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Don Byrd papers

 Collection
Call Number: YCAL MSS 967

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of correspondence, sketchbooks, notebooks, photographs, audiovisual materials, and other papers that document the work and social circle of poet Don Byrd. Notable correspondents include Charles Bernstein, Clayton Eshleman, Susan Howe, Gerrit Lansing, Paul Metcalf, and Jed Rasula. Photographs include color and black and white portraits of Byrd and other poets. Audiovisual materials consist of audiorecordings made by Byrd of poets including John Ashbery, Charles Bernstein, Gerrit Lansing, Paul Metcalf, Charles Olson, and others.

Dates

  • 1953-2010

Creator

Language of Materials

In English.

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Boxes 14-16 (audiovisual materials): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased from Granary Books, Inc. on the Alfred Z. Baker, Jr. Fund and the Donald Windham-Sandy Campbell Collection Endowment Fund, 2014.

Arrangement

Organized into five series: I. Correspondence, 1953-2002. II. Sketchbooks and notebooks, 1967-2010. III. Photographs, 1970s-1980s. IV. Other papers, 1970s-2010. V. Audiovisual materials, 1960s-1990s.

Extent

11.22 Linear Feet (16 boxes)

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/beinecke.byrd

Biographical / Historical

Don Byrd is an American poet, sound artist, and professor of English at the State University of New York at Albany.

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.

Title
Guide to the Don Byrd Papers
Author
by Beinecke staff
Date
November 2014
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

Contact:
P. O. Box 208330
New Haven CT 06520-8330 US
(203) 432-2977

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.