#4608 - Laura (Riding) Jackson Papers

Born in New York City in 1901, Laura (Riding) Jackson occupies the American literary landscape of the twentieth century as a poet, critic, and author increasingly concerned with language "as the natural human truth-system." She is best known for her association with the Fugitives in the 1920s, her personal and literary partnership with Robert Graves between 1925 and 1938, and as editor of Epilogue. Yet, as a modernist poet, a critic whose work was at the base of the New Criticism, and in her editorial work, she engaged in a relentless dialogue with scores of poets, authors, and critics of the Twentieth Century, which she pursued until her death in 1991. The Laura (Riding) Jackson and Schuyler B. Jackson Collection fully documents the strength of her dedication to the search for the sources of meaning, as well as her appeal to those who worked with her.

Many people contributed to the organization and description of this collection, including Marianne Hansen, Phil McCray, Kristine M. Kreyling, Lisa Sasaki, James Tyler, Mary Warren, and Jane E. Woolston. Elaine Engst, Lorna Knight, and Margaret Nichols provided additional assistance. The Laura (Riding) Jackson Board of Literary Management contributed valued advice. Leslie Carrère of Lunamedia designed the guide, and its publication was supported by the Helene and Elisabeth Mayer Publication Fund.

Patrizia Sione
October, 1998

[Patrizia Sione and Elizabeth Friedmann]

The Laura (Riding) Jackson and Schuyler B. Jackson Collection spans the years 1924-1991 and occupies 24.2 cubic feet. It consists mainly of correspondence between Laura (Riding) Jackson and a substantial number of authors, critics, publishers, and friends. In her correspondence Laura (Riding) Jackson discusses her views on poetry and language and provides criticism of other writers’ work. The correspondence includes letters to and from the literary circle of friends that Laura (Riding) Jackson established in England, in Deyá, Mallorca, and in France during the 1930s, among them Jacob Bronowski, Tom Matthews, and Gertrude Stein. More recent correspondence, mainly from the 1960s to the 1980s, documents Laura (Riding) Jackson ‘s relationship with American and British writers and critics, and details the projects and literary concerns that occupied her until her death.

The collection also gathers literary manuscripts, especially manuscript and typescript revised drafts of book-length unpublished works-- The Dictionary of Related Meanings, Rational Meaning, The Right English of Charles M. Doughty, Under the Mind’s Watch-- and a good number of notes and commentaries written by Laura (Riding) Jackson about her poetry and criticism. The collection is therefore of particular value to those who are concerned with Laura (Riding) Jackson’s projects after her renunciation of poetry in 1941 and with her dedication to the study of language.

Books that were given as gifts to Laura (Riding) Jackson and were originally part of this collection have been separated and added to Cornell’s rare book collection, where other Laura (Riding) Jackson titles are also located. These are: Rose Forbes (London: Faber & Faber, n.d.), Green Seacoast (London: Gaberbocchus Press, 1959), Conversation with Strangers (London: Gaberbocchus Press, 1961), and Bodily Responses (London: Gaberbocchus Press, 1958), by George Buchanan; A Grief Observed (New York: The Seabury Press, 1961) by C.S. Lewis; Juvenilia. 1 (London: Scorpion Press, 1961), Juvenilia. 2 (London: Scorpion Press, 1963), and March Has Horses’ Ears (London: Faber & Faber, 1966) by Robert Nye. Most carry autograph dedications.

The collection is organized into the following series: Autobiographical Materials, Diaries, Correspondence, Literary Manuscripts, Broadcasts, Recordings and Readings, Professional Activities, Other Activities, Writings about Laura (Riding) Jackson, Writings by Others, Photographs, and Ephemera.

Autobiographical Materials span the years 1938-1977. Arranged chronologically, they consist mainly of pieces written for periodicals, entries for biographical dictionaries, and personal notes and commentaries.

The Diaries are subdivided into the Laura (Riding) Jackson Diaries (1960-1980) and Schuyler B. Jackson Diaries (1964-1968), and are arranged and stored by format, rather than by date, because they were entered on notepads of greatly varying sizes. Thus the researcher needs to scan the whole list when looking for specific dates. Access to the Diaries is restricted; see the "Restrictions" section of this guide.

Correspondence spans the years 1926-1990. The letters are organized into the following three subseries: Laura (Riding) Jackson Correspondence, Schuyler B. Jackson Correspondence, and Restricted Correspondence. Each subseries is arranged into incoming and outgoing correspondence. Incoming correspondence is arranged in alphabetical order by name of correspondent, with the unidentified senders placed at the beginning of the subseries; outgoing correspondence is in chronological order, with the undated letters at the beginning of the subseries. However, there are two exceptions. Some materials in the incoming correspondence have been kept in thematic order, as Laura (Riding) Jackson arranged them. These are the letters relating to the fruit shipping business and the incoming selected Christmas messages. Restricted correspondence for each individual is housed in separate boxes, the materials being arranged into incoming and outgoing correspondence. The letters of Theodore Wilentz to and from Laura (Riding) Jackson are interfiled with those of his wife Joan.

Literary manuscripts span the years 1926-1991. The series includes works by both Laura (Riding) Jackson and Schuyler B. Jackson, with whom she worked on The Dictionary of Related Meanings and Rational Meaning. The materials are subdivided into two categories, published and unpublished manuscripts, and are further subdivided by genre: Major Works, Poems, Essays and Commentaries, and Letters to Editors. All materials are arranged in chronological order when dated, otherwise in alphabetical order. The Major Works section includes book-length projects of criticism, collaborations, translations, and pamphlets individually published; Essays and Commentaries includes works published as parts of other works, such as contributions to periodicals or to collections of essays, and a variety of her notes and commentaries on her own works, on the works of others, and on poetry and language in general. Laura (Riding) Jackson’s notes about her own published works written after their publication are placed in the Unpublished Works section, unless the notes themselves were published. Letters to editors of journals and magazines she wrote in response to book reviews are placed among the literary manuscripts rather than in the correspondence series, as they are often essays in their own right.

The Major Works subdivision in the Unpublished Works section contains a variety of manuscript and typescript drafts, notes, and background materials that are sporadically dated. They have been arranged in alphabetical order by title, then within each title in the following order: background materials, manuscript drafts, typescript drafts, notes and commentaries.

Materials in the Broadcasts, Recordings, and Readings series span the years 1963-1972 and are arranged in chronological order. They include the text of the Preface of Four Unposted Letters to Catherine written in 1963 for a reading aired by BBC on July 15 and 16, 1963, revised for the occasion; notes and transcripts of a poetry reading recorded at Lamont Library, Harvard College, in January 1972; and corrections for a recording made at the Library of Congress.

Materials in the Professional Activities series span the years 1936-1976. They are arranged chronologically and include a contract stipulated by the Seizin Press and a grant application from Laura (Riding) Jackson to the Guggenheim Foundation.

Materials in the Other Activities series span the years 1973-1978 and consist of documents and correspondence relating to Mrs. Jackson’s involvement in a dispute over a development project in Wabasso, Florida, where she resided.

Materials in the Writings About Laura (Riding) Jackson series span the years 1932-1990 and are subdivided into the following two sections: Biographical Pieces and Critical Reception of Laura (Riding) Jackson’s Works. The latter section includes book reviews and critical essays, in addition to entries in reference works and anthologies. The book reviews are listed in chronological order of appearance in periodicals, the essays in the chronological order of publication of the works in which they are contained.

Materials in the Writings by Others series span the years 1926-1981 and include clippings from reviews and articles on language, literature, and a variety of other subjects, which Laura (Riding) Jackson found of interest and collected. They are listed in chronological order of appearance.

The Photographs series consists of fifteen black and white photographs, which span the 1920s to the 1980s. They include photographs of paintings of Laura (Riding) Jackson.

The materials in the Memorabilia series include a number of legal documents.

The provenance of the Laura (Riding) Jackson and Schuyler B. Jackson Collection is complex, the result of both gifts to and purchases by Cornell University. The Collection originated in 1965 when Mrs. Jackson decided to donate her papers to Cornell University, and began to send her materials to the Department of Rare Books. She continued to do so until 1987. In addition, Mrs. Jackson bequeathed parts of her collection to Cornell University. Ms. Elizabeth Friedmann also donated materials given to her by Laura (Riding) Jackson which are now included in the Laura (Riding) Jackson and Schuyler B. Jackson Collection. Other collections of letters written by Laura (Riding) Jackson were donated by certain of her correspondents or purchased by Cornell University. Several of these purchases and donations now constitute separate related collections; see the section of this guide which describes Related Collections.

(effective October 8, 1998)

In the Laura (Riding) Jackson and Schuyler B. Jackson Collection access to three categories of materials is restricted.

includes materials to which researchers may have access only with prior written permission from the Laura (Riding) Jackson Board of Literary Management. Category (B) materials will become fully open on January 1, 2010. They are: