Scope and Contents
The collection contains correspondence, writings, photographs, personal papers, electronic files, and other papers by or relating to Alvin Feinman. Among the correspondents are Feinman's wife, Deborah Dorfman, Harold Bloom, James Geary, Reginald Shepherd, and Danny Myerson. Writings consist of notes and drafts of Feinman's poetry, articles, essays, and other works. Included are materials pertaining to Preambles and Other Poems and the posthumous publication of Corrupted Into Song. The collection also contains correspondence, notes, and other papers of Deborah Dorfman.
Dates
- circa 1950-2014
Creator
- Feinman, Alvin, 1929-2008 (Author)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Box 10 (computer media): Restricted fragile material. Access copies of digital files may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Conditions Governing Use
The Alvin Feinman Papers is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Glenn Horowitz, 2018.
Arrangement
Organized into four series: I. Correspondence, 1949-2004. II. Writings, 1951-2005, undated. III. Personal Papers, 1943-2002, undated. IV. Computer Media, 1993, undated.
Extent
8.93 Linear Feet (10 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Abstract
The collection contains correspondence, writings, photographs, personal papers, electronic files, and other papers by or relating to Alvin Feinman. Among the correspondents are Feinman's wife, Deborah Dorfman, Harold Bloom, James Geary, Reginald Shepherd, and Danny Myerson. Writings consist of notes and drafts of Feinman's poetry, articles, essays, and other works. Included are materials pertaining to Preambles and Other Poems and the posthumous publication of Corrupted Into Song. The collection also contains correspondence, notes, and other papers of Deborah Dorfman.
Alvin Feinman (1929-2008)
Alvin Feinman was born on November 21, 1929, in New York City. He attended Brooklyn College and the University of Chicago and completed graduate coursework at Yale University before briefly teaching in Yale's Department of Philosophy. Feinman then taught literature at Bennington College, Vermont, from 1969 to 1994. In addition to teaching, Feinman was a poet whose works include Preambles and Other Poems (1964). After Feinman's death in 2008, literary critic Harold Bloom published Corrupted into Song: The Compete Poems of Alvin Feinman. It contains fifty-seven previously published pieces and thirty-nine unpublished works found within Feinman's collection of manuscripts.
Separated Materials
Printed material received with the collection was removed for separate cataloging and can be accessed by searching the library's online catalog.
Processing Information
Collections are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable,
their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further
accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all
collections, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources
permit.
This collection received a basic level of processing, including rehousing and minimal organization.
Information included in the Description of Papers note and Collection Contents section is drawn
from information supplied with the collection and from an initial survey of the contents. Folder titles
appearing in the contents list below are often based on those provided by the creator or previous
custodian. Otherwise, folder titles are supplied by staff during initial processing.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or
revisions in arrangement and description.
- American literature -- 20th century
- American poetry -- 20th Century
- Authors -- United States -- 20th century
- Authors, American -- 20th century
- Authors, American -- 20th century -- Archives
- Bloom, Harold, 1930-
- Born digital
- College teachers -- United States
- Dorfman, Deborah
- Pencil drawings
- Photographs -- United States -- 20th Century
- Poets -- United States -- 20th century
- Poets, American -- 20th Century -- Archives
- Poets, American -- 20th century
- Spanel, A. N. (Abram Nathaniel), 1901-1985
- Title
- Guide to the Alvin Feinman Papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- by Annalise Hennessey
- Date
- October 2022
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.