Sir Joseph Gold literary manuscript collection

The Sir Joseph Gold literary manuscript collection comprises 1.6 linear feet of correspondence, manuscripts, publishing files, and publications of mid-twentieth century British and American poets, publishers, and scholars.

The collection includes material from notable figures representing several nationalities and literary schools; it contains a particularly significant amount of material by and about Black Mountain poets Ed Dorn (1929-1999) and John Wieners (1934-2002), as well as British poets Barry MacSweeney (1948-2000) and George MacBeth (1932-1992). The collection also includes typescripts by Beat poets Lawrence Ferlinghetti (born 1919) and Philip Whalen (1923-2002).

The collection was compiled by Sir Joseph Gold and contains materials that demonstrate his process as a collector. Many items throughout the collection are accompanied by documentation of the item's purchase and acquisition, and the correspondence in the collection also references prior and future purchases.

The Sir Joseph Gold literary manuscript collection is arranged in three series: I. Correspondence; II. Manuscripts and notebooks; and III. Publishing files and publications. Series I. contains incoming and outgoing correspondence of mid-twentieth century British and American poets, publishers, and scholars. Many of the letters are accompanied by enclosed manuscript material; topics among the literary correspondents include current projects, public readings, and publications. There is a significant amount of correspondence from Ed Dorn to John Wieners; between British poets George MacBeth and Michael Horovitz (born 1935); and both incoming and outgoing correspondence of British poet Barry MacSweeney (1948-2000). Also included is correspondence to Pound Press editor Peter Russell (1921-2003) from Ezra Pound's (1885-1972) friends and family members, including Omar Pound (1926-2010) and Olga Rudge (1885-1986), all of it related to or concerning Ezra Pound's activities between 1949 and 1950. Series I. also includes individual pieces of correspondence from Samuel Beckett (1906-1989), American poets Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) and Theodore Roethke (1908-1963), and British critic Bertrand Russell (1872-1970).

Series II. contains manuscripts and poetry notebooks, dating mostly from the 1960s and 1970s. The poetry notebooks of Goan writer Dom Moraes (1938-2004) and Barry MacSweeney, contain personal notes, sketches, and drafts of letters, in addition to handwritten poems. The work of MacSweeney is heavily represented in this series, which includes seven of his poetry notebooks and several manuscripts and typescripts. Series II. also contains signed manuscripts and typescripts of individual poems by authors such as Anthony Hecht (1923-2004), Elizabeth Jennings (1926-2001), Donald Justice (1925-2004), and David Wevill (born 1937), as well as an extensively corrected typescript of Un Regard sur le Monde, the French translation of Lawrence Ferlinghetti's Pictures of the Gone World (1955).

Series III. contains copies of publications as well as materials toward their production, including correspondence, manuscripts, typescripts, notes, and proofs. Publications found in Series III. include several hand-produced poetry books by Barry MacSweeney, poetry books of Tony Connor (born 1930), Roy Fisher (born 1930), Bertrand Russell, and Philip Whalen. Also included are six issues of The New English Weekly (London) dated 1933-1940. Publishing files are included for publications-in-process such as the Poetry Book Society's Bulletin number 56 (1968) as well as its 1967 Christmas supplement, Twelve Poets, which was edited by Charles Osborne (born 1927). There are also publishing files for early (1960-61) issues of the SUNY Buffalo literary magazine Audit, then under the editorship of founder Ralph Maud (born 1928). In addition to publication files for periodicals, Series III. also includes two typescripts for Braincandy, a collection of Whalen's poetry that was ultimately never published after Whalen withdrew it from Poet's Press in 1967 due to slow publication.