Research Catalog

Title

James Laughlin ephemera collection.

Author

Laughlin, James, 1914-1997

Publication

1938-1998.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

James Laughlin's library of New Directions imprints.

Description

.042

Summary

The James Laughlin ephemera collection consists of a selection of materials retained by the founder of the New Directions Publishing company at his home in Norfolk, Connecticut as part of his personal library. It is comprised chiefly of announcements, keepsakes, poetry broadsides, programs and other publications by or about Laughlin issued by presses other than New Directions. It also includes a few of his New Directions publications, as well as a small number of miscellaneous items retained with the collection: a set of three still sealed "JL" envelopes, stamped "1883-1983" (perhaps relating to the centenary of William Carlos Williams' birth), an undated mailing to Laughlin from the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust, and a 1998 program for an "Asian Art in London" series of exhibitions. Among the publishers and fine presses represented in the collection are: All'insegna del pesce d'oro, Black Oak Books, Gaberbocchus Press, Grenfell Press, James L. Weil, White Fields Press, and Yes! Press. Unless otherwise noted, if multiple copies were found, two were retained; some items were present only in a single copy.

Subject

• Laughlin, James, 1914-1997
• 1900-1999
• Printed ephemera > Specimens
• Advertising > Books > Specimens
• Poets, American > 20th century
• American poetry > 20th century > Authorship
• American poetry > 20th century > Publishing
• Publishers and publishing > United States > 20th century
• Advertising > Books
• Advertising
• Poets, American
• American poetry
• Authorship
• Publishing
• Publishers and publishing
• Printed ephemera
• United States

Genre/Form

• Ephemera.
• Postcards.
• Stationery.
• Broadside poems.
• Keepsakes.
• Announcements.
• Specimens.

Language (note)

• Includes mainly materials in English; one publication has parallel text in Italian and English and another has a title in Greek.

Call Number

Berg Coll+ 22-2293

OCLC

1395078415

Author

Laughlin, James, 1914-1997, creator.

Title

James Laughlin ephemera collection.

Production

1938-1998.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

sheet

volume

Biography

James Laughlin was an American poet and publisher born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on October 30, 1914. The heir to wealth derived from the Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation, he would use part of his inheritance to fund the New Directions Publishing company, which he founded in 1936 while still a student at Harvard. The publishing house went on to become a notable force in presenting the work of a wide range of American and international writers. Although the poet Ezra Pound, whom he admired, had warned Laughlin not to pursue writing his own poetry, Laughlin continued to write and would publish many books of his poems. Laughlin died on November 12, 1997 in Norfolk, Connecticut. Ownership of New Directions passed into a trust he had established and the company still actively publishes new works and maintains its back catalog.

Language

Includes mainly materials in English; one publication has parallel text in Italian and English and another has a title in Greek.

Local Note

Copy in Berg Coll+ 22-2293 acquired from Leila and Daniel Javitch, 2021.

Chronological Term

1900-1999

Added Author

Javitch, Leila Laughlin, donor.

Javitch, Daniel, donor.

Laughlin, James, 1914-1997, former owner.

James Laughlin's library of New Directions imprints.

Research Call Number

Berg Coll+ 22-2293