1959 issue of Playboy. Accompanied by Playboy interoffice correspondence regarding the article, a mock-up of the poem, a requisition for payment form for Ginsberg, the July 1959 issue of Playboy, and the original envelope for the Playboy material.
Physical Description6 items
Typescript poem (originally titled "Awakening") written by Corso for the article, "The Sound of Beat," published in the July 1959 issue of Playboy. Bears the holograph notation by Corso, "Made in N.Y." and accompanied by Playboy's mock-up for the poem and requistion for payment for Corso.
Physical Description3 items (2 leaves)
Playboy Magazine's proof mock-up for Kerouac's poem for the article, "The Sound of Beat," published in the July 1959 issue of Playboy.
Physical Description1 item (2 leaves)