Browse Items (151 total)

Telegram from Charles Merrill to James Merrill, taken from "The Immortal Husband" scrapbook in the James Merrill Papers. The telegram includes advice on how to take failure if the play is not "a hit."

A childhood note Merrill wrote to Leila "Zelly” Howard, his governess. This note was among the collection of notes and artwork which Howard's daughter sent back to Merrill as a set in 1977, after Zelly died.

James Merrill letter to Hellen Ingram Merrill with a poem draft inspired by Hans Lodeizen, shortly after his death. This later turned into "The Country of a Thousand Years of Peace," a pastoral elegy that imagined a world "under the world."

This James Merrill postcard to David Jackson is one of the first mentions of Jackson in Merrill's Papers. The postcard was written shortly after they first met, and Merrill is wondering when he will see Jackson again.

Typed letter from James Merrill to his mother Hellen Ingram Plummer, explaining the spirit Ephraim and what Merrill is learning about patrons, representatives, and other topics.

James Merrill letter to David Jackson with a poem, drawings, and a photo Merrill made for Jackson's 40th birthday.

James Merrill letter to Daryl Hine describing his and David Jackson's latest sexual partner. Merrill mentions his new relationship with Strato Mouflouzelis and also complains of spiritual and historical debates with Tony Harwood.

See also Journal…

James Merrill letter to Daryl Hine including Merrill's realization that he's using psychoanalytic thinking as a tool for enchantment rather than demystification, making life and art even more intertwined (see also "Under Libra" draft).

James Merrill letter to Tony Parigory discussing typing the Ouija transcripts to make a prose memoir. Merrill also mentions his problem of losing the novel manuscripts.

James Merrill letter to Peter Hooten written in Key West to be read when Hooten wakes up. Merrill is begging Hooten to "get a hold of [his] feelings" and states that "the only permitted feeling is loyal clear-eyed love." This is one of the first…