Manuscripts
The heart of the collection is the correspondence between Wallace Stevens and his family, scholars, poets, editors, business associates and friends. All of the correspondence (except that relating to genealogy) has been fully catalogued in the Manuscripts Catalogue.
Although there is some correspondence of minor importance, such as friends' greetings while Stevens was convalescing in 1955, most of it has an interest from either a biographical or poetical viewpoint. Many of the letters from Stevens were published by his daughter in Letters of Wallace Stevens, ed. Holly Stevens, 1966. But still unpublished is the other side of the correspondence--to Stevens--amounting to about 2,500 pieces. The bulk of Stevens' letters are carbon copies, with the exception of his letters to Barbara S. Church, Wilson E. Taylor, and Elsie Viola (Moll) Stevens. Stevens began to keep carbon copies regularly only after the early 1940s, so his letters from the earlier period are scarce in the collection. A brief notice of the kinds of correspondence in the collection is given below:
Family Letters
The most significant family figure represented in the correspondence is Stevens' wife, Elsie Viola (Moll) Stevens (1886–1963). Her real name was Elsie Viola Kachel, but when her mother remarried, Elsie took on the surname Moll. Most of the correspondence is from Stevens to Elsie, 1907 (before their engagement) to 1935. (271 pieces; WAS 1776-2047). The principal letters from Elsie are to her stepfather and mother, Lehman W. and Ida Bright (Smith) Kachel Moll and to her half-sister, Dorothy La Rue (Moll) Weidner.
Additional family correspondents include:
Elizabeth (Stevens) MacFarland (1885-1943): Wallace Stevens' elder sister. Daughter: Jane (MacFarland) Stone Wilson.
Garrett Barcalow Stevens a (1848-1911): Wallace Stevens' father.
Garrett Barcalow Stevens b (1877-1937): Wallace Stevens' elder brother. Wife: Sarah Shelley (Stayman) Stevens.
Holly Bright Stevens (1924-1992): Daughter of Wallace and Elsie Stevens. First married name: Hanchak (son: Peter Reed Hanchak). Second married name: Stephenson. Her maiden name is used throughout the collection.
John Bergen Stevens a (1880-1940): Wallace Stevens' younger brother. Son: John Bergen Stevens b. Wife: Anna May Stevens. Daughter: Eleanor (Stevens) Sauer. Husband: John C. Sauer.
Margaretha Catharine (Zeller) Stevens (1848-1912): Wallace Stevens' mother.
Mary Catharine Stevens (1889-1919): Wallace Stevens' younger sister, killed in France during World War I.
Literary Correspondents
The crux of the collection deals with Wallace Stevens' poetry; a majority of the correspondence falls into this category. The following list deals only with some of the correspondents, including those who were important in their own right or important for the quality of the correspondence. The list is by no means complete. Many of the editors of journals, critics and publishers that figure in the collection are not on the following list but may be found alphabetically in the Manuscript Catalogue in the Library. All letters in the list are addressed to or written by Stevens.
Note: Marguerite G. Flynn, whose name figures in some of the correspondence, was Stevens' secretary and stenographer. She personally answered some of Stevens' letters, especially in 1955 when Stevens was hospitalized. Letters written by her are catalogued under her name, not Stevens'.
Henry Hall Church: 102 pieces, 1939-[1947]. (WAS 3366-3467). Stevens to HHC: 94 pieces, 1939-1947, mostly carbons. (WAS 3468-3561). Barbara S. Church: 112 pieces, 1942-1955. (WAS 3563-3674). Stevens to BSC: 148 letters, 1 942-1955, mostly originals. (WAS 3678-3825). The Church-Stevens correspondence is undoubtedly the most important (and numerous) in the collection. Henry Church and Stevens were both interested in French literature and, during the war years when the Churches were unable to spend half the year in their home at Ville d'Avray, France, Stevens saw the Churches frequently and became close friends with them, so that in his correspondence with both Henry and Barbara Church, he frequently and honestly speaks of his personal and literary life.
Edward Estlin Cummings: 4 letters, 1944-1950. (WAS 1-4). Stevens to EEC: 2 carbons, 1947-1950.(WAS 5-6).
Harry Duncan (of the Cummington Press): 61 letters, 1943-1951. (WAS 555-615). Stevens to HD: 9 carbons, 1945-1950. (WAS 616-624).
Katharine Frazier (of the Cummington Press): 19 letters, 1941-1943. (WAS 647-665).
Robert Lee Frost: 1 A.L.S. (and photograph), July 28, 1935. (WAS 365).
Victor Karl Hammer: 32 letters, 1946-1952. (WAS 776-807). Stevens to VKH: 11 carbons, 1948-1951. (WAS 808-818).
Alfred A. Knopf: 64 letters, 1920-1955. (WAS 3084-3147). Stevens to AAK: 44 carbons, 1930-1955. (WAS 3148-3191).
The following four individuals are the major associates with Alfred A. Knopf Inc. in the correspondence:
William Cole: 10 letters, 1951-1955. (WAS 3044-3053). Stevens to WC: 9 carbons, 1951-1955. (WAS 3054-3062).
Sidney R. Jacobs: 9 letters, 1950-1954. (WAS 3063-3071). Stevens to SRJ: 12 carbons, 1950-1954. (WAS 3072-3083).
William A. Koshland: 11 letters, 1950-1954. (WAS 3198-3208). Stevens to WAK: 10 carbons, 1950-1955. (WAS 3209-3218).
Herbert Weinstock: 74 pieces, 1946-1955. (WAS 3219-3292). Stevens to HW: 66 carbons, 1946-1955. (WAS 3293-3358).
Archibald MacLeish: 2 letters, 1925-[1948]. (WAS 1063-1064). Stevens to AM: 1 carbon, Aug. 23, 1948. (WAS 1065).
Harriet Monroe: 10 letters, 1914-1935. (WAS 28-37).
Marianne Craig Moore: 27 letters, 1926-1955. (WAS 41-67).
Samuel French Morse: 7 letters, 1953-1955. (WAS 1266-1272). Stevens to SFM: 3 carbons, 1954-1955. (WAS 1273-1275).
Renato Poggioli: 30 letters, 1947-1954. (WAS 286-315). Stevens to RP: 23 carbons, 1947-1954. (WAS 316-338).
Mary Bernetta Quinn: 12 letters, 1948-1955. (WAS 2621-2632). Stevens to MBQ: 3 carbons, 1948-1954. (WAS 2633-2635).
Hi Simons: 28 pieces, 1937-1945.(WAS 78-105). Stevens to HS: 35 carbons, 1937-1945.(WAS 106-140).
Allen John Orley Tate: 45 pieces, 1941-1949. (WAS 2340-2384). Stevens to AJOT: 21 carbons, 1941-1949. (WAS 2385-2405).
Thornton Niven Wilder: 1 A.L.S., Sep. 12, 1951. (WAS 2524). Stevens to TNW: 1 carbon, Oct. 19, 1951. (WAS 2525).
William Carlos Williams: 13 letters, 1916-1953. (WAS 11-23).
Foreign Correspondence
Although Stevens never travelled abroad (other than to Havana, Cuba), he was always interested to read about foreign places and to correspond with foreigners. Some of the most engaging correspondence is with foreign writers, whose letters with Stevens are among the finest in the collection for the insights they give into Stevens the man and the poet.
Notable correspondents include:
Rosamond (Bates) Cary: 6 letters, 1931-1936. (WAS 2071-2076). Stevens to RBC: 6 carbons, 1935-1936. (WAS 2077-2082). Cary was an American living in Otaru, Japan. Stevens asked her to select a number of Japanese toys and traditional items as gifts for Elsie and Holly Stevens.
Peter H. Lee: 13 letters, 1951-1955.(WAS 1030-1042). Stevens to PHL: 8 carbons, 1954-1955.(WAS 1043-1050). Lee was a Korean poet.
Robert McAlmon: 13 letters, [1921-1924]. (WAS 1150-1162). McAlmon, an American writer living and writing in Europe, wrote some extremely good letters about James Joyce and other literary figures in the 1920s.
Thomas MacGreevy: 39 letters, 1948-1955. (WAS 141-158; 161-180). Stevens to TM: 17 carbons, 1948-1955. (WAS 181-197). MacGreevy was appointed Director of the National Gallery of Ireland in 1950. The MacGreevy-Stevens correspondence brings out Stevens' interest in painting and the other arts.
José Rodriguez-Feo: 51 letters, 1944-1954. (WAS 1588-1638). Stevens to JR-F: 9 carbons, 1948-1955. (WAS 1639-1647). Warm letters from and to Rodriguez-Feo, a young Cuban poet, many concerning the meaning of Stevens' poetry.
Leonard Van Geyzel: 15 letters, 1938-1954. (WAS 2450-2464). Stevens to LVG: 18 carbons and 1 L.S., 1937-1954. (WAS 2470-2488). Van Geyzel was an Englishman working on a tea plantation in Ceylon who read widely in modern literature. Interesting correspondence regarding Stevens' literary and political (World War II) views.
Anatole Vidal: 20 letters, 1935-1940, in French. (WAS 2650-2669). Vidal was the Parisian bookseller who, like his daughter Paule Vidal after his death, provided Stevens with French books and magazines and purchased for Stevens original paintings by contemporary French artists, including Auberjonois, Maurice Brianchon, Roger Callois and Tal Coat. The Anatole and Paule Vidal correspondence is of the utmost importance in defining Stevens' attitudes toward modern art and literature.
Paule Vidal: 80 letters, 1945-1955,in French. (WAS 2806-2885). Stevens to PV: 110 carbons, 1945-1955. (WAS 2886-2995). Paule Vidal took over her father's bookshop in Paris after his death in the early 1940s and continued the correspondence with Stevens.
In addition, there is correspondence regarding tea. Stevens was a connoisseur of fine foods and enjoyed sending away for tea in particular. These letters with the Associated Tea Syndicate (WAS 1170-1176) and the Ceylon Tea Plantation Company (WAS 1346-1349), 1935-1938, give some idea of his personal habits.
Business Associates
The collection does not contain letters from the files of the Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company. The following correspondents were business associates as well as friends:
C.L. Daughtry: 7 pieces, 1943-[1955].(WAS 492-498). Stevens to CLD: 40 pieces, 1931-1955, mostly originals. (WAS 499-538).
Arthur Gray Powell (known as "Judge Powell"): 6 letters, 1940-1950. (WAS 1477-1482).
Wilson E. Taylor: 12 letters, [1939?]-1955, including 5 carbons. (WAS 3837-3848). Stevens to WET: 96 letters, 1933-1955, originals. (WAS 3849-3944).
