Personal fonds: description of the fonds level and one of its series and files.

Fonds level

• 3.1.1 Reference code(s)
  US WTU-MSS-12903958
• 3.1.2 Title
  Papers
• 3.1.3 Date(s)
  1955-1971.
• 3.1.4 Level of description
  Fonds
• 3.1.5 Extent and medium of the unit of description
  (quantity, bulk, or size) ca. 345 items
• 3.2.1 Name of creator(s)
  Meltzer, David
• 3.2.2 Biographical history
  Meltzer was born in Rochester, New York, but spent some of his youth as a rock musician in Boston and, in the late 1960's, in California. Meltzer has produced well over 50 books in little more than 25 years. An integral figure in the California small press scene of the 1960's and 1970's, Meltzer has published most of his books through small presses such as City Lights, Unicorn Press, and Robert Hawley's Oyez Press.
• 3.2.4 Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
  Purchased from C.A. Stonehill, 1969 (Acc. 11210); Purchased from Henry Wenning, 1969 (Acc. 11280); Gift of Henry Wenning, 1970(Acc. 11320); Purchase from C.A. Stonehill, 1970 (Acc. 11640); Purchase from Henry Wenning, 1971 (Acc. 12740); Gift of Henry Wenning, 1971(Acc. 12770); Gift of Henry Wenning, 1971 (Acc. 12830); Gift of Henry Wenning, 1971 (Acc. 12960), Gift of Henry Wenning, 1971 (Acc. 13100); Gift of Henry Wenning, 1971 (Acc. 13390); Gift of David Meltzer, 1972 (Acc. 13410); Gift of David Meltzer, 1973 (Acc. 13410)
• 3.4.3 Language/script of material
  English

Series level

• 3.1.1 Reference code(s)
  US WTU-MSS-12903958-I
• 3.1.2 Title
  General correspondence.
• 3.1.3 Date(s)
  1966-1969 (dates of accumulation)
• 3.1.4 Level of description
  Series
• 3.1.5 Extent and medium of the unit of description (quantity, bulk, or size)
  ca. 90 items.
• 3.3.1 Scope and content
  This series Consists of personal and professional correspondence including a large number of letters from Meltzer to the American bookseller Henry Wenning.
• 3.3.2 System of arrangement
  Arranged chronologically.
• 3.4.1 Conditions governing access
  Open
• 3.4.2 Conditons governing reproduction
  Published materials may be subject to copyright restrictions. Literary rights to unpublished writings of David Meltzer have been retained by the author and his estate.
• 3.4.5 Finding aids
  Container and folder list.

File level

• 3.1.1 Reference code(s)
  US WTU-MSS-12903958-II-2
• 3.1.2 Title
  Introduction
• 3.1.3 Date(s)
  ca. 1969-70
• 3.1.4 Level of description
  File
• 3.1.5 Extent and medium of the unit of description (quantity, bulk, or size)
  ca. 5 items.
• 3.3.1 Scope and content
  Consists of 5 Ts drafts of Introduction by Meltzer.
• 3.4.1 Conditions governing access
  Unrestricted.

Corporate fonds (organizational records): description of the fonds level and series level.

Fonds level

• 3.1.1 Reference code(s)
  US WTU-MSS-28421318
• 3.1.2 Title
  Perspective Magazine Archives
• 3.1.3 Date(s)
  1947-1980 (dates of accumulation)
• 3.1.4 Level of description
  Fonds
• 3.1.5 Extent and medium of the unit of description (quantity, bulk, or size)
  ca. 3600 items
• 3.2.1 Name of creator(s) Thurston, Jarvis; Van Duyn, Mona
  
• 3.2.2 Administrative history
  Perspective magazine was one of the more interesting literary magazines to emerge in the United States after World War II. It was founded in 1947 by Jarvis Thurston and his wife, the poet Mona Van Duyn, while they were teaching at the University of Louisville. When Thurston joined the English faculty of Washington University in 1950, the magazine moved with them to St. Louis. Thurston and Van Duyn operated the magazine, which appeared quarterly, from St. Louis for over twenty years until 1975, the date of Perspective's final issue. In 1982, the Washington University English Department produced a special dedicatory issue of Perspective. This issue, which honored Thurston on his retirement and featured new work by his former students and contributors, might be considered the magazine's true final issue. Perspective's 28-year run was quite lengthy, compared to most little magazines. What made Perspective important, however, was not the length of time it survived but the quality of the work it published. Thurston, Van Duyn, and the various other editors who worked on the magazine over the years demonstrated a keen eye for promising work by emerging poets and fiction writers. Authors whose work Perspective helped to introduce include William S. Merwin, Anthony Hecht, Douglas Woolf, Thomas McAfee, William Gass, Stanley Elkin, Donald Finkel, and Constance Urdang, the latter three serving on the editorial staff of the magazine for many years. And, as the list below indicates, Perspective's reputation as an important literary magazine helped it attract work from many of the most prominent authors of the time.
• 3.2.4 Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
  Archive acquired from Jarvis Thurston.
• 3.3.1 Scope and Content
  The Archives of Perspective consist of three major groupings. The first is a series of correspondence which includes a large group of business and general correspondence and two smaller groups of letters from Wallace Stevens and William Carlos Williams. The second, and largest, series is made up of the manuscripts, correspondence, and editorial matter for individual issues of Perspective. The final portion of the collection consists of the magazine's business records.
• 3.4.1 Conditions governing access
  Unrestricted.
• 3.4.2 Conditons governing reproduction
  Published materials may be subject to copyright restrictions. Literary rights to unpublished writings of Jarvis Thurston have been retained by the author and his estate. Republication rights for articles published in the journal retained by authors.
• 3.4.3 Language / scripts of material
  

  Series level

• 3.1.1 Reference code(s)
  US WTU-MSS-28421318
• 3.1.2 Title
  Material toward individual issues.
• 3.1.3 Date(s)
  1950-1974 (dates of accumulation)
• 3.1.4 Level of description
  Series
• 3.1.5 Extent and medium of the unit of description (quantity, bulk, or size)
  ca. 420 items
• 3.3.1 Scope and content
  Consists of correspondence, manuscripts, editorial matter, and miscellaneous materials relating to individual issues of Perspective.
• 3.3.2 System of arrangement
  Chronological.
• 3.4.1 Conditions governing access
  Unrestricted.
• 3.4.2 Conditions governing reproduction
  Published materials may be subject to copyright restrictions. Literary rights to unpublished writings of Jarvis Thurston have been retained by the author and his estate. Republication rights for articles published in the journal retained by authors.
• 3.4.5 Finding aids
  Container and folder list.