Browse Items (151 total)

Journal 50 contains Merrill's last poem draft, called "The Next to Last Scene," scribbled down (without his glasses) the day before he died of a heart attack. It was unusual for Merrill to title the first draft of a poem in his notebook.

A draft of a letter to Merrill's mother, Hellen Ingram Plummer, to prepare her for the publication of his memoir,A Different Person, which contained elements of his life he knew would be unsettling to her.

A Ouija séance transcript regarding Wallace Stevens in the afterlife. This serves as one example of Merrill and Jackson frequently communicating with recently-deceased writers and friends, and also of the topics of literary vocation and sexual…

Journal 16 captures the visit to the Mayo Clinic during which Merrill was tested for HIV and received the diagnosis of HIV positive. The entry includes haikus, some of which would appear in "Prose of Departure," a 14-part haibun poem.

James Merrill's notes on a possible title for the Ouija trilogy, eventually titled "The Changing Light at Sandover."

Early holograph notes and drafts toward the poem that would become “18 W 11th St.” The poem regards his childhood NYC home, which was accidentally blown up by radicals living there and making homemade bombs in the basement.

Journal entry in which Merrill recounts his mother's discovery of his love affair with Kimon Friar.

Jim Boatwright, a.k.a. "the Colonel," was a professor at Washington and Lee University and editor of the literary magazine Shenandoah. Merrill had gotten to know Boatwright in Athens, although he also lived in Key West. Like Merrill, Boatwright died…

James Merrill's bronzed baby shoes.

James Merrill's silver baby cup and spoon from Tiffany & Co.