Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Unterecker, John, 1922-1989
- Extent:
- 53 linear feet and 125 manuscript cartons, 3 file card boxes
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); John Eugene Unterecker papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Background
- Scope and Content:
The collection documents the scholarship and writing of John Eugene Unterecker, a poet, biographer of the poet Hart Crane, and professor of English. The majority of the collection is composed of correspondence and manuscripts. Materials date from 1961 to 1987.
- Biographical / Historical:
John Eugene Unterecker (1923-1989) was a poet, biographer, and professor of English at Columbia University from 1958-1974. His biography of the poet Hart Crane, Voyager, was nominated for a National Book Award in 1970. A collection of his poetry, Stone, was published in 1977. Unterecker also published poems in the New Yorker, Poetry magazine, and The Nation. Unterecker earned a Master of Arts Degree from Columbia University in 1948 and a Ph.D. in 1956. Prior to joining the faculty of Columbia University, he taught at the College of the City of New York. In 1974, he was appointed Citizens' Professor in English at the University of Hawaii. He died in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1989.
- Acquisition information:
Source of acquisition--Unterecker Estate. Method of acquisition--Purchase; Date of acquisition--02/15/91. Accession number--M-91-02-15.
Gift of John E. Unterecker, 1966-1969; Purchase, 1977 and 1991.
- Processing information:
Entered in AMC 08/23/91.
The collection was originally arranged in eleven series. Three of these series were composed of correspondence, two were composed of audiotapes, and four were composed of manuscripts. The system of box numbering started over again after Box 23, and three card file boxes were not numbered. Rare Book and Manuscript Library staff also individually catalogued two boxes of correspondence, as well as a handful of manuscripts and other items.
In 2019, the collection's arrangement was altered to reduce the number of series to five, and to intellectually group materials with similar formats and subject matter together. Box numbers were changed to a single series of consecutive numbers.
- Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into 4 series.
- Accruals:
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed Terms
- Subjects:
- American poetry -- 20th century
Criticism -- History -- 20th century
Critics -- United States
Literature -- History and criticism
Poetry, Modern -- 20th century
Critics
Poets
Poets, American -- 20th century
Clippings (Information Artifacts)
First drafts
Essays
Lectures
Manuscripts for publication
Photographic prints
Poems
Reviews (documents) - Names:
- Adams, Léonie, 1899-1988
Barzun, Jacques, 1907-2012
Bishop, Elizabeth, 1911-1979
Bly, Robert
Booth, Philip
Boyle, Kay, 1902-1992
Calisher, Hortense
Clark, Tom, 1941-
Clemens, Cyril, 1902-1999
Corman, Cid
Cowley, Malcolm, 1898-1989
Dahlberg, Edward, 1900-1977
Diamond, David, 1915-2005
Dickey, James
Dos Passos, John, 1896-1970
Durrell, Lawrence
Ehrenpreis, Irvin, 1920-1985
Feiffer, Jules
Frank, Waldo David, 1889-1967
Galpin, Alfred M (Alfred Maurice), 1901-1983
Ginsberg, Allen, 1926-1997
Gunn, Thom
Hall, Donald, 1928-2018
Heyen, William, 1940-
Hicks, Granville, 1901-1982
Highet, Gilbert, 1906-1978
Ignatow, David, 1914-1997
Justice, Donald, 1925-2004
Kinnell, Galway, 1927-2014
Kizer, Carolyn
Koch, Kenneth, 1925-2002
Krementz, Jill
Levertov, Denise, 1923-1997
Levine, Philip, 1928-2015
Loewinsohn, Ron
MacBeth, George
Mack, Maynard, 1909-2001
Miles, Josephine, 1911-1985
Moore, Marianne, 1887-1972
Moss, Howard, 1922-1987
Nin, Anaïs, 1903-1977
O'Keeffe, Georgia, 1887-1986
Pack, Robert, 1929-
Pearson, Norman Holmes, 1909-1975
Porter, Katherine Anne, 1890-1980
Ransom, John Crowe, 1888-1974
Snyder, Gary
Stafford, Dorothy
Stafford, William, 1914-1993
Stallworthy, Jon
Stout, Rex, 1886-1975
Tate, Allen, 1899-1979
Vogt, Gertrude
Wakoski, Diane
Wright, James, 1927-1980
Online content
Access
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
There is no Box 21 in the collection.
Some unique time-based media items have been reformatted and are available onsite via links in the container list. Commercial materials are not routinely digitized. Email rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
-
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); John Eugene Unterecker papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
- LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
-
6th Floor East Butler Library535 West 114th St.New York, NY 10027, United States
- CONTACT:
-
(212) 854-5590rbml@library.columbia.edu