Finlay mss., 1953-1972
Summary Information
Repository
Lilly Library (Indiana University, Bloomington)
Lilly Library
Indiana University
1200 E. Seventh St.
Bloomington, IN 47405-5500
Phone: 812-855-2452
Fax: 812-855-3143
Email: liblilly@indiana.edu
Creator
Finlay, Ian Hamilton.
TitleFinlay mss., 1953-1972
Collection No.
LMC 1406
Extent
4,011 items
Language
Materials are in English.
Abstract
The Finlay mss., 1953-1972, consists of
the correspondence and writings of Ian Hamilton Finlay, 1925- , poet of Stonypath,
Dunsyre, Lanarkshire, Scotland, where he published works from The Wild Hawthorn
Press and of material sent to Finlay for inclusion into issues of
Poor. Old. Tired. Horse.
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for research.
Biographical Note
An influential proponent of concrete poetry, Finlay moved from solely literary forms
of poetry, drama, and short stories in the 1950's to kinetic forms of poetry
expressed in stone, wood, neon and other tangible structures in the 1960's. Boats
and boating, sails and the sea were used by Finlay to suggest poetic ideas in many
of his poems such as Archangel of Archangel, Boatyard, Four Sails, The Four
Seasons..., Homage to Gomringer, Little Drummer boy, The Old Nobby, Seashells, Sepia
Barge and others. Sundials were used in like manner as in Arcadian Sundials, Biggar
Sundial, and Land/Sea Indoor Sundial. Letters exchanged with woodcarvers, stone
carvers, photographers, typographers, printers, and artists give the instructions
for the creation of many of his works. A book of poems,
Poems
to See and Hear
, was prepared especially to introduce to children
Finlay's poetic concepts. During 1968 to 1971 there was much work by Films of
Scotland in the preparation of the films
Ocean Stripe
5
and
KY 365 based on Finlay's life and
poetry.
Following an agreement with the Fulcrum Press in June 1968 to publish an edition of
The Dancers Inherit the Party, a controversy
developed over the next several years concerning the first appearance of the work.
This involved lengthy correspondence with solicitors, members of parliament,
librarians, staffs of magazines, newspapers, arts councils, and literary
organizations as well as close friends and poets.
Arrangement
The collection is organized into the following series: I. Correspondence; II.
Writings; III. Drawings and Photographs; IV. Printed.
Scope and Content Note
The Finlay mss., 1953-1972, consists of the correspondence and writings of Ian
Hamilton Finlay, 1925- , poet of Stonypath, Dunsyre, Lanarkshire, Scotland, where he
published works from The Wild Hawthorn Press and of material sent to Finlay for
inclusion into issues of
Poor. Old. Tired. Horse.
Writings by Ian Hamilton Finlay include both his literary efforts and instructions
for his creative works as well as photographs of some of them.
Other items in the collection include drawings by Robert Frame, Roland Kempes, Zeljko
D. Kunjundzic, John Picking, and Margo Sandeman; photographs of Finlay, his boat,
and garden; and printed pieces by Finlay, by other writers, and of a miscellaneous
nature.
Completing the collection are materials for POTH (
Poor. Old.
Tired. Horse.
), a poetry periodical edited by Ian Hamilton Finlay for
several years which provided an opportunity for collaboration by artist and poet.
These include poems, proofs, and layouts, but not complete in every instance, for
issues no. 7, 9, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 23 and 25. Projected issues by Jerome
Rothenberg and Victor de Vasarely are designated as
POTH
Miscellaneous 1 and 2
.
Note on Indexing Term - "Art": Also included are drawings of a garden setting for a Finlay poem.
Note on Indexing Term - "English Poetry": Letters are exchanged with other poets, artists,
architects, designers in glass and photographers, all in pursuit of the construction of his poetry in concrete
form.
-
Indexing Terms
-
-
Names
-
Finlay, Ian
Hamilton.
-
Finlay, Ian Hamilton.
Dancers inherit the party.
-
Morgan, Edwin, 1920-
-
Siegel, Eli, 1902-1978
-
Solt, Mary Ellen.
-
Turnbull, Gael.
-
Valoch, Jirí.
-
Williams, Jonathan,
1929-2008
-
British Broadcasting
Corporation.
-
Related Material
Finlay mss. II; also located at the Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington,
Indiana.
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
Acquired 1973.
Usage RestrictionsPrior arrangements are not necessary before coming to the Library, however,
patrons from out of town are encouraged to communicate with the Library in
advance of their visits to ascertain availability of materials.
Photocopying permitted only with permission of the Curator of Manuscripts, Lilly
Library.
Preferred Citation
Finlay mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
Series:
Box 1
I. Correspondence
Preceded by one folder of biographical material. General correspondence is
arranged chronologically, followed by an undated letter and Christmas
cards.
Among the correspondents are:
-
View All (393)
- Robin Acland
- Wolfgang Ainberger
- George Albon
- James Allan
- Maxwell Allan
- Roberrto Altmann
- Diane Amussen
- David Angus
- Alain Arias-Misson
- G.Aroul
- Arthur Hunt & Hunt, solicitors
- Dana Atchley
- Martha Baird
- Janet D. Bane
- Stephen Bann
- Mary Elizabeth Barber
- Douglas Barbour
- Harry Jefferson Barnes
- Harry Barrett
- William Beattie
- Heinz Rudolf Beck
- Donald Bell
- Asa Benveniste
- John Betjeman
- Arthur Bickerton
- Charles Joseph Biederman
- Max Bill
- A.N. Blackwood
- Margaret Blyth
- Alan Bold
- Jerry Bowles
- Edward Brandabur
- Lesley Bratton
- Christian J. Braun
- Udo Breger
- Jürgen Brenner
- Tom Bridge
- Coburn Britton
- British Broadcasting Corporation
- G.F. Brown
- George Mackay Brown
- Ernst Brücher
- William Buchanan
- Basil Bunting
- Vincent Butler
- David A. Button
- John Mackenzie Calder
- Lyn Calwell
- Augusto de Campos
- Alistair Cant
- Christopher Carrell
- Patrick Caulfield
- Douglas Chambers
- Julia L. Cherne
- Susan Chernow
- Shiomi Chieko
- JoAnne Chittick
- Ulf Christensen
- Elizabeth T. Clark
- Thomas A. Clark
- Alan Clodd
- Henry Clyne
- Bob Cobbing
- Harold Cohen
- Mary C. Cohen
- Barry Cole
- William Rossa Cole
- Sir Edmund Gerald Compton
- Margaret Conn
- John Stewart Conn
- Seamus Cooney
- Michael Cormack
- Sidney Corman
- Ron Costley
- John Cotton
- Tom Leadbetter Cottrell
- Kenelm Cox
- Margaret Cox
- Robert Creeley
- J. Elisabeth Crommelin
- Arthur Charles William Crook
- Robin Crozier
- Helen Burness Cruickshank
- Edward W. Curtis
- Simon Cutts
- Audrey Daly
- Tam Dalyell
- Jose Antonio Da Silva
- Guy Davenport
- Hervé Delagrave
- Richard Demarco
- Stephen W. Dennis
- Stanislaw Drózdz
- Kenneth Duffy
- Alexander Arbuthnot Dunbar
- Robert Edward Duncan
- Douglas Eadie
- David McAdam Eccles, 1st viscount Eccles
- Jim Ede
- Larry Eigner
- Richard England
- Theodore Enslin
- Amelia Etlinger
- Susan Finlay
- William Ian Robertson Finlay
- Roy Fisher
- Maurice Fleming
- James Allan Ford
- Renate Froehlich
- Robin Fulton
- John Furnival
- Robert E. Galen
- Heinz Gappmayr
- Ian Gardner
- John Gardner
- George Garson
- Rod Gathercole
- K.C. Gay
- Tony Gill
- Elizabeth L. Glazebrook
- Duncan Munro Glen
- Hamish Glen
- Sydney McK. Glen
- Sue Glover
- David Godwin
- Mathias Goeritz
- Eugen Gomringer
- Stephen Goode
- Arnold Abraham Goodman, baron Goodman
- Goodman Derrick & Co., solicitors
- Giles Alexander Esme Gordon
- Nigel Gosling
- Jennifer Gough-Cooper
- R.C. Gowers
- Peter Grant
- Douglas Gray
- Mrs. Ann (Giffard) Greenhill
- Basil Jack Greenhill
- Christopher Murray Grieve
- Murray Grigor
- Ronald Gunn
- Daniel J. Haberman
- Hagart & Burn-Murdoch, W.S., solicitors
- George Alexander Eugene Douglas Haig, 2nd earl Haig
- Barry L. Hall
- Douglas Hall Myles
- D.G. Hardie
- H. Forsyth Hardy
- P.R. Harris
- Judith Constance Mary (Ridehalgh) Hart
- Michael Harvey
- Oliver Hawkins
- Vaughn Hay
- Michael Heller
- Hamish Henderson
- James Findlay Hendry
- J. N. Herbert
- John Herdman
- Richard C. Higgins
- Hugh Creighton Hill
- Mark Hill
- Mary Cranford (Coates) Hitchens
- Sydney Ivon Hitchens
- Philip Welsby Holland
- Stephen Holland
- Sally Holman
- Michael Horovitz
- Pierre Sylvester Houédard
- Libby Houston
- W.J. Hummerstone
- Gordon Huntley
- H.C. Huntley
- T. & W. Ide
- A.C. Ijenberg
- Charles d'Orville Pilkington Jackson
- Ruth L. Jacoby
- Ernest Jandl
- John MacLane Johansen
- Ronald Johnson
- Bernard Karpel
- Graham Keen
- Robert Kelly
- Robert C. Kennedy
- X.J. Kennedy
- Hugh Kenner
- Irena Kenod
- Alexander Kerr
- Nick Kimberley
- David Kindersley
- M.J. King
- Melanie Kingdon
- Dorothy Koppelman
- Richard Kostelanetz
- Ferdinand Kriwet
- Zeljko D. Kujundzic
- John Lambert
- Brian Lambie
- Barry Lane
- Phyllis Larkin
- James Laughlin
- George L. Lawson
- Robert Lax
- Jennie Lee
- David Leigh
- Theodore Ferdinand Lentz
- D.A. Levy
- Jill Liddington
- Nicholas Logsdail
- Else B. Lorch
- R.L.C. Lorimer
- Andrew Lothian
- John W. Lucas
- Edward Lucie-Smith
- Jack Lunam-Cowan
- A. McBean
- Patrick McCormack
- Thomas McGrath
- David Roy MacGregor
- Eric B. Mackay
- J.A. Mackenzie
- Michael S. Mackenzie
- Alastair Mackintosh
- Hamish McLaren
- J.N. McLaurin
- Ruari McLean
- John MacQueen
- David Jackson McWilliams
- Marvin Herbert Malone
- Anthony Richards Manser
- Edgar James March
- Linda Dorothy (Bowman) March
- Helen Marley
- Fred R. Martin
- John Kenneth Martin
- John Edward Matthias
- Charles Matz
- Ronald Mavor
- Hansjörg Mayer
- Roger Russell Maylone
- Freiderike Mayröcker
- G. Ropen Mead
- William Moelwyn Merchant
- Christopher Middleton
- Amado Ramón Millán
- Stuart Mills
- Deidre B. Montgomery
- Stuart Montgomery
- A. Doyle Moore
- Edwin Morgan
- Pete Morgan
- Alfred Morris
- James Munro
- Edward Nairn
- Julia Newman
- H. Alleyne Nicholson
- James Nicholson
- D.H. Nielsen
- Seiichi Niikuni
- Gunter Nolte
- Robert Nye
- Philip Oakes
- George A. Oliver
- Betty O'Looney
- Miles D. Orvell
- Charles Osborne
- Alicia (Suskin) Ostriker
- Derek Parker
- James Edmund Neil Paterson
- George Paterson
- John Pauker
- Noël Strange Paul
- Octavio Paz
- David Peace
- M.A. Pegg
- Paul N. Perrot
- Edward Phelps
- Anthony Phillips
- Omar Shakespear Pound
- Ian Douglas Ben Procter
- John Whitely Purser
- Michael Pye
- Geoffrey Rans
- David Raphael
- Walter M. Reid
- Robert Reiss
- Alan Riddell
- Ann Ridley
- Bridget Riley
- Francis Warren Roberts
- John Roberts
- Lewis Findlay Robertson
- Duncan Robinson
- Pamela Robinson
- William T. Rodgers
- Herbert M. Rosenthal
- Macha Louis Rosenthal
- Ian G. Ross
- Ian Simpson Ross
- Bertram Rota
- Jerome Rothenberg
- Trevor Royle
- Rubinstein
- Nash & Co., solicitors
- Regina Ryan
- John Ryder
- Christopher Rye
- Magda Salvesen
- Margot Sandeman
- Oscar Sandner
- Aram Saroyan
- Robert Crombie Saunders
- Estella Schmid
- John Scholfield
- Stephen Scobie
- James Robert Seaton
- A.J. Seely
- Annabel Seidler
- Martin Seymour-Smith
- Arnold Shaw
- Jessie (McGuffie) Sheeler
- Michael R. Shepherd
- Elizabeth Shub
- Eli Siegel
- Stanley M. Simpson
- James Simson
- Leif Sjoberg
- Joan Skalley
- Philip Sked
- Alisdair Skinner
- Christopher Small
- Barbara (Brodo) Herrnstein Smith
- John L. Smith
- Hans Sohm
- Mary Ellen (Bottom) Solt
- Kaim Spalte
- John Hanbury Angus Sparrow
- Charles Spencer
- Juliet Standing
- Derek Stanford
- Margaret (Holdsworth) Stanford
- Philip Steadman
- Jeffrey Steele
- Jeremy V. Steele
- Mary Stevens
- F.R. Stevenson
- Donald James Stewart
- Peter Stitt
- Constance Stungo
- Andrew Suknaski
- Geoffrey Summerfield
- John T. Sutherland
- Michael F. Sydenham
- Robert Tait
- Diane Tamnes
- Eric Taylor
- Eyvind S. Tew
- John R. Thorpe
- Ian Tinwell
- Karl Torok
- John Hugh Tuohy
- Gael Turnbull
- Charles Turner
- Enrique Uribe Valdivielso
- Jirí Valoch
- Franz Vanderlinden
- Victor de Vasarely
- David Vaughan
- Paul de Vree
- Herman de Vries
- Frank W. Weatherhead
- Mike Weaver
- Peter Weibel
- Steve Whealton
- Charlene H. White
- Eric Walter White
- John William Mills Willett
- Ann (Stevenson) Williams
- Emmett Williams
- Jonathan Chamberlain Williams
- Angus Frank Johnstone Wilson
- Astrid Wilson
- Gloria Wilson
- Trevor Winkfield
- Melinda Winters
- Joyce Wittenborn
- Woodford & Ackroyd, solicitors
- Howard Woolmer
- Edward Wright
- Kit Wright
- Pedro Xisto
- Alan Young
- Bill Zavatsky
- Nicholas Zurbrugg
Consult the Manuscripts Index in the Library for dates of letters of
individual correspondents.
Biographical; 1962 - 1968, Nov.
Box 2
1968, Dec. -
1969
Box 3
1970, Jan. - Dec.
21
Box 4
1970, Dec. 22 -
1972, Jan.
Box 5
1972, Feb. -
Dec.;
undated letters; Christmas cards
Oversize 1
May 30, 1967;
June 4, 1969;
undated letter
Series:
Box 5
II. Writings
Arranged alphabetically by title of Finlay's work, followed by writings by
others, arranged alphabetically by author.
Includes writings, drawings and related materials. Writings by Ian Hamilton
Finlay.
Subseries:
Box 5
Writings by Finlay
ABCD...
Acrobats
Additional poems
Ajar
Alphabet book
and/between/in
april may june july...
Arcadian Sundials
The Archangel
ark-arc
Au Pair
Blok
A boatyard
Bring Back the Birch
Broken Heart
Brother of the Dogfish
Caterpillar in Pond
Christmas was at Easter
Ceolfrith Street Handout
Count-down of a fir tree
Cythera: Garden Setting
The Dancers Inherit the Party
Earthship
The Estate Hunters
Evening/Sail 2
Fir Tree
Fishing News News
flags
The flower of the fal
The Four Seasons as Fishing Boats
From “An Inland Garde
Headlines
Hic Jacet parvulum…
Homage to Donald McGill
Homage to Vuillard
Homage to A. E. Hornel
Horizon
Instructions about boat to Salamander Press
Instructions for setting poems
It is little
Joke book
Land/Sea Indoor Sundial
The Land’s Shadow
A memory of summer
A minor Incident
The mouse
Nets
Notes about the Fulcrum Press Affair
Notes, miscellaneous
The Old Nobby
The Olsen Excerpts
Original Verses
Pan Loaf Provincialism
Peasants
Picture Book
Pittodrie
Poem with Three Stripes
Poems
Postcard poem Layouts
A Rock Rose
The Rubenstein Questionnaire
A Sailor's Calendar
Sails/Waves
Sea poppy 1.
Sea-poppy 2.
A Sea Street Anthology
Seas/ease
The Sea's Waves...
Sepia Barge
The Sign of the Nudge
Skylarks
Stack Net
Tree-Shells
Tristan's Sail
Two Concrete poems
Unicorn
Walking through Seaweed
Wave Sheaf
The Wild Dogs in Winter
Willing Wings
Windflower
Xmas morn
you me us
Oversize 1
The Little Drummer Boy
Seashells
Tye, Cringle, etc.
Oversize 3
Be in Time...
The Bigger Sundial
Column Poem
Evening Will Come
Four Sails
The Four Seasons as Fore-and-Afters
Glossary
Homage to Gomringer
Love/Apple
Poems to Hear and See
A Rococo Walnut
Sailing Barge (Redwing)
Subseries:
Box 6
Writings by others
Albert-Birot, Pierre
Bann, Stephen
Braga, Edgard
Brown, Pete
Campos, Augusto de
Cant, Jackie
Careme, Maurice
Chopin, Henri
Clark, Elizabeth T.
Costley, Ron
Cox, Kenelm
Creeley, Robert
cummings, e.e.
Cutts, Simon
Demarco Gallery
Dragomirescu, Radu
Falk, Gunter
Gappmayr, Heinz
Gomringer, Evgen
Grigor, Murray
Hendry, James Finlay
Higgins, Richard C.
Hill, Hugh Creighton
Hollo, Anselm
Horovitz, Michael
Houston, Libby
Johnson, Ronald
Jandl, Ernst
Kujundzic, Zeljko D.
Lax, Robert
McCaig, Norman
McDowell, John D.
McGerrill, Ann
Malone, Marvin Herbert
Mayrocker, Friederike
Melo Castro, E.M
Mills, Stuart
Morgan, Edwin
Niikuni, Seiichi
Novak, Ladislov
Riddel, Alan
Roth, Karl Heinz
Scha, Remko J.H
Seidman, Hugh
Siegel, Eli
Simmons, Robert
Smith, Barbara (Bodo) Hirrnstein
Sparrow, John Hanburg Angus
Standford, Derek
Sutherland, Robert Garioch
Supervielle, Jules
Turnbull, Gael
Uribe Valdivie Iso, Enrique
Valoch, Jiri
Vree, Paul de
Wild Hawthorn Press (2 folders)
Williams, Jonathan Chamberlain
Zukofsky, Louis
Unknown authors
Oversize 1
Scobie, Stephen
Series:
Box 6
III. Drawings & Photographs
Subseries:
Box 6
Drawings
Fraine, Robert
Kempes, Roland
Kujundzic, Z.D.
(2 folders)
Picking, J.
Sandeman, Margot
(2 folders)
Oversize 1
McNeish, Alexander
Subseries:
Box 6
Photographs
ASA Exhibition in Tokyo
Brazilian Concrete Poets: Augusto and Haroldo de Campos, and
Dècio Pignatari
Cruz-Diez, Carlos. Artwork
Finlay, I.H. Concrete poems, garden, pond and boat, two
portraits
Gomez de Liano, Ignacio. Poetry
Niedecler, Lorine. Snapshot
Schmalriede, Manfred, photographer. Finlay
exhibit
Schiller, Robert M., photographer. Louis Zukofsky
Trace, M.D., photographer. Artwork by Jeffrey
Steele
Walker, Audrey, photographer. For Finlay's Autumn
poem
Series:
Box 6
IV. Printed
The Archangel of Archangel
A Boatyard
Catches
Cythera
Fishing News News
Homage to E.A. Hornel
A memory of Summer
The Old Nobby
Pole Night
Seashells
Tree-Shells
Willing Wings
Other writers
Miscellaneous 1
Miscellaneous 2
Oversize 2
P.O.T.H. (Poor. Old. Tired. Horse).
Includes poems, proofs, and layouts
