Exhibit Items from the 1960s

20. ARTISTS' THEATRE. FOUR PLAYS
    Edited by Herbert Machiz.
    New York: Grove Press, Inc./London: Evergreen Books Ltd., [1960]
    Gift of William Matheson in memory of Charles Winston.
    
    Stiff white wrappers printed in black, red and lavender. Evergreen original E-221.

    The volume includes James Merrill's one-act play "The Bait", first produced by the Artists' Theatre in New York City in May 1953; the play was presented by the BBC on its Third Programme two years later.

    Herbert Machiz, who directed all the plays in their premier performances, contributes an introduction. The three other plays are "Try! Try!" by Frank O'Hara, "The Heroes" by John Ashbery, and "Absalom" by Lionel Abel.
    
    
    

21. COROT 1796-1875. AN EXHIBITION OF HIS PAINTINGS AND GRAPHIC ARTS.
    [Chicago]: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1960.
    
    Stiff white wrappers, printed in black with a multi-color reproduction of the Corot painting "View of Genoa" on the front cover.
    
    Accompanied by autograph and typescript drafts of the essay, 48 pages.

    Merrill has contributed an introductory essay to the exhibit catalog entitled "Notes on Corot," which opens with the statement: "The writer will always envy the painter."
    
    
    

22. FROM A NOTEBOOK
    [no place: no publisher, 1960]
    Limited to 120 copies. This copy from the James Dickey Collection.
    
    Broadside, 7"x 3 1/2".
    White card stock printed in black.
    Published by James Merrill as a private New Year Greeting for 1961.

    Washington University is fortunate to have two copies of this fragile piece. Interestingly, our second copy bears evidence of the date of publication. Accompanying the poem is the envelope in which the greeting was mailed to his good friend, Thomas Howkins, postmarked from Italy November 26, 1960.
    
    
    

23. SELECTED POEMS
    [London]: Chatto and Windus/The Hogarth Press, 1961.
    First edition. Phoenix Living Poets Series.
    
    Brick orange textured paper over boards; gold stamped phoenix on front cover; title, author and publishers' initials printed in gold on spine; off-white endpapers; vivid yellow dust jacket printed in reddish-brown and black, featuring the phoenix logo. This copy signed by James Merrill on the front free endpaper.

    The Merrill Papers include an interesting correspondence with the publishers in which the poems to be included are discussed. The editors involved were Norah Smallwood and C. Day Lewis although James Merrill made the final selection.

    Coming as it does between his two major U.S. collections, Selected Poems is made up of poems from The Country of a Thousand Years of Peace and Water Street, with five earlier poems from First Poems, some of which have been revised, including a variant final line in The Black Swan. One poem, "Landscape with Torrent" appears to be uncollected elsewhere.
    
    
    

24. POET'S CHOICE
    Edited by Paul Engle and Joseph Langland.
    New York: The Dial Press, 1962
    
    Dark red cloth over boards; title, editors and publisher printed in gold on spine; orange endpapers; cream dust jacket printed in black, orange and gold.
    
    Accompanied by worksheets of the poem, "The Country of a Thousand Years of Peace", 6 pp.

    The editors asked the most celebrated living poets writing in English to name the poem from their own work that meant the most to them and to give reasons for their choice. James Merrill selected "The Country of a Thousand Years of Peace", which is dedicated to his good friend, Hans Lodeizen, the Dutch poet who died of leukemia in 1950 at age 26, two weeks after James Merrill had visited him in the hospital in Lausanne, Switzerland. "It was my first deeply felt death," Merrill explains. "As the inevitable verses took shape, strictness of form seemed at last beside the point .... The poem still surprises me, as much by its clarification of what I was feeling, as by its foreknowledge of where I needed to go next, in my work."

    The final poem in The Country of a Thousand Years of Peace and Other Poems is "A Dedication" to Hans Lodeizen, which ends with the eloquent lines:
    
    

    There are moments when speech is but a mouth pressed
    Lightly and humbly against the angel's hand.
    
    
    
    
25. WATER STREET POEMS
    New York: Atheneum, 1962.
    First edition. Issued simultaneously in paper wrappers.
    
    Black cloth over boards; title, author and publisher printed in gold on spine; white dust jacket printed in green and blue, with no flap copy.

    To meet increasing demand, Water Street had a second printing in December 1962 and was up to a fifth printing in February 1980, all in paperback. Water Street is so titled after the street in Stonington, Connecticut on which Merrill and his friend, David Jackson, have lived since 1956. In 1959 they began living in Greece for part of each year. It has been pointed out that the all-important autobiographical concerns of many of Merrill's poems are especially apparent in this collection, which begins with the ambitious long poem, "An Urban Convalescence", reflecting on life in New York City, and ending with "A Tenancy", about a more settled life in the Stonington house.
    
    
    

26. LE SORELLE BRONTE: OPERA IN QUATRI ATTI di Bernard de Zogheb
    New York: Tibor de Nagy Editions, 1963.
    Limited to 300 copies.
    
    Lavender stapled wrappers printed in black.
    Gift of James Merrill, with his autograph corrections in the text.

    As was first pointed out by Jack Hagstrom and George Bixby in their very useful checklist of James Merrill's works published in American Book Collector (November/ December 1983), this piece has often been wrongly attributed to Merrill. The libretto was reissued in 1969 in Milan, by Adelphi. The format is much the same, including the frontispiece and setting, which captures some of Merrill's corrections to the 1963 text. The green wrappers are sewn in this reissue and cover text is greatly expanded. The unidentified Foreword is in Italian and according to a December 1980 note from Merrill, laid in: "They've translated none of my introduction beyond an odd sentence or two."
    
    
    

27. THE THOUSAND AND SECOND NIGHT
    [Athens: Christos Christou Press, 1963]
    Limited to fifty copies, none for sale.
    
    Dark blue stapled wrappers, with white label printed in black on upper cover.
    Gift of James Merrill.

    In approximately 20 copies, James Merrill has added watercolors of a moon on the first page and a sun on the last page of text, a copy of which is also held by Washington University, the gift of Mrs. Hellen I. Plummer.
    
    In many respects, this long poem in five parts is at the heart of his next collection, Nights and Days, published three years later. Judith Moffett, in her book James Merrill, provides an especially useful discussion of the poem.

    The Merrill Papers hold nearly 150 pages of worksheets connected with this poem, nearly all heavily revised. The poem's first appearance was in The New Yorker and the galley proofs for that printing are also shown here, with Merrill's late revisions and typographical corrections in pencil.
    
    
    

28. VIOLENT PASTORAL
    [Cambridge, Massachusetts]: The Adams House & Lowell House Printers, 1965
    Limited to 100 numbered copies. This is copy 12
    
    Single white sheet folded twice and sewn into unprinted greenish blue wrappers. Facing the poem is a photograph of clouds by W. Krupsaw.
    Gift of James Merrill, with his pencilled note on title: "(for the air cooled room)".

    This is the first appearance of "Violent Pastoral", collected seven months later in Nights and Days.
    
    
    

29. 1939: AN AMERICAN WOMAN EXPLORES THE ESTATE OF FRIENDS WHO HAVE FLED FRANCE
    [Cambridge]: Lowell-Adams House Printers, 1965.
    Illustrated by Laurence Scott.
    Limited to 50 numbered copies signed by author and artist.
    This is copy 35.
    
    Broadside, 15" x 10".
    Single white leaf printed in black; the block-print is in orange.

    This broadside publication is the first printing of the poem, later collected in Nights and Days without revision, but with a change in capitalization in line 30.
    
    
    

30. THE (DIBLOS) NOTEBOOK
    New York: Atheneum, 1965
    First edition. This copy inscribed to a friend and dated March 1965.
    
    Grey cloth with black cloth spine; title printed in blind on upper front cover; author, title and publisher printed in gold on spine; off-white dust jacket printed in red and black, featuring a photograph of Greek statuary.
    
    THE (DIBLOS) NOTEBOOK
    London: Chatto & Windus, 1965
    First English edition, sheets printed in the USA
    
    Grey textured paper over boards; author, title and publisher printed in red on spine; white dust jacket printed in red and black, featuring the same photograph, but with different flap copy.
    
    Accompanied by the final typescript marked for printing, 120 pp.

    The (Diblos) Notebook is an extraordinary work of fiction and its experimental ingenuity and arresting brilliance have been greatly admired. One of the most useful introductory discussions of the novel may be found in Ross Labrie's critical volume, James Merrill. Prof. Labrie's study benefited from research in the Merrill Papers, which include interesting preliminary notes prepared before writing got underway. The printer's typescript, seen here, documents several interesting late changes. The (Diblos) Notebook was a final nominee for the National Book Award in Fiction in 1965.
    
    
    

31. HOI CHILIES KAI E DEUTERA NUCHTA [Greek letter]
    Translated by Vassili Vassilikos
    Athens,1966
    First translation of the poems into Greek.
    Limited to 300 copies.
    Gift of James Merrill, with pencilled annotations and a note to Mona Van Duyn laid in.
    
    Stiff grey wrappers printed in black.

    The collection includes "The Thousand and Second Night", "The Smile", "Urban Convalescence", "Water Hyacinth", "To a Butterfly", "Roger Clay's Proposal", "Mirror", "The Broken Home", "Violent Pastoral", "Days of 1964", and a biographical sketch.
    
    
    

32. NIGHTS AND DAYS: POEMS
    New York: Atheneum, 1966.
    First edition. Issued simultaneously in stiff paper wrappers.
    
    Navy blue cloth; title, author and publisher printed in gold on spine; purple endpapers; white dust jacket printed in purple and black, no text on flaps.
    
    NIGHTS AND DAYS: POEMS
    New York: Atheneum, 1980. Seventh printing.
    Stiff white wrappers printed in blue and black
    
    NIGHTS AND DAYS
    [London]: Chatto and Windus/The Hogarth Press, 1966.
    First English edition. Phoenix Living Poets Series
    
    Dark orange paper over boards; Phoenix logo printed in gold on front cover; title, author and publisher's initials printed in gold on spine; white dust jacket printed in dark pink featuring the Phoenix motif.

    To keep up with demand, Nights and Days had a second printing in March 1967 and had achieved a seventh printing by February 1980. The collection of poems was honored with the National Book Award in 1967. The distinguished critic David Kalstone has called the book "the classic Merrill volume--jaunty, penetrating and secure."

    The English edition drops three poems that appear in the American edition and adds seven new poems.
    
    
    

33. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD PRESENTATION CEREMONIES, MARCH 8, 1967
    [New York: no publisher, 1967]
    
    Photocopied typescript, one sheet, quoting the Citation of the Judges and James Merrill's Acceptance Remarks. Accompanied by the printed program.

    The 1967 National Book Award in Poetry was awarded to James Merrill's Nights & Days, in the words of the judges, "for his scrupulous and uncompromising cultivation of the poetic art, evidenced in his refusal to settle for an easy and profitable stance; for his insistence on taking the kind of tough, poetic chances which make the difference between esthetic success or failure." The judges were W. H. Auden, James Dickey and Howard Nemerov. The ceremonies took place at Philharmonic Hall in Lincoln Center. Vice-President Hubert H. Humphrey delivered the opening address.
    
    
    

34. AMHERST COLLEGE PROGRAM OF THE CXLVII COMMENCEMENT [Amherst, Massachusetts]: Amherst College, 1968.
    
    Program, photographs and Citation from President Calvin H. Plimpton.
    
    James Merrill was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Literature by his alma mater, Amherst College, on June 7,1968.
    
    
    
35. ANOTHER AUGUST
    [Boston: Impressions Workshop Inc., 1968]
    Illustrated by George Lockwood.
    Limited to 150 numbered copies signed by author and artist. This is copy 8.
    
    Broadside, 19 3/4" x 23 7/8"
    Single white sheet printed in brown, with color lithograph in various shades of brown and blue. Printer's device in blind lower left. Colophon on verso.

    The poem "Another August" is first collected in The Fire Screen (1969).
    
    
    

36. 16. IX. 65
    [Boston: Impressions Workshop Inc., 1968]
    Illustrated by Laurence Scott.
    Limited to 90 copies printed vertically with text below plate, signed by artist and author.
    This is copy 35.
    
    Broadside, 22 1/4" x 10". Single white sheet printed in rust and light green; plate printed in brown and dark brown, numbered and signed in pencil. Printer's device in blind lower left of sheet. Colophon on verso printed in light green.
    
    16. IX. 65
    [Boston: Impressions Workshop Inc., 1968]
    Illustrated by Laurence Scott.
    Limited to 10 Roman-numeral copies printed horizontally with text facing left, signed by artist and author.
    This is copy VII.
    
    Broadside, 14 1/2" x 20 1/2". Single white sheet printed in rust and light green; plate printed in brown and dark brown, numbered and signed in pencil. Printer's device in blind lower left of sheet. Colophon on verso printed in light green, with the following printed in brown in right top half: "16. IX. 65/a poem and a print/James Merrill/Laurence Scott".
    
    This publication marks the first appearance of the poem, which is dedicated to James Merrill's Greek friends, Vassili and Mimi Vassilikos.
    
    
    
37. WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE
    Volume 39, no. 4, (Summer 1969)
    
    Audiotape recording of James Merrill reading his poems, Brown Hall Lounge, Washington University, St. Louis, November 1, 1968.
    
    Audiotape recording of James Merrill reading his poems, January Hall, Washington University, St. Louis, November 17, 1971 and in the Women's Building, December 3, 1971.
    
    The Department of Special Collections in John M. Olin Library has been recording the poetry and fiction readings of faculty, students and guests held at Washington University since the mid-1960's. In the fall of 1968, James Merrill was one of six authors invited by the Department of English for periods of three to four weeks as part of the Visiting Writers Program. The other five participants were Robert Coover, James Dickey, Herbert Gold, William H. Gass, and Richard Howard. The 1968 poetry recording was made at that time. An article on the program, "Writers in Residence", appeared in the University's magazine the following summer, in which seven stanzas from his poem "An Urban Convalescence" were published.
    
    James Merrill returned to the University November 15-December 3, 1971 as Visiting Hurst Professor, at which time the other two recordings were made.
    
    
    
38. THE FIRE SCREEN
    New York: Atheneum, 1969
    First edition
    Stiff white wrappers printed in orange-red and black.
    
    Accompanied by the galley proofs, corrected in the author's and copy editor's hands. 42 galleys.
    
    THE FIRESCREEN
    [London]: Chatto and Windus/The Hogarth Press, 1970
    First English edition. Phoenix Living Poets Series.
    
    Brick orange textured paper over boards; phoenix logo in gold on front cover; title, author, and publisher's initials printed in gold on spine; off-white endpapers; white dust jacket printed in black and bright pink.
    
    This book is dedicated to David Jackson.
    
    The galley proofs are open to the poem "Mornings in a New House", which may be viewed in some respects as the title poem of the collection, with its meditation on the figures in a firescreen. In the galley, James Merrill has made revisions in the footnote to the poem.
    
    
    

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