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Allen Ginsberg Collection
Manuscript Collection 322
Description:
Publications and materials, 1957-1988.
6 cubic ft.
Organization: Series by topic.
Literary magazines, correspondence, posters, and broadsides.
Introduction
Acclaimed poet Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) was born in Newark, N.J.
and was raised in Paterson, N.J., where his father, Louis Ginsberg,
himself a poet, taught high school English. Allen Ginsberg's mother
was confined for years in a mental hospital. He mourned for her in his
long poem titled Kaddish (1961). In 1943, while attending Columbia University,
Ginsberg befriended Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs, who later established
themselves as significant contributors to the Beat Movement. After leaving
Columbia in 1948, Mr. Ginsberg traveled widely and worked at a number
of jobs, including cafeteria floor mopper to market researcher.
In 1956, Allen Ginsberg's first published book of poetry, Howl and
Other Poems, lamented what he believed to have been the destruction
by insanity of the "best minds of [his] generation." Expressive
and raw with honesty, the poem revealed Ginsberg's opinions on homosexuality,
drug addiction, Buddhism, and his revulsion from what he saw as the
materialism and insensitivity of post-World War II America.
Ginsberg began a life of ceaseless travel, reading his poetry at campuses
and coffee bars, traveling abroad, and engaging in left-wing political
activities. Empty Mirror, Kaddish and Other Poems and Reality Sandwiches
were all published in the early 1960s. He became an influential guru
of the American youth counterculture in the late 1960s. He acquired
a deeper knowledge of Buddhism, and increasingly a religious element
of love for all sentient beings entered his work.
His later volumes of poetry included Planet News (1968); The Fall of
America: Poems of These States, 1965-1971 (1972), which won the National
Book Award and White Shroud: Poems 1980-1985 (1986).
Allen Ginsberg died of a heart attack while suffering from liver cancer
on April 5, 1997 in New York City.
Sources: Encyclopedia Britannica Online and the Gale Literary Database
Contemporary Authors.
Collection Note
In 1989, Mr. Harry A. Cuttler donated over 90 magazines and monographs
authored by and related to Allen Ginsberg. The collection also contains
an assortment of materials donated to and acquired by Stony Brook University
over the years. The six cubic feet of material provides insight into
the literary and personal life of Allen Ginsberg. It is comprised of
posters, correspondence, newspaper clippings, periodicals, and broadsides.
It consists of five series: Literary Magazines, Newspaper Articles,
Correspondence, Multimedia, and Literary Broadsides, Posters and Oversized
Printed Materials .
Items housed in acidic or metal housings have been removed from these
housings for preservation reasons. These materials have been placed
in acid free folders and containers. All metal clips have been removed
and replaced, in accordance with accepted archival standards of preservation.
Series I: Literary Magazines
Box 1: A through Caterpillar
American Review, 16, 1973
Big Sky, No. 1, 1971 / Big Sky, No. 2, 1972
Big Table, 2, 1959
Big Table, 3, 1959
Big Table, 4, 1960
Birth, No. 3, Bk. 1, 1960
Boss, Summer, 1966
Boston University Journal, XXVI, 1977
Bust, No. 1, 1968
The Cambridge Review, No. 6, 1956
Caterpillar, 3/4, 1968
Caterpillar, 13, 1970
Box 2: Chirmo through Damascus
Chirmo, 1968
City Lights Journal, No. 1, 1963
City Lights Journal, No. 2, 1964
City Lights Journal, No. 4, 1978
The Coldspring Journal, n.d.
El Corno Emplumado, 17, 1966
The Cottonwood Review, Nov. 1966
The Cottonwood Review, Vol. 4, No. 1, 1967
Coyote's Journal, 5&6, 1966
Damascus Road, 1, 1961
Box 3: Evergreen through New Departures
Evergreen Review, No. 2, 1957
Evergreen Review, No. 4, 1957
Evergreen Review, No. 8, 1959
Evergreen Review, No. 10, 1959
Evergreen Review, No. 11, 1960
Evergreen Review, No. 18, 1961
Hika, Vol. 28, No. 3, Spring/Summer, 1966
Hudson Review, Vol. 32, No. 1, Spring, 1979
Kulchur, Spring, 1960
Madness: Poems of Ray Bremser, Intro by Allen Ginsberg, 1965
Naropa Institute Newsletter, 1977
New Departures, Nos. 2/3, 1960
Box 4: New York through Stony Brook
New York Quarterly, No. 6, Spring, 1970
Nomad New York, 10/11, 1962
Olympia, No. 1, 1962
Pa' Lante New Writing: Cuba/Ivan/USA, 1962
Partisan Review, Summer, 1959
The Paris Review, 37, 1966
The Paris Review, 50, 1968
Pennsylvania Literary Review, 1960
Poetry, Vol. 103, No. 4, 1964
Residu, 1:1, Spring, 1965
Some/thing, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1966
Stony Brook, 1/2, Fall, 1968
Box 5: Underdog through Yugen & Miscellaneous
Underdog, No. 7, 1965
Unmuzzled Ox, Vol. 1, No. 4, 1972
Unmuzzled Ox, Vol. 3, No. 2, 1975
Wagner, Spring, 1950
West Hills Review, Issue No. 1, 1979
Yugen, 5, 1959
Yugen, 7, 1961
Misc. Articles, Publications, Magazines, Etc.
Oversized Literary Magazines
Box 6: Avant through F*** You
Avant Garde, 14, 1971
Bananas, No. 20, April 1980/Bastard Angel, Spring 1972
Bastard Angel, Spring 1972
Brown Paper: An Occasional Magazine of Poetry, 1966
Columbia College Today, Spring/Summer 1981
The Dessert Review, Spring 1964
East Side Review, Jan/Feb 1966
Evergreen Review, No. 36, June 1965
Evergreen Review, Vol. 10, No. 40, 1966
Evergreen Review, No. 42, Aug. 1966
Evergreen Review, Vol. 11, No. 46, 1967
The Free A & A, No. 1, 1969
The Floating Bear, No. 21, 1962
F*** You Magazine of the Arts, No. 5, Vol. 7, Sept. 1964
Grist, No. 8, 1966
Box 7: Intrepid through WIN
Intrepid, 10 and 11/12, 1968 & 1969
Journal for the Protection of All Beings, No. 4, Fall 1978
Klacto, 23, 1967
Latitudes, Vol. 1, No. 2, Summer 1967
Mediterranean Review, No. 2, Winter 1971
The Paris Magazine, October 1967
New Age, Vol. 8, No. 11, June 1983
Playboy, January 1967
Saturday Morning (NYC Issue), Vol. II, No. 1 & 2, Summer 1978
The Second Coming Magazine, July 1961
Neurotica, Spring 1950
A Shout in the Street, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1976
Sinapse, 3, January 1965
Win, March 3, 1977
Series II: Newspaper Articles
Box 8
"Ginsberg in Warsaw," International Herald Tribune, Saturday
& Sunday, September 13 & 14, 1986
"& Violets Are Blue: On Father's Day, The Ginsberg's 2,"
The New York Times, Sunday, June 16, 1974
"A Reading and a Mourning," The New York Times Book Review,
October 23, 1977
"Allen Ginsberg: Some Things Have Changed," San Francisco
Chronicle, Thursday, August 31, 1978
"Poet as Mirror of Our Age," The New York Times, n.d.
"Come all Ye Brave Boys," The Toy Sun, January 1, 1976
"Ginsbergs in Great Neck: An Odd Night, A Good Class," North
Shore Community Section (of Great Neck Record, Port Washington News,
Manhasset Press, Roslyn News, and Glen Cove Record Pilot), Thursday,
November 27, 1969
"Ginsberg Visited Too Late," Artist's Forum, Vol. 1, No. 1,
April 1977
"Times Past at the Beat Hotel," The Paris Metro, August 16,
1978
"Ginsberg Asks 44 Questions About Leary," Berkeley Barb, Vol.
20, No. 10, Issue 475, September 20 to 26, 1974
Series III: Correspondence
Box 9
Cuttler, Harry
Letter from David McReynolds, 1977
Ginsberg, Edith (Allen Ginsberg's Stepmother)
Postcard from Allen Ginsberg, 1976
Postcard from Allen Ginsberg, 1988
Ginsberg, Louis (Allen Ginsberg's Father)
Newspaper Clipping of Poem, "Emily" by Louis Ginsberg
Clipping of Poem, "Atlantis" by Louis Ginsberg, Minnesota
Review, Winter 1966
Newspaper Clipping of "Keep An Open Mind" by Louis Ginsberg,
Paterson Eve News
Leary, Timothy
Uncorrected proofs of Epilogue inserted in second printing of "The
Politics of Ecstacy" by Timothy Leary. Essay reached publisher
too late for inclusion in the first edition.
2 postcards from Allen Ginsberg to William Targ
Original typed copy of A. Ginsberg's "Remarks Concerning Timothy
Leary's Politics of Ecstacy," with Allen Ginsberg's seal at close
McReynolds, David, War Resisters League
Gallery Announcement of Wynn Chamberlain, with an essay by Allen Ginsberg
Letter on Naropa Institute letterhead
3 postcards
Copy of Plutonian Ode
Copy of undated material from F.B.I. files
Letter to Harry Cuttler on back of a Photograph
Correspondence with Bill Morgan
2 Letters and 1 Postcard from Allen Ginsberg regarding the War Resisters
League; 1 Letter to Harry Cuttler
Letter to Harry Cuttler including envelope with "No Nukes!"
with a doodle by A. Ginsberg over Einstein stamp
Orlovsky, Peter (A. Ginsberg's Partner)
Naropa Institute Postcard from Allen Ginsberg to David McReynolds,
mention of P. Orlovsky, 1979
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Gotham Book Mart Postcard from Peter Orlovsky to David McReynolds, 1978
Letter to Ralph (?), with copy of "Love Poem" to A.J. Muste
Letter to Peter Orlovsky from David McReynolds (?), and letter from
David McReynolds to H. Cuttler
Miscellaneous Letters and Papers
3 Letters; 2 addressed to Bill (?), and 1 without address
Miscellaneous Correspondence (2 letters in leather folio)
Letter to Mr. Targ
Letter to Bill (?)
Series IV: Multimedia
Box 10
Phonograph Recording, "Howl and Other Poems: Read by Allen Ginsberg,"
n.d.
Television Program, New York Channel 13 (PBS), on magnetic tape includes
Samuel Beckett (McGowran) sec. cliches (about halfway)
Phonograph Recording, "Pull My Daisy" (from the "No More
Walls" album); includes "Going North" by David Avram
(from the "No More Walls" album)
Photographs
Poster Card, 1967
Photograph, 1978?
3 Photographs from David McReynolds of Allen Ginsberg at book signing
(?) with letter to Harry Cuttler
Miscellany
Printing Plate: Vietnam "Vote McGovern" Chain Letter from
David McReynolds and The War Resisters League
Series V: Literary Broadsides, Posters, and Oversized Printed
Materials
Shelved in Mapcase
"A Strange New Cottage in Berkeley," Literary Broadside,
Allen Ginsberg (signature), from an edition of 300 copies printed at
the Grabhorn Press, San Francisco, Woodcut by Robert La Vigne (signature)
"Consulting I Ching Smoking Pot Listening to the Fugs Sing Blake,"
Literary Broadside, Allen Ginsberg, June 1966
"Entering Kansas City High," Literary Broadside, Allen Ginsberg,
Formula Series No. 5, 1967, T. Williams, Publisher
"Guerilla Lovefare," Event Poster with Reading by Allen Ginsberg
in Detroit Michigan, Feb. 26, 1967 (encapsulated)
"It's War on All Fronts," Literary Broadside, Allen Ginsberg,
March 6, 1966
"Kral Majales," Literary Broadside, Allen Ginsberg, May 7,
1965
Robert La Vigne, "Art Exhibition at The Lion," San Francisco,
Promotional Poster written by Allen Ginsberg, 1958
"Who Be Kind To," Literary Broadside, Allen Ginsberg, June
10, 1965
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