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Gregory Corso papers (MS.2015.007)

Brown University Library

Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Inventory

SERIES 1. JOURNALS, circa 1980-1983

Container Description Date
Box 1, Folder 1 Notebook no. 1
Contents Note: Drafts of poems; Corso's theory of love poetry; notes; 7 drawings; associated place, Amsterdam.
Physical Description Note: Unhinged (2 staples) ruled notebook; blue, silver, and red cover with green spine tape; "Cometa" on cover; 36 pages; 8 1/4 x 6 1/2 inches.
 circa 1980
Box 1, Folder 2 Notebook no. 2
Contents Note: "Title Poem: The Suppositions;" drafts of poems like "The Day After Human Kind;" notes; 5 drawings; associated place, San Francisco.
Physical Description Note: Bound ruled notebook; black cover with red quarter binding tape; "No. 6220, Shanghai, China"-- back endpaper; 121 pages; 8 1/4 x 6 1/2 inches.
 circa 1982
Box 1, Folder 3 Notebook no. 3
Contents Note: Draft of a long play (in verse) about Percy Bysshe Shelley; drafts of other poems; not dated; associated places, San Francisco, Minneappolis.

General Physical Description note: Bound ruled notebook; brown, beige, and white floral pattern on cover with red quarter binding tape; "Flying Eagle, made in China, T3423A"-- back endpaper; 53 pages ; 8 1/4 x 6 1/2 inches.

 circa 1982 Mar 21-1982 Jun 11
Box 1, Folder 4 Notebook no. 4
Contents Note: Poems and fragments, drafts of poems; prose about Hope Savage; notes; drawings; associated place, San Francisco.
Physical Description Note: Bound ruled notebook; Chinese tapesty cloth, predominantly red (village scene) on cover with brown quarter binding tape; "1622 [chinese script] Shangai, China"-- back endpaper; 140 pages ; 8 1/4 x 6 1/2 inches. Associated place(s): San Francisco.
 circa 1982 May
Box 1, Folder 5 Notebook no. 5
Contents Note: "Occasions with Peers: Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Ferlinghetti;" prose entries about Allen Ginsberg and the Beat Generation); drafts of poems; autobiographical notes.
Physical Description Note: Bound ruled notebook; orange and white floral pattern on cover with red quarter binding tape; "Flying Eagle, made in China, T3423A"-- back endpaper; 54 pages ; 8 1/4 x 6 1/2 inches.
 circa 1983
Box 1, Folder 6 Notebook no. 6
Contents Note: "Fragments of Play Poem Shelley;" prose about Corso's prison experience; drafts of poems; notes; associated place, San Francisco.
Physical Description Note: Bound ruled notebook; black cover with red quarter binding tape; "Sailing Boat, NB 2250...made in the People's Republic of China"-- back endpaper; 50 pages ; 8 1/4 x 6 1/2 inches.
 circa 1983
Box 1, Folder 7 Notebook no. 7
Contents Note: "Poems for the Golden Dot;" drafts of poems; notes; addresses; 14 drawings; and one note by Allen Ginsberg to Corso; associated places, San Francisco, Cambridge, Mass.
Physical Description Note: Bound notebook; grey felt cover with gold ornamental frame; "Anything Book - 0-517-371014"-- back cover; 60 pages ; 8 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches.
 1982-1983
Box 1, Folder 8 Notebook no. 8
Contents Note: Drafts of poems including "Series of Poems for Grandmother;" notes; 7 drawings; associated places, San Francisco, Boulder(?)
Physical Description Note: Bound ruled notebook; black, brown, and white floral pattern on cover with red quarter binding tape; "Flying Eagle, Made in China, T3423A"-- back endpaper; 50 pages ; 8 1/4 x 6 1/2 inches.
 1983
Box 1, Folder 9 Notebook no. 9
Contents Note: (fragments of a play-poem about Shelley; draft of letter to James Laughlin (New Directions publisher); drafts of poems; notes; 4 drawings; associated place, San Francisco.
Physical Description Note: Bound ruled notebook; black cover with red quarter binding tape; "Sailing Boat, NB 2250...made in the People's Republic of China"-- back endpaper; 50 pages ; 8 1/4 x 6 1/2 inches.
 circa 1983 Jun 21
Box 1, Folder 10 Notebook no. 10
Contents Note: Journal entries; drafts of letters to Cybelle Corso (Corso's daughter); notes; associated place, San Francisco.
Physical Description Note: Bound ruled notebook; orange and white floral pattern on cover with red quarter binding tape; "Flying Eagle, Made in China T3423A"-- back endpaper; 32 pages ; 8 1/4 x 6 1/2 inches.
 circa 1983 Aug 26
Box 1, Folder 11 Notebook no. 11
Contents Note: Poems; drafts of letters to James Laughlin (New Directions publisher); notes; 3 drawings; addresses; associated place, New York.
Physical Description Note: Bound ruled notebook; green and white floral pattern on cover with red quarter binding tape; "Flying Eagle, Made in China,T3423A"-- back endpaper; 52 pages ; 8 1/4 x 6 1/2 inches.
 circa 1983 Sep 10
Box 1, Folder 12 Telephone and address book (unused)
Physical Description Note: Signed: "Gregory Corso, 1983"; hinged binding; graphic cover (landscape) with bronze color border; "The Guilford Line...1977"--p. [1]; "8 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches.
 1983

SERIES 2. MANUSCRIPTS, between 1980-1983

Container Description Date
Box 1, Folder 13 Golden Dot (single poems - typescripted drafts)
Physical Description Note: 104 pages, typed manuscripts, most pages with holograph corrections.
 circa 1980-1983
Box 1, Folder 14 Golden Dot (single poems - holographic drafts)
Physical Description Note: 31 pages, holograph, possibly one page is a photocopy.
 circa 1980-1983
Box 1, Folder 15 Golden Dot (the poem "Day After Humankind" - typescripted draft)
Physical Description Note: 38 pages (2 are holograph), the rest typed or are photocopies with holograph edits, comprising 3 poems from folder label
 circa 1980-1983
Box 1, Folder 16 [untitled]

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note: typescript on index card

 undated

SERIES 3. CORRESPONDENCE, between 1983-1986, n.d.

Container Description Date
Box 1, Folder 17 From Boss, Laura, to Gregory Corso
Physical Description Note: 2 letters, same date & content: 1 typescript; and the other autograph.
 1983 Nov 25
Box 1, Folder 18 From Boss, Laura, to Allen Ginsberg
Physical Description Note: 1 autograph notecard.
 1984 Jan 14
Box 1, Folder 19 From Corso, Greogory, to Laura Boss
Physical Description Note: 2 postcards; 2 notes on index cards; one typescript note with autograph marginalia presumably to L. Boss.
 1983, undated
Box 1, Folder 20 From Corso, Greogory, to Allan Ginsberg
Physical Description Note: Handwritten copy of the letter, in the hand of an unidentified person, in which he talks about his relationship with Ginsberg, his drug addiction, and his relationship with Laura Boss. The original of this letter is in the Allen Ginsberg papers at Stanford University, Manuscripts Division. Excerpts from this letter were published in the book: An Accidental Biography: The Selected Letters of Gregory Corso edited by Bill Morgan, 2003.
 1983 December 4
Box 1, Folder 21 From Corso, Greogory, to unidentified person
Physical Description Note: brief autograph note, with illustration of cat: "Hi, yes fine, Gregory."
 undated
Box 1, Folder 22 From Corso, Max, to Laura Boss
Physical Description Note: 3 autograph postcards; one autograph note card.
 1984
Box 1, Folder 23 From Ginsberg, Allen, to Laura Boss
Physical Description Note: 1 autograph postcard; postcard designed by Adrian Ravarou.
 1986 Jun 10
Box 1, Folder 24 From Meth, Clifford, to Laura Boss (L.I.P.S.)
Physical Description Note: 1 typewritten letter (with signature).
 1983 Dec 15
Box 1, Folder 25 From miscellaneous senders, to Laura Boss
 1985 Sep 12

SERIES 4. FINANCIAL RECORDS

Container Description Date
Box 1, Folder 26 Hotel El Cortez
Contents Note: From expenses incurred by L. Boss.
 1983, undated
Box 1, Folder 27 Receipts (miscellaneous purchases)
Contents Note: Mainly from expenses incurred by L. Boss via credit card; none attributable to G. Corso.
 1983, undated
Box 1, Folder 28 Travel expenses
Contents Note: Mainly credit card receipts of expenses incurred by L. Boss; none directly attributable to Corso.
 1983, undated

SERIES 5. PAINTINGS

Container Description Date
Box 2xxx Tent by Edge of Bosphorus with Pink Mosquue and Blue Mosque
Physical Description Note: Oil painting on cotton duck by Corso; unstretched and unframed; 12" x 12 1/2"; signed and titled on back.
 1982
Box 2xxx [Untitled]
Physical Description Note: Oil painting of classical figure on cotton duck by Corso; unstretched and unframed; 13 1/2" x 26"; unsigned.
 n.d.

SERIES 6. PHOTOGRAPHS, between 1983 and 1984, n.d.

Gregory Corso

Container Description Date
Box 1, Folder 29 Corso, in front his portrait of Laura Boss in progress
 1983
Box 1, Folder 30 Corso, in hotel room, Resorts International Casino Hotel, Atlantic City, N.J.
 n.d.
Box 1, Folder 31 Corso, outside shots
 1983
Box 1, Folder 32 Corso paintings (Laura Boss portrait)
 1983
Box 1, Folder 33 Corso paintings (miscellaneous)
Physical Description Note: Color; includes polaroids. Includes portrait of L. Boss.
 n.d.
Box 1, Folder 34 Corso paintings (miscellaneous, polaroids)
 n.d.
Box 1, Folder 35 Corso, with Allen Ginsberg (in Boss' apartment)
Physical Description Note: Color snapshots of Corso and Ginsberg in Boss' apartment standing in front of painting by Corso.
 n.d.
Box 1, Folder 36 Corso, with L. Boss' mother(?)
 n.d.
Box 1, Folder 37 Corso, with son Max
 n.d.

Laura Boss

Container Description Date
Box 1, Folder 38 Boss, head shot
Contents Note: Portrait by E. Wegman?
 n.d.
Box 1, Folder 39 Boss, standing in front of Corso's portrait of her
 n.d.
Box 1, Folder 40 Boss, with Allen Ginsberg
 n.d.
Box 1, Folder 41 Boss, with Allen Ginsberg and other unidentified persons
 1984, n.d.

Gregory Corso and Laura Boss

Container Description Date
Box 1, Folder 42 Corso and Boss, in Atlantic City
 1983
Box 1, Folder 43 Corso and Boss, in Boss' apartment
 n.d.
Box 1, Folder 44 Corso and Boss, with Corso's parent and stepparent(?)
 1983
Box 1, Folder 45 Corso and Boss, with unidentified persons, at restaurant
 n.d.
Box 1, Folder 46 Corso and Boss, with unidentified persons, outside shots
 n.d.

Miscellanea

Container Description Date
Box 1, Folder 47 Photographic negatives
 n.d.
Box 1, Folder 48 Unidentified objects and places
 n.d.
Box 1, Folder 49 Unidentified young man and young woman
 n.d.

SERIES 7. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS, between 1983 and 1984

Container Description Date
Box 1, Folder 50 Business cards, guest cards
Contents Note: Includes 1 business card from William Burroughs Communications with inscription: "We love you Gregorio, Bill and James; and 1 guest card from Playboy Hotel and Casino, Atlantic City with L. Boss' signature.
 n.d.
Box 1, Folder 51 Flyers, programs
Contents Note: Flyers and programs from a few poetry readings related to Corso and Ginsberg.
 1983, n.d.
Box 1, Folder 52 Handwritten notes on scraps of paper and printed materials
Contents Note: Authorship mainly unidentified but presumed to be mainly L. Boss and G. Corso; includes inscription by L. Boss on the cover of the 9th New York Book Fair, 1983: "I met Gregory Corso at the Park Ave. 9th New York Book Fair--Laura Boss;" and also includes a handwritten note on a magazine clipping that cites the names of "Allen G" and "Peter Orlovsky" and their phone number.
 n.d.
Box 1, Folder 53 Postcards
Contents Note: 2 with photos of Pete's Tavern in NYC; 1 with photo of the El Cortez Hotel in San Francisco; and 1 with photo of City Lights Books in San Francisco
 n.d.
Box 1, Folder 54 Stationary
Contents Note: From LIPS, and the Hotel El Cortex.
 n.d.
Box 1, Folder 55 Ticket stubs
 1983-1984, n.d.

SERIES 8. PRINTED MATERIALS, between 1958 and 2004

Books by Corso, between 1958-1987

Container Description Date
Box 1, Book 1 Earth egg (Kingston, Ontario: Unmuzzled Ox)
Contents Note: Contents: one poetry broadside printed in brown on cream paper in facsimile of Corso's handwriting; one illustration consisting of five sheets folded accordion style and glued together to form a continuous strip, also in brown on cream paper containing labelled drawings; and one pamphlet of [8] pages printed in brown on tan paper, stapled into illustrated lettered wrapper containing facsimile of handwritten text with printed text below.

Items issued in container: brown box with cream-colored text and graphics (20 x 12 cm).
 1974
Box 1, Book 2 Elegiac feelings American (New York: New Directions Publishing)
Physical Description Note: Inscribed by Corso to Laura Boss.
 1970
Box 1, Book 3 Gasoline. The vestal lady on Brattle (San Francisco: City Light)
Physical Description Note: Inscribed by Corso.
 1958
Box 1, Book 4 The happy birthday of death (New York: New Directions Publishing)
Physical Description Note: Inscribed by Corso to Laura Boss.
 1960
Box 1, Book 5 Herald of the autochthonic spirit
 1981
Box 1, Book 6 Long live man
Physical Description Note: Inscribed by Corso to Laura Boss.
 1962
Box 1, Folder 56 Way out: a poem in discord (Kathmandu: Nepal: Bardo Matrix)
Physical Description Note: Inscribed by Corso to Laura Boss, in New Jersey, in 1983. Starstreams poety series, Number 1. Limited edition of 500 copies of which this is number 301.
 1974
Box 1, Book 7 Wings, wands, windows
Physical Description Note: Signed by Corso.
 1982

Serials

Container Description Date
Box 1, Book 8 Lips (Montclair, N.J. : Lips; 1983, no. 6) (edited by Laura Boss)
Contents Note: Signed by Laura Boss; includes two illustrations of Corso's paintings and 1 poem by Boss.
 1983
Box 1, Book 9 Long shot (New Brunswick, NJ : Long Shot Productions; vol. 24)
Contents Note: Includes tributes to Corso; poems by Corso; illustrations by Corso.
 2001
Box 1, Book 10 The Riverside interviews - Gregory Corso (London: Binnacle Press; no. 3, 1983)
 1982
Box 1, Book 11 Schuylkill Valley journal (Plymouth Meeting, PA : Manayunk Art Center, no. 18, Spring 2004)
Contents Note: Includes memoir of Corso by Laura Boss; signed by Laura Boss.
 2004
Box 1, Book 12 Unmuzzled Ox Magazine (New York: Unmuzzled Ox Foundation, no. 22, Winter 1981)
Contents Note: Special Gregory Corco issue; signed by Corso.
 1981

Other printed materials, 1972

Container Description Date
Box 1, Book 13 The waste land from Ur to Echt, by Harry Levin (Printed...for friends of Elena & Harry Levin, Ann & J. Laughlin, and New Directions)
Physical Description Note: Inscribed by Harry Levin to Corso.
 1972

SERIES 9. AUDIO-VISUAL MATERIALS, between 1981-1982, n.d.

Phonograph records, Between 1981 and 1982

Container Description Date
Box 1, Folder 57 Ginsberg, Allen (with the Gluons). Birdbrain. Sue your parents (Alekos Records)

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note: On record label: 1981 copyright; Alekos publisher ; side 1: Birdbrain, 6:38 ; side 2: Sue Your Parents, 3:28. On record sleeve: Inscribed by Ginsberg to L. Boss, dated June 2, 1983 in NYC. 33 1/3 rpm.

 1981
Box 1, Folder 58 Waldman, Anne. Uh-oh Plutonium! (Hyacinth Girls Music)

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note: On record label: "Hyacinth Girls Music"; BMI HG001; side 1 in English, 3:03 and side 2 in French, also 3:03. On record sleeve: Recorded at "A Step Above...NYC" ; 1982 copyright; inscribed by Waldman to L. Boss. 45 rpm

 1982

Video Cassettes

Container Description Date
Box 1, Videotape 1 Allen Ginsberg (New York: Thin Air)
Physical Description Note: On container: series: Beat Legends; 92 minutes. Format: VHS
 circa 1991
Box 1, Videotape 2 Gregory Corso (New York: Thin Air)
Contents Note: Description from container: "Hypnotic, hyperbolic and trigger-happy, the charismatic Corso rolls and flows at the trip of the tongue, here in a great historic reading in Greenwich Village, New York, 1991."
Physical Description Note: On container: series: Beat Legends; 55 minutes. Format: VHS.
 circa 1991