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National Poetry Foundation (University of Maine) Records

 Record Group
Identifier: UA RG 0030-003

Scope and Contents

The records mainly contain draft manuscripts of National Poetry Foundation publications, with corrections and editing by Foundation staff. The Foundation was a center for contemporary poets and scholars of poetry.

The record series Publication Records contains various drafts of National Poetry Foundation and some University of Maine Press of mostly monograph. For some publications there is also cover art work, publicity material, notes, and correspondence with the authors. Many of the publications were part of the "The Man and Poet Series".

The following record series contain draft manuscripts, correspondence with authors, notes, and some final published versions of National Poetry Foundation serial publications: Paideuma Records, Televort Records, Sagetrieb Records, The New York Quarterly Records, Pequod Records, and Origin Records. Also, for Paideuma there are administrative records relating to ads, research, permission forms, membership and subscription lists, and financial information. And for Sagetrieb there are subscription records.

The record series Conference & Events Records contains materials related to the National Poetry Foundation organized Eza Pound and H.D. conferences and the "Great Living Poets" summer events held on the University of Maine Orono campus. Also, includes material from other conferences attended by National Poetry Foundation staff, primarily on topics related to the poetry of Ezra Pound.

The record series Administrative records contains miscellaneous material, mostly created and curated by Carroll F. Terrell, related to the operations of the the University of Maine and English Department. Including items from various committees Terrell served on and proposals Terrell submitted to administrators and to grant bodies for research funding. Also, includes membership lists for the Ezra Pound Society.

The record series are Miscellaneous Works & Correspondence mostly contains draft manuscripts of works submitted to the National Poetry Foundation, without being clearly related to a specific Foundation publication. There is often correspondence with the authors accompanying the works. There is also a published copy of Ezra Pounds' "Je Rassemble Les Membres D'Osiris".

Dates

  • 1957-2003
  • Publication: 1972-1998

Creator

Restrictions on Access

Kept at Fogler Library's offsite storage facility. One week's notice required for retrieval.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Information on literary rights available in the repository.

Biographical / Historical

By embracing the experimental and extreme, the National Poetry Foundation (NPF) at the University of Maine has nurtured the development of poets whose innovative use of language has shaped modern poetry for more than three decades. Through its international conferences on modern poetry, its publications and journals, and its program of campus readings by nationally and internationally renowned poets, NPF continues to be one of the world's leading centers for contemporary poets and scholars of poetry. NPF was founded in 1971 by Carroll Franklin Terrell as a center dedicated to the study of the poetry of Ezra Pound. That year, the first issue of Paideuma: A Journal Devoted to Ezra Pound Scholarship was published by the foundation. It published James Wilhelm's seminal Dante and Pound in 1974, followed by book-length monographs on Pound scholarship. NPF has since examined the works of the Objectivist poets of the 1930s; the Black Mountain School poets and the San Francisco Renaissance poets of the 1950s and 1960s; the Language poets of the 1970s and 1980s; and the current generation of avant-garde poets.

Milestones include the 1986 publication of its best-seller, the influential anthology of Language poets, In the American Tree, edited by Ron Silliman, and the initiation of the scholarly journal, Sagetrieb: A Journal Devoted to Poets in the Imagist/Objectivist Tradition, Pequod: a Journal of Contemporary Literature and Literary Criticism, and a 5th series Origin which was first started in 1951 by Cid Corman, and the New York Quarterly, a magazine devoted to poetry first published in 1970 and edited by William Packard.

Extent

62 boxes

2 boxes (Half size boxes )

1 box (Card index size box)

1 box (Quarter size box)

Language of Materials

English

French

Additional Description

Arrangement

The Records Group is broken down intellectually into the following record series: 1. Publication Records, 2. Paideuma Records, 3. Conference & Event Records, 4. Televort Records 5. Sagetrieb Records, 6. The New York Quarterly Records, 7. Administrative Records, 8. Pequod Records, 9. Origin Records, and 10. Miscellaneous Works & Correspondence.

Intellectually the Publication Records series is arranged alphabetically into subseries by author name and publication title.

Intellectually the following series are chronologically into subseries by date of publication: Paideuma Records, Televort Records, Sagetrieb Records, The New York Quarterly Records, Pequod Records, and Origin Records.

Physically the boxes are arranged by publication, but the same publication can be split across different boxes. File names and dates were added and material was separated and divided into multiple sub-folders where necessary. Material is still to be rehoused into archival quality storage.

Box numbers have changed:

  1. Old Box #509 (New Box #1)
  2. Old Box #510 (New Box #2)
  3. Old Box #511 (New Box #3)
  4. Old Box #512 (New Box #4)
  5. Old Box #513 (New Box #5)
  6. Old Box #514 (New Box #6)
  7. Old Box #515 (New Box #7)
  8. Old Box #516 (New Box #8)
  9. Old Box #517 (New Box #9)
  10. Old Box #518 (New Box #10)
  11. Old Box #519 (New Box #11)
  12. Old Box #520 (New Box #12)
  13. Old Box #521 (New Box #13)
  14. Old Box #522 & 522a (New Box #14)
  15. Old Box #522a & #523 (New Box #15)
  16. Old Box #524 (New Box #16)
  17. Old Box #526 (New Box #22)
  18. Old Box #525 (New Box #23)
  19. Old Box #527 (New Box #24)
  20. Old Box #528 (New Box #25)
  21. Old Box #529 (New Box #26)
  22. Old Box #530 (New Box #27)

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Box 44, Folder 3 was donated to Special Collections as Accession #2021-0907b.

Boxes 59-64 were transferred to Special Collections as Accession #2007-0822a.

Appraisal

The processing archivist appraised the records and destroyed duplicate copies of items and financial invoices and payment information deemed not appropriate for permanent retention in Fogler Library’s Special Collections.

Accruals

Future accruals of National Poetry Foundation records are expected.

Related Materials

Researchers may also want to consult the Carroll Franklin Terrell Papers (UA RG 0011.054), Paideuma Records (UA RG 0030.002), Sagetrieb Records (UA RG 0030.001), and National Poetry Foundation records (UA RG 0030.003).

General

Formerly SpC MS 0360.

Processing Information

Processed by Matthew Revitt, May-September 2021 and December 2022, Raymond H. Fogler Library Special Collections Department. Processing involved a collection survey and the creation of this finding aid. Material still needs to be rehoused into appropriate archival folders and the boxes and folders numbered and titled using information from ArchivesSpace.

Subjects

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
University of Maine. National Poetry Foundation Records
Status
Completed
Author
Matthew Revitt
Date
September 23, 2021
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Raymond H. Fogler Library University Archives Repository

http://www.library.umaine.edu/speccoll
Contact:
5729 Raymond H. Fogler Library
University of Maine
Orono ME 04469-5729 United States
207-581-1686

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