Robinson Jeffers Collection
COL-022
Finding aid prepared by Kate Dundon
Occidental College Library
1600 Campus Road
Los Angeles, CA, 90041-3314
(323) 259-2852
2012
Title: Robinson Jeffers Collection
Identifier/Call Number: COL-022
Contributing Institution:
Occidental College Library
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
105.0 Linear feet
174 boxes, 2 flat file drawers, and assorted framed works and memorabilia
Date (inclusive): 1903-2012
Abstract: Robinson Jeffers (1887-1962) was an American poet who is primarily known for the works he produced in and about the central
coast of California. This collection is comprised of several donations of Jeffers' manuscripts and letters, as well as collected
research materials from researchers and bibliographers, publications and newsletters on Jeffers, and correspondence with Occidental
College concerning the Jeffers collection, memorial events, and exhibitions.
Scope and Contents
This collection is comprised of several donations of Jeffers' manuscripts and letters, as well as collected research materials
from researchers and bibliographers, publications and newsletters on Jeffers, and correspondence with Occidental College concerning
the Jeffers collection, memorial events, and exhibitions. Materials include limited and trade editions of Jeffers' works,
autographed and inscribed manuscript copies, galley and page proofs, correspondence, journals, photographs, manuscripts, critical
works relating to Robinson Jeffers, theater programs, newspaper clippings, photographs, audio recordings, and artwork.
The collection is open for new acquisitions and donations.
Preferred Citation
Suggested citation of records contained in this collection is: [Identification of item], Robinson Jeffers Collection, Special
Collections Department, Occidental College Library, Occidental College.
Publication Rights
All requests for permission to publish or quote from holdings must be submitted in writing to the Special Collections Department.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Related Archival Materials
Related archival collections:
The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas maintains a large collection of Jeffers' original manuscripts, correspondence,
photographs, memorabilia, books, and diaries kept by his wife, Una Jeffers in their
collection on American literature .
Provenance
The Jeffers Collection at Occidental College was formally established in 1937 by President Remsen Bird with a donation of
books, manuscripts, photographs, and memorabilia from Jeffers collector and scholar, Albert M. Bender. Subsequent donations
were made by Una and Robinson Jeffers, Melba Berry Bennett, Lawrence Clark Powell and Ward Richie (both Occidental class of
1928), Alex A. Vardamis, Theodore M. Lilienthal, Herbert Arthur Klein, and others.
Access
Collection is open for research.
Biography
Robinson Jeffers (1887-1962) was an American poet who is primarily known for the works he produced in and about the central
coast of California. Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jeffers moved with his family to Los Angeles in 1903, and graduated
from Occidental College in 1905. In 1913, Jeffers and Una Call Kuster were married, and moved to Carmel, California. Here,
Jeffers constructed a small stone home for his family, which he named Tor House. The couple had a daughter who died after
birth in 1914, and twin sons in 1916.
Jeffers’ work gained notoriety in the 1920s and early 1930s, particularly
Tamar and Other Poems (1924), and
Thurso’s Landing and Other Poems (1932), and he also received public acclaim for his adaptation of Euripides’s
Medea (1946). Una died in 1950, and Jeffers continued to live in Tor House until his death in 1962.
Processing Information
Starting in the 1950s under the direction of College librarian Tyrus Harmson, librarians and student workers processed and
described portions of the Robinson Jeffers Collection with item-level indexes. A collection-wide inventory was conducted in
2006, and updated in 2009 by Occidental student workers. When the collection was re-processed in 2012, an effort was made
to maintain the existing order of the materials whenever possible.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into the following series:
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Jeffers, Robinson, 1887-1962
Jeffers, Una, 1884 or 5-1950
Jeffers, Robinson, 1887-1962
Writings
1903-1988
Physical Description:
9.0 boxes
Scope and Contents
Original manuscripts of several Jeffers works, as well as original publications of his poetry in various newspapers and magazines.
Box 1, 5
Original Manuscripts
1903-1947
Scope and Contents
Original drafts, manuscripts, and typescripts of Jeffers' poems and essays.
Box 1
Melba Berry Bennett
1903-1928
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Manuscripts located in box 1 were gifted to Occidental College by Melba Berry Bennett in 1960, a friend and biographer of
Jeffers. See
Researchers/Collectors for more information on Bennett and her collection.
This Age of Ours
June 2, 1914
Chalgrove Field Oxfordshire
undated
The Pit in the Pinewood
undated
Christ was your lord and captain all your life
undated
The Terror of her Beauty
undated
The Shore of Dreams
undated
I, that am worthless of your love
undated
Hedon's Song for the Lost
undated
The high Gods laugh. Not scorn or bitterness
undated
I'm the old gray days, with sorrowful song
undated
I used to count my lucky verse
undated
Dearest, it is so long, so long
undated
Almost in harbour, over the blue...
undated
Like carrion-flies o'er a carcass
undated
Great sea-going gulls with wings of gray
undated
Delicate-petalled flowers, my own to tend
1913
Notes and fragments for war poems
undated
Menelaus, King of Sparta
undated
Notes for The Inhumanist
undated
Early Variation of
The love & the hate
undated
The Generous, the Innocent, the Pure
undated
The Fragrance of Your Sandalwood
undated
Because of a Dream
undated
The Four Seasons [a play]
undated
The Hills Beyond the River
undated
Where Shall I take you to,
1912
The Pit in the Pinewood
1919
Ninth Anniversary
August 15, 1928
The Murmansk Landing
undated
Brides of the South Wind
undated
The Meteors of the Air
undated
Confessions on Caucasus
undated
Whose wisdom is it of all men wise shall know
undated
She loves me - loves me - so my heart all day
undated
Ah, is it well, dear, tell me, is it well
undated
Lamp of the World's Night
undated
The Dance of the Banner
1918
The Mother's Cairn
undated
Peacock Ranch
April, 1919
The Daughter of God in Russia
May, 1918
Adjustment
1918
Source
Gift of Lawrence Clark Powell 10/11/1935
At the Birth of an Age
undated
Source
Gift of Lawrence Clark Powell
Autumn Evening
undated
Source
Gift of Albert M. Bender
Joy
undated
Source
Gift of Albert M. Bender
The Beaks of Eagles
undated
Source
Gift of A.M. Bender 1936
The Beaks of Eagles
undated
Evening
undated
Source
Gift of Lawrence Clark Powell 10/11/35
End of
Fauna and
Second Accession
undated
Source
Melba Bennett Papers
For Mrs. Wells Smith
February, 1926
Source
Gift of Jake Zeitlin Sept. 1981
Haunted Country
undated
Source
Gift of Albert M. Bender
Hope Is Not for the Wise
undated
Source
Lilienthal 1973 Formerly tipped in printed poem of same title
The House-Dog's Grave-Haig's Grave[Two Drafts]
undated
The House-Dog's Grave-Haig's Grave
undated
Ocean
undated
Source
Gift of Albert M. Bender
Return
undated
Source
Removed from Lilienthal copy of
Return
The Treasure
undated
Source
Gift of Albert M. Bender
Two Consolations from Una Jeffers'
English Journal;
Vanished Englands, and
Only an Hour
undated
Source
Lilienthal 1973 Formerly tipped in
Two Consolations
Winter Sundown
undated
Source
Gift of Albert M. Bender
Scope and Contents
Contributed to the Overland Monthly in memory of George Sterling
The Women on Cythaeron
undated
All the Corn in One Barn
undated
Account of early publications including
Tamar and
Flagons and Apples
undated
Source
Lilienthal 1973 Formerly laid in Alberts,
Bibliography - Special edition
Foreword to Decca recordings of
Medea
undated
First draft of foreword,
Robinson Jeffers, the Man and His Work
1933
Source
Gift of Lawrence Clark Powell
Foreword to
Selected Poems
1938
Source
Gift of Una Jeffers December 1938
First draft of the note to be printed in the George Sterling letter [for The Book Club of California]
December 3, 1934
Source
Gift of Albert M. Bender
Poetry, Gongorism & A Thousand Years
1947
Source
Gift of Robinson Jeffers, 1948
Poetry, Gongorism & A Thousand Years: [printer's layout and proof sheets corrected by the author]
undated
Source
Gift of Ward Ritchie, 1961
A Proposal for the Civilizing of Warfare
undated
Statement regarding Occidental College
March, 1935
Source
Gift of Lawrence Clark Powell
Of Una Jeffers by Edith Greenan
March 5, 1939
Source
Gift of Edith Greenan March 18, 1939
Of Una Jeffers by Edith Greenan
undated
Una Jeffers insertions in manuscript By Edith Greenan
undated
Foreword to
Of Una Jeffers by Robinson Jeffers
undated
Postscript to
Of Una Jeffers by Una Jeffers
undated
The Mountain Village (
To Una Jeffers)
1916
Itinerary for Mr. and Mrs. Robinson Jeffers
undated
Medea, Second Act
undated
Boxes 46, 106-111
Collected Periodicals
1905-1988
Scope and Content
Works by Jeffers in various periodicals, such as
The Occidental,
Saturday Review,
Poetry,
The Carmelite,
The Carmel Pine Cone, and
Oficyna Poetov, collected by Occidental College librarians.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Boxes 3, 11-14, 17, 49, 65
Photographs
1908-1987
Physical Description:
8.0 boxes
Scope and Cotents
Photographs, negatives, and slides primarily featuring portraits of Jeffers and his family at Tor House in Carmel, California.
Box 11
Portraits of Jeffers by Leigh A. Wiener
undated
Physical Description:
11 prints
Box 11
Reproduction of Jeffers portrait by Remsen Bird, Carmel
1926
Physical Description:
4 prints, 4 negatives
Box 11
Small portrait of Jeffers by Edward Weston
1929
Box 11
Robinson Jeffers and George Sterling by Una Jeffers
1925
Physical Description:
2 prints
Box 11
Jo Davidson bust of Jeffers
undated
Box 11
Jeffers with child by Wynn Bullock
undated
Box 11
Portrait of Una Jeffers inscribed to Remsen Bird
undated
Box 11
Jeffers' bulldog Haig
1938
Box 11
Portrait of Jeffers by Horach Lyon
1938
Physical Description:
2 prints
Box 11
Portraits of Jeffers by Edward Weston
1933
Physical Description:
4 mounted prints
General Physical Description note: Signed by Weston and inscribed by Jeffers to Albert Bender and others.
Box 11
Portraits of Jeffers by Edward Weston
1929
Physical Description:
4 mounted prints
General Physical Description note: Signed by Weston, Carmel.
Box 11
Jeffers stonecutting by Horach Lyon
1938
Box 11
Portraits of Jeffers by Sadie Adraini
1946
Physical Description:
7 prints
Box 11
Portraits of Jeffers by Arnold Gentheu
undated
Box 11
Jeffers seated by his house by Horace Lyon
1938
Box 11
Jeffers on the hill above Mal Paso Canon by Horace Lyon
1937
Box 11
Robinson and Una Jeffers by Horace Lyon
1938
Box 11
Jeffers family passport photograph
undated
Box 11
Portrait of Una Jeffers by Johan Hagemeyer
undated
Box 11
Interior Photos of Tor House by Horace Lyon
1936-1938
Physical Description:
6 prints
Box 11
Tor House exterior
undated
Physical Description:
3 prints
Box 11
Jeffers family portrait in Tor House
1929
Physical Description:
5 prints
Box 12
Snapshots
1908-1940
Scope and Contents
Small photographs of Jeffers and his family in Ireland, Taos, New Mexico, Carmel, and Hermosa Beach, California. Taken by
Lawrence Clark Powell, Morley Baer and others.
Box 13
Framed portraits of Jeffers by Edward Weston
1929
Physical Description:
2 prints
General Physical Description note: Inscribed to Albert Bender.
Box 13
Framed portrait of Jeffers
1936
General Physical Description note: Inscribed to Lawrence Clark Powell.
Box 13
Framed portrait of Robinson Jeffers for
Beaks of Eagles
undated
Box 14
What's Doing, snapshot
1949
Box 14
Jeffers in the
Carmel Cymbal
1935
Box 14
Jeffers in the University of Arizona Foundation annual report, Songa Noskoviak
1905
Box 17
Color slides of Tor House by Frank Bennett
1962
Physical Description:
28 slides
Box 17
Jeffers family at Tor House
undated
Physical Description:
11 prints 11 negatives
Box 17
Jeffers at Tor House, by Josselyn Lewis
1925
Box 17
Tor House interior library by Horace Lyon
1938
Physical Description:
1 negative
Box 17
Robinson Jeffers by Edward Weston
1929
Physical Description:
1 negative
Box 17
Robinson Jeffers by Morley Baer
undated
Physical Description:
2 prints, 1 negative
Box 17
Una Jeffers by Johan Hagemeyer
undated
Box 17
Jeffers with walking stick by Horace Lyon
1937
Box 17
Return handwritten
undated
Physical Description:
4 prints, 3 negatives
Box 17
Jeffers portrait by Sadie Adriani
1946
Box 17
Tor House interior dining room by Horace Lyon
1938
Physical Description:
2 prints, 2 negatives
Box 17
Tor House from yard by Horace Lyon
1936
Box 17
Tor House and Hawk Tower by Horace Lyon
1937
Physical Description:
1 negative
Box 17
Jo Davidson bust of Jeffers by Johan Hagemeyer
undated
Physical Description:
2 prints, 1 negative
Box 17
Jeffers by Sonya Noskoviak
undated
Physical Description:
1 negative
Box 17
Jeffers working stone by Horace Lyon
1938
Physical Description:
1 negative
Box 17
Robinson Jeffers by Sadie Adriani
1946
Physical Description:
1 negative
Box 17
Robinson Jeffers as young man
undated
Physical Description:
1 negative
Box 17
Bynner Ficks, Steffenson, Ida Ran, Jeffers at Tor House
1928
Physical Description:
1 negative
Box 17
Jeffers in group photo, Hermosa beach
1908
Physical Description:
2 negatives
Related Archival Materials note
See
box 12 for more prints of young Jeffers at Hermosa Beach.
Box 17
Jeffers by Sonya Noskoviak
undated
Physical Description:
1 print, 1 negative
Box 17
Tor House and Hawk Tower from beach
undated
Physical Description:
1 negative
Box 17
Ocean
undated
Physical Description:
1 negative
Box 17
Robinson and Una Jeffers by Sundial by Horace Lyon
1938
Physical Description:
1 print, 1 negative
Box 17
Una Jeffers by A Genthe
1968
Physical Description:
2 prints, 1 negative
Box 17
Book covers
undated
Physical Description:
7 prints, 7 negatives
Box 17
Jeffers Title page to Ward Ritchie
1979
Physical Description:
5 negatives
Box 17
August 23, 1897 letter from Robinson Jeffers to his father, for J.H. Press
1968
Physical Description:
2 negatives
Box 17
Tor House from beach
undated
Boxes 3, 65
Exhibit reproductions, transparencies, labels
1980-1987
Correspondence
1912-1969
Physical Description:
12.0 boxes
Scope and Contents
Correspondence between Una and Robinson Jeffers, as well as various Jeffers scholars and collectors.
Alternative formats
Microfilm of this correspondence can be located on the Media Shelves in Special Collections.
Boxes 8-9, 70-71
Various Donors
1912-1969
Scope and Contents
Correspondence between Jeffers and various collectors, scholars, and friends, including Lawrence Clark Powell, Ward Richie,
Theodore Lilienthal, Albert Bender, Herbert A. Klein, Hazel Pinkham, Ernest G. Bishop, Donald S. Friede, Benjamin H. Lehman,
Frederic Prokosch, Remsen Bird, Jake Seitlin, Bennett Cerf, Louis Adamic, Robin Lampson, Benjamin Miller, Arthur C. Coons,
and Elizabeth McCloy, as well as publication contracts signed by Jeffers.
Source
Gifted by multiple sources, including Dan S. Hammack Jr., Lawrence Clark Powell, Albert Bender, Melba Berry Bennett, and others.
Box 18
Benjamin De Casseres
1925-1941
Scope and Contents
Correspondence between journalist and poet Benjamin De Casseres and Jeffers, as well as correspondence between Casseres and
Una Jeffers. Also included are photographs of the Jeffers family in Carmel, California.
Source
The Mury "Mel" Smith collection of Casseres/Jeffers letters was acquired in trade by Occidental College from Arundel Books
in 1998.
Boxes 19-24, 57
Una Jeffers
1913-1950
Scope and Contents
Correspondence between Una Jeffers and her husband, Hazel Pinkham, Herbert A. Klein, Lawrence Clark Powell, Francis Perry,
Ernest G. Bishop, Remsen Bird, Theodore Lilienthal, Jake Zeitlin, Benjamin Miller, Elizabeth McCloy, Margaret Hargreaves,
Harry W. Porte, and Edward Weston. Also includes a box of photocopied letters between Robinson and Una Jeffers from 1910-1942.
Source
Gifted by Una Jeffers.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Researchers/Collectors
1903-2012
Physical Description:
63.0 boxes
Scope and Contents
Correspondence, writings, publications, and research materials produced and collected by several researchers and collectors
of Jeffers' works.
Sydney S. Alberts
1903-1936
Physical Description:
5.0 boxes
Biographical note
Alberts published
A Bibliography of the Works of Robinson Jeffers in 1933.
Scope and Contents
Correspondence between Una Jeffers and others, including Sydey S. Alberts, Robinson Jeffers, and Lawrence Clark Powell. Letters
primarily consist of carbon copies. Also included are typescripts and galley proofs of Albert's
A Bibliography of the Works of Robinson Jeffers, and works by Jeffers in various periodicals, such as
The New Republic,
Carmel Cymbal,
The Aurora,
The Occidental,
Out West, and
The Bookman, collected by Alberts.
Source
Sydney S. Alberts
Box 2
Correspondence
1925-1934
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Box 4
A Bibliography of the Works of Robinson Jeffers
1933
Boxes 113-115
Collected works by Jeffers
1903-1936
Boxes 6-7, 10
Lawrence Clark Powell
1903-1965
Scope and Contents
Correspondence, notes, and drafts related to "
An Introduction to Robinson Jeffers," as well as various other published and unpublished essays on Jeffers by Powell, clippings of articles and reviews on Jeffers,
and related correspondence with William Van Wyck, Sydney S. Alberts, and Lawrence Frieda.
Biographical note
Lawrence Clark Powell completed his doctoral thesis,
An Introduction to Robinson Jeffers, for the University of Burgundy in Dijon in 1932. He published a revised edition of this work in 1934 under the title,
Robinson Jeffers: the Man & His Work, and wrote the forward to Melba Berry Bennett's
The Stone Mason of Tor House; the Life and Work of Robinson Jeffers (1966). He graduated from Occidental College in 1928.
Source
Lawrence Clark Powell.
Melba Berry Bennett
1925-1976
Physical Description:
20.0 boxes
Biographical note
Melba Berry Bennett was a long-time friend and biographer of Jeffers and his family, and was responsible for organizing his
papers after his death. She authored
Robinson Jeffers and the Sea in 1936 and
The Stone Mason of Tor House: the Life and Work of Robinson Jeffers in 1966. She also founded the Robinson Jeffers Committee with Theodore Lilienthal and others after Jeffers' death.
Source
Melba Berry Bennett.
Boxes 25-30
Correspondence and clippings
1925-1971
Scope and Contents
Correspondence between Bennett and various Jeffers scholars, publishers, and collecting institutions such as the Occidental
College Library and the Bancroft Library, concerning the sale, transfer, and publication of Jeffers materials, the Robinson
Jeffers Society and Newsletter, Tor House, and other research topics relating to Jeffers. Also includes newspaper clippings
about Bennett at the time of her death, and clippings about Jeffers collected by Bennett.
Box 31-43
The Stone Mason of Tor House
1965-1976
Scope and Contents
Drafts, gallies, typescripts, transcriptions of Jeffers letters and the diary his mother, Annie Robinson Tuttle, notes, and
other materials related to the production of
The Stone Mason of Tor House.
Box 44
Robinson Jeffers and the Sea typescripts
1936
Boxes 73, 75-80
Alex A. Vardamis
1925-1969
Biographical note
Alex A. Vardamis completed his graduate thesis,
The Critical Reputation of Robinson Jeffers, for Columbia University in 1970. He published a revised edition of this work in 1972 under the title,
The Critical Reputation of Robinson Jeffers: a Bibliographical Study. He is on the board of the Tor House Foundation, and resides in Carmel, California.
Arrangement
Publications are arranged in the order in which they are listed in
The Critical Reputation of Robinson Jeffers.
Scope and Content
Articles and reviews about Jeffers and his work, as well as published works by Jeffers in such periodicals as
The Occidental Alumnus,
Westways, and
Vanity Fair, compiled by Vardamis in producing
The Critical Reputation of Robinson Jeffers.
Box 112
Theodore Lilienthal
1930-1974
Source
Gifted by Theodore Lilienthal in 1938, along with several Jeffers publications.
Biographical note
Theodore Lilienthal was a friend of Jeffers, small press publisher of several limited editions of his works, and author of
Tor House: Robinson Jeffers' Home, Carmel (1967). He also founded the Robinson Jeffers Committee with Melba Berry Bennett and others, and was a major contributor to
the
Robinson Jeffers Newsletter. See
Theodore Lilienthal, Robinson Jeffers and the Quercus Press, for more information on Lilienthal, and a checklist of the Lilienthal Jeffers Collection at Occidental.
Scope and Contents
Newspaper clippings of Jeffers published work, articles about Jeffers, checklists of Lilienthal's Jeffers collection, and
related correspondence. Also included is a "not at home" sign from the Jeffers' home in Carmel, California.
Boxes 143-166
H. Arthur Klein
1928-1987
Related Archival Materials
Biographical note
American writer and editor Herbert Arthur Klein completed his graduate thesis,
The Prosody of Robinson Jeffers, for Occidental College in 1930. He also co-wrote
Jeffers Observed (1986).
Source
Gifted by Herbert Arthur Klein, along with several Jeffers publications.
Scope and Contents
Notes and other research materials Klein produced in researching and writing several studies of Jeffers, including
The Prosody of Robinson Jeffers (1930), and
Jeffers Observed (1986). Also included is correspondence with Occidental College, Frank and Melba Berry Bennett, Bill Miles, Kamil Bednar,
Eric Vaughn, Ann N. Ridgeway, and Robert Brophy.
Other researchers
Physical Description:
4.0 boxes
Box 48
The Inscription of Tor House, Gloria Sewart Jeffers
1989
Scope and Contents
Typeset, molds, and mockups of
The Inscription of Tor House, with related photographs.
Box 51
The Tower Beyond Tragedy, Margaret C. Powell
1940
Scope and Contents
Scrapbook of designs for
The Tower Beyond Tragedy by Margaret C. Powell, including photographs.
Box 87
Point Alma Venus, Rob Kafka and Tim Hunt
1977-1985
Scope and Contents
Typescript of
Point Alma Venus, which was posthumously published by Jeffers scholars Rob Kafka and Tim Hunt.
Box 88
Advance copy,
The Excesses of God: Robinson Jeffers as a Religious Figure, William Everson
1988
Box 88
Tor House Foundation docent handbook
1986
Box 88
Further Encounters with Robinson Jeffers by Own Greenan
1987-2012
Physical Description:
1 binder
Scope and Contents
Personal remembrance of Jeffers by Owen Greenan, who grew up in Carmel, California, and whose mother was friends with Jeffers.
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
Owen Greenan, 2012.
Occidental College
1905-2009
Physical Description:
34.0 boxes
Scope and Contents
Correspondence and exhibition materials related to the Robinson Jeffers Collection, and various Jeffers events at Occidental
College. Also included are bibliographic and biographical materials collected by Occidental College librarians.
Boxes 50A, 63-64, 96, 105
Bibliographic materials
1955-1990
Scope and Contents
Bibliographies, checklists, and catalogs of Jeffers works held at various institutions, dust jackets of various Jeffers publications,
rare book dealer catalogs, and catalog cards describing Jeffers works in the Occidental College Library.
Boxes 50B, 55
Collected biographical materials
1905-1994
Scope and Contents
Collected biographical materials on Jeffers, his work, and his family, including magazine articles, newspaper clippings, event
brochures, and other materials related to Jeffers' time at Occidental. Included is Jeffers Occidental alumni file, the program
to his graduation ceremony, photographs of the class of 1905, and a photo-collage of
The Occidental staff of 1905.
Boxes 56A-56B
Jeffers book prospectuses
1940-1988
Scope and Contents
Prospectuses for various works by Jeffers, mainly posthumously published.
Exhibitions and events
1928-2009
Physical Description:
15.0 boxes
Boxes 45, 89-93, 98, 167
Occidental College Centennial
Bulk, 1986-1988
1986-2009
Scope and Contents
Item lists and labels, correspondence, publicity material, notes, budgets, reports, clippings, audio recordings, and slides
in relation to a 1987 exhibit and event series at Occidental College held in celebration of its centennial (which was also
the centennial of Jeffers’ birth).
Box 45
Recordings of Centennial lectures and symposiums
1987
Location: These materials are located on the Media Shelves in Special Collections.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
5 VHS tapes, 24 cassettes
Box 93
Centennial exhibition catalog
1987-1988
Box 98
National Endowment for the Humanities grant
1987-1988
Box 167
Continent's End: A Cantata on Poems of Robinson Jeffers
Physical Description:
1 box, oversize sheet music on shelves
Scope and Contents
Sheet music, related correspondence, framed awards, and a recording [CD] of
Continent's End: A Cantata on Poems of Robinson Jeffers, commissioned by Occidental for the Centennial.
Box 66
Jeffers Centennial exhibit
2005-2006
Scope and Contents
Materials relating to 2005 exhibit celebrating the centennial anniversary of Jeffers graduation from Occidental.
Box 67
Occidental exhibit on Carmel
1994
Box 167, 171
The Big Read
2009
Scope and Contents
T-Shirts, brochures, recordings, audio guide [CD-ROM], and awards relating to a 2009 exhibition and event series,
The Big Read: Robinson Jeffers and the Ecologies of Poetry. See
Audio-visual Materials for a more detailed listing of audio and video recordings related to this event.
Historical note
The exhibit compondent of
The Big Read
was curated and designed by writer Antonia Petniunas.
Boxes 58, 60, 72
General exhibits, events, and festivals
1928-1987
Scope and Contents
Item labels, lists, programs, brochures, flyers, and invitations for various Jeffers exhibitions, festivals, and honorary
events at such institutions as Occidental College, California State University Long Beach, University of California Santa
Cruz, University of California Berkeley, Virginia Wesleyan College, and the Library of Congress. See
Audio-visual Materials for a more detailed listing of audio and video recordings of other Jeffers events.
Arrangement note
Box 59 is missing.
Box 62, 69, 95, 97, 99-102
Library correspondence
1931-2005
Scope and Contents
Correspondence between Occidental College librarians Tyrus Harmson and Michael Sutherland, and presidents Remsen Bird and
Arthur G. Coons, with such Jeffers researchers and collectors as Herbert Klein, Lawrence Clark Powell, Albert Bender, Vera
Howard Brooke, Robert Brophy, Melba Berry Bennett, and Tim Hunt, concerning the Jeffers collection at Occidental, collections
at other institutions such as the University of Texas, and Jeffers related events, publications, and associations. Includes
floppy disks that contain photographs of Jeffers, and photographs of a 2003 Jeffers Festival.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Box 103-104
Robinson Jeffers Committee
1962-1973
Historical note
The Robinson Jeffers Committee members included the following active members, as well as several other individuals: Donnan
Jeffers, Melba Berry Bennett, Jehanne Salinger Carlson, Theodore M. Lilienthal, Lawrence Clark Powell, and Tyrus G. Harmsen.
Scope and Contents
Correspondence and meeting minutes of the Robinson Jeffers Committee of Occidental College.
Boxes 52-53, 61, 68, 74, 81-86, 94
Collected Periodicals
Bulk, 1930-1990
1905-2012
Physical Description:
12.0 boxes
Scope and Contents
Newspapers, magazines, and newsletters that contain works by, or articles about Jeffers, including
The Occidental,
The Aurora,
Life Magazine,
The Coast, various local Carmel magazines, and the 1932 issue of
Time Magazine that features Jeffers on the cover. Also includes theater programs for
Medea,
Dear Judas, and other Jeffers plays, as well as Tor House Foundation newsletters.
Box 52
Theater programs
1947-1955
Box 94
Tor House Foundation newsletters
Bulk, 1978-1991
1978-2012
Related Archival Materials note
The Tor House Foundation docent handbook can be located in box 88.
Robinson Jeffers Newsletter
1962-2007
Physical Description:
26.0 boxes
Electronic Access
Historical note
The Robinson Jeffers Newsletter was produced by the Robinson Jeffers Committee in conjunction with Occidental College from 1962-1996, and was edited by Bob
Brophy. In 1997, it became the journal
Jeffers Studies, and is produced by the Robinson Jeffers Association.
Scope and Contents
Original drafts and copies of
The Robinson Jeffers Newsletter, which continues as
Jeffers Studies. Includes related correspondence, newsletter subscriber files, and gallies and edited drafts of
The Robinson Jeffers Newsletter: a Jubilee Gathering, 1962-1988, published by Occidental College.
Arrangement
Unless otherwise noted, materials are arranged chronologically.
Box 116
A Jubilee Gathering, 1962-1988
1988
Boxes 117-119
Newsletter drafts, #1-79
1962-1991
Boxes 120-134
Newsletter copies, #1-100
1962-1996
Box 135
Jeffers Studies, #1-12
1997-2007
Boxes 137-142
Subscriber files
1964-1991
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically.
Boxes 45, 47, 49, 171
Audio-visual Material
1941-2009
Physical Description:
4.0 boxes
4 boxes, and assorted materials on Media Shelves
Location: These materials are located on the Media Shelves in Special Collections.
Scope and Contents
Recordings of various lectures, festivals, plays, and symposiums related Jeffers. Includes cassette tapes, phonotapes, VHS
tapes, CDs, DVDs, Mini DV tapes, records, and film.
Box 45
Recordings of Centennial lectures and symposiums
1987
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
5 VHS tapes, 24 cassettes
Box 47
Recordings of lectures about Jeffers
1972-1976
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
cassette tapes and phonotapes
Box 49
Lawrence Clark Powell, Carmel Jeffers Festival
1981
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
cassette tape
Box 49
Fire, Czeslaw Milosz
undated
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
cassette tape
Box 49
Tor House Awards/Medea
1981
Scope and Contents note
Dr. Lawrence Clark Powell and others at the Santa Cataline School, Monterey, California. Soundtrack of film
Medea.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
cassette tape
Box 49
The Women in Jeffers Poetry and Drama
1981
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
cassette tape
Biographical/Historical note
Dr. Robert Brophy of Long Beach University. Oct. 3, 1981 10:00am, Terrace Room of La Playa Hotel.
Box 49
Rhapsody-Requiem presented by Occidental College
undated
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
video tape
Box 49
Son of the Sad Falcon presented by Occidental College
undated
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
video tape
Box 49
Duplicate Jeffers slides
1987
Physical Description:
2 slide boxes
Box 49
Deland, Florida lecture
undated
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
cassette tape
Box 49
Jeffers Festival, seminar #3, Dr. W. Wolte
1982
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
cassette tape
Box 49
Jeffers Festival, seminar #2
1982
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
cassette tape
Box 49
The Poetry of Robinson Jeffers read by Judith Anderson
undated
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
cassette tape
Box 171
Robinson Jeffers 50th Anniversary Reading; Carmel, California
1955
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
2 CDs
Box 171
LOC
Oh Lovely Rock
undated
Box 171
Robinson Jeffers: Address and Reading to Occidental College Student Body
April, 1955
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
Cassette Tape
Box 171
Medea
2003
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
DVD-R
Robinson Jeffers Audiotape
May 28, 1955
Custodial History note
Transferred to digital 6/26/2009
Vancouver Chamber Choir
2003
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
CD
Bob Vila's Guide to Historic Homes
1996
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
VHS
John Michael Yozzo
In Illo Tempore, Ab Origine: Violence and Reintegration in the Poems of Robinson Jeffers
1985
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
microfilm
Box 172
Microfilm copies of Jeffers correspondence and manuscripts
undated
Access
Access to these materials is restricted.
Box 171
The Big Read
2009
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
Unless otherwise noted, materials are in CD format.
Related Archival Materials note
Box 171
Jeffers Day
2009
Biographical/Historical note
Photos by Marc Campos
Box 171
Big Read Kick Off
2009
Biographical/Historical note
Photos by Marc Campos
Box 171
The Big Read: Jeffers Day at Occidental
November 7, 2009
Box 171
The Big Read: Robinson Jeffers and the Ecologies of Poetry
November 1, 2009
Box 171
Jeffers Day at Occidental
November 7, 2009
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
1 CD, 2 DVD-R
Box 171
The Big Read: Robinson Jeffers Panel; Johnson 200 and the Library
October 15, 2009
Biographical/Historical note
Photos by Marc Campos.
Box 171
Jeffers Exhibit Opening and Big Read Kick Off Ceremonies
October 1, 2009
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
1 DVM60
Box 171
Jeffers Day: Opening (Library), Medea and Glee Club (Herrick), Coons Stage
2009
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
1 DVM60
Box 171
Jeffers Day: Stage, Booths and 20 Minute Walk
2009
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
1 DVM60
Records
1941-1970
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note
78 rpm records
The Spoken Arts: Treasury of 100 Modern American Poets
1996
Roan Stallion Poet's Theater Series #1
1963
The Tower Beyond Tragedy Poet's Theater Series #2
1964
Physical Description:
2 copies
An Album of Modern Poetry: Anthology Read by the Poets
1959
Physical Description:
2 copies
The Poetry of Robinson Jeffers read by Judith Anderson
1970
Judith Anderson in Medea
1947
Physical Description:
2 copies
The Tower Beyond Tragedy read by Vox Poetica Repertorie Company
1957
Physical Description:
12 parts on 6 records
Robinson Jeffers Reading His Own Poems, Harvard Vocarium Records
1941
Physical Description:
8 records
Jeffers Reading his Poems for the 50th Anniversary Program at Occidental College
June 19, 1955
Physical Description:
3 copies
KNBC program on Jeffers:
Son of Sad Fall
1963
KPIX documentary:
Rhapsody and Requiem
1967
KPIX footage of Theodore Lilienthal and Melba Berry Bennett at Tor House
undated
Artwork and Memorabilia
1929-2009
Physical Description:
5.0 boxes
5 boxes, 2 flat file drawers, and assorted framed works and memorabilia
Scope and Contents
Novelty clothing, posters, framed photographic portraits of Jeffers, and other framed works. Flat-files contain broadsides
of Jeffers’ poetry, drawings and photographs of Jeffers, newspapers featuring his work, and exhibition posters.
Boxes 15-16
Framed handwritten poems
undated
Physical Description:
7 framed works
Source
Albert Bender
Scope and Contents
Poems include
Life from the Lifeless,
Rock and Hawk,
Distant Rainfall,
Return,
Tor House (typed),
Winged Rock, and
The Low Sky. Inscribed by Jeffers to Albert Bender.
Box 168
Tor House Foundation T-Shirt and men's tie
1990-2009
Box 169
Cedar roof shingles from Tor House
1980
Box 170
Commercial posters
1974
Scope and Contents note
Posters produced by Random House, the U.S. Postal Service, and artist Thomas Benton featuring Jeffers' poetry,
Framed portraits of Jeffers
1929-2003
Framed handwritten copies of
Shine, Republic
1947
Tor House Foundation award
1981
Details: Award reads, "Distinguished Fellow, Tor House Foundation, Inc., Lawrence Clark Powell, 1981"
Brass sculptures of Jeffers' face
undated
Physical Description:
2 items
Drawer 13-14
Broadsides, drawings, photographs, and exhibition posers
1929-2009