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.