Conrad Aiken Papers mssAIK 1-4904

Finding aid prepared by Huntington Staff, 1976 and revised by Sue Hodson, 1988, and Diann Benti in 2018.

The Huntington Library

1151 Oxford Road

San Marino, California 91108

Business Number: (626) 405-2191

reference@huntington.org

URL: http://www.huntington.org

Contributing Institution: The Huntington Library

Title: Conrad Aiken papers

Identifier/Call Number: mssAIK 1-4904

Physical Description: 105 Linear Feet (Approximately 5,300 items in 103 boxes, 4 volumes, and additional oversize folders)

Date (inclusive): 1851-1983

Date (bulk): 1920-1970

Abstract: This collection contains the personal and professional papers of American writer Conrad Aiken (1889-1973). The collection includes his correspondence (chiefly letters addressed to him), dealing with his business and literary affairs, manuscripts of his works, with some photographs and ephemera.

Language of Material: The records are in English.

Access

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services. RESTRICTED: Volumes 1-2. Use facsimile reproductions (Volumes 3-4). Originals available only with curatorial approval.

Publication Rights

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Conrad Aiken Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Acquisition Information

Purchased from Mary Augusta (Hoover) Aiken, September, 1975.

Other Aiken manuscripts since the original purchase have been catalogued with the collection. Their provenance is noted on the individual folders.

Processing Information

Mimeographed materials have normally been fully catalogued as manuscripts, since most were prompt copies of plays or broadcasts and often have notes by the producer on them. All xerox copies have been placed in "Xerox" boxes at the end of the Collection.
Quite frequently only a portion of a poem was written by Aiken. It has normally not been described as a "fragment" or "incomplete" in as much as the majority of the manuscripts in the collection were Aiken's working copies. Sections of verse were added and corrected now and again, thus it would be misleading to classify these revisions as fragmentary only because they represent a portion of the final, printed text.
In about 1970, Aiken went through many of his manuscripts and noted in blue ink at the top of the page a notation, such as "early draft." In every instance these notes were made later than the composition of the piece and are Aiken's recollections. Many are helpful but some are misleading and should not be taken as definitive.
Throughout the letters and manuscripts, Mary Aiken has made identifying notes, many of which are both very helpful and reliable. Her notes have not normally been noted on the individual folders, although any notations by others have been identified whenever possible.

Biographical Note

Conrad Potter Aiken (1889-1973) was a writer of poetry, short stories, novels and criticism. He is best known perhaps for his innovative autobiography, Ushant (1952), and for the play, Mr. Arcularis, which was adapted from his short story "Mr. Arcularis." Among Aiken's notable works are Blue Voyage (1927), his first novel, which deeply impressed the young Malcolm Lowry while writing Ultramarine; Collected Poems (1953) which won for Aiken the National Book Award for 1953; and The Clerk's Journal, an undergraduate poem - written in 1911 but published late in Aiken's life (1971). The Reviewer's ABC, a selection of Aiken's criticism gathered together by Rufus Blanshard demonstrates Aiken's prophetic talent of judging who among his contemporaries would be proclaimed "good" or "bad."

Aiken spent his first eleven years in his birthplace, Savannah, Georgia, until witnessing the murder-suicide of his father and mother in 1901. He then lived in New England with his great aunt, Jane Delano Kempton, and with his aunt and uncle, William Hopkins Tillinghast. Conrad's brothers and sister, Kempton, Robert, and Elizabeth, were separated from their older brother after their parents' deaths and went to a cousin's home to live, taking his surname, Taylor.

Between 1903 and 1907 Aiken studied at Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts, where he wrote for the school magazine, The Anvil. He studied at Harvard College between 1907 and 1911, writing for The Harvard Monthly and The Harvard Advocate. After withdrawing from Harvard in 1911, Aiken went abroad to England and Italy but returned to Harvard in 1912 to graduate.

In 1912, Aiken married the first of his three wives, Jessie McDonald, a Canadian with whom he had three children, John, Jane and Joan. Conrad and Jessie lived in London or Massachusetts between 1912 and 1922 until moving to England permanently in 1922. They settled first in London, then at Winchelsea, Sussex, and finally in Rye, Sussex, where they bought Jeake's House, where Aiken was to live intermittently until 1947.

In 1929, Aiken and Jessie divorced and in 1930 he married Clarice (also known as Clarissa or Jerry) Lorenz. Between the time of his marriage and his divorce from Jerry in 1937, Aiken lived in either Jeake's House or in Cambridge and Boston. Aiken got a Mexican divorce in Cuernavaca from Jerry and in 1937 married his third wife, Mary Augusta Hoover. Conrad and Mary lived in Jeake's House from 1937 to 1939, but returned to New England with the outbreak of war in 1939. In 1940 they bought "Forty-one Doors", a rambling house on Cape Cod in Brewster, Massachusetts, named after the forty-one doors inside the house. "Forty-one Doors" was to be Conrad and Mary's permanent home, though they rented in New York City in the 1950s, bought a flat in Washington D.C. in 1955 (only to have it condemned by the government for an office building shortly afterwards) and in the 1960s and early 1970s spent most of their winters in Savannah, in the house next door to the one in which Aiken had lived as a child. Aiken's life was, therefore, geographically concentrated in Savannah, New England, and the southern coast of England.

Scope and Content

This collection contains the personal and professional papers of American author Conrad Aiken. The collection includes his correspondence (chiefly letters addressed to him), dealing with his business and literary affairs, manuscripts of his works, with some photographs and ephemera.

The manuscripts include poems published in "Skylight One" (1949), "The Divine Pilgrim" (1949), "A Letter from Li Po" (1955), "Sheepfold Hill" (1955), "The Morning Song of Lord Zero" (1963); "The Clerk's Journal: Being the Diary of a Queer Man" (1911)" a notebook (1911-1925) containing literary notes, addresses, etc. essays, notes, the first draft of Aiken's autobiography, etc.

Correspondents include: Mary Augusta Hoover Aiken, William Ford Aiken, Rufus Blanshard, Brandt & Brandt (firm), D. G. Bridson, Edward John Burra, Horatio Colony, Malcolm Cowley, Richard Eberhart, T. S. Eliot, Jean Garrigue, Erich Heller, Dame Laura Knight, Seymour Lawrence, Malcolm Lowry, Grayson Prevost McCouch, Jay Martin , Henry Alexander Murray, Howard Nemerov, Allen Tate, Kempton Potter Aiken Taylor, Louis Untermeyer, and others.

The collection includes:

Manuscripts by Conrad Aiken: A wealth of original autograph and typescript drafts is to be found in the collection.

The majority consists of manuscripts of poems published in Skylight One (1949), The Divine Pilgrim (1949), A Letter from Li Po (1955), Sheepfold Hill (1955), and The Morning Song of Lord Zero (1963)
The Clerk's Journal: Being the Diary of a Queer Man (16 pp.; Jan. 9, 1911), an original autograph manuscript of the poem written for an English course at Harvard University (AIK 2798). The manuscript includes marginal comments by the instructor, Le Baron Russell Briggs, and is accompanied by the proof sheets for the 1971 edition and an early (1970)draft of Aiken's preface, entitled "A Short Memoir of Harvard, Dean Briggs, T. S. Eliot, in 1911" (AIK 3644)
The Conversation; or Pilgrim's Progress (226 pp.; ca. 1940), the first type script of the novel. AIK 3393
Mr. Arcularis (1946 to ca. 1952), eleven drafts of the short story/play. In 1946 Diana Hamilton's dramatization of Aiken's short story was produced at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, London, under the title Fear No More. Deemed a failure by its producers, the play was revised. Hamilton, however, was suffering from brain cancer, so Aiken made the extensive changes leading to its production at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., May 8-27, 1951. Following further revisions, the play was published by Harvard University Press in 1957. The collection also contains four versions of Hamilton's Fear No More. AIK 3774-3784
Nine Poems (9 pp.; 1952), typewritten manuscript with a few autograph corrections of a piece published in the Aiken commemorative issue of Wake, acquired by the Huntington in 1984. AIK 4714
Notebook (one volume; 1911-1925), containing literary notes, addresses, etc. AIK 3588
The Soldier (29 pp.; ca. 1945), the first draft of the poem, written in pencil in a composition book. AIK 3399
Time in the Rock (112 pp.; ca. 1936), the first draft of the poem, typewritten with numerous autograph revisions. AIK 3698
The Tinsel Circuit (33 pp.; 1916), the original version of a group of 19 poems. Aiken published slightly revised versions of the seven poems as "Vaudeville Suite" in the fall, 1955, issue of the Carolina Quarterly. Nine of the poems were later revised extensively and published in The Morning Song of Lord Zero (1963). AIK 3699
Ushant: An Essay (319 pp.; 1951-1952), Aiken's autobiography, the most important item in the collection . This is the first draft, with extensive autograph revisions in ink and pencil. Also, fragmentary notes for the autobiography (eleven pieces; ca. 1946); and Ushant: An Intermediate Fragment (7 pp.; 1952), a typescript draft with autograph corrections of the text published in the Aiken commemorative issue of Wake (acquired by the Huntington in 1984). (Volume 2: AIK 3401); 4187; 4715.

II. Manuscripts by others

Clarice (Lorenz) Aiken. Lorelei Two (18 pp.), outline of an autobiography by Conrad Aiken's second wife, acquired in 1984. AIK 4765.
William Ford Aiken. Eighty-nine manuscripts of poems and essays by Conrad Aiken's father, a Savannah physician, amateur poet, and inventor. Included in his manuscripts is "Isolation," a poem found after the murder- suicide of Dr. Aiken and Anna Aiken (Potter) Aiken. AIK 2917-3003.
Malcolm Cowley. "The Blown Door," typescript of poem in letter to Conrad Aiken, Nov. 5, 1955. AIK 327.
Graham Greene. Typewritten reviews of Aiken's King Coffin and Great Circle. AIK 3410.
Clarence Malcolm Lowry. "Spiderweb," "Alcoholic," "Dark Path," and "Sonnet," four early poems sent to Conrad Aiken, 1929. AIK 2489.
------ "The doom of each, said Doctor Usquebaugh ...," typewritten poem enclosed in a letter to Aiken, Apr. 9, 1940. AIK 2488.
"Tom, by airmale," notes for a poem? AIK 2490.
------ Ultramarine (1 volume; ca. 1929), part of an early draft of the novel, with autograph revisions by Aiken. Also, three pages of notes for chapter one, and a single page of an early draft. (Volume 1: AIK 3381).
------ "Work for Conrad" (2 pp.; 1937), four poems written for Aiken. AIK 3418.
------ "To Seymour Lawrence" (16 pp.; Nov. 28- Dec. 4, 1951), corrected typescript of letter about Aiken published in the commemorative issue of Wake, acquired by the Huntington in 1984. AIK 4751.

Correspondence

Significant correspondents include:

Mary Augusta (Hoover) Aiken (b. 1907) is Conrad Aiken's third wife, married in 1937. The collection includes 70 letters and one telegram from Mary to Conrad between 1936 and 1955, the majority written in 1947 while Mary was in Rye, Sussex, England, seeing to the sale of Jeake's House and reporting to Conrad at Forty-one Doors in Brewster, Massachusetts (AIK 3291-3361) . Also included are 190 letters from Conrad to Mary, written from 1936 to 1973, with most again dating from 1947. The lively exchanges provide insight into the Aikens' relationship as well as the details of day-to-day life in Rye and Brewster (AIK 3099-3288). Of special literary interest are Conrad's letters of 1939, which contain drafts of sonnets published in And in the Human Heart.
William Ford Aiken (d. 1901). Of the many letters written by Conrad Aiken's father to various family members, the most interesting are 34 sent to his parents while he studied medicine in Europe in 1886-1887 (AIK 2827-2860).
Brandt & Brandt, Aiken's American agents. Publishing and related literary business details regarding Aiken's works are covered in 36 letters to Aiken between 1934 and 1976 (AIK 153-180, 1655, 2008-2009, 3405-3406, 3921-3922, 4613) and in one letter to the firm from Aiken in 1958 (AIK 4174).
Edward John Burra (1905-1976) , English surrealist painter who lived in Rye and was a close, life-long friend of Aiken's. Their warm, humorous correspondence is replete with personal and social details and anecdotes, covering the period from the 1930s to the 1970s in 200 letters by Burra (AIK 2197-2392, 3940-3942) and 109 by Aiken (AIK 2397, 3097-3098, 4266-4372). The collection also contains 3 letters to Jay H. Martin (AIK 4615-4617) from Burra.
Malcolm Cowley (b. 1898). Sixty long, frequently humorous letters written from 1935 to 1973 reflect the warm Cowley-Aiken friendship. Cowley writes thoughtfully and at length on Aiken's poetry and on Ushant, and he records his outspoken comments on many literary matters relating to other authors, such as Faulkner, Hemingway, Eliot, Pound, Randall Jarrell, Delmore Schwartz, Thomas Wolfe, Malcolm Lowry, and others (AIK 328-377, 3969-3978).
John Davenport (1908-1966), English reviewer of modern literature. The correspondence includes 18 letters by Davenport, 1935 to 1965 (AIK 392-409). Conrad Aiken's 72 letters, covering the same time period,are especially valuable for details of his literary and other activities during the 1940's (AIK 3789-3859, 4205). Highlights are long references to Malcolm Lowry and Under the Volcano, as well as mention of John Burra, Ezra Pound, and Aiken's Mr. Arcularis.
Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888-1965). A fine series of 65 letters, 1914-1963, to Aiken reflecting their close friendship (AIK 485-549). Of particular significance are the revealing and introspective early letters. This correspondence contains verses by the young Eliot, as well as his comments about his own writing and his opinions of Aiken's works. Later letters deal with literary business concerning Aiken's contributions to Criterion. Eleven letters by Valerie (Fletcher) Eliot, 1960-1970, include references to Eliot and Ezra Pound (AIK 550-559, 3987).
Maurice Firuski (1894-1978)was a friend and classmate of Aiken at Harvard; in 1919 he became the proprietor of Dunster House Bookshop in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and later of Housatonic Bookshop in Salisbury, Connecticut. The 16 letters from Firuski (AIK 579-593, 3993) and an extraordinary series of 83 letters by Aiken between 1920 and 1973 reveal much concerning Aiken's personal and literary life (AIK 921-1002, 4407).
Seymour Lawrence (b. 1926), editor and publisher of Wake, editor at the Atlantic Monthly Press, and founder and president of Seymour Lawrence, Inc. Eight letters (1948-1953) from Lawrence to Conrad and Mary Aiken chiefly concern the 1952 Aiken commemorative issue of Wake (AIK 696-703). A 1984 acquisition brought to the Huntington 33 letters from Aiken to Lawrence, 1952-1953 (AIK 4716-4748), as well as correspondence about the issue from Frederick Newton Arvin, Richard Palmer Blackmur, Archibald MacLeish, Marianne Moore, Walter Piston, and Edmund Wilson. Manuscripts submitted for the issue by Conrad Aiken and Malcolm Lowry are listed above in the Manuscripts section.
Robert Newton Linscott (1886-1964), editor at Houghton Mifflin Company and Random House. Of the 40 lively, entertaining letters to Aiken, 1919-1961, those for the 1920s have particular value for the contemporary literary scene (AIK 704-742, 2805).
Clarence Malcolm Lowry (1909-1957). The young Lowry became fascinated with Aiken's writing and visited him in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in August, 1929. In that year Aiken became Lowry's guardian, and the two remained close until Lowry's death. The collection contains important files of 53 letters (1929- 1954) from Lowry (AIK 2493-2538, 2540-2546) and 15 letters (1939-1954) written by Aiken (AIK 2549-2562, 4785). The correspondence attests to their long, close friendship and is excellent for personal and literary details of Lowry's life.
Grayson Prevost McCouch, "Old Bird," Aiken's classmate from Middlesex School, Concord, and Harvard. Their long friendship is represented in 15 letters (ca. 1925-1977) from McCouch to Conrad and Mary Aiken (AIK 1108-1115, 4062-4067, 4629) and in 53 letters (1911-1973) by Aiken (AIK 4408-4458, 4835, 3875).
David Merrill Markson (b. 1927), author and friend of Malcolm Lowry. There are 11 letters from Markson to Conrad and Mary Aiken (1954-1973; AIK 1136-1144, 4069-4070), and in 1984 the collection increased by 45 letters from Aiken to David and Elaine Markson (AIK 4786-4830). Much social and some literary news is recounted, and the early letters contain references to Lowry.
Jay H. Martin (b. 1935). After seeking Aiken's advice about writing poetry, Martin became a close friend and later wrote a major critical study of Aiken. The correspondence includes 53 letters by Martin (AIK 1169-1219, 4072-4073) and 101 by Aiken dating from the early 1950s to 1970s and is interesting for Aiken's retrospective comments about his own poetry (AIK 4581-4582, 4482-4578, 4704-4705).
John Orley Allen Tate (1899-1979). Personal and literary matters are discussed in 105 letters to Conrad and Mary Aiken written between 1949 and 1973 (AIK 1751-1843, 4132-4136, 4139-4141) and in a 1973 letter from Aiken to Tate (AIK 3876). The Sewanee Review is mentioned, as well as such literary figures as Eliot and Lowry.
Kempton Potter Aiken Taylor (b. 1893), Conrad Aiken's brother, adopted in 1901 by Frederick Winslow Taylor. An intimate and revealing look at the brothers is provided in 62 letters (1912-1973) by Taylor (AIK 2878, 1841-1903, 2415-2417, 4144) and 106 letters (1931-1972) by Aiken (AIK 1904-2007, 2144-2145).
Louis Untermeyer (1885-1977). These lively, often cordially disputatious letters between Untermeyer and Aiken feature frank and detailed analyses of their own and one another's work. Many other authors and literary matters are also dealt with, energetically and at length, in 52 letters (1919-1973) by Untermeyer (AIK 838-888, 4154) and in Aiken's 20 letters written between 1954 and 1969, acquired by the Huntington in 1982 (AIK 4679-4698).

Additional correspondents of note:

Leonie (Fuller) Adams, 12 letters and telegrams, 1948-1973. AIK 1-11, AIK 3385.
James Agee, 1 letter, 1931. AIK 13.
Martin Donisthorpe Armstrong, 5 letters, 1914-1929. AIK 47-51.
Gordon Bassett, 5 letters, 1940-1951. AIK 74-78.
John Berryman, 3 letters, 1953-1964. AIK 84-86.
George Biddle, 7 letters, 1956-1969. AIK 89-94, 3912.
Katherine Garrison (Chapin) Biddle, 12 letters, 1952-1973. AIK 2605-2613, AIK 3913-3915.
Elizabeth Bishop, 3 letters, 1949-1950. AIK 96-98.
Richard Palmer Blackmur, 5 letters, 1931-1961. AIK 100-103, AIK 4750.
Rufus Anderson Blanshard, 18 letters, 1956-1973. AIK 104-120, AIK 3916.
Maxwell Bodenheim, 7 letters, 1918-1919. AIK 127-133.
Alain Bosquet, 9 letters, 1955-1962. AIK 137-145.
Douglas Geoffrey Bridson, 16 letters, 1951-1973. AIK 192-204, AIK 3930-3932.
Cleanth Brooks, 6 letters, 1953-1956. AIK 209-214.
Van Wyck Brooks, 6 letters, 1921-1923. AIK 2625-2629, AIK 4614.
Winifred Bryher, 4 letters, 1933-1951. AIK 218-221.
Kenneth Duva Burke, 4 letters, 1964-1972. AIK 224-226, AIK 3937.
Witter Bynner, 1 letter, 1955. AIK 236.
Princess Marguerite Gaetani, 2 letters, 1948? AIK 1728-1729.
Gordon Cairnie, 7 letters, 1951-1969. AIK 237-241, AIK 3946-3947.
Huntington Cairns, 8 letters, ca. 1949-1973. AIK 242-248, AIK 3948.
Horatio Colony, 16 letters, 1935-1973. AIK 292-304, AIK 3961-3963.
Cyril Vernon Connolly, 2 letters, 1945-1947. AIK 308-309.
Evelyn Dagnall (of A.M. Heath and co.), 12 letters, 1946-1952. AIK 1332-1343.
Hilda Doolittle, 11 letters, 1933-1935. AIK 421-431.
Edward Doro, 3 letters, 1971-1973. AIK 432-433, 3984.
Richard Eberhart, 25 letters, 1943-1951. AIK 446-470.
Luther Harris Evans, 5 letters, 1947-1953. AIK 561-565.
John Gould Fletcher, 7 letters, 1931-1948. AIK 594-600.
Ford Madox Ford, 1 letter, 1931. AIK 607.
John Freeman, 6 letters, 1920-ca. 1930. AIK 611-616.
Robert Lee Frost, 2 letters, 1922-1923. AIK 619-620.
Jean Garrigue, 14 letters, ca. 1949-ca. 1973. AIK 2662-2675.
Diana Hamilton, 4 letters, 1946. AIK 1737-1740.
A.M. Heath and company, Ltd. (Aiken's English agents), 6 letters, 1947-1957. AIK 649-653, AIK 2680.
Erich Heller, 16 letters, 1953-1973. AIK 1012-1025, AIK 4018-4019.
Robert Silliman Hillyer, 4 letters, 1930-ca. 1949. AIK 659-662.
Catharine Huntington, 7 letters, 1949-ca. 1974. AIK 2706-2709, AIK 4037-4039.
Ernst and Eithne (Wilkins) Kaiser, 10 letters, 1954-1964. AIK 2715-2724.
Neva Goodwin (Rockefeller) Kaiser, 22 letters, 1966-ca. 1974. AIK 1346-1364.
Weldon Kees, 5 letters, 1949-1954. AIK 690-694.
Harold and Dame Laura (Johnson) Knight, 25 letters, 1932-1963. AIK 1043, AIK 1045-1069.
Alfred Kreymborg, 4 letters, 1919-1922. AIK 2726-2729.
Alexis Saint-Leger Leger, 1 letter, 1958. AIK 2733.
Amy Lowell, 5 letters, 1921-1922. AIK 744-748.
Robert Traill Spence Lowell, 4 letters, 1947-1956. AIK 2735-2738.
Archibald MacLeish, 4 letters, 1949-ca. 1955. AIK 750-752, AIK 4752.
Katherine Mansfield, 1 letter, 1921. AIK 753.
Harold Edward and Alida (Klemantaski) Monro, 10 letters, 1930-1935. AIK 754-763.
Marianne Moroe, 6 letters, 1951-1952. AIK 4753-4758.
Nicholas Moore, 4 letters, 1942-1947. AIK 1246-1249.
Lawrence Quincy Mumford, 5 letters, 1955-1968. AIK 765-769.
Lewis Mumford, 5 letters, 1952-1972. AIK 1253-1256, AIK 4080.
Henry Alexander Murray, 32 letters, 1931-ca. 1974. AIK 2754, 1257-1284, AIK 4081-4083.
Paul Nash, 13 letters, 1934-1945. AIK 2755-2767.
Howard Nemerov, 17 letters, 1963-1973. AIK 1296-1311, AIK 4087.
Charles Norman, 3 letters, 1945-1961. AIK 770-772.
Norreys Jephson O'Conor, 2 letters, 1948-1952. AIK 1382-1383.
Oxford University Press, 17 letters, 1949-1973. AIK 1387-1403, AIK 4090-4091.
Charles A. Pearce, 7 letters, 1948-1951. AIK 1411-1417.
Norman Holmes Pearson, 2 letters, 1952-1971. AIK 773-774.
Clover Pertinez, 24 letters, 1948-1971. AIK 1422-1442, 2413-2414, AIK 1443-1448.
Charles Horace Philbrick, 31 letters, 1958-1971. AIK 1455-1485.
Walter Piston, 7 letters, 1931-ca. 1974. AIK 1491-1496, AIK 4759.
Katherine Anne Porter, 1 letter, 1952. AIK 1512.
Alfred Claghorn Potter, 27 letters, 1925-1940. AIK 1515-1541.
Ezra Loomis Pound, 2 letters, 1914-ca. 1934. AIK 1554-1555.
Ivor Armstrong Richards, 9 letters, 1966-1973. AIK 780-783, AIK 4100-4104.
Edwin Arlington Robinson, 6 letters, 1922-1923. AIK 1581-1586.
Robert Alden Sanborn, 1 letter, 1923. AIK 2782.
Mark Scharer, 11 letters, 1946-1973. AIK 790-796, 4109-4112.
Delmore Schwartz, 6 letters, 1942-1956. AIK 784-789.
Karl Jay Shapiro, 14 letters, 1945-1953. AIK 802-814.
Theodore Spencer, 5 letters, 1930-1948. AIK 816-820.
Wallace Stevens, 2 letters, 1922-1952. AIK 825-826.
John Lincoln and Maire Sweeney, 23 letters, 1955-1975. AIK 1674-1691, AIK 4126-4130.
Thurairajah Tambimuttu, 11 letters, 1948-1972. AIK 828-836, AIK 1750, AIK 4131.
James Thurber, 2 letters, 1951-1952. AIK 4761-4762.
Mark Albert Van Doren, 1 letter, 1951. AIK 4763.
Robert Penn Warren, 5 letters, 1960-1970. AIK 899-903.
George B. Wilbur, 20 letters, 1922-ca. 1974. AIK 2111-2122, AIK 4162-4169.
Oscar Williams, 6 letters, 1941-1964. AIK 905-910.
William Carlos Williams, 4 letters, 1919-1952. AIK 911-914.
Edmund Wilson, 4 letters, 1951-1954. AIK 916-918, AIK 4764.

The collection also includes some audio recordings and films, photographs, ephemera, honorary awards, engagement books, financial records, publishing, theatrical and musical agreements, copies of reviews, and guardianship papers and receipts collected by Aiken's guardian.

Arrangement

Broadly arranged in the following series:

Correspondence and manuscripts (Boxes 1-62, 65-77, 100-103)
Audiovisual materials (Boxes 63-64)
Photographs (Boxes 78-82)
Ephemera and miscellaneous (Boxes 83-99, oversize folders)

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Authors, American -- 20th century -- Archives

Letters (correspondence) -- 20th century

Manuscripts United States -- 20th century

Personal papers United States -- 20th century

Photographs.

Poems -- 20th century

Professional papers -- United States -- 20th century

Correspondence and Manuscripts

Arrangement

The correspondence and manuscripts are arranged by call number; later additions to the collection are filed at the end of the collection and have the highest call numbers. This series is arranged in broad alphabetical order in multiple groups according to when the materials were acquired. In order to locate the call numbers for items by specific authors please consult the Manuscripts Card Catalogue.

Box 1

AIK 1-78

Box 2

AIK 79-152

Box 3

AIK 153-236

Box 4

AIK 237-315

Box 5

AIK 316-390

Box 6

AIK 391-477

Box 7

AIK 478-559

Box 8

AIK 560-637

Box 9

AIK 638-703

Box 10

AIK 704-783

Box 11

AIK 784-837

Box 12

AIK 838-919

Box 13

AIK 920-1005 Correspondence to Maurice Firuski

Box 14

AIK 1006-1081

Box 15

AIK 1082-1144

Box 16

AIK 1145-1220 Jay Martin Correspondence

Box 17

AIK 1221-1295

Box 18

AIK 1296-1380

Box 19

AIK 1381-1451

Box 20

AIK 1452-1513

Box 21

AIK 1514-1592

Box 22

AIK 1593-1672

Box 23

AIK 1673-1725 John Lincoln Sweeney materials

Box 24

AIK 1726-1820

Box 25

AIK 1821-1903

Box 26

AIK 1904-1977

Box 27

AIK 1978-2066

Box 28

AIK 2067-2145

Box 29

AIK 2146-2195 Ruth Herschberger materials

Box 30

AIK 2196-2265 Edward Burra materials

Box 31

AIK 2266-2335 Edward Burra materials

Box 32

AIK 2336-2392 Edward Burra materials

Box 33

AIK 2393-2486 (includes Edward Burra materials, AIK 2393-2410)

Box 34

AIK 2487-2562

Box 35

AIK 2563-2650

Box 36

AIK 2651-2738

Box 37

AIK 2739-2804

Box 38

AIK 2805-2860

Box 39

AIK 2861-2900

Box 40

AIK 2901-2962

Box 41

AIK 2963-3037

Box 42

AIK 3038-3078

Box 43

AIK 3079-3169

Box 44

AIK 3170-3260

Box 45

AIK 3261-3347

Box 46

AIK 3348-3381

Volume 1

[RESTRICTED] Lowry, Clarence Malcolm. Ultramarine: [fragment of an early draft of novel, with revisions in ink and pencil by Conrad Aiken], approximately 1929? mssAIK 3381

Conditions Governing Access

RESTRICTED. Please use facsimile reproduction (Volume 3). Original available only with curatorial approval.

Volume 3

[Bound facsimile] Lowry, Clarence Malcolm. Ultramarine: [fragment of an early draft of novel, with revisions in ink and pencil by Conrad Aiken], approximately 1929? mssAIK 3381 (facsimile)

Box 47

AIK 3382-3385, 3389-3392

Box 48

AIK 3393-3397, 3399-3400

Box 49

AIK 3386-3387

Box 50

AIK 3388; 3398

Aiken Conrad. Collected Poems, 1916-1970. AIK 3388

Aiken Conrad. The morning Song of Lord Zero [printer's working typescript]. AIK 3398

Box 51

Oversize Box AIK 3377, 3757, 3764, 3766, 3767, 3782, 3892, 4239 (FAC)

Volume 2

[RESTRICTED] Aiken, Conrad. Ushant [first draft with extensive revisions], [1951-1952]. mssAIK 3401

Conditions Governing Access

RESTRICTED. Please use facsimile reproduction (Volume 4). Original available only with curatorial approval.

Volume 4

[Bound facsimile] Aiken, Conrad. Ushant. [first draft with extensive revisions], [1951-1952]. AIK 3401(fac)

Box 52

AIK 3402-3445

Box 53

AIK 3446-3500

Box 54

AIK 3501-3540

Box 55

AIK 3541-3595

Box 56

AIK 3596-3663

Box 57

AIK 3664-3706

Box 58

AIK 3707-3761

Box 59

AIK 3762-3777

Box 60

AIK 3778-3782

Box 61

AIK 3783-3787

Box 62

AIK 3788-3860

Box 65

AIK 3872-3891, 3893-3907

Box 66

AIK 3908-3989

Box 67

AIK 3990-4080

Box 68

AIK 4081-4174

Box 69

AIK 4175-4238

Box 70

AIK 4240-4242, 4244-4325

Box 71

AIK 4326-4407

Box 72

AIK 4408-4481

Box 73

AIK 4482-4559

Box 74

AIK 4560-4636

Box 75

AIK 4637-4700

Box 76

AIK 4701-4764

Box 77

AIK 4765-4846

Box 100

AIK 4847-4861

Box 101

AIK 4862-4868

Box 102

AIK 4869-4873

Box 103

AIK 4874-4904

Audiovisual

Scope and Contents

Consists of one 16-mm film; two cassette tapes; and eight phonograph recordings chiefly of Conrad Aiken reading his own works.

Box 63

Phonograph records, tape recordings, film. AIK 3861, 3864, 3866-3868, 3870-3871

Silent Snow, Secret Snow : film adapted and directed by Gene Kearney [16 mm film]. AIK 3861 1964

Phonograph records AIK 3864, AIK 3866-3868

Two cassette tapes of interviews with Mary Aiken during a conference at the Huntington Library. AIK 3870-AIK 3871 1976 March

Box 64

Phonograph records. AIK 3862-3863, 3865, 3869

Photographs

General

All photographs in the collection are listed below. Each unique photograph has been placed in a separate envelope and described individually. Prints of the same photograph are placed with the original.

Box 78

Photographs of people

Box 78, Folder 1

Aiken, Anna Aiken (Potter) : Tintype. before 1890

Box 78, Folder 2

Aiken, Anna Aiken (Potter) : 2 cabinet photographs. before 1890

Box 78, Folder 3

Aiken, Anna Aiken (Potter) : Studio Portrait. Approximately 1900

Box 78, Folder 4

Aiken, Anna Aiken (Potter), Taylor, Kempton Potter Aiken : Cabinet photograph. 1898

Box 78, Folder 5

Aiken, Conrad Potter : Cabinet photograph: Launey & Coebel, Savannah. 189[?]

Box 78, Folder 6

Aiken, Conrad Potter : Cabinet photograph. 1896

Box 78, Folder 7

Aiken, Conrad Potter : Studio portrait: Tupper. 1903

Box 78, Folder 8

Aiken, Conrad Potter : 3 snapshots. 1939-1940

Box 78, Folder 9

Aiken, Conrad Potter : 5 snapshots. 1939-1940

Box 78, Folder 10

Aiken, Conrad Potter : 9 snapshots. 1939-1940

Box 78, Folder 11

Aiken, Conrad Potter : snapshot. 1939-1940

Box 78, Folder 12

Aiken, Conrad Potter : snapshot. 1940

Box 78, Folder 13

Aiken, Conrad Potter : Passport photo. 1945

Box 78, Folder 14

Aiken, Conrad Potter : Studio portrait: Clarence Le Peer, New York. 1949

Box 78, Folder 15

Aiken, Conrad Potter : Studio portrait: Clarence Le Peer, New York. 1949

Box 78, Folder 16

Aiken, Conrad Potter : Studio portrait: Clarence Le Peer, New York. 1949

Box 78, Folder 17

Aiken, Conrad Potter : Snapshot.

Box 78, Folder 18

Aiken, Conrad Potter : Studio portrait: Chase, Washington, D.C.. Approximately 1951

Box 78, Folder 19

Aiken, Conrad Potter : Studio portrait: Chase, Washington, D.C.. Approximately 1951

Box 78, Folder 20

Aiken, Conrad Potter : Studio portrait: Tommy Weber. 1952

Box 78, Folder 21

Aiken, Conrad Potter : Studio portrait: Tommy Weber. 1952

Box 78, Folder 22

Aiken, Conrad Potter : Studio portrait: Tommy Weber. 1952

Box 78, Folder 23