Willard Maas papers (Ms.Maas)

The Willard Maas Papers consist of approximately five hundred letters, manuscripts, galley proofs, photographs, drawings, play scripts, and film scripts from the period 1931-1967.

Series 1, Manuscripts Presented to the Harris Collection, October 1962 is comprised primarily of correspondence, but also includes an assortment of literary manuscripts and galley proofs. The bulk of the correspondence includes business letters from editors of literary journals responding to submissions of poetry by Maas. It also includes an interesting mix of letters from both friends and associates of Maas—some personal, others professional, and often a mixture of the two. The most notable correspondents include George Barker, Maya Deren, J. Ronald Lane Latimer, Ezra Pound, Elizabeth Smart, Robert Penn Warren, and William Carlos Williams. Also notable in this series is an interesting collection of literary manuscripts. It includes: poetry by Maas; a small collection of poetry, plays, and filmscripts by George Barker, including text that he wrote for Maas’ film, The Geography of the Body; and writings by Elizabeth Smart, including her best known work, By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept. Galley proofs of a book that Maas co-edited, The Essential Prose, are also included in this series.

Series 2, Wagner Literary Magazine - Manuscripts and Correspondence Relating to the Spring 1959 Issue, comprises materials associated with the inaugural publication of the Wagner Literary Magazine under Maas’ direction, which featured a symposium of the Beat poets. The documents included here are mostly correspondence from major 20th-century writers and intellectuals in response to Maas’ inquiry about their views on Beat poetry. It includes a copy of Maas’ original letter of inquiry and letters from such dignitaries as George Barker, Gregory Corso, Allen Ginsberg, Marianne Moore, Paul Tillich, Lionel Trilling and William Carlos Williams. This series also includes scattered poetry manuscripts that were enclosed within some of the correspondence, including poems by Gregory Corso and Mina Loy.

Among the most notable materials in Series 3 and 4, Additional Manuscripts (Groups 1 and 2) is a set of manuscripts relating to the production of Maas’ film, Image in the Snow. This set includes commentary, a film script, a music script, and directorial notes about the planning of this film.