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Concrete Poetry

 Collection
Identifier: MS28

  • Staff Only
  • No requestable containers

Scope and Contents

This small collection of concrete poetry includes correspondence and poems sent to John Furnival between 1963 and 1970 by Bob Cobbing, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Dom Sylvester Houédard, Aram Saroyan, Jiří Valoch, and Jonathan Williams. Correspondence to Furnival from Augusto de Campos, George Dowden, Mathias Goertiz, Ernst Jandl, Ron Johnson, Edward Lucie-Smith, Christopher Middleton, Lionel Miskin, Arigo Lora Totino, Emmett Williams, and Jack Willoughby includes discussions about poetry. The bulk of the collection consists of typopoems by Dom Sylvester Houédard typed between 1963 and 1967, organized chronologically or by title. Some of his comments on poetry, especially spatialist poems, and Henri Chopin’s statement on the spatialist manifesto are included. Poems and correspondence by Jonathan Williams include texts related to publishing Slow Owls: The Complete Name Games of Theodore Chamberlain and The Lucidities.

Dates

  • 1963 - 1970

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on use of the materials in the department for research; all patrons must comply with federal copyright regulations.

Extent

2 Boxes

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

John Furnival (b. 1933), Ian Hamilton Finlay, Dom Sylvester Houédard, Henry Chopin and Tom Phillips expanded the genre of concrete poetry to pioneer the broader concept of visual poetry. This collection of concrete poetry includes correspondence and poems sent to John Furnival between 1963 and 1970 by Bob Cobbing, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Dom Sylvester Houédard, Aram Saroyan, Jiří Valoch, and Jonathan Williams and other concrete poets. The bulk of the collection consists of typopoems by Dom Sylvester Houédard typed between 1963 and 1967. Some of his comments on poetry, especially about spatialist poetries and Henri Chopin’s statement on the spatialist manifesto are included. Poems and correspondence by Jonathan Williams include texts related to publishing Slow Owls: The Complete Name Games of Theodore Chamberlain and The Lucidities.

Arrangement

This collection of concrete poetry is organized alphabetivcally by the surname of each author.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The McCormick Library purchased these materials from John Furnival in the early 1970s.

Title
Guide to the Concrete Poetry Collection
Author
Sigrid Pohl Perry
Date
2018
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Library Details

Part of the Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Deering Library, Level 3
1970 Campus Drive
Evanston IL 60208-2300 US
847-491-3635