Coburn Britton papers

The collection contains correspondence, writings, and personal papers documenting the life and literary activities of American poet and publisher Coburn Britton. The correspondence features a nearly three-decade long exchange between Britton and Jack Sullivan, some of which was compiled and published as Letters from Jack: Sex & Hell in Backwoods Maine (1997). In addition, there are small groups of correspondence with others, including Glenway Wescott, Edward Dahlberg, and Lincoln Kirstein, dating chiefly from the 1970s, as well as approximately 150 postcards from graphic artist Willyum Rowe, with whom Britton collaborated on An ABeCedarium for Poets and Readers (1989). Many if not most of the postcards from Rowe are decorated, for example, with cutouts and stamps, providing a large group of postcard mail art from the period. Writings include printed versions of Britton's Second Seasons (1982), Lesser Goods and Other Poems (1987), and An ABeCedarium for Poets and Readers (1989), and drafts of the later Adrian Sonnets (1995) and shorter works. Others materials include photographs of family and friends, printed materials, and documents.