mss043 John Berryman Papers Manuscripts' staff and students University of Minnesota Libraries
University of Minnesota Libraries Minneapolis, MN 55455
EAD encoding by Leslie Czechowski, April 2004 English Berryman, John, 1914-1972 John Berryman Papers 1908-1972 University of Minnesota Libraries. Literary Manuscripts Collection, Manuscripts Division [mss] 57 cubic feet Collection contains manuscripts, notes, typescripts, galleys and proofs of works in poetry and prose. Also includes photographs, diaries, awards, financial records and other personal papers. Mss 43 English Mezzanine Administrative Information Restrictions on Access

Access restricted; written permission required; consult the archivist for further information.

 Copyright

Copyright retained by Berryman's family.

 Preferred Citation

John Berryman Papers (Mss 43), Literary Manuscripts Collection, University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis.

 Acquisition

Purchase, 1972.

 Processing Information

The collection was processed and the finding aid written by Craig Olson, student processors, and other Manuscripts' staff.

 Arrangement

The collection is roughly organized by material type including diaries, correspondence, prose, poetry, personal papers, photographs, etc.

 Notable Correspondents' List

This lists notable persons whose letters are located in Berryman's chronological correspondence. The list was created by staff as they processed the collection. The dates after the correspondents' name are the inclusive dates of letters; many correspondents also have undated letters.

Aiken, Conrad 1959-1968 Arrowsmith, William 1943 Auden, Wystan Hugh 1939 Arendt, Hannah 1948 Bellow, Saul 1952-1971 Benet, Stephen Vincent [undated] Bently, Eric 1960 Bishop, Elizabeth 1945-1949, 1968-1970 Bishop, John Peale 1939 Blackmur, Richard P 1936-1943 Bly, Robert 1956-1959 Brandt, Joseph A. 1946 Brinnen, John 1939 Brooks, Cleanth 1937-1939 Bynner, Witter 1959 Campbell, Bhain 1938-1945 (plus many undated) Carruth, Hayden 1949 Cavett, Dick 1970 Cerf, Bennett 1935-1939 Chase, Mary Ellen 1943 Cowley, Malcolm 1935-1971 Creeley, Robert 1950, 1961 Damon, Samuel Foster 1967 Decker, James A. 1939 De Joug, David C. 1940 Deutsch, Babette 1940 DeVries, Peter 1939 Dickey, James 1957-1958, 1970-1971 Dillon, George 1939, 1948 Eberhart, Richard 1939-1940 Engle, Paul 1947-1949 Fadiman, Clifton 1945, 1959 Faulkner, William 1956 Fitts, Dudley 1959, 1964 Fitzgerald, Robert 1952-1966 (plus many undated) Fraser, Donald 1971 Giroux, Robert 1936-1971 (bulk 1964-1971) Gray, C. H. 1945 Greenberg, Alvin 1959 Greenberg, Martin 1948, 1959 Harris, Mark 1956 Hardwick, Elizabeth 1949 Hook, Sydney 1951 Howe, Irving 1947, 1965 Humphrey, Hubert 1971 Hutchens, John E. 1947 Jarrell, Randall 1946-1948 Justice, Don 1954-1965 Kazin, Alfred 1954 Kennedy, Edward M. 1971 Knopf, Alfred, Jr. 1949 Krutch, Joseph Wood 1936 Lee, Lawrence 1939 Lowell, Robert [a.k.a. "Cal"] 1946-1970 Lyons, Eugene 1942 Lytle, Andrew 1963 Maas, Willard 1939 Mailer, Norman 1951 McCarthy, Eugene 1969 Merriam, Eve 1940 Merwin, Bill 1956, 1971 Miller, Merle 1947-1948 Moon, Bucklin 1947-1949 Moore, Marianne 1949, 1953 Moos, Malcolm 1969-1971 Moss, Howard 1958 Naftalin, Arthur 1968 Oates, Whitney J. 1949-1953 Palmer, J. E. 1946-1948 Parkman, Francis 1939 Patchen, Kenneth 1939 Phillips, William 1947-1948 Pound, Ezra 1947-1949 Pound, Omar (Ezra's son) 1947 Powers, James Farl 1960 Rago, Henry 1963-1966 Rahv, Phillip 1939-1956 Ransom, John Crowe 1939-1951 (plus many undated) Rich, Adrienne 1968-1970 Roethke, Theodore 1939-1958 Santayana, George 1951 Schoren, Mark 1963 Schwartz, Delmore 1939-1949 Schwartz, Gertrude 1943-1944 Shapiro, Karl 1939-1952, 1969 Sharp, Paul F. 1970-1971 Snyder, Gary 1969 Stafford, Jean 1947-1948 Stephan, Ruth 1948 Stevens, George 1939 Stewart, George W. 1946 Steihl, Harry 1963-1966 Swallow, Alan 1942-1949 Swan, Emma 1940-1967 (bulk 1940-1942) Tate, Allen 1936-1971 Thomas, Dylan 1938 Untermeyer, Louis 1947-1949 Van Doren, Mark 1934-1971 Van Gelder, Robert 1944 Wang, Arthur W. 1963 Warren, Robert Penn 1936-1945 Weaver, Raymond Melbourne 1936 Weiss, Theodore 1948-1953 Wheelock, John Hall 1948 Whittemore, Reed 1970-1971 Williams, Oscar 1939-1963 (bulk 1939-1944) Williams, William Carlos 1939, 1951 Wilson, Edmund 1940-1959 Wilson, O. Meredith 1962-1965 Wright, James 1964 (not complete; noted as found) Yeats, William Butler 1936-1937 Ziebarth, W. W. 1967 Other Finding Aid

An unpublished, detailed finding aid is available in the archives.

 Biographical Note

American poet John Berryman was born in MacAlester, Oklahoma in 1914. He attended Columbia College for undergraduate study and Cambridge University on a graduate fellowship. He taught at Wayne State University (Detroit), Harvard, and Princeton before accepting a position in the Humanities Program at the University of Minnesota in 1955. He remained there until his death.

Berryman's early published poetry included <emph render="underline">Poems</emph> (1942) and <emph render="underline">The Dispossessed</emph> (1948). His 1964 book <emph render="underline">77 Dream Songs</emph> was awarded a Pulitizer Prize.He also won the National Book Award and the Bollingen Prize. He was elected a Fellow of The Academy of American Poets in 1966. He died in 1972 by throwing himself off a bridge in Minneapolis, MN.

Biographical information from The Academy of American Poets Web site.

Scope and Content Note

Collection contains manuscripts, notes, typescripts, galleys and proofs of works in poetry and prose. Also includes photographs, diaries, awards, financial records and other personal papers.

 Index Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Berryman, John, 1914-1972 Auden, W. H. (Wystan Hugh), 1907-1973 Bellow, Saul Dickey, James Jarrell, Randall, 1914-1965 Lowell, Robert, 1917-1977 Pound, Ezra, 1885-1972 Ransom, John Crowe, 1888-1974 Schwartz, Delmore, 1913-1966 Tate, Allen, 1899- Thomas, Dylan, 1914-1953 Van Doren, Mark, 1894-1972 Warren, Robert Penn, 1905- Yeats, W. B. (William Butler), 1865-1939 Poets, American--20th century--Sources Detailed Contents

The following section contains an overview of the materials in the collection. A detailed finding aid is available in the Manuscripts Division.

Diaries

Diaries 1942-1956 were returned to Eileen Berryman Simpson at the direction of Kate Berryman, 1976.

 Diaries 1931-1943 1 Diaries 1943-1949 2 Diaries 1950-1958 3 Diaries 1958-1964 4 Diaries 1965-undated 5 Correspondence

Correspondence is arranged into five sub-series: Chronological, Correspondence By Subject, Pulled Correspondence, Family Correspondence, E.M. Halliday Correspondence

 Correspondence--Chronological

A list of notable correspondents was created during the processing of this group of correspondence and is located in the narrative portion of this finding aid.

 Correspondence 1931-1936 1

11 folders; there is no correspondence for 1932

 Correspondence 1937 2

7 folders

 Correspondence 1938 3

6 folders

 Correspondence 1939 4

7 folders

 Correspondence 1940-1941 5

9 folders

 Correspondence 1942-April, 1943 6

8 folders

 Correspondence May, 1943-1944 7

6 folders

 Correspondence 1945-1947 8

8 folders

 Correspondence 1948-1949 9

7 folders

 Correspondence 1950-1953 10

9 folders

 Correspondence 1954 11

6 folders

 Correspondence 1955 12

7 folders

 Correspondence 1956 13

5 folders

 Correspondence 1957 14

7 folders

 Correspondence 1958 15

6 folders

 Correspondence 1959 16

6 folders

 Correspondence 1960 17

6 folders

 Correspondence 1961 18

6 folders

 Correspondence 1962-1963 19

8 folders

 Correspondence 1964 20

5 folders

 Correspondence 1965-June 1966 21

8 folders

 Correspondence July, 1966-1967 22

7 folders

 Correspondence 1968-August, 1970 23

7 folders

 Correspondence September, 1970-February, 1971 24

6 folders

 Correspondence March, 1971-1972, 1974 25

8 folders

 Correspondence [undated] 26-28 Correspondence by Subject

The subject arrangement was done by John Berryman.

 Ezra Pound 1947-1949, undated 29 Bhain Campbell 1938-1945, undated 29 Eileen Berryman undated 29 Bhain Campbell. Poems 1939, undated 29 Beryl Eeman. Correspondence 1941-42, undated 29

Moved to "B.E." boxes; under seal--closed to public indefinitely

 Dylan Thomas 1952-1954 29 Sally Appleton 30 Judy Koll 30 The Nation 1939-1940 30

Correspondents include David C. DeJong, Babette Deutsch, Eve Merriam, Karl Shapiro

 Guggenheim Fellowship 30 National Endowment for the Humanities 1971 30

Includes correspondent Hubert Humphrey

 Money, Projected 1971 30

Includes correspondent Malcolm Cowley

 Pulitzer Prize 1965 30 Yale University collection of Edmund Wilson's correspondence 30 James Laughlin collection of Berryman's letters 30 Pulled Correspondence

The correspondence was pulled from material received May 23, 1975.

 Freedom of the Poet 1971 31 Berryman's teaching: Letter from former ftudent 1970 31 Love and Fame 1970-1971 31

Correspondents include Mark Van Doren

 Jill Berryman or other relation 1943-1957 31 India-Japan trip from Van Meter Ames 1958 31 BBC and KUOM (radio stations) 1959 31 Ralph Ross 1961 31 Edmund Wilson correspondence 31 Correspondence 19 31

Material deals with University of Minnesota business; includes correspndence with Dean Russell Cooper

 Family Correspondence Jill Berryman correspondence Dec. 1944, 1956-1972 32

Letters to and from Jill Berryman, John's mother. Primary correspondents are Berryman's second wife, Ann, and his third wife, Kate. Also included are letters written by Paul Berryman as a child and one handwritten letter (23 February 1959) from John Berryman.

 John Berryman letters to Jill Berryman 1925-1939 32A

Pulled correspondence; there may be other, scattered letters in the chronological folders.

 John Berryman family correspondence (personal) Support correspondence regarding Paul Berryman 1960-61 33 Abbott Hospital correspondence between John and Kate Berryman 1961, 1964 33 Miscellaneous personal correspondence 33 John Berryman--E. M. Halliday Correspondence 1933-1963

Detailed listing of letters available in Archives.

 Prose: Stephen Crane 1950 Correspondence, notes and drafts 1 Drafts 2

Includes notebooks

 Drafts, manuscripts 3

Includes reviews of the book

 Prose: Shakespeare 1-3

Includes drafts, notes, clippings for unpublished work on the writings and life of Shakespeare

 Drafts, notes, clippings 1 Drafts, notes, etc. organized by play 2 Drafts, notes, etc. (unarranged) 3 Prose: Berryman's Shakespeare

These materials were received from Berryman's publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 2000. The book, published in 1999, was edited by John Haffenden; material in the book was from the John Berryman Papers and elsewhere.

 First pass page proofs 1 Final pass page proofs 2 Prose: King Lear

Includes notes and correspondence for an unpublished book.

 Notes, correspondence 1 Notes, correspondence 2 Prose: Recovery 1973 Correspondence, notes, journal, carbon typescript, reviews 1 Page proofs, corrected galleys, complete typescript 2 Corrected galleys, page proofs, scrapbook "Re-Entry" 3 Prose Nonfiction prose manuscripts, A-Mid (unpublished) 1 Nonfiction prose manuscripts, Mod-Z, incl. Misc. (unpublished) 2 Prose, Fiction (unpublished) 3 Plays (unpublished) 4 The Architect 4 Scarlet Letter (opera) 4 The Other House 4 Mirabeau 4 Easter Week 4 Katharine Nairn 4 [Untitled] 4 House Party in Maryland 4 'Ralph,' A Farce 4 "M" 4 The Dictator 4 October or Lenin 4 It's Been Real--Or--A Tree, A Tree 4 Cleopatra 4 [Untitled] 4 Prose (published) Arts of Reading, Babel's Mind 5 Arts of Reading: On Stephen Crane, "The Open Boat" 5 The Lovers 5 Thursday Out 5 The Imaginary Jew 5 3-1/2 Years at Columbia (semi-autobiographical) 5 The Case of Ring Lardner 5 Ring Larner's Desire 5 The World I Breathe by Dylan Thomas: "The Loud Hill of Wales," review 5 New Directions 1940. Ed by James Laughlin. Review 5 The Unfortunate Traveller. Thomas Nashe. Introduction by JB 5 Theodore Dreiser. by F. O. Matthiessen. Review: "Dreiser: Magnificence and Aftershine" 5 Shakespeare at Thirty 5 One Answer to Question or Changes 5 "From the Middle and Senior Generations" 5 The Poetry of Ezra Pound 5 "A Tribute to Ezra Pound" 5 F. Scott Fitzgerald 5 The Titan by Theodore Dreiser: "Afterword" 5 The Making of a Poem by Stephen Spender: Review 5 The Long Way to MacDiarmid 5 The Last of the Provincials by Maxwell Geismar: Review 5 On Skunk Hour 5 The Text of Shakespeare 5 Despondency and Madness 5 Miscellaneous items 5 Miscellaneous Prose (unpublished) 6 Prose: The Freedom of the Poet [no #] Speeches, Lectures and Readings [1]

Includes notes, typescripts, correspondence, and clippings

 Published Poetry Delusions, etc. 1972 1

Includes typescripts, handwritten, notes, reviews, publications

 Sonnets 1967 1

Includes typescripts, handwritten, notes, reviews, publications

 Dispossessed 1948 1a

Includes correspondence, typescripts, handwritten, reviews, publications

 Homage to Mistress Bradstreet 1956 2

Includes correspondence, typescripts, handwritten, reviews, publications

 Selected Poems, 1938-1968 3

Includes page proofs, galley

 Five Young American Poets 1940 3

Includes typescripts, handwritten materials, drafts

 Poems 3

Includes typescripts, handwritten materials, drafts

 His Thought Made Pockets and the Plane Buckt 1958 3

Includes correspondence, typescripts, handwritten, typescript drafts, notes, publications

 Miscellaneous 3

Includes typescript and handwritten drafts, proofs

 Two Poems 1942 3

Publication, notes, proofs

 "Prisoner of Shark's Island" (published in 77 Dream Songs) 3

Handwritten

 Short Poems 1967 3

Includes reviews

 Love and Fame 1970 4

Includes typescripts, handwritten, correspondence, notes, proofs, galleys, clippings, reviews

 77 Dream Songs 1964 5

Includes typescripts, handwritten, correspondence, notes, proofs, galleys, clippings, reviews

 Henry's Fate 1977 6

Includes publications, reviews, galley, notes

 Published Poetry: His Toy, His Dream, His Rest 1968

2 boxes; includes typescripts, handwritten, correspondence, notes, proofs, galleys, clippings, reviews

 Unpublished Dream Songs Handwritten drafts, notes 1 Handwritten drafts, notes 2

Handwritten items arranged alphabetically by first line; carbons arranged alphabetically by first line

 Unpublished Miscellaneous Poetry Handwritten drafts, notes, fragments 1

Includes "Ritual at Arlington," "Twenty-Five Poems"

 Handwritten drafts, notes, fragments 2

Includes "Proemio and Che"

 Prose: St. Pancras Braser (unpublished)

Includes typescripts, notes, handwritten, clippings, lists regarding dream analysis

 Teaching Notes/Class Files Lecture notes, syllabi, students papers, class lists, notes 1 Lecture notes, syllabi, students papers, class lists, notes 2 Syllabi, students papers 2a Lecture notes, syllabi, students papers, class lists, notes 3 College Papers

Includes reading lists (1 box)

 Articles Concerning Berryman 1936?-1974, [undated]

Includes articles, programs, typescripts, reprints (1 box)

 Newspaper Clippings Clippings, notes, pamphlets (folders 1-7) 1 Clippings, notes, pamphlets (folders 8-14) 2 (folders 15-27)? 3 Miscellaneous clippings 4 Periodicals (Collected by Berryman)

Includes broadsides, programs, catalogs, assorted literary magazines (1 box)

 Oversize Items

Includes diplomas, awards, prizes (1 box)

 Booksellers' Catalogs

1 box

 Oversize red box

Includes notes for Blue Book of Poetry, Blue Book of Prose (1 box)