Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Williams, William Carlos, 1883-1963
- Abstract:
- The Calas mss., 1939-1945 and 1967, consist of letters from William Carlos Williams, 1883-1963, poet, to Nicolas Calas, 1907-1989, art critic and educator. The material deals primarily with Williams' appraisal of Calas' critical writing and its effect on Williams' own work.
- Extent:
- 1 folio
- Language:
- Materials are in English .
- Preferred citation:
[Item], Calas mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
Background
- Biographical / Historical:
The Calas mss., 1939-1945 contains letters from poet William Carlos Williams (1883-1963) to art critic and teacher Nicholas Calas (1907-1989). Born in New Jersey, Carlos Williams attended the Horace Mann School and received a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1906. Throughout his life, he practiced medicine (general and pediatric) and wrote poetry, his first collection Poems appearing in 1909. He is known as an important figure in the aesthetic movements of modernism and imagism, alongside contemporaries like Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot. His works of note include Spring and All (1923), The Desert Music and Other Poems (1954), and Pictures from Brueghel and Other Poems (1962).
- Scope and Content:
The Calas mss., 1939-1945 and 1967, consist of letters from William Carlos Williams, 1883-1963, poet, to Nicolas Calas, 1907-1989, art critic and educator. The material deals primarily with Williams' appraisal of Calas' critical writing and its effect on Williams' own work. There is also considerable discussion of Calas' own poetry, which Williams had agreed to translate into English. Several of the letters discuss current projects of Williams, including the progress of Paterson. The collection includes a letter from Williams to Madeline Elise (Regnier) Boyd, a postcard to Calas from Carl Van Vechten, 1880-1964, author, and a letter to Calas from Mike Weaver, author. Weaver is author of William Carlos Williams: The American background (Cambridge, 1971), a work which discusses the literary relationship of Calas and Williams.
Collection size: 26 items
- Acquisition information:
- Purchase: 1976
- Physical location:
- Lilly - Folio
Indexed Terms
Access
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
This collection is open for research.
Many collections are housed offsite; retrieval requires advance notice. Please make an appointment a minimum of one week in advance of your visit.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
-
Photography and digitization may be restricted for some collections. Copyright restrictions may apply. Before publishing, researchers are responsible for securing permission from all applicable rights holders, then filling out the Permission to Publish form.
- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
[Item], Calas mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
- CAMPUS:
- Indiana University Bloomington
- LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
-
1200 East Seventh StreetBloomington, Indiana 47405-5500, USA
- CAMPUS:
- Indiana University Bloomington
- CONTACT:
-
(812) 855-2452liblilly@indiana.edu