David Louis Posner papers

Collection

Identifier: MSS 0614

Staff Only

Scope and Content Note

The David Louis Posner papers span the dates 1923–1957, and consist of one linear foot of photographs, school records, letters, essays, invoices, rare book catalogs, ephemera, and poetry, prose, and play scripts. Though small and clearly incomplete as a record of Posner’s life, the collection provides good biographical and literary content for study of this American poet. The first series of the collection contains personal materials that consist of photographs and items related to David Posner’s education, including his early years at the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, his undergraduate years at Kenyon College and materials relating to various graduate programs. These education-related materials consist of progress reports, official letters, sports schedules, banquet invitations, essay exams, and graduation programs, and provide a detailed look at Posner’s early educational experiences. Letters from David’s father written between 1928 and 1951 are arranged chronologically. The letter dated August 1, 1950 includes a typescript copy of a letter by William Carlos Williams responding to David Posner’s poetry. The first series also includes various ephemera dating from 1931 – 1957, as well as invoices, catalogs and letters from American and British book dealers, which highlight Posner’s life-long interest in collecting first editions of literature.

The second series contains poetry, prose and play manuscripts. The many poetry manuscripts are divided between typescript and autograph copies because this was how the items were originally received. The typescript copies of poetry contain corrections written in David Posner’s hand.

Dates

Creation: 1923-1957

Creator

Posner, David Louis (Person)

Language of Materials

Materials entirely in English.

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Terms Governing Use andReproduction

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/

Biographical Note

American poet David Louis Posner was born August 6, 1921, in New York to Nell and Louis S. Posner.

Although his father was born in Britain, he worked as a lawyer on Wall Street and later became Commissioner of Education for New York City. In 1945, Posner received his B.A. from Kenyon College where he majored in French and in 1947 he received his M.A. in English Literature from Harvard. After studying at the Sorbonne, he worked for two years with Radio Diffusion Française interviewing famous personalities. During this time, he travelled extensively in Europe and pursued an interest in archeology. He accompanied an expedition searching for a Phoenician city in Libya and another working at the Palace of Minos in Crete. In 1953, Posner returned to formal academic pursuits and studied modern languages at Wadham College, Oxford. Posner’s poem, “The Deserted Altar,” won the Newdigate Prize for English Verse in 1956. From 1957-1969, Posner was an English instructor and Assistant Curator of Poetry at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He became an assistant professor of English at the University of California and remained there until 1973. He published seven books of poetry, including The Deserted Altar (1957), A Rake’s Progress: A poem in five sections (1967), Visit to the East (1971) and Geographies (1979). Posner was also a life-long collector of first editions of literature until his death in 1985.

Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2004. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: The Gale Group. 2004. Additional information acquired from materials in collection.

Extent

1 linear foot

Additional Description

Abstract

The David Louis Posner Papers span the dates 1923-1957, and consist of one linear foot of photographs, school records, letters, essays, invoices, rare book catalogs, ephemera, and poetry, prose, and play scripts. Though small and clearly incomplete as a record of Posner’s life, the collection provides good biographical and literary content for study of this American poet.

Source

Purchase, July 2005.

Shelving Summary

Box 1: Shelved in SPEC MSS record center cartons

Processing

Processed by Karalee Kopreski, September 2005. Encoded by Thomas Pulhamus, March 2010. Further encoding by Lauren Connolly, July 2015, and Tiffany Saulter, December 2015.