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Scope and Contents |
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The archive of The Little Magazine,
1965-1988, comprise the correspondence, manuscripts, production files, and
business records of a major literary "little
magazine" which in the two decades from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s
published a significant body of contemporary American poetry and creative prose. |
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Three series form the archive of the periodical: Correspondence, 1966-1988 (8 boxes);
Manuscripts and Production Files, 1966-1987 (6 boxes); and Business Records,
1965-1988 (7 boxes). The materials have been maintained largely in the arrangement
received, but some reorganization within and between files has been undertaken
where
the materials were clearly mixed. |
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Of the three series the first, Correspondence, is the largest and potentially the
most important. Substantial numbers of letters from Peter Wild, Albert Goldbarth,
and other significant American writers are represented in the series. While most
of
the correspondence is concerned with specific pieces submitted to the magazine,
matters of general intellectual and literary import are raised throughout. |
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The second series, Manuscripts and Production Files, is the most easily characterized
portion of the archives, comprising as it does the original manuscripts of a large
majority of the works published by The
Little Magazine. Apart from the pasteup of volume 14 and a few
unpublished manuscripts these edited manuscripts comprise the entirety of the
series. |
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The third series is the most varied in the archive--the Business Records comprise
a
wide span of material ranging from statements of editorial policy to correspondence
with printers and distributors to a large mass of subscription records. The Little Magazine's relationship to
the Coordinating Council of Literary Magazines (CCLM) and the Committee of Small
Magazine Editors & Publishers (COSMEP), as well as efforts to secure grant
funding, are also delineated in this series. |
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Series Descriptions |
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Series I. Correspondence, 1966-1988 (8 boxes) |
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The series is arranged in two subseries: Correspondence with Contributors and
Business Correspondence. The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by
correspondent in each subseries, and represents the entire existence of
The Quest and The Little Magazine, though
the period after the mid-1970s is somewhat less well represented. Very
little outgoing correspondence from the magazine (save a few carbons) is
included in the series. Typically there are perhaps a half-dozen letters
from each correspondent, though there are many more from some. |
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Correspondence from contributors represents a wide range of poets (most
particularly, though fiction writers are included) active in America in the
years of the magazine's life. Correspondence from Albert Goldbarth, Colette
Inez, James Kates, Gerard Malanga, Joyce Carol Oates, Henry H. Roth, Francis
Sullivan, and Peter Wild--among many others--is to be found. In addition to
his correspondence, a number of C. W. Truesdale's manuscripts are included in
the series, as is some correspondence of the 1974 Women's Poetry Festival,
an event sponsored by the magazine. |
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Of the editors of The Little
Magazine, Alexis Levitin is best represented in the
series--there are a substantial number of letters he wrote to the other
editors of the magazine in the late 1960s after Levitin's departure from New
York City. Tom Beeler's outgoing letters (mostly carbons) to a wide range of
correspondents also survive in the two subseries, where they are filed under
recipients' names. |
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Series II. Manuscripts and Production Files, 1966-1987 (7 boxes) |
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Contains most (perhaps 80%) of the manuscripts actually published by The Little Magazine. Only
volumes 3 and 14 are not represented in the series. In nearly all cases the
manuscripts are those submitted by the authors, marked editorially for the
printer's use. There are no galleys in the series and only v. 14 (together
with parts of v. 2, 8, 9, and 10) are represented by pasteups. A few
unpublished manuscripts are also included in the series; other manuscripts
(mostly fragmentary) are filed with the correspondence in Series I. Some
related correspondence with printers and quotations and invoices are found
in Series III. Subseries B. |
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Series III. Business Records, 1965-1988 (7 boxes) |
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Represents a wide range of materials dealing with the foundation and nature
of the magazine, including manufacture and distribution of issues. The
series comprises four subseries. Subseries A. Editorial Policy and Aims (1
box), is strongest in demonstrating the formation of the magazine, its
attempts to state a purpose, and its promotion. A group of manifestoes
(manuscript and printed) and statements outline the magazine's view of
itself, while its self-promotion is demonstrated most clearly in its
exchange ad campaign. Correspondence, proof ads, and form letters are also
represented. This subseries is strongest for the years before 1970, though
materials relating to the magazine's National Endowment for the Arts grant
(1978) is included. |
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Subseries B. Production and Distribution Files (1 box), is a collection of
statements, invoices, and quotations from several printers, Bernhard DeBoer
(the magazine's distributor), Xerox, and the U.S. Copyright Office. These
records given considerable insight into the problems involved in
manufacturing and distributing a literary "little
magazine" in the period. |
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The third subseries, Professional Association, comprises materials relating
the Coordinating Council of Literary Magazines grant received by the
magazine in the late 1970s, together with David Hartwell's membership on the
1980 Nebula Awards jury. A group of Committee of Small Magazine Editors
& Publishers and CCLM and related newsletters completes the series. |
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Subseries D. Subscription Records, amounts to four boxes of invoices and
other subscription records, arranged by agent or invoice number. The
subseries appears to be a largely complete record of the magazine's
subscriptions. The fifth and final subseries comprises a miscellany of
stationery and other printed forms (including proofs), minor miscellaneous
printed matter, and microfilm copies of v. 8 and 10 of the periodical
received from Xerox. |
