Content Description
The collection contains correspondence, writings, research files, astrological charts and readings, notebooks, photographs, artwork, computer media, and audiovisual media created or collected by American poet, author, and translator Thomas Meyer. Also included are materials related to Jonathan Williams, Meyer's long-time romantic partner and collaborator with The Jargon Society, as well as friends and colleagues such as Jeffrey Beam, Alfred Corn, Guy Davenport, Kenward Elmslie, Clayton Eshleman, Forrest Gander, Kenneth Irby, Gerrit Lansing, J. D. McClatchy, Eric Mottram, Erica Van Horn, and Ian Young.
Dates
- 1952 - 2016
- Majority of material found within 1966 - 2008
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Boxes 36-37 (computer media): Restricted fragile material. Access copies of electronic files may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Box 38 (audiovisual media): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Boxes 36-37 (computer media): Restricted fragile material. Access copies of electronic files may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Box 38 (audiovisual media): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Conditions Governing Use
The Thomas Meyer 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
Purchased from James S. Jaffe Rare Books LLC on the Danford N. Barney, Jr. Fund, the Elinor and Leonard Bernheim Fund, and the Jack Callaway Fund, 2018.
Arrangement
The collection is organized into four series: I. Correspondence, 1953-2016. II. Personal and Professional Papers, 1952-2016. III. Notebooks, 1966-1993. IV. Computer and Audiovisual Media, 1972-1994.
Extent
33.15 Linear Feet (38 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Overview
The collection contains correspondence, writings, research files, astrological charts and readings, notebooks, photographs, artwork, computer media, and audiovisual media created or collected by American poet, author, and translator Thomas Meyer. Also included are materials related to Jonathan Williams, Meyer's long-time romantic partner and collaborator with The Jargon Society, as well as friends and colleagues such as Jeffrey Beam, Alfred Corn, Guy Davenport, Kenward Elmslie, Clayton Eshleman, Forrest Gander, Kenneth Irby, Gerrit Lansing, J. D. McClatchy, Eric Mottram, Erica Van Horn, and Ian Young.
Thomas Meyer (1947-)
Thomas Meyer is an American poet, author, librettist, and translator. He was born in Seattle, Washington on February 14, 1947. He attended Bard College in New York, graduating in 1969 with a B.A. in Old and Middle English. In 1968, Meyer met poet and photographer Jonathan Williams (1929-2008), who would become his longtime romantic partner. Williams co-founded The Jargon Society in 1951, a small arts foundation and press focused on poetry, photography, and the celebration of Southern folk art. From 1968 to 2008, Meyer served as the Assistant Director of The Jargon Society. During these 40 years, he assisted in the publication of over 50 works, including pamphlets, journals, and poetry collections. Meyer received the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Fellowship in Poetry in 1980, the Ingram-Merrill Award for Poetry in 1982, and the Creative Fellowship for Librettists in 1987. His works of poetry include Coromandel (2003) and Essay Stanzas (2014), and his poems have appeared in the journals Conjunctions, First Intensity, and Oyster Boy Review, among others. Meyer is also known for several works of translation, including Sappho (1982), Daode Jing (2005), and Beowulf (2012). He currently lives in North Carolina with his husband Michael Watt.
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 as they are acquired, 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. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. 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.
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. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. 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 poetry -- 20th Century
- American poetry -- 21st century
- Artwork
- Astrology
- Audiovisual materials
- Authors, American -- 20th century
- Authors, American -- 21st century
- Beam, Jeffrey, 1953-
- Born digital
- Brochures
- Corn, Alfred, 1943-
- Davenport, Guy, 1927-2005
- Elmslie, Kenward, 1929-
- English poetry -- Old English, ca. 450-1100
- Eshleman, Clayton
- Furnival, John, 1933-2020
- Gander, Forrest, 1956-
- Gay authors
- Hindu astrology
- Irby, Kenneth, 1936-2015
- Jargon Society
- LGBTQ resource
- Lansing, Gerrit
- McClatchy, J. D., 1945-2018
- Meyer, Thomas, 1947-
- Mottram, Eric
- Photographs
- Poetry -- Translations into English
- Poets -- United States -- 20th Century
- Poets -- United States -- 21st century
- Poets, American -- 20th century
- Poets, American -- 21st century
- Printed ephemera
- Translators -- United States -- 20th century
- Translators -- United States -- 21st Century
- Translators, American -- 20th century
- Translators, American -- 21st century
- Van Horn, Erica
- Williams, Jonathan, 1929-2008
- Young, Ian, 1945-
Creator
- Title
- Guide to the Thomas Meyer Papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- by Emma Gronbeck
- Date
- January 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.