Guide to the Gregory Corso papers, 1958-2004

(bulk 1980-1983)

John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
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

Published in 2015

Collection Overview

Title:	Gregory Corso papers
Date range:	1958-2004, (bulk 1980-1983)
Creator:	Corso, Gregory
Extent:	1.5 linear feet
Abstract:	This collection, although small in scope, contains a significant assortment of documentation, the sum total of which provides substantive information about Gregory Corso’s personal and creative life. It contains working manuscripts and original artwork by Corso, as well as a small collection of correspondence mostly connected to Corso as either sender, recipient or subject. It also contains a small group of books by Corso; over one hundred photographs of Corso and his family and associates; phonograph records and video cassettes by or about Corso and other Beat writers; and a few miscellaneous ephemeral materials. Highlights of the collection include eleven of Corso’s journals containing about 700 pages of hand-written entries in the from of prose, poetry, and scattered drawings, as well as three files of manuscript material, containing approximately 175 pages of a work entitled The Golden Dot, a collection of poems by Corso that were intended for publication but never completed. The bulk of the collection dates from 1982 to 1983, when Corso was working on The Golden Dot.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Collection number:	MS.2015.007

Scope & content

Manuscripts and working notebooks make up the bulk of the Gregory Corso papers, supplemented by correspondence, paintings, photographs, and a small but interesting assortment of other materials, including phonograph records, VHS cassettes, books and ephemeral materials. The bulk of the collection dates from around 1980 to 1983, and is organized into nine series:

Series I. Journals is comprised of 11 notebooks of writings by Corso, containing approximately 700 pages of hand-written entries in the form of poems, plays, and letters, miscellaneous notes, and autobiographical reflections. There are also a few drawings by Corso interspersed throughout the notebooks.

Series II. Manuscripts represents the heart of the collection. It is primarily comprised of 3 files of a hefty manuscript entitled The Golden Dot--a collection of poems Corso worked on between 1980 and 1983 that were intended for publication but never completed. This series includes both typescript and handwritten materials.

Series III. Correspondence is small in scope and includes a variety of correspondents including Corso himself, as well as his family and friends. It includes postcards and notes sent by Corso to Laura Boss; letters sent by Laura Boss to Corso and Alan Ginsberg; and postcards from Max Corso (Corso’s son) to Laura Boss. The most interesting item in this series is a copy of a lengthy letter from Corso to Ginsberg (not written, it shold be noted, in his own hand) detailing the history of their relationship.

Series IV. Financial Records is also small in scope, but informative nevertheless. It is primarily comprised of incidental records--credit card receipts, bills, and invoices--of expenses incurred by Laura Boss primarily on behalf of Corso.

Series V. Paintings is comprised of 2 oil paintings on unstretched canvas by Corso. The first, measuring 12” x 12 ½”, is titled Tent by Edge of Bosphorus with Pink and Blue Mosque 1982 and signed by Corso. The second, measuring 13 ½” x 26”, is untitled and unsigned, and depicts a classical female figure.

Series VI. Photographs is comprised mostly of color snapshots of Corso, a few relatives, and some friends. Two of these are of Corso with Allen Ginsberg. The pictures were taken in New York, San Francisco, and New Jersey, most likely during 1983.

Series VII. Miscellaneous Items primarily includes an odd assortment of ephemeral materials, such as flyers and programs related to Corso and Ginsberg, stationary and business cards, scattered notes, blank postcards, and ticket stubs. One item of note is a William Burroughs business card, inscribed by Borroughs and James W. Grauerholz.

Series VIII. Printed Materials contains a significant number of monographs by Corso, some rare and out of print, and a few serials in which individual works by Corso appear.

Series IX. Audio-Visual Materials includes two video cassettes from the series Beat Legends--one a documentary about Corso, and the other, a documentary about Allen Ginsberg. It also contains two 45 rpm vinyl records of poetry readings--one of Allen Ginsberg (inscribed by Ginsberg to Laura Boss) and the other of Anne Waldman (inscribed by Waldman to Laura Boss).

Access Points

Subject Names

• Boss, Laura, 1938-
• Corso, Gregory
• Ginsberg, Allen, 1926-1997

Subject Topics

• Beat generation
• Bohemianism--United States
• Language and Literature
• Painters--United States--20th century
• Poetry--American--20th century

Occupations

• Poets, American--20th century

Document Types

• Drawings
• Journals
• Letters (Correspondence)
• Notebooks
• Paintings
• Phonograph records
• Photographs
• Poems
• Postcards
• Printed ephemera
• Printed materials
• Typescripts
• Videocassettes
• Autographs (manuscripts)

Subject Topics

• Education

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into 11 series:

• Series 1. Journals
• Series 2. Manuscripts
• Series 3. Correspondence
• Series 4. Financial Records
• Series 5. Paintings
• Series 6. Photographs
• Series 7. Miscellaneous Items
• Series 8. Printed Materials
• Series 9. Audio-Visual Materials

Biographical/Historical note

Gregory Corso was born on March 26, 1930 to young Italian immigrants in New York City's Greenwich Village. His childhood was turbulent and unsettled at best. His mother returned to Italy a year after his birth, and he spent much of his formative years without much nurturance from either parent, living in various orphanages, foster homes, reform schools, and on the streets.

At the age of twelve, Corso endured a month in prison while awaiting trial for selling stolen goods, but he was eventually acquitted. Following this ordeal, which was particularly hard on him, he was hospitalized under psychiatric observation at Bellevue Hospital for three months. At sixteen, he landed in jail again for robbery and was sentenced to three years at the Clinton State Prison. During his stay there, he compensated for his lack of a traditional education by frequenting the prison library where he discovered the works of Percy Bysshe Shelley and Arthur Rimbaud, among others, and began writing his own poetry.

After his release from Clinton State Prison, Corso traveled across the country working at a series of odd jobs while continuing to write poetry. He met Allen Ginsberg at a bar in Greenwich Village in 1950, a chance encounter that precipitated what was to become a lasting personal and creative relationship. Ginsberg recognized Corso’s talent and the originality of his poetic voice. Through Ginsberg, Corso met and became friends with other writers in Ginsberg's circle, including Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, and Neal Cassady, many of whom become not only influential in Corso’s artistic development, but leading figures in the Beat movement of that era. In 1954, Corso moved to Boston where he unofficially attended Harvard University, frequenting its library and reading celebrated works of poetry from the Western Canon, and working on his own writing. That same year, a few of his poems appeared in the Harvard Advocate ; and just a year later, his first book of poetry was published by R. Brukenfeld and underwritten by a group of Harvard and Radcliffe students.

In 1956, Corso moved to San Francisco, where the Beat movement was starting to coalesce and gain wider recognition. As Corso and his fellow Beat poets grew in fame and success, they would often travel together, giving poetry readings and collaborating on other creative projects. Corso traveled throughout the United States and also abroad, often spending long stretches of time in various European countries. In the late 1950s, he lived in Paris, with Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky, and others from the Beat community, in a hotel near St. Michel that they christened The Beat Hotel, which became a haven for young expatriate painters, writers and musicians. Around this time, he also traveled to Tangier, along with Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky and Kerouac, to assist Burroughs in an (ill-fated) first attempt to edit fragments of text which were to become Burrough’s masterpiece, The Naked Lunch.

Corso authored more than 20 books of poetry, including: The Vestal Lady on Brattle (1955); Gasoline (1958); Bomb (1958); The Happy Birthday of Death (1960); Long Live Man (1962); The Mutation of the Spirit (1964); Elegaic Feelings American (1970); Earth Egg (1974); Wings, Wands, Windows (1982); and Mindfield (1989). His prose works include the novel The American Express (1961) and the play In This Hung-up Age. He also was an accomplished painter and illustrator.

Corso rarely held down a regular job nor did he settle down and establish long-term roots in any one place for most of his life. He worked at a number of odd jobs, was a reporter for the Los Angeles Examiner, served as a merchant seaman, and taught writing at various American universities including New York University and the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Corso was a heroin addict. At times he struggled financially and periodically sold some of his notebooks of poetry just to sustain his drug habit and survive. He was married three times, fathered three daughters and two sons, and was romantically linked with a number of other women, including Laura Boss, an award-winning poet, and founder and editor of the poetry magazine, Lips.

Corso died of prostate cancer on January 17, 2001, in Robbinsdale, Minnesota.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Use of the materials:	Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	Gregory Corso papers, Ms. 2015.007, Brown University Library.
Contact information:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts 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

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	Purchased by Brown University Library in 2014.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Robert Rosa.
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2015-10-02
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Inventory

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