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Signatures archive
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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
Co-edited by John Hinsdale Thompson and John Malcolm Brinnin and based in Detroit,
Signatures was a literary magazine of "works-to-be-published-later" written by contemporary American and international writers. Subtitled "Work in Progress," Signatures was first published in the Spring of 1936 and continued for a total of three issues, ceasing publication in 1938. Signatures featured fiction by Katherine Anne Porter, James T. Farrell, Kay Boyle, Sean O'Faolain, as well as poetry by Kenneth Patchen, Muriel Rukeyser, and Louis MacNeice; and critical essays by Horace Gregory, Newton Arvin, and Granville Hicks. Brinnin and Thompson planned to publish Signatures semi-annually and were quoted as saying that in each issue they hoped "to publish the best available work for forthcoming books by established authors, as well as unusual work by younger unknown writers. These selections, whether from a novel, a volume of poetry, or a book of short stories, will be integrated portions of entire works and may be read as experimental excerpts or, equally well, with the idea of anticipating the trend of newer work by represented authors."Hoffman, Frederick J., Charles Allen, and Carolyn F. Ulrich. The Little Magazine: a history and a bibliography. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1946. p. 336.Information derived from collection.
John Hinsdale Thompson was co-editor of
Signatures, along with his lifelong friend, John Malcolm Brinnin.The two had known each other as undergraduates at the University of Michigan. Brinnin, as editor of
Prelude; an expression of youth, a Detroit literary magazine, published Thompson's short stories, in 1934 and 1935.During the years in which he edited
Signatures, Thompson was working on a novel that was based on his experiences while a resident in Detroit. In the final issue of Signatures, "World Series," a chapter from Thompson's novel, appeared under the pseudonym Leslie Sellers. Following the appearance of "World Series," several publishing houses expressed interest in reading the finished novel. However, it is uncertain whether the novel was ever completed. Thompson also wrote prose and poetry. One of his essays, "Advice for Writers," appeared in a 1935 issue of The Passing Show, a Detroit magazine focusing on art and literature.In 1947 Thompson was hired as an instructor of English at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, where he served until the late 1960s. At the time of his death, in 1973, Thompson was residing in Columbia, Missouri, with his wife Margaret Thompson.
Biographical information on John Thompson was derived from files in this collection and the John Malcolm Brinnin Papers (MSS 0103).
American poet and biographer John Malcolm Brinnin was also a critic, anthologist, and teacher.
He taught at Vassar, Boston University, University of Connecticut, and Harvard. He was Director of the YMHA Poetry Center in New York City during its most successful years (1949–1956).
Brinnin was the first person to bring Dylan Thomas to the United States and was responsible for all of Dylan Thomas' reading tours in America. Brinnin's best known work,
Dylan Thomas in America, published in 1955, provides a personal memoir of Dylan Thomas' trips to America as observed while traveling with Thomas for the national series of readings. The book carries a moving account of Thomas' death in 1953. Brinnin later narrated a motion picture, The Days of Dylan Thomas.John Malcolm Brinnin was most deservedly known for his poetry and has published a number of collections of poems. Brinnin's first collection of verse,
The Garden is Political, was published in 1942; subsequent collections of poems include The Lincoln Lyrics (1942), No Arch, No Triumph (1945), The Sorrows of Cold Stone (1951), Selected Poems of John Malcolm Brinnin (1963), and Skin Diving in the Virgins, and Other Poems (1970).In 1955 the Poetry Society of America awarded Brinnin its Gold Medal for Distinguished Service to Poetry. Following the publication of his
Selected Poems in 1963, Brinnin was awarded the Centennial Medal for Distinction in Literature by his alma mater, the University of Michigan.In addition to writing poetry, Brinnin co-edited
Signatures; compiled several anthologies of modern poetry; and wrote popular works on transatlantic travel, including The Sway of the Grand Saloon: A Social History of the North Atlantic (1971) and Beau Voyage: Life Abroad the Last Great Ships (1981).John Malcolm Brinnin authored biographies of Gertrude Stein (
The Third Rose, 1959) and Truman Capote (Truman Capote: Dear Heart, Old Buddy, 1986). His 1981 work, Sextet, includes biographical sketches of Truman Capote; Henri Cartier-Bresson; Elizabeth Bowen; Edith, Osbert, and Sacheverell Sitwell; Alice B. Toklas; and T. S. Eliot. In addition, he wrote a critical work on William Carlos Williams.On June 28, 1998, John Malcolm Brinnin died at his home in Key West, Florida.
Evory, Ann (ed.) Contemporary Authors. New Revision Series, Volume 1. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1981. p. 72. Quartermain, Peter (ed.) Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 48: American Poets, 1880-1945, Second Series. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1986. Pp 52-57.Stewart, Barbara. "John Malcolm Brinnin, Poet and Biographer, Dies at 81," New York Times. June 30, 1998. p. A22.
Acquired in 1975, the
Signatures Archive consists of 2.2 linear feet of letters; galley proofs; typescripts of poems, short stories, excerpts from novels, and reviews; cover designs and proofs; clippings; printed material; and canceled checks. Although the archive spans the dates 1933 to 1970, most of the material is dated between 1935 and 1940.Correspondence from various writers and the manuscripts they submitted for publication in
Signatures constitute the first series, which total over eighty percent of the collection. Most of the authors' letters are cover letters to accompany enclosed typescript manuscripts of stories, essays, poetry, or chapters from novels. However the authors also inquire about publication dates, request information regarding acceptance or rejection of previously submitted material, suggest corrections or revisions for to-be-published manuscripts, or comment on issues of Signatures. Occasionally correspondents reflect on writing projects, family life, or their travels, as do Kay Boyle, Jack Conroy, James T. Farrell, Kenneth Patchen, Katherine Anne Porter, and especially, Muriel Rukeyser. Brinnin's contact with Katherine Anne Porter through Signatures developed into a lifelong friendship, which is reflected in his personal papers (Mss 103).Among the correspondence are also canceled checks from the editors in payment for accepted manuscripts, galley proofs for work published in
Signatures, clippings regarding authors, and occasional announcements of forthcoming publications.The remainder of the archive consists of two folders each of business correspondence, publication material, and miscellaneous material. The business correspondence, dating 1935–1941, regards advertising and exchange agreements with other publications, such as
Story, The Southern Review, The Virginia Quarterly Review, River, and The Townsman (London); subscription and copyright information; and information requests from literary agents. Several proof copies or layouts for advertisements to appear in Signatures or announcements for Signatures, which were to appear in other publications, are also available among the business correspondence.The publication material includes three issues of
Signatures (which have been removed and cataloged with the printed holdings in Special Collections), cover designs and proofs for the initial issue of Signatures, and a file of clippings regarding Signatures, which was labeled "Vanity File."The final two folders of the collections contain printed items collected by Brinnin and/or Thompson. The folders includes five issues of a Detroit literary magazine,
The Passing Show, which published John H. Thompson's essay, "Advice for Writers," and clippings about a variety of literary figures.The
Signatures Archive clearly illustrates both the potential, and the difficulties of early twentieth century "little magazines." Although Signatures only published three issues, due to financial obstacles, contemporaries recognized and commended the quality of the magazine and the concept of publishing "works in progress."Boxes 1-6: Shelved in SPEC MSS manuscript boxesF3-130: Shelved in SPEC MSS oversize galleys
Purchase, 1975.
Processed by Harold Brohawn, 1976. Revised by Anita A. Wellner, May 1999. Encoded by Thomas Pulhamus, February 2010. Further encoding by Lauren Connolly, June 2015, and Tiffany Saulter, November 2015.
People
Subject
- Publisher
- University of Delaware Library Special Collections
- Finding Aid Author
- University of Delaware Library, Special Collections
- Finding Aid Date
- 2010 February 18
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
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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
Includes letters to Brinnin and Thompson, typescripts submitted for publication in Signatures, canceled checks paid to writers, galley proofs of material published in Signatures, and clippings or information about the authors, as collected by Brinnin and Thompson. Letters are addressed to Brinnin, Thompson, or simply "editors."
Material is arranged alphabetically by author and chronologically in each folder.
Letters
Physical Description3p
Typed Letter. With enclosed three-page carbon typescript story, "Uncle Tellem."
Physical Description1p
Typed letter Signed. With enclosed nine-page typescript story, "Brown Boomer," bearing autograph corrections. Also includes a canceled check and galley proofs.
Physical Description1p
Typed Letter Signed
Physical Description1p
Typed Letter Signed
Physical Description1p
Includes galley proofs of Arvin's essay, "Walt Whitman and the Secession War."
1p
1p
With enclosed two typescripts of excerpts from "The Road." Also includes a canceled check and galley proofs.
Physical Description1p
1p
1p
Letters. Includes two bills for printing costs.
Physical Description16p
1p
1p
Includes a typescript and five carbon copies of his poem, "Speaking of Poetry."
With enclosed flyer regarding
Short Stories 1934. Physical Description1p.
1p
1p.
1p.
1p.
1p.
With enclosed eighteen-page typescript (bearing a few autograph corrections and inscribed to Thompson by Boyle) of the first two chapters of Boyle's novel,
The Intruders. Physical Description1p
Ten letters from Boyle's agent, Ann Watkins, regarding Boyle's manuscripts. Also includes a canceled check and clippings regarding Kay Boyle.
Autograph Letter Signed
Physical Description1p
Typed Letter Signed
Physical Description1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
Includes the galley proof and an eight-page typescript of Caldwell's story, "The Only Love," bearing a few autograph corrections. Also includes two clippings regarding Caldwell.
Typed Letter Signed
Physical Description1p
1p
1p
1p
Also includes brochures for his books and New Anvil.
Physical Description1p
With enclosed photocopied clipping bearing a signed typed note.
Physical Description2p
Includes a signed Christmas card.
Physical Description2p
1p
1p
Also includes typescripts for Corey's three stories, "Save the Mother," "His Punishment," and "Chattel Mortgage," plus a canceled check and clipping regarding Corey.
Physical Description1p
Typed Letter Signed
Physical Description1p
1p
Typed Letter Signed
Physical Description1p
Autograph Note Signed
Autograph note appears of the first page of a twenty-four page typescript draft (bearing autograph corrections) of two chapters from Dahlberg's novel,
Bitch Goddess. Also includes a carbon typescript of a second draft of these chapters and two clippings. Physical Description1p
Typed Letter Signed
Physical Description1p
1p
With enclosed twenty-two page carbon typescript (with a few autograph corrections) of chapter one of DeJong's novel, Light Sons and Dark. A galley proof of the chapter, a letter regarding copyright, and a clipping are also present.
Physical Description1p
1p
1p
Typed Letter Signed
Physical Description1p
Typed Letter Signed
Letter is mistakenly addressed to Laughlin as editor of
Signatures. Physical Description1p
Includes a nineteen-page typescript of Dodd's story, "Two Red-headed Girls," bearing a few autograph corrections.
Typed letter Signed
Physical Description1p
Typed Letter Signed
Physical Description1p
1p
1p
Typed Note Signed
1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
Includes a seven-page typescript of a chapter from Erisman's novel, Pink and Blue Evening Sky, a galley proof of this chapter (bearing autograph corrections), and a canceled check.
Physical Description1p
With enclosed twenty-five-page typescript (bearing autograph revisions) of Farrell's short story, "Wedding Bells Will Ring So Merrily." Also includes four canceled checks.
Physical Description1p
1p
1p
Also includes a letter from Vanguard Press regarding Farrell's publications.
Physical Description1p
1p
With enclosed nine-page typescript draft of a chapter from Farrell's novel,
A World I Never Made, titled "The O'Flaherty Household" (bearing autograph corrections). Physical Description1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
With enclosed fifteen-page carbon typescript draft (bearing autograph revisions) of an untitled chapter from the novel,
A World I Never Made. Physical Description1p
1p
2p
1p
1p
Includes a letter from literary agent Barthold Fles with an enclosed seven-page typescript of a chapter titled "Hold-Up" from Fearing's untitled novel. Also includes a galley proof of the chapter and a canceled check.
1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
The autograph note is written on the bottom of a card from Signatures.
Physical Description1p
4p
1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
With enclosed twenty-five page carbon typescript (bearing autograph corrections) chapter from Frank's novel,
Prelude to War. Physical Description1p
With enclosed galley proofs for the chapter (bearing autograph corrections), a canceled check, a note to Rosseau, clippings, and an announcement for
Spain in the Barricades. Physical Description1p
2p
1p
1p
Includes a clipping.
Physical Description1p
1p
Uses the pseudonym G. T. Andrews.
Physical Description1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
Includes a carbon typescript (bearing autograph corrections and signed) and galley proof of Greenhood's poem, "A Testament Between Ages."
Physical Description1p
Includes a canceled check.
Physical Description1p
With enclosed eleven-page typescript draft (bearing an autograph note of the cover page) of chapter one of Hanley's novel,
Soldier's Wind. Physical Description1p
With enclosed sixteen-page typescript draft (bearing autograph revisions) of chapters two and three from Hanley's novel,
Soldier's Wind. Physical Description2p
2p
With copy of bank draft and two sets of galley proofs.
Physical Description1p
2p
With enclosed copy of a letter from Jacques Chambrun to Hanley.
Physical Description1p
1p
Also includes clippings.
Physical Description1p
1p
1p
Includes galley proofs and a fifteen-page typescript (bearing autograph revisions) of Hicks's essay, "Samuel Butler, Cautious Rebel," plus a canceled check.
Physical Description1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
Signed change of address card.
Physical Description1p
1p
Includes galley proof (in folder) and typescript of Kees's poem, "Subtitle." Also includes a canceled check, and correspondence between Howard Woolmer and Thompson regarding the Kees material.
Physical Description1p
1p
1p
With enclosed three-page carbon typescript of "Report on Jack Kramer Script," written by Robert Whitcomb.
Physical Description1p
1p
1p
Written on an announcement for New Directions pamphlets.
Physical Description1p
1p
With enclosed three typescript poems titled, "The Miracle Makers," "Case Recruit," and "Ordeal by Tension," all of which are signed. Galley proofs for "Case Recruit" and "The Miracle Makers" are also present.
Physical Description1p
1p
Also includes a letter from Quality Press regarding Lechlitner, a flyer for her Tomorrow's Phoenix, and a canceled check.
Physical Description1p
Also includes six typescript poems written by Leekley titled: "Sonnet on Power," "My Girl," "Fire Was Cherished," "John Scholz," "And There Was a Dance with Flower-Chains," and "The Believer."
Physical Description1p
1p
Also includes two sets of galley proofs (one with autograph revisions by Lumpkin) and two differing versions (each nine pages) of a typescript draft of her short story, "The Dory." Both typescripts bear autograph revisions and one typescript is signed.
Physical Description1p
1p
With enclosed four typescript poems titled: "Poem," "Waking We Walk Separately," "Sunday Afternoon and the Children," and "Document of Spring." Also includes two sets of galley proofs for three of these poems (excluding "Poem") and a canceled check.
Physical Description1p
Includes a signed five-page typescript of his poem, "Lyrics from a Poem," which bears autograph revisions, and a bank draft.
1p
With enclosed thirteen-page typescript draft (bearing autograph revisions) of a chapter from McSorley's novel
In the Icy Waters. Physical Description1p
1p
3p
With canceled check.
Physical Description2p
4p
2p
Also includes a twelve-page typescript second draft (bearing a few autograph corrections) of the chapter from McSorley's novel
In the Icy Waters. Physical Description1p
1p
6p
1p
1p
1p
1p
Also includes two sets of galley proofs and a four-page typescript of Millet's poem, "No Dedication," plus a canceled check and an order for a copy of Signatures.
Physical Description1p
Includes galley proofs and an undated eight-page typescript of Millspaugh poem, "Ode on the Days of Youth," plus a canceled check.
1p
1p
With enclosed eleven-page typescript of Mykytiak's translation of Osyp Turiansky's prelude to
Lost Shadows, plus a copy of a review. Physical Description1p
1p
13p
Bears an autograph note on the bottom of the letter.
Physical Description1p
1p
1p
Letter from Odets's secretary.
Physical Description1p
Also includes a bank draft and a prospectus for O'Faolain's
The Born Genius. Physical Description1p
1p
Change-of-address card.
Physical Description1p
1p
Includes Patchen's three typescript poems: "I Knew a Man Who Loved That Germany," "Camping Out on the Mountain," and "To the Heroes to Make Much of the Millionaire Death." Also includes three letters from Miriam Patchen regarding Kenneth Patchen's The Journal of Albion Moonlight, a prospectus for this book, a postcard with Patchen's poem "Painting Poem," a canceled check, a letter signed in facsimile by Auden, T.S. Eliot, Archibald MacLeish, and Thornton Wilder in support of the Patchen Fund.
Physical Description1p
1p
1p
1p
With an autograph note attached and initialed.
Physical Description1p
1p
With enclosed eighteen-page carbon typescript (bearing a few autograph corrections) of Porter's short story, "Noon Wine." Galley proofs for the story and a bank draft are also available in the folder.
Physical Description1p
1p
With a partial envelope addressed by Porter. Also includes a letter regarding the copyright for "Noon Wine," and two copies of a prospectus for
Noon Wine. Physical Description1p
With enclosed signed, sixteen-page typescript draft (bearing autograph revisions) of a portion of Prokosch's novel, England, A Shadow. Also includes a canceled check, two sets of galley proofs for the excerpt from the novel, and two letters from the novel's publisher.
Physical Description1p
1p
1p
2p
1p
1p
Includes two sets of galley proofs for Purdy's story, "A Short Story," plus one canceled check.
Initialed.
Physical Description1p
1p
1p
1p
Includes an undated thirty-one page carbon typescript draft (bearing a few autograph corrections) of an untitled story.
5p
1p
With enclosed thirty-seven-page typescript draft of a section of a Roth novel. The draft is titled "The Bacon" and bears autograph revisions and titled page. Also includes a canceled check.
Physical Description1p
3p
1p
With clipping regarding Roth.
Physical Description1p
1p
1p
With enclosed three typescript poems written by Rukeyser: "Eel," "The Drowning Young Man," and "Gift-Poem." Also includes canceled check.
Physical Description1p
With enclosed clipping of Brinnin's poem, "For Muriel Rukeyser."
Physical Description1p
1p
3p
1p
1p
2p
1p
2p
2p
2p
1p
1p
Using her married name, Mrs. Glyn Collins.
Physical Description1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
2p
3p
With enclosed twenty-page carbon typescript of an excerpt from Scott's novel,
Land of Change. The excerpt, titled "This Bold and Rebellious Race," bears autograph revisions and includes a signed title page. Also includes a canceled check. Physical Description2p
1p
1p
1p
1p
2p
Includes a canceled check.
Pseudonym for John Hinsdale Thompson. Includes three letters to Thompson from William James Fadiman, representing Metro-Goldwyn Mayer, and five letters from Maria Leiper of Simon & Schuster (1937-1941), plus a galley proof for Thompson's "World Series," which was a section from his novel.
1p
1p
1p
With enclosed fifteen-page typescript draft of a section from Smilow's untitled novel. The typescript bears autograph corrections.
Physical Description1p
2p
1p
1p
1p
2p
1p
Includes a six-page typescript story by Sterling, "I Was Hungry."
1p
Includes a clipping of a review.
Physical Description1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
With enclosed eleven-page signed typescript (bearing autograph corrections) of Walton's review, titled "The Scene in Books Today."
Physical Description1p
1p
1p
Typed on a letter from Brinnin to Walton.
Physical Description1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
Includes clippings regarding Walton.
Physical Description1p
1p
Includes typescript draft and galley proof for Welch's poem, "To the Unborn."
Includes five-page typescript draft (signed and bearing autograph corrections) and galley proofs (in folder) for Wescott's short story, "The Sight of a Dead Body." Also includes a canceled check and clippings regarding Wescott.
Physical Description1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
1p
Includes two sets of galley proofs (one with autograph corrections and Zugsmith's autograph note: "ok as corrected L. Z.") and nine-page typescript draft of Zugsmith's story, "One of the Zoo."
Includes correspondence with editors of
Story, The Southern Review, The Virginia Quarterly Review, River, and The Townsman (London). Also includes proof layouts for advertisements in Signatures or Signatures announcements to appear in other publications.Includes correspondence regarding subscriptions or copyright, requests for information about or complimentary copies of
Signatures, questions from literary agents, and rejections from publishers declining the opportunity to assume publication of Signatures.One design (1935 Autumn) and numerous proofs for covers for the initial issue of Signatures. Dates for the proof covers include 1935 Winter, 1936 Jan, and 1936 Spring. Also includes a bill from The Dexter Press.
Folder of clippings, articles, and photocopies of material regarding Signatures. Includes two issues of
Commonwealth College Fortnightly (1935) and one issue of Manuscript News (1936).Consists of clippings and published items collected by Brinnin or Thompson.
Issue numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 of volume 1 of this magazine edited by D. L. Miller. The magazine focuses on Detroit, particularly cultural events, literature, and arts. Issue #3 includes John H. Thompson's essay, "Advice for Writers."
Includes articles about writers whose work was published in
Signatures, such as James T. Farrell, Waldo Frank, and Isidor Schneider. Articles about other writers or reviews of their work are collected for Elizabeth Bishop, James Thurber, Thomas Wolfe, Eugene O'Neill, Mikhail Sholokhov, Karl Shapiro, Theodore Roethke, and Katherine Mansfield.