There are no restrictions on access to the collection.
Copyright retained by the creator.
Robert Bly Photographs series (Mss 81_s13), Literary Manuscripts Collection, University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis.
Collection was acquired from the creator in 2006, with additional accruals beginning in 2007.
The collection was processed and finding aid written in 2010 by Ann Mulfort, with the support of student assistants, Sarah Marrone and Kerry Ritterbusch.
To maintain Robert Bly's original order of usage of the documents, his file contents and titles were retained, where possible. Therefore, if the contents of one file include materials from multiple series, they are located with Bly's original organization of the materials. For example, the file entitled: "Don Hall's comments on 'Light Around the Body'" is found in the Poetry manuscripts series, because it includes revisions to his poetry, but also includes some correspondence from Hall which provides context for the revisions.
Robert Bly's career includes many vocations, and the series designations reflect this diversity. Because of his varied career, there is much crossover in the materials of this collection. Researchers are encouraged to review the descriptions of each series carefully.
The files are organized based on what is contained in the majority of the materials for each file. For instance, when most of the items in a particular file contain translated poetry and prose, they are located in the Translations series. When most of the items in a file embody publishing and editing work in translation, they are located in the Publishing and Editing series. Therefore, to study poetry translations as a publishing business venture, researchers are encouraged to review both series.
The collection is organized into eighteen series. Because of the extent of information in the collection, each series is described in a separate finding aid. Please click on the desired series below for a full description of materials contained in it.
To return to the Main finding aid, see:
For details of Robert Bly's biography, see:
This series includes both loose positive and negative photographs and slides in black and white and color. In addition, photograph albums beginning with Robert Bly's parents, Jacob and Alice (Aws) Blys' collections from the 1900s through Robert Bly's childhood to adult photographs of Bly in 2007 are found in this series. Many family photographs, including the Bly family trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota and Mount Rushmore (under construction) in 1937, as well as the wedding photograph of Robert and Carol Bly in 1955 are contained in the series.
The series is arranged in two subseries to reflect the manner in which the photographs were received in the Archives. Loose photographs were discovered throughout the collection, and separate photograph albums were also received. The photographs in the albums were removed for separate storage, and the albums were retained in the Personal series.
Strict chronology is not found in this series, as many of the photographs were received without dates or other documentation. In addition, the photograph albums were not necessarily created in chronological order.
For information about Robert Bly in other collections held at the
University of Minnesota Libraries; Manuscripts Division, see:
In addition, an online presentation of some materials in the Robert
Bly papers can be found here:
Robert Bly has written copiously to many notable people. For an
extensive search of letters written by him, as well as other items in
additional collections, researchers may consult the
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.
The following section contains a detailed list of the materials in the series.
This series includes both loose positive and negative photographs and slides in black and white and color. In addition, photograph albums beginning with Robert Bly's parents, Jacob and Alice (Aws) Blys' collections from the 1900s through Robert Bly's childhood to adult photographs of Bly in 2007 are found in this series. Many family photographs, including the Bly family trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota and Mount Rushmore (under construction) in 1937, as well as the wedding photograph of Robert and Carol Bly in 1955 are contained in the series.
The series is arranged in two subseries to reflect the manner in which the photographs were received in the Archives. Loose photographs were discovered throughout the collection, and separate photograph albums were also received. The photographs in the albums were removed for separate storage, and the albums were retained in the Personal series.
Strict chronology is not found in this series, as many of the photographs were received without dates or other documentation. In addition, the photograph albums were not necessarily created in chronological order. Every attempt was made to arrange the photographs chronologically.