Scope and Contents
The William David Sherman papers contain correspondence, writings, and other materials documenting the personal and professional activities of American author William David Sherman. Correspondence in the collection consists chiefly of incoming letters from English-language authors and literary scholars active during the mid to late twentieth century, including Asa Benveniste, Basil Bunting, Cid Corman, Robert Creeley, Rachel Blau DuPlessis, David Goodis, Bill Griffiths, Jeremy Hilton, Lyn Lifshin, Susan Smith Nash, Frances Presley, and Tom Raworth. The largest correspondence files are from Corman and Griffiths, poet and curator of the Eric Mottram Archive at King's College, London. Griffiths's letters, for example, discuss literary matters, the literary scene in England, and life in northeastern England. Writings consist chiefly of drafts of poetry collections, but there are also novels, short stories, copies of Sherman's graduate student work at SUNY Buffalo, and offprints for articles by other writers. Other materials include audio recordings, computer disks, subject files, photographs, and printed materials.
Dates
- 1958-2007
Creator
Language of Materials
Chiefly in English; some materials in Spanish.
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Boxes 3 and 13 (computer disks): Restricted Fragile Material. Reference copies of electronic files may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Boxes 7-9 (audiovisual material): Use of original is restricted. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Conditions Governing Use
The William David Sherman 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 David J. Holmes on the Alfred Z. Baker, Jr. and Stanton Francis Kennedy funds, 2005 and 2007.
Arrangement
Organized into two groupings: 2005 Acquisition and December 2007 Acquisition.
Extent
4.81 Linear Feet (13 boxes)
1.683 Megabytes (341 computer files (1683 kilobytes))
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Abstract
The William David Sherman papers contain correspondence, writings, and other materials documenting the personal and professional activities of American author William David Sherman. Correspondence in the collection consists chiefly of incoming letters from English-language authors and literary scholars active during the mid to late twentieth century, including Asa Benveniste, Basil Bunting, Cid Corman, Robert Creeley, Rachel Blau DuPlessis, David Goodis, Bill Griffiths, Jeremy Hilton, Lyn Lifshin, Susan Smith Nash, Frances Presley, and Tom Raworth. The largest correspondence files are from Corman and Griffiths, poet and curator of the Eric Mottram Archive at King's College, London. Griffiths's letters, for example, discuss literary matters, the literary scene in England, and life in northeastern England. Writings consist chiefly of drafts of poetry collections, but there are also novels, short stories, copies of Sherman's graduate student work at SUNY Buffalo, and offprints for articles by other writers. Other materials include audio and video recordings, computer disks, subject files, photographs, and printed materials.
William David Sherman (1940-)
William David Sherman, American author, educator, and publisher, was born December 24, 1940, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Louis and Gertrude (Benn) Sherman. Sherman was educated at Temple University (B.A., 1962) and SUNY Buffalo (M.A., 1964, Ph.D., 1968), after which he taught as an instructor and lecturer at various institutions in the U.S and Great Britain over most of the next two decades before settling in French Polynesia.
Biographical information taken from "William David Sherman." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 8 June 2012.
Processing Information
Each acquisition is described separately in the contents list below, identified as a unique grouping and titled according to year of acquisition.
Descriptive information found in the Collection Contents section is drawn in large part 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.
Computer files in the December 2007 Acquisition series were accessioned by the Yale University Digital Accessioning Support Service (DASS). Born digital archival material acquired on media by Yale University Library repositories is accessioned through the DASS prior to researcher use. For more information on the DASS and the actions taken during its accessioning work, click here: Born Digital @ Yale: Digital Accessioning Support Service [https://guides.library.yale.edu/c.php?g=300384&p=3593184].
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
- Audiovisual materials
- Authors
- Authors, American -- 20th Century -- Archives
- Benveniste, Asa
- Born digital
- Bunting, Basil, 1900-
- Corman, Cid, 1924-
- Creeley, Robert, 1926-2005
- DuPlessis, Rachel Blau
- England, North East
- Goodis, David, 1917-1967
- Griffiths, Bill, 1948-2007
- Hilton, Jeremy
- King's College London
- Lifshin, Lyn, 1944-
- Mottram, Eric
- Nash, Susan Smith, 1958-
- Photographic prints
- Presley, Frances
- Raworth, Tom, 1938-
- Sherman, William David
- Sound recordings
- State University of New York at Buffalo
- Video recordings
- Title
- Guide to the William David Sherman Papers
- Author
- by Beinecke staff
- Date
- May 2012
- 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.