Reference Files on Oscar Wilde's Poetry
1976-2005
Scope and Contents
Reference materials collected throughout Fong's years of studying the life and work of Oscar Wilde - his poetry in particular.
Individual folders had been generated each of Wilde's known poems. Most of these folders contain a mix of the following materials:
a copy of the poem's textual apparatus, the copy-text, occasional correspondence between Fong and other Wilde scholars, contextual
research materials, and commentaries from either Fong (and someitmes Beckson) regarding the poems. While most of the materials
are undated, they can be assumed to have been produced during the time of Fong's PhD education (1975-1977) or while during
the production of the OET (1993-1999). The materials here are not the entirety of the reference materials within the collection,
some of which may be found scattered across the other three series.
Arrangement
Folders that were created for a specific Wilde poem were originally numbered according to their appearance in the critical
edition that Fong created for his PhD dissertation and which he and Beckson later refined into the OET edition.
Box 1, Folder 1
Call slips & notes
c. 1970s
Scope and Contents
Index cards carrying notes on different versions of Wilde's poems, as well as call slips from the William Andrews Clark Memorial
Library.
Box 1, Folder 118
Clark Library manuscripts & scans
1993
Box 1, Folder 119
Handwritten transcriptions from Wilde MS & scans of original MS
undated
Scope and Contents
Includes notes from Fong regarding the provenance and context of some of Wilde's poems, as well as some scans and written
transcriptions of original MSS.
Box 1, Folder 120
Manuscript directory/listings
1993-1997
Box 1, Folder 3
Microform prints of The Boston, 1877 & 1881
undated
Box 1, Folder 121
Misc. articles & notes
1992-1993
Box 1, Folder 2
Notes
undated
Scope and Contents
Index cards containing either lines from or titles of Wilde's poems. Undated, but likely from Fong's time as a PhD student.
Box 1, Folder 122
Notes and lists of Wilde Manuscripts
c. 1977
Scope and Contents
Folder includes notes and lists of extant Wilde manuscripts and the collections/institutions that they belong to.
Box 1, Folder 123
The Poet, the Actress, Jezebel, and Simon of Cyrene
1993-1994, 2000
Scope and Contents
Includes some scans of unpublished Wilde poems in prose (short stories) of dubious authority - especially in reference to
the works "Jezebel", "Simon of Cyrene", and "The Actress". The latter three poems were privately printed in a pamphlet titled
Echoes along with a version of Wilde's "The Poet", but Fong and Beckson concluded that there was not enough evidence to support
the claim that these three poems had been written by Wilde as well.
Box 1, Folder 4-117
Reference materials for individual poems
1976-2000
Scope and Contents
The collection contains a group of roughly ~115 folders created by Fong throughout the course of his research on Oscar Wilde's
poetry. Folders may contain an assortment of the following: notes about the provenance of the poem and its variants, a copy
of some version of the poem (generally, though not always the copy-text), some commentary from Fong and Beckson, occasional
correspondence between Fong and different Wilde scholars, contextual information on Oscar Wilde's poetry, and the poem's textual
apparatus. The folder may contain a mixture of materials from the days of Fong's dissertation as well as those from his time
during the creation of the OET edition with Karl Beckson. There are files for all 119 poems with the exception of "The Missing
Shepherd". Some folders include scans of notes written on the riginal folder within which the materials were originally contained
in, or the original folders themselves.
Arrangement
The folders have been kept in their original order with them being numbered according to the order in which the poems appeared
in Fong's dissertation and OET.
Dissertation Materials
1976-1978
Scope and Contents
This series is an assemblage of notes, essays, correspondence, library invoices/receipts, and drafts of Fong's dissertation.
Processing Information
The materials in this collection are predominantly undated, with most of the date labels being an estimate of the likely time
period within which hte material was produced.
Arrangement
Materials are arranged in a rough chronological order.
Box 1, Folder 124
Essays, notes, & manuscript requests
1976-1978
Box 1, Folder 125-126
Edited commentary & notes
1977-1978
Scope and Contents
Files contains both typed and handwritten notes regarding the provenance and history of specific Wilde poems, as well as the
copy-text for a number of the poems and the listings of Wilde manuscripts in the collections of various institutions.
The first of the files contains Fong's prospectus for a critical edition.
Box 1, Folder 127
Typed manuscript of commentary & notes
1977-1978
Scope and Contents
Folder contains an early, typed draft of Fong's commentary on Oscar Wilde's poetry as part of his PhD dissertation, including
edits in his hand written in pen.
Box 1, Folder 128
Correspondence, notes, and pamphlets
1977-1978
Scope and Contents
Includes letters from domestic and international institutions such as the Bodmer Library, New York Public Library, the British
Library, and Beinecke Library expressing permission to reproduce quotations from Wilde holographs in their respective collections.
Also includes a UCLA pamphlet containing the guidelines for preparing a dissertation manuscript enclosing a copy of Fong's
resume.
Box 2, Folder 1-2
Text of Oscar Wilde's Poetry
1977-1978
Scope and Contents
Contains the copy-text established by Fong while writing his dissertation.
Box 2, Folder 3-7
Typed copy
c. 1978
Scope and Contents
Likely the official typescript of Fong's PhD dissertation, produced on UCLA Thesis Typing Paper with the signatures of approval
from his department reviewers.
OET (Oxford English Texts Edition)
1992-1999
Scope and Contents
This series includes drafts, proofs, correspondence, manuscript scans, and other supplementary materials pertaining to Fong
and Beckson's 2000 publication of Wilde's poems as part of the Oxford English Texts series.
Arrangement
Materials are arranged in a rough chronological order.
Box 2, Folder 8-12
Copy of dissertation with some materials for OET
c. 1990s
Scope and Contents
A printed copy of the 1978 dissertation with handwritten revisions by Fong and some narrative (i.e. the editorial introduction)
content from the OET edition inserted.
Box 2, Folder 13
Drafts of introduction
c. 1990s
Box 2, Folder 14
Notes and drafts for commentary
c. 1990s
Scope and Contents
Notes on commentary made by Karl Beckson.
Box 2, Folder 15-16
Textual apparatus
c. 1990s
Box 2, Folder 17
Revised commentary & textual apparatus
1993
Box 2, Folder 18
Drafts of commentary
1993-1994
Box 2, Folder 19-21
Wilde poems & drafts of textual apparatus
c. 1994
Box 2, Folder 22, Box 3, Folder 1-2
Drafts of annotations with comments
c. 1996
Scope and Contents
Files contain a draft of a section of the poem annotations for the OET edition with Karl Beckson responding to comments made
by scholar Ian Small (?????)
Box 3, Folder 3-4
Karl Beckson's Introduction & Edits to the Editorial Introduction
1996
Box 3, Folder 5-6
Final version of commentary
c. 1997
Box 3, Folder 7-8
Proofs of Poems & Poems in Prose
1999
Correspondence & Miscellaneous
1976-2014
Scope and Contents
Includes letters to other Wilde scholars, publishing groups, libraries, and other individuals with personal relations to Wilde.
This series also includes items enclosed with a piece of correspondence, which could include things such as drafts materials
and pamphlets. Miscellaneous items include magazine articles and other materials with little pertinence to research of Wilde.
Arrangement
Items arranged in rough chronological order.
Box 3, Folder 9-12
Correspondence
1976-1978, 1984
Scope and Contents
Correspondence for this period consists primarily of Fong's enquiries regarding the availabilty of Oscar Wilde materials/manuscripts
and relevant catalogs from numerous libraries, museums, and Wilde affiliates such as Merlin Vyvyan Holland (Wilde's grandson).
Box 3, Folder 13-20
Correspondence
1992-1995
Scope and Contents
Materials in the 1992 folder concern the origin of Fong and Beckson's work on a critical edition of Oscar Wilde's poetry to
be published by the Oxford University Press. Work for the edition was officially approved in 1993. Prominent figures in these
files include book collector Viscountess Mary Hyde Eccles, the editors of the Oxford English Texts Ian Small and Russell Jackson,
and the editor of Oxford University Press Frances Whistler.
Box 3, Folder 21-26
Correspondence
1996-2000
Scope and Contents
Includes correpondence and attending enclosures - such as drafts and reference materials - regarding the critical edition
of Wilde's poetry. The recipients of the letters narrow down to individuals directly involved with the project.
Box 3, Folder 27
Readings on Oliver Cromwell
undated
Scope and Contents
Readings on Oliver Cromwell sent from Karl Beckson to Bobby Fong.
Box 3, Folder 28
Poems from Priscilla Atkins
1995
Scope and Contents
Materials unrelated to Oscar Wilde sent by Priscilla Atkins, then a teacher and librarian at Hope College.
Box 3, Folder 29
Liberal Education Vol. 100, No. 3
2014
Scope and Contents
Issue features an op-ed by Bobby Fong regarding the state of liberal arts education in America.
Box 3, Folder 30
Ursinus Magazine, Fall 2014
2014
Scope and Contents
This issue of the Ursinus College magazine includes a memorial written by Colin Fong on his father's legacy in education.
