Description and Finding Aid MILTON T. WILSON FONDS F2017

Transcription

1 Description and Finding Aid MILTON T. WILSON FONDS F2017 Prepared by Celia Schmidt, 2011

2 MILTON T. WILSON FONDS Dates of creation: [1955?] [before 1991] Extent: 26 cm of textual records Biographical sketch: Milton Thomas Wilson, a scholar of Romantic poetry and an editor of Canadian Forum, was born in Toronto in 1923 to Mr and Mrs G. S. Wilson. He attended St Andrew s College in Aurora, Ontario. In 1940, Wilson began studying English at Trinity College in the University of Toronto, but he interrupted his education in 1943 to serve in the Canadian navy during the Second World War. He returned to Toronto to obtain his BA and MA degrees in 1945 and 1946 respectively. He completed a PhD at Columbia University in After teaching briefly at the University of Syracuse, he was appointed lecturer at Trinity College in He became full professor in 1966 and professor emeritus in In 1975, Wilson became the first chair of the University of Toronto Department of English. (The English departments of the colleges at the University of Toronto had previously merged together under the direction of a committee of which Wilson was also chair.) Wilson worked as literary editor ( ) and managing editor ( ) of Canadian Forum. Among his publications are Shelley's Later Poetry (1959, republished 1974) and E. J. Pratt (1969). He is the editor of Poetry of Mid-Century (1964) and Poets Between the Wars (1967). He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Wilson married Joanna Crawford, daughter of Mr and Mrs John Knox Crawford, on 6 September 1947.They had six children: Barbara, Katharine, Gregory, Victoria, Timothy, and Antony. Scope and content: Fonds consists of records relating to Dr Wilson s academic career and administrative role in the departments of English at Trinity College and the University of Toronto as well as correspondence, including poetry, relating to his position as editor of Canadian Forum. Contains series 1. Literary correspondence 2. Academic records 3. Trinity College / University of Toronto Departments of English Notes: Acquisition history: The records which comprise Series 1 and 2 were received from Dr Wilson by Linda Corman, head librarian of the Trinity College Library, who transferred them to the Archives on 15 November 1991 (acc. no ). The records which comprise Series 3 were located in the Archives and accessioned (no ) by the Archivist in 2009; their provenance is unknown. Arrangement: A chronological order was imposed on series 1 and 2 sometime after 1991 (with undated items at the end of each file) except for the Layton and Al Purdy files, in which the original order was retained. Other than the latter files, the original order of series 1 and 2 is unknown; there was likely no apparent order. Original order was maintained in Series 3. 2

3 Restrictions on access: Some material in poor condition in series 1 and 2 has been photocopied on acid-free paper and placed next to the original. Researchers are asked to avoid using the originals where photocopies exist. Some files are closed; see series-level access note. Terms governing use and reproduction / publication: Various copyright holders. It is the researcher's responsibility to obtain permission to publish any part of the fonds. Provenance access points Wilson, Milton T. (1923- ) SERIES 1: LITERARY CORRESPONDENCE Dates of creation: [1955?] [before 1991] Extent: 10 cm of textual records Scope and content: Correspondence, often regarding the submission or revision of poetry for the Canadian Forum. In addition to letters to Wilson, there are a substantial number of separate poems: all are originals with the exception of a few photocopied items in one of the Layton files. The poems are often annotated by their respective authors, and there are sometimes several different versions of the same poems. Unfortunately, it seems Wilson kept few copies of his replies to his correspondents, but there are some finished, as well as drafted, replies. Box/file listing: FOLDER/UNIT TITLE START END CONTENTS BOX/ FILE # Milton Acorn Patrick Anderson [1961?] [1968?] Letters to Wilson and poems: three haikus, Poem Written in a One-Tree Forest, In the Felt Rustle of Silence, Wink in a Wee Window, The Crown of Thorns, After Eluard, Murat, Song the Fourth Musician, of, and Barry. January 1974 January 1974 Letter to Wilson and a bound sample of shorter poems: The Candles, Poem as Bird, An Essex Lake, Emily Dickinson At Work, An Owl, On First Getting Reading Glasses, The Mistake, On Buying London Paving Stones For The Garden, The Mirror, Domestic, Drinker, The Ball, Rain Boy, The Analogical Net, A Car Passing, Draught of Fishes, Four Georgian Poems, Pools, Frisked! Memory of Lake Towns, Remembering Baie St Paul, Late At Night, A Garment

4 Drowned, Dear Son, In Spring, Weather Talk, Chinese: Montreal, Outside The Supermarket, Railway Station: Wartime, The Dark Walk Home, By The Sea, A Simple Voice, A Hint, My Lady of Canada, Fragment From The School of Night, Morning; Laurentian Farm, Train Whistle; Vermont, from The Birth of Aphrodite, Family Quarrel, (Picasso), Statue, Winter in the Sticks, Glass Girl, Boy in Cachou Tree, A Geography, A Boy s Pleasure, and Waking Up Poem ). Margaret Avison 8 September September 1962 Postcard to Wilson. 1-3 Margaret Atwood [1964?] [1964?] Letter to Wilson re: The Circle Game and poem ( A Meal ). 1-4 Earle Birney Letters to Wilson. 1-5 bill bissett [196-?] [196-?] Letters to Wilson and poems: I cum among yow to create divisions, NO ONE OWNS EARTH, and song for Ooljah. 1-6 Fred Cogswell Letters to Wilson and poem ( Watching These Two Files ). 1-7 Leonard Cohen 24 December December 1958 Letter to Wilson re: Canada Council grant. 1-8 Victor Coleman 11 April April 1965 Detroit Artists Workshop mailing sent to Wilson by Coleman. 1-9 John Glassco 26 October October 1964 Letter to Wilson re: petition against French indictment of Glassco, Maurice Girodias, and Doug Beardsley for obscenity Phyllis Gotlieb Two letters to Wilson Hugh Hood 27 April April 1964 Letter to Wilson Patrick Lane Letters to Wilson Layton sent to Francis [1955?] [1974?] Originals of poems with commentary ( Dining Out and As Seen Through A Glass Darkly ), a poem with handwritten revisions ( The Fool s

5 Mansbridge Layton Francis Mansbridge Layton Layton Layton Song ), and letters to Wilson. The material in this file was sent by Wilson to Mansbridge, who was preparing an edition of Layton s letters, published as Wild Gooseberries (1989) Letters to Wilson from Mansbridge re: edition of Layton s letters. [1958?] [1960?] Letter from Wilson to the Canada Council re: Senior Arts Fellowship, letters to Wilson, and poems A Bonnet for Bessie, In Praise of Benefactors, Trilliums After a Party, For a Dead Benefactor, and: multiple versions of Because My Calling is Such My Flesh Comfortless with handwritten commentary I Know the Dark and Hovering Moth with handwritten revisions The Caged Bird with handwritten note to Wilson Two versions of The Song of Pincus with handwritten revisions This file and the four that follow were likely originally one file, since separated by the Archivist. [1960?] [1961?] Newspaper articles by or about Layton sent by him to Wilson, letters to and from Wilson, and poems Peace of Mind, Why Gurus Have Grey Eyebrows, and: Three versions of An Anagram For Ben Beutel, one with handwritten revisions Dining Out with handwritten note to Wilson The Third Book of Chronicles with handwritten note to Wilson The Convertible with handwritten note to Wilson Prizes A reprint from Queen s Quarterly of A Tall Man Executes a Jig inscribed to Wilson [1962?] [1963?] Newspaper articles about Layton sent by him to Wilson, letters to and from Wilson, and poems Lester

6 Pearson, Looselips, Red Square, Ehrenberg and Collective Leadership, Free Djilas, Epigram For Roy Daniels, Androgyne, Diversion, Aftermath, My Queen, My Quean, Ambivalency, and, with handwritten revisions, I Overheard A Madman Say. Layton Layton [1964?] [1968?] Newspaper articles by Layton sent by him to Wilson, letters to and from Wilson, and poems Lust, Courtesies of Love, The Worm, Freedom, and: Creation with a handwritten revision Reply to a Rhyming Notary with handwritten revisions Their Eyes, Their Glittering Eyes with note to Wilson For My Two Sons, Max and David, with handwritten revisions As Seen Through A Glass Darkly with note to Wilson Devil in Utopia with handwritten revision [1969?] [before 1991] Letter to Wilson and poems: Yesterday, with handwritten note to Wilson Photocopy of another version of Yesterday inscribed use this version Requiescat with handwritten revisions and note to Wilson Photocopy of another version of Requiescat with handwritten note to Wilson Another version of Requiescat marked use this version Photocopy of R I P Ohms with handwritten revisions Two photocopies of two other versions of Ohms Photocopy of To the Priest Who Kept My Wife Awake All Night, Farting Satan in Utopia marked (by Wilson?) best version Keep for Forum As Seen Through a Glass Darkly marked (by Wilson?) Final version Photocopy of R I P and Grey Morning in Lisbon with handwritten note to Wilson

7 Photocopy of In Memoriam, Paul Verlaine, July 21, 1969, and Epigram on Ireland, with handwritten revisions Photocopy of Marxist Print of Dreadnaught 52 Pickup 28 Photocopy of The Sinner with handwritten note by Layton Photocopy of Hidden Worlds Photocopy of Snowdrift Photocopy of Christos-Dionysos Epigram for Roy Daniells While some of the above poems were evidently photocopied before they were sent to Wilson (likely, therefore, before 1968, when Wilson stopped editing Canadian Forum), others could be photocopies of originals received by Wilson, which could date as late as 1991, when Wilson donated these records to the Trinity College Archives. Dennis Lee [ca. 1963] [1967] Two letters to Wilson and poem Second Elegy, with handwritten revisions Dorothy Livesay Letters to Wilson and poem with handwritten title Fork Lake Gwendolyn MacEwen [1967] [1967] Letter to Wilson Eli Mandel [1959] [1969] Letters to Wilson Alden Nowlan Letters to Wilson Michael Ondaatje 8 November November 1967 Letter to Wilson Louis Presner (?) 9 April April 1964 Letter to Wilson Al Purdy [1959] [1970] Letters to and from Wilson. Wilson s report for Purdy s Guggenheim Fellowship application. Poems The Study of Islands, Number Please?, One Place to Another, Sergeant Jackson, I Think It Was Wednesday, and: Changed ending to I Think It Was Wednesday

8 Love At Roblin Lake with note to Wilson Hymie s Hymn with note to Wilson Two versions of Poem For One of the Annettes Winter Walking marked REVISED with note to Wilson Another version of Winter Walking Doggerel with note to Wilson James Reaney Joe Rosenblatt Letters to Wilson Letters to Wilson F.R. Scott 9 October October 1965 Letter to Wilson re: Wilson s anthology Poets Between the Wars Arthur J. M. Smith Letters to and from Wilson. Includes a short poem to Wilson ( Lines Written on Reading His Verses To Hold in a Poem in a School Anthology ) and a poem by Wilson in response ( How Not to Hold a Poem: A Reviewer s Self-Elegy ) Miriam Waddington Two letters to Wilson SERIES 2: ACADEMIC RECORDS Dates of creation: 1960-[after 15 August 1971] Extent: 3 cm of textual records Scope and content: Series includes correspondence, schedules, class lists, course grades, and letters of reference. Notes: Restrictions on access: Records in this series are closed for 50 years after the creation of the record except by permission of Dr Wilson. Box/file listing: FOLDER/UNIT TITLE START END CONTENTS BOX/ FILE # Trinity English Schedules, class lists, course

9 Dept. Documents: grades, calendar supplement, correspondence (mainly with English professors), list of course committees, and arrangements made with English departments at other colleges at the University of Toronto. Scott Symons papers [After 15 August 1971] [After 15 August 1971] Annotated list of Symons material in the Trinity College Library rare book collection Personal Academic Correspondence with some Trinity relevance (including letters of reference) Correspondence regarding appointments, recommendations, and other topics SERIES 3: TRINITY COLLEGE / UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO DEPARTMENTS OF ENGLISH Dates of creation: Extent: 13 cm of textual records Scope and content: Series includes records of course registration and enrollment, scheduling, and the appointment of, and courses taught by, teaching staff in the Trinity College and/or University of Toronto Departments of English. Notes Acquisition history: The provenance of this series is unknown. It is possible that these records were found in an office previously occupied by Wilson at Trinity College after his retirement. Restrictions on access: Files 1, 3, and 4 contain personal information and so are closed until FOLDER/UNIT TITLE START END CONTENTS BOX/ FILE # Appointments (special) Academic credentials and correspondence regarding appointments. 2-1 Registration Projected enrollment, lists of courses, U of T Dept of 2-2 9

10 + enrollment English memoranda to discipline representatives, and registration and enrollment procedures (of both the Trinity and U of T Depts of English). Also, Dept of Philosophy Undergraduate Bulletin and list of courses potentially of interest to English students, U of T Faculty of Arts & Science Course File Summary, U of T Dept of Classics course listing, and Trinity College Faculty of Arts Calendar. Former Trinity teaching staff Letters to and from Trinity professors Richard Ewen, George Falle, Gordon Roper, and Milton Wilson regarding appointments and academic credentials 2-3 Registration Staff timetable cards, course enrollment, course descriptions, lists of Trinity Students Enrolled Elsewhere, Victoria College course descriptions, Italian Studies course descriptions, Mediaeval Studies suggested programmes of study, U of T staff lists, and Projected Teaching Time-table for Trinity, Trinity - scheduling for Departmental Reliques (Back to 58-59) Course evaluation form, lists of courses offered and not offered at Trinity, student directory of combined Depts of English, Trinity College Faculty of Arts Calendar, table of changes in ENG course numberings, important notice about final examinations, faculty codes, U of T Dept of English section enrolment report, and U of T Faculty of Arts & Science Course File Summary Lists of courses taught at Trinity, supplement to calendar prescriptions, lecture schedules, and course and section enrollments