Anthologies edited John and Joan Digby, 1927-2008

Subseries I.A.5., Anthologies edited by John and Joan Digby, contains materials related to three Feral Press publications compiled jointly by the Digbys: Water Voyages (2002), Dancing to the Music of Poetry (2004) and Bird Collages (2007, 2008). The first, Water Voyages, was produced as seventeen pamphlets of seagoing and maritime poetry illustrated with collages by John Digby. The subseries includes the complete run of Water Voyages booklets as well as an index, a note on the keepsakes, and an essay, “The Maritime Collages of John Digby,” by naval historian William Dudley. Also included are proof copies and correspondence related to the anthology.

Dancing to the Music of Poetry is the most extensive project in the subseries and consists of twenty-one pamphlets of diverse poetry about music with collages and illustrations by John Digby. The subseries contains the full run of the pamphlets as well as associated mockup and layout materials, proofs, research materials, notes, and ephemera. Notable author permissions correspondence includes poets Philip Levine, John Heath-Stubbs, Patricia Goedicke, and Thomas M. Disch. Numerous collage source materials are found with the project, including piano charts from the 1927 Shefte’s Rapid Course in Modern Piano Playing. The subseries also contains some promotional flyers and other ephemera related to the debut of the project on July 18, 2004 at the Walt Whitman Birthplace Museum, an event that included choreographic dancing by Hyun-Ok Kim. Additionally, the subseries contains numerous photocopies of music-related short stories and prose pieces the Digbys gathered for a music-themed anthology that predated Dancing, but was never compiled. The subseries also contains a small amount of materials related to the Digbys’s Bird Collages anthology including two folders of original collages for the project.