Scope and Contents
Correspondence, writings, artwork and objects, printed material, and sound recordings documenting the life and creative work of Sheri Martinelli and associated figures, including Ezra Pound. The correspondence includes Martinelli's letters with Pound, the poet H. D., and Charles Bukowski, as well as many other literary and artistic figures. The writings include selections of Pound's manuscript material from the Cantos, as well as Martinelli's extensive notes and notebooks. Paintings, sketches, ceramics, and etchings are present, as are two volumes of the Cantos, illustrated by Martinelli and housed in painted boxes, and extensive printed material containing Martinelli's illustrations and annotations. The sound recordings include over 1600 audiocassettes, microcassettes, and reel-to-reel tapes of recordings made by Martinelli.
Dates
- 1905 - 1999
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Boxes 3, 138-144 (reel-to-reel tapes): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Boxes 62-136 (audiocassettes): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Box 137 (microcassettes): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Conditions Governing Use
The Sheri Martinelli 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 Sheri Martinelli, 1977 and purchase from Gilbert Lee, 1999.
Arrangement
Organized into three groupings: June 1977 Acquisition, August 1999 Acquisition, and August 1999 Acquisition Addition.
Extent
115.55 Linear Feet ((131 boxes) + 13 art, 1 broadside, 1 roll)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Abstract
Correspondence, writings, artwork and objects, printed material, and sound recordings documenting the life and creative work of Sheri Martinelli and associated figures, including Ezra Pound. The correspondence includes Martinelli's letters with Pound, the poet H. D., and Charles Bukowski, as well as many other literary and artistic figures. The writings include selections of Pound's manuscript material from the Cantos, as well as Martinelli's extensive notes and notebooks. Paintings, sketches, ceramics, and etchings are present, as are two volumes of the Cantos, illustrated by Martinelli and housed in painted boxes, and extensive printed material containing Martinelli's illustrations and annotations. The sound recordings include over 1600 audiocassettes, microcassettes, and reel-to-reel tapes of recordings made by Martinelli's.
Biographical/Historical note
Sheri Martinelli (1918-1996), artist and poet, was born in Philadelphia and studied ceramics at the Philadelphia School of Industrial Arts. Martinelli later expanded her artistic repertoire to include abstract painting and engraving. She became an associate of Anais Nin and William Gaddis in 1945 and met Ezra Pound in 1951 or 1952 while he was incarcerated at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, D. C. They maintained a relationship until 1956, and she provided him with inspiration for his work, including the Cantos, while he provided her with instruction in painting; he published a small booklet compilation of her work, La Martinelli, in 1956. She relocated to San Francisco in the late 1950s and began publishing the Anagogic & Paideumic Review, a literary periodical that published primarily Beat poetry, as well as poems by Charles Bukowski. Martinelli relocated to Virginia in 1984 and spent the rest of her life organizing the Pound-related papers in her possession.
Processing Information
This collection received a basic level of processing in 2014, including rehousing and in some instances minimal organization. Various acquisitions associated with the collection have not been merged and organized as a whole. Each acquisition is described separately in the contents list below, identified by a unique call number and titled according to month and year of acquisition.
The finding aid for this collection is compiled from individual preliminary lists for each acquisition that were created at or around the time of receipt by the library. The preliminary lists were migrated to comply with current archival descriptive standards and merged into a single file in 2007-2008. As part of the migration, modifications were made to the formatting of individual lists; however, the content of the lists was neither modified nor verified.
As a rule, 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.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
Former call numbers: Uncat ZA MS 164 and Uncat ZA MS 643.
- American literature -- 20th century
- American poetry -- 20th Century
- Artists -- United States -- 20th Century
- Artists -- United States -- Archives
- Audiocassettes -- United States -- 20th Century
- Audiotapes -- United States -- 20th Century
- Audiovisual materials -- United States -- 20th Century
- Bukowski, Charles, 1920-1994
- Drawings (visual works) -- United States -- 20th Century
- Etchings (prints) -- United States -- 20th Century
- H. D. (Hilda Doolittle), 1886-1961
- Illustration of books -- 20th Century
- Martinelli, Sheri
- Microcassettes -- United States -- 20th Century
- Modernism (Art)
- Modernism (Literature)
- Photographs -- United States -- 20th Century
- Poets -- United States -- 20th century
- Poets, American -- 20th Century -- Archives
- Pound, Ezra, 1885-1972
- Sculpture (visual work) -- United States -- 20th Century
- Sketchbooks -- United States -- 20th Century
- Sound recordings -- United States -- 20th Century
- Title
- Guide to the Sheri Martinelli Papers
- Status
- In Progress
- Author
- by Beinecke staff
- Date
- August 2009
- 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.