2018-11-26 Guide to the James Purdy Papers, 1955-1998 SPEC.RARE.CMS.0003 Finding aid prepared by Emily Collins Ohio State University Libraries Special Collections

1858 Neil Avenue Columbus, OH, 43210

2018 November This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2019-07-15T15:01-0400 English Describing Archives: A Content Standard James Purdy Papers SPEC.RARE.CMS.0003 Ohio State University Libraries Special Collections 2.45 Cubic feet 1955-1998 James Otis Purdy (1914-2009) was an author of novels, short stories and poetry. He published over thirty works in his lifetime. The James Purdy Papers contains James Purdy's professional and personal correspondence, rough drafts of his works, and notebooks containing notes on one of his works, botanical notes, and a list of contacts. English (5) 5" letter document box; (1) 2.5" letter document box; (1) 2.5" legal doument box Purdy, James, 1914-2009 Arrangement of Materials

This collection is arranged in two series; each series is further arranged into subseries:

Series 1: Professional Subseries 1.1: Correspondence Subseries 1.2: Written Works Series 2: Personal Subseries 2.1: Correspondence Sent Subseries 2.2: Botanical Notes Subseries 2.3: Contacts

Acquisitions Information

Purchased, 1987; Unknown accession

Preferred Citation

[identification of item], James Purdy Papers, SPEC.RARE.CMS.0003, Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, Ohio State University

Access to Materials

Materials in this collection are available for use, but may be used in the Thompson Library Special Collections reading room only.

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

Processed by: Emily Collins, 2018, October; Finding aid written by: Emily Collins, 2018, October

Scope and Contents

The James Purdy Papers contains James Purdy's professional and personal correspondence, rough drafts of his works, and notebooks containing notes for one of his works, botanical notes and a list of contacts.

Biographical Note

James Otis Purdy (1914-2009) was an American poet, short-story author, and novelist, who was known for his portrayals of outsiders, especially gay men and minorities. His works often carried themes such as sadomasochism and rape. He published over thirty works in his lifetime.

Fox, Paula Orme, Neely Purdy, James, 1914-2009 American poetry--20th century Authors, American--20th century Correspondence Envelopes Gay men--United States--20th century Manuscripts Short stories Professional Series 1 1955-1998 Scope and Contents

The Professional series contains correspondence sent to James Purdy, including letters from readers, letters from authors, letters from publishing companies and postcards. The Professional series also contains correspondence sent by James Purdy to Paula Fox. There are also rough drafts of an introduction to one of his works, a notebook related to a one of his works, and rough drafts of several of his works published from 1964 and 1981-1989 contained in the Professional series.

Correspondence Subseries 1.1 1955-1998 Scope and Contents

The Correspondence subseries contains correspondence sent to James Purdy, including letters from readers, letters from authors, letters from publishing companies and postcards, arranged primarily alphabetically by last name of the sender. Additional folders follow which contain items with from multiple senders or from unidentified senders. The Correspondence subseries also contains correspondence sent by James Purdy to Paula Fox, arranged chronologically, with undated items at the end.

Correspondence received: A 1 1 1973-1986 Correspondence received: B 1 2 1984-1986 Correspondence received: C 1 3 1984-1985 Correspondence received: D-F 1 4 1973-1986 Correspondence received: G 1 5 1984-1986 Correspondence received: H-I 1 6 1984-1986 Correspondence received: J 1 7 1981-1985 Correspondence received: K 1 8 1983-1986 Correspondence received: L 2 1 1977-1986 Correspondence received: M-N 2 2 1976-1986 Correspondence received: O-P 2 3 1984-1986 Correspondence received: Q-R 7 1 1966, 1976, 1984 Correspondence received: S 2 4 1984-1986 Correspondence received: T 2 5 1984-1986 Correspondence received: U-Z 2 6 1984-1986 Correspondence received: Envelopes 2 7 1984 Correspondence received: "On the Rebound" poetry and musical score 2 8 1984 June 7 Correspondence received: Postcards 2 9 1984 Correspondence recieved: Third party 2 10 undated Correspondence received: Unidentified sender 2 11 1984-1986 Correspondence received: Various senders 2 12 undated Correspondence sent: Fox, Paula 4 4 1955-1970 Correspondence sent: Fox, Paula 4 5 1971-1975 Correspondence sent: Fox, Paula 4 6 1976-1982 Correspondence sent: Fox, Paula 4 7 1983-1986 Correspondence sent: Fox, Paula 4 8 1987-1988 Correspondence sent: Fox, Paula 4 9 1989-1993 Correspondence sent: Fox, Paula 4 10 1994-1995 Correspondence sent: Fox, Paula 4 11 1996-1998 Correspondence sent: Fox, Paula 4 12 undated Correspondence sent: Fox, Paula: Postcards 4 13 undated Correspondence sent: Fox, Paula: Cards 4 14 undated Written Works Subseries 1.2 1964, 1981-1989 Scope and Contents

The Written Works subseries contains rough drafts of an introduction to one of Purdy's works, a notebook related to a one of his works, and rough drafts of several of his works published from 1964 and 1981-1989; materials are arranged chronologically by publication date of the work.

Cabot Wright Begins: Introduction: First Draft 3 1 1964 Cabot Wright Begins: Introduction: Second draft 3 2 1964 Cabot Wright Begins: Introduction: Final draft 3 3 1964 Cabot Wright Begins: Introduction: Folders for drafts 3 4 1964 Cabot Wright Begins: Introduction to the Italian translation: Early draft 3 5 1964 Mourners Below: Rough draft 3 6 1981 Mourners Below: Folder for rough draft 3 7 1981 Twelve Poems: Rough Draft 3 8 1983 On Glory's Course: Notebook 7 1 1984 In This Corner: First Draft 3 9 1986 In This Corner: Second Draft 3 10 1986 In This Corner: Final Draft 3 11 1986 In This Corner: Folders for drafts 3 12 1986 Garments the Living Wear: First draft 3 13 1989 Garments the Living Wear: Folder for first draft 3 14 1989 Garments the Living Wear: Second draft 3 15 1989 Garments the Living Wear: Folder for second draft 3 16 1989 Garments the Living Wear: Final draft 4 1 1989 Garments the Living Wear: Folders for drafts 4 2 1989 The Anonymous Letters: Rough draft 4 3 undated Personal Series 2 1960-1986 Scope and Contents

The Personal series contains correspondence sent from James Purdy to Neely Orme. Notebooks containing botanical notes and a list of contacts are also contained in the Personl series.

Correspondence Sent Subseries 2.1 Bulk, 1964-1966 1960-1986 Arrangement of Materials

Materials are arranged in chronological order.

Scope and Contents

The Correspondence Sent subseries contains correspondence sent from James Purdy to Neely Orme; these items date from 1960 to 1986.

Correspondence sent: Orme, Neely 4 15 1960 Correspondence sent: Orme, Neely 4 16 1964 January-April Correspondence sent: Orme, Neely 4 17 1964 May Correspondence sent: Orme, Neely 4 18 1964 June-July Correspondence sent: Orme, Neely 5 1 1964 August Correspondence sent: Orme, Neely 5 2 1964 September Correspondence sent: Orme, Neely 5 3 1964 October-November Correspondence sent: Orme, Neely 5 4 1964 December Correspondence sent: Orme, Neely 5 5 1965 January-March Correspondence sent: Orme, Neely 5 6 1965 April Correspondence sent: Orme, Neely 5 7 1965 May-June Correspondence sent: Orme, Neely 5 8 1965 July-December Correspondence sent: Orme, Neely 5 9 1966 January-July Correspondence sent: Orme, Neely 5 10 1966 August-1986 Botanical Notes Subseries 2.2 1974-1985 Arrangement of Materials

Materials are arranged in chronological order.

Scope and Contents

The subseries Botanical Notes contains notebooks with handwritten notes about plants and corresponding dates.

Botanical notes 5 11 1974-1975 Botanical notes 5 12 1976-1981 Botanical notes 5 13 1983 Botanical notes 6 1 1984-1985 Contacts Subseries 2.3 undated Arrangement of Materials

Materials are attanged in the order received

Scope and Contents

The Contacts subseries contains a notebook with names and numbers written inside.

Contacts 6 2 undated