Preliminary Inventory of the Bob Grumman Papers, 1964-2015 SPEC.RARE.0090 Finding aid prepared by Ashleigh Minor Ohio State University Libraries Special Collections

1858 Neil Avenue Columbus, OH, 43210

2017 September

(in JIRA queue) write finding aid; needs cat rec finished b79057998 (link to accession)

Need to be republished after acquisitions information is added.

This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2017-10-21T12:09-0400 Describing Archives: A Content Standard Bob Grumman Papers SPEC.RARE.0090 Ohio State University Libraries Special Collections 24.2 Cubic feet 1964-2015 Bob Grumman (1941-2015) was an American visual and experimental poet, editor, and publisher. He ran a small publishing company called Runaway Spoon Press from 1987-2015. The collection spans his career from 1964 until his death in 2015 and includes copies of Grumman’s mathemaku and visual poetry, correspondence, notes, literary magazines, copies and critiques of others’ work, DVDs, sound CDs, and a digital copy of Grumman’s blog (Poeticus) on compact disc. (20) cartons; (1) 2.5” letter document box English Grumman, Bob Arrangement of Materials

This collection is unprocessed. Materials are arranged in the order received.

Acquisitions Information

Bob Grumman, 2015

Preferred Citation

[identification of item], Bob Grumman Papers, SPEC.RARE.0090, Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, Ohio State University

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Contains compact discs, DVD.

Access to Materials

Materials in this collection are available for use, but may be used in the Thompson Library Special Collections reading room only. Audio/visual materials and computer media may need a use copy produced before access is allowed.

Use of Materials

Materials in this collection may be protected by copyright, and are made available for research and educational purposes. In general, the OSU Libraries do not own the copyright for materials from our collections and cannot grant copyright permissions for these materials. The user is responsible for making a final determination of copyright status. If copyright protection applies, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exceptions to the law. Works in the public domain are not protected by copyright and do not require permission to use.

Processing Information

This collection is unprocessed. Finding aid written by: Ashleigh Minor, 2017 September

Biographical Note

Bob Grumman (1941-2015) was an American visual and experimental poet, editor, and publisher. In 1988, Grumman invented a new genre of poetry he called “mathemaku”, a combination of very short poetic structure and mathematical expressions. Bob Grumman founded The Runaway Spoon Press in 1987 and remained the sole employee, specializing in the publication of visual poetry. He was a columnist for several publications, including Factsheet Five (1987-1992) and Lost and Found Times (1994-2005), and served as a contributing editor for Poetic Briefs (1992-1997) and Small Press Review (1993-2015). Grumman was also a participant in international mail art, and a critic of “otherstream” poetry.

Scope and Contents

The Bob Grumman Papers contain copies of Grumman’s mathemaku and visual poetry, correspondence, notes, literary magazines, copies and critiques of others’ work, DVDs, sound CDs, and a digital copy of Grumman’s blog (Poeticus) on compact disc. The collection spans his career from 1964-2015.

Grumman, Bob Runaway Spoon Press. Editors in literature--20th century Editors in literature--21st century Experimental poetry--20th century Experimental poetry--21st century Poets, American--20th century Poets, American--21st century Publishers and publishing--United States--20th century Publishers and publishing--United States--21st century Visual poetry Visual poetry, American--20th century Visual poetry, American--21st century Visual poetry--Blogs--21st century Bart 1 undated Mellowman 1 undated Arborations final copy 1 undated Notes Toward a Definition of April 1 undated Werebird final copy 1 undated [unlabeled folder] 1 undated Werebird Responses 1 undated Werebird Correspondence 1 undated Correspondence 1 undated Textual Poetry-In-Progress 1 undated Notes on Poems 1 undated Thalia 1 undated John M. Bennet 1 undated Ross Priddle 1 undated Literary Items 1 undated Fuck 1 undated Criticism of Bennett 1 undated "Place Stamp Here: A Literary Magazine on Postcards - Visual Poetry" Issue #1 2 undated "Place Stamp Here: A Literary Magazine on Postcards - Visual Poetry" Issue #3 2 undated Mathemaku No. 2 2 undated Notes on Crag Hill's "The Week" 2 undated National Geographic box: Marton Koppang - Easy Meta.com 2 undated [unlabeled folder] 2 undated One-Acts 2 undated Correspondence with Linda Stufflebean part 2 2 undated Correspondence with Will Inman part 1 2 undated Correspondence with K.S. Ernst, Tom Hammill, Dale Jensen, etc... 2 undated Correspondence Velocity (mainly Christian Herman) 2 undated Correspondence with Will Inman part 2 2 undated Correspondence with Philip S. Hensel, Colin Hinz, etc... 2 undated Correspondence with Ted Baiamonte 2 undated The Long Division of Poetry The First Twelve Frames by Bob Grumman 2 undated James Kilpatrick 2 undated Correspondence with Dick Higgins 2 undated Correspondence with Mike Gunderloy, etc. 2 undated The Last Decade 2 undated Thought Bubbles: Visual Poetry/Portraits by Scott Helmes and K.S. Ernst 2 undated Underground Press Conference: Zine Zen 2 undated Underground Press Conference: Mary Kuntz 1st Annual 2 1994 Richard Kostelanetz 3 undated One-Acts 3 undated Barbaric Bart 3 undated Rabbit Stew 3 undated [unlabeled folder] 3 undated [unlabeled folder] 3 undated Gus Morin 3 undated Irv Thomas 3 undated George Swede 3 undated "With God, all things are possible" random access version endwar 95.12.1, white envelope 3 undated Carol Stetser [empty folder] 3 undated Arnold Skemer 3 undated Larry Tomoyasu 3 undated Voose by Paloin Biloid minibook 3 undated "for B. Grumman" 3 undated Structure, Function, and Information Content of Articles Describing the W Particle Discovery of January 1983 by Andrew Russ 3 undated Industrial Sabotage 3 undated [unlabeled folder] 3 undated Marton Koppang: The Reader [small red notebook] 4 undated Small booklets 4 undated Postcards 4 undated David VV The Origin of Faeces [envelope] 4 undated Farrago Three/Four 4 undated Collages by Carlos M. Luis 4 undated Texticles & Other Texts by Carlos M. Luis 4 undated Correspondence and Postcards [7 folders] 4 undated The Subtle Journal of Raw Coinage Art and Correspondence 4 undated Industrial Sabotage [cardboard envelope] 4 undated Booklets and Publications 4 undated "dbqp 101: An Introduction to the History and data base of dbqp" 5 undated Subliminal Seduction Part I: Prurient Packaging [white cardboard box] 5 undated Loose papers and booklets 5 undated Cardboard box with Elvis stamps 5 undated Beacons Imagin Within/As Promises by John Perlman [booklet] 5 undated Bob Grenier 5 undated Adam Gamble 5 undated Brian Donegan 5 undated LI Dunn 5 undated John Eberly 5 undated MB Duggan 5 undated Jonathan Fernandez 5 undated Steve Freukel 5 undated Wally Depew 5 undated Klaus Peter Dencker 5 undated Dazar 5 undated Susan Smith Nash 5 undated BP Nichol 5 undated Bern Porter 5 undated Richard Mathews 5 undated Patrick McKinnon 5 undated George Myers 5 undated Hiroshi Tanabu 5 undated ZYX 5 undated W'ORCs Aloud Allowed [10 copies] 5 undated Stations #5: A Symposium on Clark Coolidge, Edited by Ron Silliman 5 undated The Knowleculations, or kinds of knowlecular data in accordance with size 5 undated Envelope addressed to Bob Grumman from Michael J. Phillips 5 undated Envelope addressed to Bob Grumman from Guy R. Beining 5 undated [unlabeled folder] 5 undated [unlabeled folder] 5 undated Mathemaku 6 undated [unlabeled folder] 6 undated Mathemaku 6 undated Ohio State Mathemaku 6 undated Xerolage30 a selection of visual poems by Bob Grumman 6 undated Alex Cigale 6 undated Stephen Cain 6 undated Tim Brown 6 undated Bob Black 6 undated Tom Baer 6 undated No Longer Active Correspondences 6 undated Tom Bell 6 undated Bruce Barten 6 undated Ivan Arguelles 6 undated David Castleman 6 undated Shaunt Basmajian 6 undated Bob Black 6 undated Daniel F. Bradley 6 undated DeVillo Sloan 6 undated Bill Howe 6 undated T(i)EMP(o)S VERBAL(e)S by J.M. Calleja 6 undated Envelope addressed to Bob Grumman 6 undated Stamp Axe vol. 3 no. 1 6 undated Running for the Hungry by Cliff Eisner 6 undated Is That Wool Hat My Hat? by Jackson MacLow 6 undated Architexture 6 undated Eights issue #1 6 2013 ATORVTTK topel/stolte 6 undated "For John Bennet" [black folder] 6 2010 The Experioddicist 6 1993 July Bridges Enschede Poetry Anthology 6 2013 Journal of Mathematics and the Arts vol. 8 nos. 1-2 6 undated Nietsche's Brolly Broadsheets Complete: October is dadadadadadadada Month 7 undated Alea #1 7 undated Do Not Write In This Space 7 undated Brian David J(o(h)n)son 7 undated Joe Keppler 7 undated Mark Laba 7 undated Ed Lawrence 7 undated Peter Layton 7 undated Phil Leggiere 7 undated John Levy 7 undated Peter Lyssiotis 7 undated Charles Maden 7 undated Bob Gregory 7 undated tom Hamill 7 undated Bob Harrison 7 undated Michael Helsem 7 undated Virginia Hlausa 7 undated Mike Halchin 7 undated Bill Keckler 7 undated Batya Goldman 7 undated Lloyd Dunn 7 undated Ann Erickson 7 undated John Fowler 7 undated David Gianatasio 7 undated Laurel Speer 7 undated Bob Spiess 7 undated Bill Sylvester 7 undated Paul Collier 7 undated Mike Daily 7 undated Ashley Parker Owens 7 undated Susan Smith Nash 7 undated Jack Moskovitz 7 undated Ezra Mark 7 undated John Levy 7 undated Pete Lee 7 undated Roy Arnella 7 undated Geof Huth 7 undated Huth Dictionary 7 undated Scott Helmes 7 undated "jwcurry" 7 undated What is this? This is...difference engine 7 undated Logodaedalus issue #5 7 undated DE 3 Tension OOIO IIOI IIIO 7 undated Verdure 7 undated Stories from the Big Black House 7 undated SemiQuasiReviews&prevues2 7 undated Koja magazine 7 undated Difference Engine 1 7 undated Cardboard box addressed to Bob Grumman 8 undated Implosion 8 undated The Complete Works of Dan Waber 8 undated Selections from Love/Anti Love 8 undated Selections from The Lyralogs and Rocking Jail Buzz 8 undated Investigations & Other Sequences 8 undated "a an av es" 8 undated Arxipelag 8 undated Exact Rubber Bridges 8 undated Separations of Webbing: Poems 8 undated Gifts for Three Sheppards 8 undated IZEN Catalog 8 2010 Open Your I 8 undated Kairan 6 8 undated Dizzy Spells 8 undated "ant/ant/ant/ant/ant#3" 8 undated The Book Maker's Desire 8 undated I Mostra Internacional De Poesia Visual De Sao Paulo 8 undated Check Check Done and Done 8 undated For Marie Bourget 8 undated A Model of Functional Art 8 undated Another Diary 8 undated A New Diary 8 undated Poesia Experimental 8 undated Spall Spirula 8 undated Water from the Mountains of Light 8 undated Dimensao (in cardboard box) 8 undated Red 8 undated No Place to Fall 8 undated Cells 8 undated Envelope addressed to Bob Grumman from Carol Stetser 8 undated Run-On 8 undated The Compact Duchamp Amp After Amp 8 undated Teth 8 undated Envelope addressed to Bob Grumman from DBQP 8 undated Koivu . Maito . Kuu 8 undated [blank envelope] 8 undated Envelope addressed to Bob Grumman from Poe 8 undated Gregory Vincent St. Thomasino 8 undated Tap Rou -> tines Done Bare -> foot 8 undated Cnyttan 8 undated Croton Bug 8 undated Poems from Earth 8 undated White envelope addressed to Bob Grumman 8 undated Three Cheers for Civilization 8 undated Alignment 8 undated Cried and Measured 8 undated Envelope addressed to Bob Grumman from Geoffrey A & Nancy F Huth 8 undated Kary Young 8 undated Envelope addressed to Bob Grumman from Justina Corbacho 8 undated "nay-pau-loron" 8 undated "!Z KNOT #4" 8 undated "!Z KNOT #eight" 8 undated Interferences Suite 8 undated Loose papers 9 undated "Box 10375 Parker FL 32404" 9 undated Lavioneta [in brown envelope] 9 undated Envelope addressed to Bob Grumman from Safety Scissors The Where?house 9 undated Envelope addressed to Bob Grumman from Jonathan Levant 9 undated Envelope addressed to The Runaway Spoon Press from M. Waller 9 undated Blank yellow envelop 9 undated [unlabeled folder] 9 undated Booklet of correspondence 9 undated Semi-Constructs of the Secretaire du Registre 9 undated Stone Girl E-Pic 9 undated Book Rate 9 undated Kevin Collaboration 9 undated Envelope addressed to Bob Grumman from Ross Priddle 9 undated Envelope addressed to Bob Grumman from David Stone 9 undated 1st Edition of Poems & Hungarian Book 9 undated April, A Selection of Mathemaku 9 undated From Haiku to Lyriku 9 undated Of Manywhere-At-Once 9 undated E-X-C-H-A-N-G-E-V-A-L-U-E-S The Second XV Interviews 9 undated Carcass Damage 9 undated Printed booklets of poetry and writing 10 undated Correspondence 11 undated Printed booklets of poetry and writing 11 undated New Orleans Review vol. 25 nos. 1-2 11 undated New Orleans Review vol. 21 no. 2 11 undated Shakespeare and the Rigidniks A Study of Cerebral Dysfunction [2 copies] 11 undated Appearances in College Magazines 11 undated Ouroboros 11 undated Addenda Surface Surface Surface 11 undated Of Manywhere-At-Once vol. 1 11 undated Hyperspace Cantatas 11 undated Living Beings 11 undated Concrete: Movies [DVD disc] 11 undated Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

DVD

CD art 11 undated Deaccessioned Landscapes 11 undated Whitewall of Sound Number 35, Northwest Concrete & Visual Poetry [CD] 11 undated Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Compact disc

First adventures of col and sem 11 undated The Number Poems 11 undated Red Has No Reason 11 undated Modulations 11 undated Endgames 11 undated Kalligram 11 undated Loose papers 11 undated Jake Berry 12 undated Carla Bertola 12 undated Jonathan Brannen 12 undated Travis Chaney 12 undated Doru Chirodea 12 undated Dave Chirot 12 undated Ed Conti [2 folders] 12 undated Paul Collier 12 undated Andy DiMichele [2 folders] 12 undated Ryosuke Cohen 12 undated Lee Gurga 12 undated Keith Higginbotham 12 undated Bill DiMichele 12 undated John Dolis 12 undated Charles Doria [2 folders] 12 undated Loris Essary 12 undated Luigi-Bob Drake 12 undated Mimi Holmes 12 undated Wharton Hood 12 undated Jefferson Hansen [2 folders] 12 undated Linda Hedges 12 undated Scott Helmes 12 undated Sheila Murphy 12 undated Marshall Hryciuk [2 folders] 12 undated Will Inman 12 undated David Nestle 13 undated Judy Murray 13 undated Crag Hill 13 undated Will Inman 13 undated Justin Katko 13 undated Ellie Nichol 13 undated Jody Offer 13 undated Clemente Padin [2 folders] 13 undated Betty Radin 13 undated Harry Polkinhorn [2 folders] 13 undated [unlabeled folder] 14 undated Jonathon Brannen 14 undated Harry Burrus 14 undated John Byrum [2 folders] 14 undated Byrum 14 undated Joel Chace 14 undated CL Champion 14 undated Childhood 14 undated Fifty/Miscellany 14 undated Finished Visual Poems 14 undated Nuptial Poem for Scott & Nancy 14 undated SpringPoem No. 3 14 undated The Word 14 undated Arrival 14 undated Spinning Love 14 undated Homage to Keats 14 undated Main Gate 14 undated Monograph 14 undated Old Pond 14 undated Homage to Crag 14 undated Published Visual Poems 14 undated Chaos 15 undated [unlabeled folder] 15 undated [unlabeled folder] 15 undated [unlabeled folder] 15 undated Valentine 15 undated Moon Haiku 15 undated [unlabeled folder] 15 1964, 1985 Solitextual Haiku 15 1976-1979 [unlabeled folder] 15 1977-1995 Finished Verbal Poems 15 1981-1988 [unlabeled folder] 15 undated Cryptographiku 15 undated [unlabeled folder] 15 undated Of Poem 15 undated Discussions of Mathematical Poetry 15 undated Mathemaku Ideas 15 undated Failed Mathemaku 15 undated Comprepoetica Logo 15 undated Published Mathematical Poems 15 undated Final Copies 15 undated [unlabeled folder] 15 undated Mathemaku No. 21 15 undated Mathemaku for Richard Kostelanetz #22 15 undated Mathemaku No. 23 and Footnote 15 undated The Odysseus Sequence 24A-24D 15 undated Mathemaku for Karl Young #25 15 undated The Color Mathemaku 15 undated Spectrum 15 undated Mathemaku for Pete Spence 33 15 undated A Wedding Mathemaku #2T 15 undated Mathemaku for Beethoven #28 15 1998-2000 Mathemaku for Mike Basiuski #29 15 undated Mathemaku No. 30 Xevolage Cover 15 undated Mathemaku for K.S. Ernst #31 15 undated Mathemaku for Tom Phillips #32 15 undated Color Spectrum Mathemaku Sequence 26 15 undated Definition of Reality 15 undated Somewhere in France, 1802 15 undated Somewhere in Manhattan, 1958 15 undated Original 15 undated Pizza Poem 15 undated Modern Haiku Mathemaku #43 15 undated Mathemaku Versus Mondrian 15 undated Cursive Mathemaku No. 145 15 undated Mathemaku for Scott Helmes 46 15 undated A Form of Affirmation 47 15 undated Divisions of Poetry 15 undated Exam Question Mathemaku 15 undated Exam in Long Division 15 undated A January Mathemaku 50 15 undated Mathemaku for Crag Hill 55 15 2004 February 27 YKS 16 1989 Xerolage 16 undated Summer Rain 16 2005 Mathemakus 16 undated Homage to Shakespeare 16 undated "spr*ng" 16 undated An April Poem 16 1989 Eros: A Definition 16 1992 SpringPoem No. 3,719,242 16 undated 12 Colorborations 16 2004 Mathemaku 1-20 16 1992 MatheMakBennet 38 16 2001 Extras 16 undated [unlabeled folder] 16 undated Data 16 2003 The cOlOr pOrtfOliO 16 2001-2002 Sentimental Ballet 16 1990 Spring 16 undated "spr*ng" 16 1992 Into the Heart of Things 16 undated April ! 16 undated Obsolete Transparencies 16 undated Keats 16 undated Snow Haiku and other simple usual haiku 16 undated Extra Copies of Visual Poems 16 undated Transparencies 16 undated Primitive Erithmetic #34 16 undated Mathemaku #35 16 undated Closing In On A Potential Dividend #36 16 undated Mathemaku for William Blake 37 16 undated Mathemaku for Robert Lax #38 16 2002 Ohio State Mathemaku #39 16 undated Mathemaku Celebrating Assimilation #40 16 undated Mathemaku No. 41 16 undated Mathemaku No. 42 16 2002 M #42 16 undated The Swing 16 1989 [unlabeled folder] 16 1986 Kost Festschrift 16 1985-1998 Socialism & Communism 16 undated Zerolage 30 16 2008 Mathemaku No. 57: Shadows 16 undated Mathemaku for William Blake 16 2008 Pet Multiplication 16 2013 Triptych for Monet 16 2012 Christmas Mathemaku 16 undated Mathpo Essay 16 undated Scraps 16 undated "Miscellany" 16 undated "for Jim Clinefelter" 16 undated The Other South 16 2000 Wharton Hood 16 1992 John Bennett 16 1996-2003 Karl Kempton 17 1994-2003 Lee Hoffman 17 1993-2001 [unlabeled folder] 17 1991-1993, 2000-2002 [unlabeled folder] 17 2001 Mimi Holmes 17 1987-1998 Jake Berry 17 1987-1996 Michael Basinski 17 1990-1999 [unlabeled folder] 18 undated Michael Basinski 18 undated Karl Kempton 18 undated JW Curry 18 undated Mimi Holmes 18 undated JW Curry 18 undated G. Huth 19 1988 January - June Geof Huth 19 1987 Geof Huth (unlabeled) 19 1988-1989, 2001 G. Huth 19 1991-1995 Bill Keith 19 1991-2003 JW Curry 19 1991-1997 Art by Wendy Collin Sorin wrapped in cardboard 20 undated Curry Letter 20 undated Geoffrey Huth 20 1979-2001 [unlabeled folder] 20 1992 Karl Kempton (2 folders) 20 1979-1999 Poeticus Blog CD 21 1 2015 April Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Compact disc

Email correspondence regarding Bob Grumman's death 21 2 2015 April 1-8 "homage for bob" email correspondence 21 3 2015 April 5-6