Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Collection
Title
Poem of the Month Club Collection
Date(s)
- 1970-1977 (Creation)
Extent
2 boxes (7 linear inches)
Name of creator
Administrative history
The Poem of the Month Club was founded in 1970 by Jack H. Clark and Winston Fletcher. The mission of the club was to publish a "substantial and characteristic" original poem by a leading British poet. Among the poets published by the club were W.H. Auden, Robert Graves, Seamus Heaney, Philip Larkin, Cecil Day-Lewis and Stevie Smith. The poems were printed on fine quality broadsides, suitable for framing, and signed by the author.
Roy Fuller, poet and Professor of at Oxford, and Cecil Day-Lewis, poet laureate, were the club's professional advisors who helped to solicit and select poems for publication. From 1970-1977 the club published four folios of twelve poems each. (The last two poems of the fourth folio were not published until 1977, although the folio is dated 1973-1974.) The Poem of the Month Club ended in 1977, a victim of declining interest and increased difficulty in finding new material.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
This collection consists of miscellaneous files, alphabetical files on the authors, and a complete original folio of poems. Within the first miscellaneous file is background information on the club and correspondence with Bloomsbury Book Auctions. Other miscellaneous files consist of correspondence. the author files primarily consist of correspondence between poet and club directors, contracts with the club, and proofs of the broadsides. There are originals and carbon copies in the files. Many of the letters and proofs are annotated and contain original signatures. The complete folio contains signed broadsides as well as any other material sent with the poem, such as a brief biography or note from the author regarding his poem.
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
Physical access
These materials are housed at an off-site facility and can take a minimum of 7 business days for retrieval.
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
The collection of files (excluding the folio) was purchased by Texas A&M University from Jack Clark through Bloomsbury Book Auctions in 1994. The folio was purchased in 1993.
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Related descriptions
Notes element
Specialized notes
- Processing information: For preservation purposes, all broadside proofs were removed from their respective file folders and placed in a flat archival box during processing. In addition, the complete Poem of the Month Club folio was placed in the same box.
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Rules or conventions
Sources used
Archivist's note
© Copyright 2019 Cushing Library. All rights reserved.