Guide to the John Cage Mycology collection
Scope and Content of Collection
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Membership cards 1963-1990
Award: People to People Program Sub-Committee on Fungi 1964
"Remembering John Cage at Wesleyan", v.75:3 Winter 1993, Wesleyan 1993
"Overpopulation and Art" & "Overpopulation and Art II" by John Cage 1991-1992
Toadstools at Home, 1907 edition Somerville Hastings F.R.C.S. of British Fungai - with additional annotated pages added by Cage, 1960-1979
Field book - "Last week of April 1958 - May 2 - 27, 1959" - [accordian book - small, 3.5 x 4.75", green covers], 1958-1959
"Exhibit of books from the Library of Dr. Marcus Crahan shown at the UCLA Biomedical Library from January 4 to March 5, 1971" [3 1/8 x 8 3/8", accordian book with Japanese paper sleeve decorated with mushroom], 1971
Prospectus for Another Song by Susan Barron, John Cage, 1981
2 Pencil drawings by Lois Long - possibly for The Mud Book , ca. 1970-1981
International Star Registry - Star no. Lynx Ra 8h 56m Osd 33 °51' - to John Cage from Lou Harrison April 22, 1983
Note card & folio cover samples - Artwork by John Cage [probably done for Mushroom Book, Lois Long & John Cage] 1972
John Cage's card index for his reference mycology book collection. Books have been cataloged separately and are available via the Library Catalog. 1971
Articles about John Cage & Merce Cunningham, 1960-2002
Music Programs 1951-2003
1951-1989
1990-2003, undated
"Letter to John Cage, Oct. 19 [1956] ", text reads "Oct. 19, Dear John, Yum, Yum! Morris [Graves] - Tempera painting on paper, 36" x 20.5" in original frame ms0074_ptg_001 Oct. 19, [1956]
1958-1959
1960-1969
Correspondence/drawing by Morris Graves to J. Cage [Cantnerellas Aurantiacus" at the "Lake' Eureka] November 20, 1965
1970-1977
1983-1987
1990 1992
n.d.
"Happy 75th Birthday John and Thanks for your help. David & JoAnn W." - [Oversize photographic collage of John Cage cooking & eating mushrooms with David and JoAnn W.] [1987]
New York Mycological Society (NYMS) 1960-1990
Correspondence 1964-1965
Membership lists 1960-1965
Financial reports 1962-1966 1989
Meeting notes ca. 1964-1992
Mushroom guides prepared by Guy Nearing ca. 1960-1990
Lecture program schedules ca. 1962-1992
Lectures n.d. 1959-1980
"The Boleti" - Ester A. Dick 1962
"The Genus Clitocybe in Northeastern North America" - Howard E. Bigelow 1962
"Consolidated Check List of Fungi Identified in Forays in Seasons of 1970-1971" - Emil Lang 1970-1971
"Consolidated Check List of Fungi Identified in Forays in Seasons of 1970-1973", 4th annual edition - Emil Lang 1970-1973
"How Mushrooms Get Their Names and Why" - Emil Lang 1972
"The Role of the Amateur in Mycology" - Emil Lang 1973
"A Consumers Guide to Edible Mushrooms & How to Make Them More Edible" - Emil Lang 1974
"The Role of the Great Amateurs in Mycology" - Emil Lang 1978
"Gastermycetes" April 26, 1965
"The Control of Sex in the Higher Fungi" ca. 1960-1980
"Hypomyces" Clark T. Rogerson January 1962
"The Relationships of the Agaricales to Other Basidiomycetes" Alexander H. Smith ca. 1960-1980
"Bolentinae of the Northeast" 1959
"Partial List of Fungi Collected during the Field Forays at the 3rd convention of the Fungi committee of People-to-People" 1963
"Common Fleshy Fungi of Wisconsin" n.d.
"Fungi" n.d.
"Useful Methods for the Study of Fungi" n.d.
"Fungi Check List" n.d.
Events flyers ca. 1960-1993
Walk calendars ca. 1960-1993
Notebook pages [Cage's notes?] ca. 1960-1994
Hymn to Mycology by Mr. W. Multer and set to music by Mr. H. Aitken; Dedicated to New York Mycological Society - 3 copies 1987
New York Mycological Society (NYMS) Newsletter ca. 1980-1992
Vol.4:4 (Sept-Dec 1980); v.5:1-4 (1981); v.6:1-4 (Winter 1981-Fall 1982) 1980-1982
Vol.7:1-3 (Winter 1982- Fall 1983); v.8:1-2 (Winter 1984 - Spring-Summer 1984); v.9:1-4 (Winter 1985-Autumn 1985) 1982-1985
Vol.10:1-2 (Winter - Spring 1986); [v.11 (1987)]; [v.13:1-3 (1988)] 1986-1988
Vol.14:1-4 (Jan-Nov 1989); [v.15] (Feb-Sept 1990); [v.16] (Feb-Nov 1991); [v.17] (Jan. 1992) 1989-1992
North American Mycological Association (NAMA) 1974-1991
Awards 1974-1989
Directories 1977 1984-1989 1991
Mycological Society of America (MSA) 1965-1982
Notices 1965-1982
Directories 1974 1976-1978 1981
Macobiotics 1977-1992
Newsletters (various) 1979-1989
Healthways, v.3:3 1989
Macroscope, v.1:4; 2:3 Oct. 1979 Spring 1989
Michio Kushi Institute of London Journal, no.2 Feb. 1982
Life and Death by George Ohsawa 1977
Serials 1981-1991
Order of the Universe Review: Oriental Astrology in Life, Love, Health and Human Destiny by Michio Kushi 1981
Changes, v.2:2; 3:2 March/April 1987 Summer/Fall 1988
Macrobiotics Today , v.30:4; 31:4 July/August 1990 July/August 1991
Macrobiotic Center of New York - flyers, brochures ca. 1978-1990
Misc. flyers, brochures ca. 1975-1990
"A Little About Tomio Kikuchi's Life" n.d.
"The Magic Mushroom", Austin Hatton n.d.
"Vermont's Native Mushrooms", George S. Coffin, Vermont Life n.d.
"The Growth of Mushrooms", John T. Bonner n.d.
"John Cage: Uma dieta ecologica", Tania Nomura, Texturas 4 n.d.
"Mushrooms" n.d.
"Curiosities of Plant Life, Pt.II - The Funny Fungus Family" n.d.
"Seeking the Magic Mushroom", R. Gordon Wasson n.d.
"A Hereford Fungus Feast", Nov.1, 1873 and "The Fungus Festival Hereford", Saturday Review Nov.15, 1873
"Common Mushrooms of the United States", Louis C.C. Krieger, National Geographic, v.37:5 May 1920
"How to Avoid Mycophobia", Robert Graves, Nature & Mankind ca. 1957
"I ate the Sacred Mushrooms", Valentina P. Wasson, New York Times; This Week Magazine May 19,1957
"The Magic Seven", Margaret McKinney, Gourmet April 1958
"Internal Fungal Parasites of Insects", M.F. Madelin, Endeavor, v.19:7 October 1960
"Fungi, Friends or Foe", Willis Peterson, Arizona Highways October 1960
"Hunting the Wild Mushroom", James Cerruti ca. 1960-1969
"Some Plentiful Wild Mushrooms", Guy Nearing, The Garden Journal , v.11:3 May-June 1961
"Basifiomycetes Ahoy!", Jane Whitbread, New York Times Magazine November 18, 1962
"The Mushroom Hunt", Richard A. Aylward, Maryknoll October 1964
"Mycophiles", The New Yorker January 9, 1965
"A Poetry of a Mushroom Summer", Soviet Life August 1965
"Bizarre World of the Fungi", Paul A Zahl, National Geographic , v.128:4 October 1965
"John Cage" A Second Time, Good Food", Ninette Lyon, Vogue October 1, 1965
"A Preliminary Study of the Mazatec Mushroom Ceremony", Willard Rhodes, Inter-American Music Bulletin, no.50 November 1965
"Bold Hunters Dine on a Wild Prize, the Mushroom", Nan Ickeringill, New York Times December 15,1965
"In Search of Cantharellus cibarius & company", Sports Illustrated October 16, 1967
"Edible Mushrooms", Bill Vietti, O.D., Fish and Game, March-April n.d.
"The Wonderful Secret of Reading, PA", Silas Spitzer, Travel & Leisure n.d.
"Champignons des pres et des bois", "Champignons de couche", Tout Votre Jardin, Encyclopedie pratique permanente , no.44 1970
Rustica, no.39 [2 articles] September 27, 1970
"Mushrooms -To Eat or not to Eat", John F. Morgan-Jones, Ontario Naturalist , v.15:4 October 1975
"John Cage: Je Veux Entendre un Champignon", Misette Godard, Decoration International, no.65 October 1983
"Call of the Wild", Scientific American April 1984
"A Dieta Ecologica de John Cage", Transformacao June 1986
"Mushrooms", The New York Times September 27, 1987
"The Joy of Mushroom-Watching", Kerry T. Givens, Modern Maturity August-September 1987
"With Macrobiotic Cooking, A Balance of Yin and Yang", Trish Hill, The New York Times August 31, 1988
"The Mushroom", The Journal of Wild Culture Winter 1988-1989
"Into the Woods", The New York Times Magazine February 16,1992
"The Roaring Silence: John Cage, a Life", London Review of Books January 7,1993
"Cage by Chance", Mark Swed, The New Yorker October 1993
"Sound of Silence", Michael Walsh, Time November 1,1993
"John Cage; Music for Mushrooms", Jill Johnston, Art in America January 1994
"A Note on the ISCC-NBS Centroid Color Charts & ISCC-NBS Centroid Color Charts" n.d.
"Evolution of Domestication", Edgar Anderson, Evolution after Darwin n.d.
"Pěstování Žampiónů" n.d.
"Tentative Keys to the Boletaceae of the United States & Canada", Walter H. Snell, Rhode Island Botanical Club, Publication no.1 1936
"Some Common Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms", H.M. Fitzpatrick, W.W. Ray, Cornell Extension Bulletin 386 June 1946
"Mushroom Collecting for Beginners", J. Walton Groves, Department of Agriculture, Ottawa, Canada , Publication 861 1951
Papers of the Michigan Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters
"New and rare Agarics from the Douglas Lake Region and Tahquamenon Falls State Park, Michigan ...", Alexander H. Smith, v.38 1952
"The Genus Lysurus", Paul M. Rea, v.40 1955
"Evaluation of Specific Characters in the Genus Tulostoma Pers", Jorge E. Wright, v.40 1955
"New Records of Fleshy Fungi in Michigan", Alexander H. Smith, The Asa Gray Bulletin , n.s. v.1:2 April 1952
"Some Common Mushrooms and How to Know Them", Vera K. Charles, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Circular, no. 143 July 1953
"A man as a maker of new plants and new plant communities", Edgar Anderson, Man's Role in Changing the Face of The Earth, Wm. Thomas, University of Chicago 1956
"An Analysis of Variation in a Variable Population of Cladonia", Evolution, v.10:2 June 1956
Engineering Progress at the University of Florida, Technical papers , no.158, 194, 199 1959-1961
"Production of Mushrooms from Sawdust", S.S. Block, no.158 January 1959
"Developments in the production of Mushroom Mycelium ... Culture", S.S. Block, no.194 November 1960
"Experiments in the Cultivation of Pleurotus Ostreatus", S.S. Block, no.199 February 1961
The Michigan Botanist
"The Silca Gel Method for Drying Mushrooms", Florence Hoseney 1963-1964
"Notes on Interesting Mushrooms from the upper Peninsula", Bartelli & Smith 1963-1964
"Some Common Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms of Pennsylvania", Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 667 April 1964
"Exploring for Mushrooms", Virginia S. Eifert, Illinois State Museum, Story of Illinois series , no. 3 1965
"Factors Affecting Spore Germination of Volvariella volvacea", Shu-timg Chang, Sze-Shuen Chu, Physiologia Plantarum, v.22 1969
Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan 1973
"Mushrooms & Japanese Culture", R. Gordon Wasson, v.11 Ser.3 1973
"Kinpu, Mushroom Books of the Toku-Gawa Period", Rokuya Imazecki, v.11 ser.3 1973
Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters , "Species of Pholiota and Stropharia in the Region of the Great Lakes", "Wisconsin Discomycetes", v.17, pt.2, no.3 1914
United States Department of Agriculture, Bulletin, "Mushrooms and Other Common Fungi", no.175 April 29, 1915
New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Circular , "How to Know the Mushrooms and Toadstools", F.C. Stewart, no.82 (rev) 1933
Oregon State Monographs; Studies in Botany, "Tuberales of North America", Helen M. Gilkey, no.1 March 1, 1939
New York State Museum, Circular, "New and Noteworthy Species of Fungi - V", John Dearness, no.24 October 1940
Contributions from the University of Michigan Hebarium, "Studies of North American Agarics - I", Alexander H. Smith, no.5 1941
Boston Mycological Club Bulletin, 1954, 1956, 1961-62, 1967, 1989 1954 1956 1961-1962 1967 1989
Friesia Nordisk Mykologisk Tidsskrift (Danish Mycological Society), "Elias Fries' Autobiography, "Historiola Studii Mei Mycologici" 1955
Missouri Botanical Garden Bulletin, v.48:8; v.49:3 October 1960 March 1961
Bulletin of Rochester Fungophiles, "Mushroom Newsletter", v.1:1-2 (March, September) 1963
Zeitschrift fur Pilzkunde; v.42:11-12 November-December 1964
XX Salon du Champignon, Guide , "Champignons de la Region Parisienne"; "Salon de Champignon - Mycogastronomie" 1970
Michigan Botanical Club, Special Publication, "Some Common Mushrooms of Michigan's Park & Recreation Areas", A. H. Smith, no.1 1968
Koyi (#1 June); Koyi/Kuksu (#3 Spring) 1972 1974
Institute of Current World Affairs, "Mushroom Hunting in Oregon, I-III", Andrew Weil January 1,1975
American Type Culture Collection, Annual Report 1975-1976
Auckland War Memorial Museum Leaflet, "Some Common Auckland Fungi", Joan M. Dingley, no.3 1978
Rachel Carson Council, Inc., Newsletter 1982-1991
International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics, "Mushrooms in Dravidian", S.H. Levitt, v.18:1 January 1989
Bollettino del Gruppo Micologico G. Bresadola, v.1:7 October 1958
Mykologický sborník, v.25-41 1947-1964
To 3x5 [8 photos] n.d.
To 5x7 [13 photos, # 7-13 © Roger Bergner] 1987
To 8x10 [18 photographs, color] n.d.
The Unifying Acre, Huub Kortekaas, Quantum Art 1991
Photograph by Chris Harley - for John Cage, [Gelatin silver print - of mushrooms, glasses, cup, saucer] 1974
Mushroom lithographs - single sheets
"Poisonous Mushrooms", engraved for Encyclopedia Londinesis, 1817, J. Chapman, sculp. 1817
"Wild Senna: Cassia marilandica" n.d.
[2 brown colored mushroom engravings], pg. 245, Lowerby, London Jan.1,1800
"(Comestible. - Essbar) pl. L 1-3. Pezia Aurantia, 4-7. Pezia Fulgens, 8. Pezia Coccinea, 9-11. Pezia Splendens" F. Leub Del. Lith. H. Furer, Neuchatel n.d.
Edward Weston poster [mushroom] - advertising "Edward Weston, Fifty Years" n.d.
Artwork from admirers ca. 1960-1992
Mushroom chart "Inheemse Paddestoelen" B.V.W.J. Thieme & Cie, undated
Newspaper clippings ca. 1950-1970
Recipes ca. 1960-1992
Wild, Edible and Poisonous Plants of Alaska, Publication 40, Reprinted 1973, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Alaska, 1973
Calendar [lino prints] by Gwen Frostic, 1975
"Whither the Sun?" by G.G. Nearing - signed copy, 1977
1 packet of 50 color photograph cards Bolets de Catalunya (Mushrooms of Catalonia), 1 Colleccio (Collection I) by Societat Catalana de Micologia, 1982
1 packet of 12 mushroom cards - b/w drawings by Jellison, n.d.
1 packet of 23 mushroom cartoon postcards - color/ink drawings by R. Sabather, n.d.
1 packet of color cards "Raccogliete Questi Funghi" Sammeln Sie Diese Pilze, n.d.
1 notepad "Bunte Pflanzenwelt" calendar/postcards for 1959 with botanical illustrations including mushrooms n.d.
1 packet 23 color photograph cards of mushrooms of the Basque Country produced as a promotion by Setas del Pais Vasco - Municipal De San Sebastian - selection and description by Seccion de Micologia de la Sociedad de Ciencias Naturales Aranzadi n.d.
Poetry - "On Fungi, Graveyards and the Triumph of Matter Over Intellect", Cyril A. Dostal n.d.
Mushroom images & ephemera - general n.d.
Mushroom Post Cards ca. 1960-1992
Mushroom Stamps ca. 1960-1992
Photocopies of "Mushroom ear phones - 'Para Oir El Bosque', Adolf Schosser, Galeria de Arte Buades, Caludio Coello 43 Madrid ", ca. 2007
1 tie decorated with mushrooms ms0074_obj_001 n.d.
1 tea towel [Vera] ms0074_obj_002 n.d.
1 t-shirt, green "Mushrooms of Alaska" ms0074_obj_003 n.d.
1 plastic mushroom ms0074_obj_004 n.d.
1 tea towel [Kreier] ms0074_obj_005 n.d.
Marble mushroom [stem broken - glued together] ms0074_obj_006 n.d.
Stripped stemmed green capped mushroom on a wooden block 4 1/2" x 1 5/16" x 1 5/16" ms0074_obj_007 n.d.
Large honeycomb paper mushroom decoration - [11 1/4" long] ms0074_obj_008 n.d.
Small honeycomb paper mushroom decoration - [6" long] ms0074_obj_009 n.d.
Walnut shell tableau [Beach & mountain scenes in walnut halves] ms0074_obj_010 n.d.
Mushroom Christmas ornament, clip-on [redcap mushroon with small white mushroom on stem at base], ms0074_obj_011 n.d.
Mushroom ashtray, ms0074_obj_012 n.d.
Brown/white embroidered cloth mushroom, ms0074_obj_013 n.d.
"Mushroom [Polypopus Caeruleoporus painting w/cross-section" by Lois Long, Framed ink Painting, 8 1/8" x 15", ms0074_ptg_002 n.d.
"A Poisoned Mushroom" for John Cage with Love from Remy Charlip - Framed ink painting, 5 3/4 x 4 3/4" ms0074_ptg_003 n.d.