Research Catalog

Collection of autograph and typed letters signed : London, New York, etc., to Brion Gysin

Title: Collection of autograph and typed letters signed : London, New York, etc., to Brion Gysin, 1964-1980 (bulk 1973-1976).
Author: Burroughs, William S., 1914-1997.

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person.	Text	Permit needed	Berg Coll m.b. Burroughs A.l.s. to Gysin 1964	Schwarzman Building - Berg Collection Room 320

Details

Additional Authors

Description

1; 31 cm.

Subject

Note

Collection consists of 92 letters including: 2 autograph letters signed, 3 autograph cards signed, 5 autograph postcards signed (two are signed by John Burroughs as well as W.S. Burroughs), 3 telegrams, and 74 typed letters signed (including 4 carbon copies and 2 photocopies) from William S. Burroughs to the avant-garde artist Brion Gysin; a typed letter signed, dated Feb. 6, 1973, from Richard Aaron to William S. Burroughs; a carbon copy of Burroughs' reply to Aaron, dated Feb. 9, 1973; a typed letter signed, dated Dec. 27, 1973, from Burroughs to the underground photographer Charles Gatewood; a carbon copy typed letter signed, dated Jan. 18, 1974, from Gatewood to Burroughs; and a typed letter signed, dated Jan. 25, 1974, from Maria Fuentetaja to Burroughs.
Many letters with envelopes.
Box includes a detailed contents list.
In these letters, Burroughs discusses the relationship of image and text in his work; the origins and execution of the "Time Magazine" fantasy issue; his use of the cut-up method, learned from Gysin; and the evolution of the novels Nova Express, The Last Words of Dutch Schultz, The Electronic Revolution, The Wild Boys, A Book of the Dead, Exterminator!, White Subway, and The Book of Breathing. He also discusses his non-literary projects, including his experiments in photographic montage and tape recording. Persons frequently mentioned in the letters include rare book and manuscript dealer Richard Aaron, the German avant-garde artist Udo Berger, Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, the avant-garde fantasist Jacques Stern, and the pioneering computer technician Ian Somerville, who invented a random sequence generator to assist Gysin in his cut-up experiments.
Oct. 23, 1965 letter to Brion Gysin with white-on-black photocopy of article on bou-bou shrike's ability to imitate human speech and create signature duet tunes (The [London] Observer, Oct. 17, 1965).
Nov. 8, 1965 letter to Brion Gysin accompanied by clipping of article on extracting water from atmosphere in desert (Outdoor Life, August 1965, p. 9-10).
Oct. 9, 1973 letter accompanied by 1 typescript page of Burroughs's notes on the ancient Persian fortress of Alamout, 4 photocopied typescript pages by Burroughs on Alamout, and one photocopy of a newspaper clipping of photograph of General Augusto Pinochet (newspaper unidentified, Sept. 30, 1973), with Burroughs's autograph emendation in black pen on first photocopied typescript page, and his autograph note in blue pen beside photograph of Pinochet.
Dec. 18, 1973 letter accompanied by blank postcard from Victoria and Albert Museum exhibition, "The Beginnings of Photography," showing rear view of group of boys leaning over wall.
Apr. 22, 1974 letter typed on broadside for poetry reading by William S. Burroughs and John Giorno at St. Mark's Church, April 24, 1974.
Two letters -- Sept. 1, 1975 and Mar. 24, 1976 -- with autograph note in pencil, signed, by James Grauerholz on verso.
Nov. 1, 1976 letter accompanied by 2 typescript carbon copy pages on plagiarism, with autograph underlining in black pen.

Access (note)

Restricted access;

Call Number

Berg Coll m.b. Burroughs A.l.s. to Gysin 1964

OCLC

728720306

Author

Burroughs, William S., 1914-1997.

Title

Collection of autograph and typed letters signed : London, New York, etc., to Brion Gysin, 1964-1980 (bulk 1973-1976).

Access

Restricted access; request permission from holding division.

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Added Author

Aaron, Richard Emmet. Author. Addressee

Fuentetaja, Maria. Author

Gatewood, Charles. Author. Addressee

Gysin, Brion. Addressee

Grauerholz, James. Annotator

Jackson, Robert H., 1936- Former owner

Research Call Number

Berg Coll m.b. Burroughs A.l.s. to Gysin 1964

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