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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Am 1892-1892.11

E. E. Cummings additional papers

Overview

Correspondence, poems, prose, notes, and drawings by American poet Edward Estlin Cummings. Also includes papers of his third wife Marion Morehouse.

Dates

  • Creation: 1870-1969

Language of Materials

Collections material is in English.

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.

MS Am 1892.7: Section E. was restricted until 1991. It is now open.

Conditions Governing Use

Images linked to this finding aid are intended for public access and educational use. This material is owned and/or held by the Houghton Library, and is provided solely for the purpose of teaching or individual research. Any other use, including commercial reuse, mounting on other systems, or other forms of redistribution requires the permission of the curator.

Extent

78 linear feet (155 boxes)

Includes correspondence, manuscripts and working drafts of poems and other writings, notes, diaries, sketch books, travel notebooks, galley and page proofs, business papers, drawings, photographs, scrapbooks, clippings, memorabilia, phonograph records, audio tapes, and one film. Cummings' correspondence includes long runs of family letters, letters from literary friends and publishers and from his agents Brandt & Brandt. Correspondents include: Kevin Andrews, Nancy (Thayer) Roosevelt Andrews, Alfred Jules Ayer, Edward Cummings, Jane Cummings, Rebecca Haswell Cummings, David Leo Diamond, John Dos Passos, Peter Monro Jack, Sheri Martinelli, Paul Nordoff, Ezra Pound, Elizabeth (Cummings) Qualey, Scofield Thayer, and Hildegard Lasell Watson, among others.

Cummings' art work is represented by numerous drawings, portraits, and self-portraits as well as catalogues and clippings concerning his art. Also includes papers of his wife Marion Morehouse and some manuscripts by others.

Biographical / Historical

Cummings was an American poet. Morehouse was his third wife and was a model, actress, and photographer.

Arrangement

Arranged into the following series:

  1. I. MS Am 1892: Letters to E. E. Cummings
  2. II. MS Am 1892.1: Letters from E. E. Cummings
  3. III. MS Am 1892.2: Letters to Marion Morehouse
  4. IV. MS Am 1892.3: Letters from Marion Morehouse
  5. V. MS Am 1892.4: Other letters
  6. VI. MS Am 1892.5: Poems
  7. ___A. Single poems
  8. ___B. Groups of poems
  9. ___C. Worksheets, fragments, and drafts of poems
  10. VII. MS Am 1892.6: Prose
  11. VIII. MS Am 1892.7: Notes
  12. ___A. Notes concerning plays
  13. ___B. Other notes
  14. ___D. Class and other early notes
  15. ___E. Personal notes
  16. IX. MS Am 1892.8: Drawings
  17. XIV. MS Am 1892.9: Galley proofs and page proofs
  18. ___A. Works by E. E. Cummings
  19. ___B. Works by others
  20. IX. MS Am 1892.10: Compositions by others
  21. X. MS Am 1892.11: Other papers
  22. ___A. Tapes and records
  23. ___B. Business papers
  24. ___C. Photographs
  25. ___D. Scrapbooks
  26. ___E. Miscellaneous printed materials
  27. ___F. Diaries, engagement books, notebooks
  28. ___G. Ephemera

Physical Location

b, pf

Immediate Source of Acquisition

67M-150a. Purchased with the Amy Lowell Fund from Marion Morehouse; received: 1966-1971.

This collection comprises the second part of the letters and manuscripts of E. E. Cummings, which were the property of Cummings at the time of his death. This collection also consists of Cummings' letters and manuscripts which were the property of Marion Morehouse at the time of her death in 1969.

Processing Information

In 2020-2021, as part of a conscious and inclusive re-description effort, entries were updated to include a woman’s first name when identified.

Marion Morehouse formerly listed as Mrs. Edward Estlin Cummings. Also formerly listed as Marion Morehouse Cummings.

Link to catalog

Processing Information

Box 132 was inadvertently skipped during box numbering.

Processing Information

This finding aid was revised in 2022-2024 to address racist descriptive language. During that revision, description was changed in the description of a single item; the derogatory term appears in a formal title and thus was not removed, but a contextual historical note as well as a processing information note explaining the term's presence were added to the item's description. An additional example of outdated and potentially harmful language in a formal title was identified in 2024 with similar treatment. If you have questions or comments about these revisions, please contact Houghton Library. If you have questions or comments about these revisions, please contact Houghton Library. For more information on reparative archival description at Harvard, see Harvard Library’s Statement on Harmful Language in Archival Description.

Title
Cummings, E.E. (Edward Estlin), 1894-1962. E. E. Cummings additional papers, 1870-1969: Guide.
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou01075

Repository Details

Part of the Houghton Library Repository

Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.

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