Browse Items (41 total)

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."

James Merrill letter to Irma Brandeis explaining Psyche's realization in "From the Cupola," the drafts of which he had been sending to her (see also "From the Cupola" draft page).

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…

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.

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.

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.

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.

Draft of a letter to Tony Harwood about Merrill's beliefs on soul and spirituality. These would feed into "The Broken Home," "From the Cupola," and "Days of 1964."

Kimon Friar letter to James Merrill, airing his grievances and declaring simple friendship between them is impossible, coming after a decade of a "stiff, formal relationship" for the former lovers.

Letter from M.B. Ogle, Jr. to the members of the Purdue University philosophy department teaching staff, regarding Gass's lostOmensetter's Luckdraft. Gass later learned the draft had been stolen (along with an essay) by a colleague, who attempted to…