American poet Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV was born in Boston on March 1, 1917, to Robert Traill Spence Lowell III and Charlotte Winslow Lowell, a relation of writers James Russell Lowell and Amy Lowell. In addition to being the descendant of poets, Lowell encountered and was taught by numerous prominent poets during his classicist education. Lowell attended St. Mark's School (1930-1935), where he was influenced by Richard Eberhart, and Harvard University (1935-1937). In 1937, Boston psychiatrist and poet Merrill Moore sent young Lowell to meet Ford Madox Ford, who was visiting Allen Tate in Tennessee at the time. It was there that Tate introduced Lowell to John Crowe Ransom, and Lowell subsequently transferred to Kenyon College (1937-1940) where Ransom had accepted a new post. It was at Kenyon that Lowell made the acquaintance of lifelong friends Randall Jarrell and Peter Taylor. Lowell also came under the tutelage of Robert Penn Warren and Cleanth Brooks when he undertook further study at Louisiana State University (1940-1941).
After college, Lowell worked as an editor and as a teacher at several institutions, including the State University of Iowa, the Kenyon School of Letters, Boston University, Harvard University, the University of Essex, and Kent University, among others. During his career, he taught such poets as W. D. Snodgrass, Anne Sexton, and Sylvia Plath.
His first volume of poetry,
Lowell also wrote and translated plays (
His work especially during the 1960s and 1970s stressed his preoccupations with political and social issues, such as protest of the
Vietnam War and support of presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy. During this same period, Lowell's early formal style gave way to a controversial personal or confessional style of poetry under the influence of such poets as John Berryman, William Carlos Williams, and Ezra Pound.
Lowell was married to Jean Stafford (1940, divorced 1948), to Elizabeth Hardwick (1949, divorced 1972), and to Caroline Blackwood (1972), and had two children, Harriet Winslow Lowell (born 1957) and Robert Sheridan Lowell (born 1971). He lived primarily in England after 1970 and died September 12, 1977, while on a visit to New York City.
The Robert Lowell Papers, ca. 1845-1988, consist mainly of Lowell's working papers for the period 1970-1977. As such the papers include heavily revised drafts of manuscripts, galleys, and page proofs for
The bulk of this collection was acquired in 1982 and came in two large suitcases, largely unorganized and unlabelled. Lowell was frequently assisted by the poet Frank Bidart during the 1970s, who was consulted for advice regarding the organization and arrangement of manuscripts in this collection. The collection has been arranged into four series: I. Works, ca. 1930s-1987 (14 boxes), II. Correspondence, 1938-1977 (2 boxes), III. Personal Papers, 1845-1988 (5 boxes), and IV. Sound Recordings and Music Scores, 1958-1987 (19 items).
The papers serve to document various aspects of Robert Lowell's life, chiefly his activities as poet, translator, and playwright, especially during the last seven years of his life. His working practices as a poet, his propensity for revision, and his evolving style during this later period are especially well represented in his manuscripts. His correspondence from colleagues and friends deals in part with his divorce from Elizabeth Hardwick and subsequent marriage to Caroline Blackwood, and his controversial treatment of these events in his poetry. Among Lowell's correspondents in this collection are William Alfred, Rolando Anzilotti, Frank Bidart, Elizabeth Bishop, Caroline Blackwood, Blair Clark, Elizabeth Hardwick, Stanley Kunitz, Harriet Winslow Lowell, Eugene J. McCarthy, Mary McCarthy, William Meredith, Marcia Nardi, Adrienne Cecile Rich, I. A. Richards, W. D. Snodgrass, Jean Stafford, Allen Tate, Peter Hillsman Taylor, Robert Penn Warren, and others.
In addition to the manuscripts and correspondence, various clippings of reviews and other critical assessments of Lowell's life and works are present, which further understanding of Lowell and his work. Some clippings, programs, handbills and other materials concerning productions of Lowell's plays (
Lowell's early life is documented by photographs, family documents, school publications, and medical files which detail Merrill Moore's psychiatric treatment of Lowell, ca. 1935-1941. Correspondence to Moore includes letters from Lowell, as well as from family members and friends: Blair Clark, Anne Dick, Richard Eberhart, James Laughlin, Charlotte Winslow Lowell, Robert Traill Spence Lowell III, David McDowell, Frank Parker, John Crowe Ransom, Robb Ransom, Jean Stafford, Milton Starr, Allen Tate, Peter Hillsman Taylor, and Robert Penn Warren, and others.
His life in later years is chiefly detailed by the aforementioned manuscripts and correspondence, but further documentation of his activities is found among the financial and legal papers. Obituaries and items collected from various memorial services round out the collection, recording the response to Lowell's death by his contemporaries and the press.
There is also substantial information in the correspondence from other poets and writers which will assist the researcher interested in these various figures. Additionally, there are manuscripts present by some of these writers, such as Elizabeth Bishop, Seamus Heaney, Stanley Kunitz, Marcia Nardi, I. A. Richards, Peter Hillsman Taylor, and Robert Penn Warren. To a lesser extent, there are also manuscripts from some of Lowell's students, as well as his own notes regarding students, which relate to his role as educator.
Purchase, 1968-1992 (#4289, #9580, #12247, #12617)
Open for research
Jennifer Patterson and Joan Sibley, 1993-1994
Materials relating to
For other Robert Lowell materials at the HRHRC, see the following manuscript collections:
The Elizabeth Hardwick Papers at the HRHRC form an important adjunct to this collection, as they contain Lowell's letters to Hardwick, 1949-1977, and to his daughter Harriet, 1968-1977. Also present are numerous letters of condolence received by Hardwick upon Lowell's death.
The HRHRC Library also holds numerous published works both by and about Lowell (accessible through the book card catalog and the online catalog, UTCAT), as well as information in the Vertical File Collection.
The HRHRC Art Collection includes a watercolor and pastel caricature of Robert Lowell with Allen Ginsberg, W. H. Auden, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti by Zdzislaw Czermanski.
The HRHRC Theatre Arts Collection has costume and property designs by Robert LaVigne for the 1968 American Place Theater production of
Harvard University has a major collection of Robert Lowell Papers, spanning approximately 1935-1970. The collection is described in
Heavily revised drafts of manuscripts, galleys, and page proofs for Lowell's major works published between 1973-1977 (
Numerous unidentified and/or unpublished poems, such as the late poem
The Works are arranged alphabetically by title, except for several folders of manuscripts gathered after Lowell's death by Frank Bidart and Elizabeth Hardwick, which have been left intact and have been placed at the end of the series. For the published volumes of poetry, the manuscripts of individual poems are generally arranged according to the order in which they appear in the publication. Some drafts of the poetry reflect a variant order of poems from the final published version, and the presumed original order of these drafts has been left intact. Individual manuscripts are grouped by title or first line in alphabetic folders, i.e. A-D, E, F, etc. An outline of the arrangement of the manuscripts appears on page 21 of this guide. An index to all manuscripts, by title or by first line (if untitled), has been compiled and also forms a part of this guide.
Lowell's scrupulous attention to detail and propensity for revision is amply demonstrated in the multiple drafts of most of his poems: frequently there are more than ten versions, and some have as many as one hundred different renditions. Numerous revisions and corrections to the manuscripts appear in Lowell's hand, as well as those of Frank Bidart and Caroline Blackwood. Lowell sometimes left drafts of poems untitled, though frequently he also revised the titles of poems as he progressed through these drafts. Often these are manuscript pages with a draft of one poem on the front, and a draft of a different poem on the verso. Due to the large number of revisions, the index to manuscripts in this guide should be consulted as a first step to locate variants of individual poems which are scattered amongst the manuscripts for these books.
The manuscripts for
Lowell further revised some poems that had appeared in
The materials gathered by Frank Bidart largely concern
Manuscript items gathered by Elizabeth Hardwick also contain materials relating to
The majority of this series consists of incoming correspondence, often addressed to both Lowell and Caroline Blackwood, his third wife. It is arranged alphabetically by author.
Among the correspondents are William Alfred, A. (Alfred) Alvarez, Rolando Anzilotti, Ben Belitt, Frank Bidart, Elizabeth Bishop, Caroline Blackwood, Blair Clark, Norman Cousins, Malcolm Cowley, Donald Davie, Richard Eberhart, Gavin Ewart, Allen Ginsberg, Robert Giroux, Ian Hamilton, Elizabeth Hardwick, Samuel John Hazo, Seamus Heaney, Lillian Hellman, Mary Jarrell, Lucia Joyce, Alfred Kazin, Robert F. Kennedy, Stanley Kunitz, Philip Larkin, James Laughlin, Gordon Lish, Harriet Winslow Lowell, Robie Macauley, Eugene J. McCarthy, Mary McCarthy, J. D. McClatchy, Gerard Malanga, William Meredith, Marcia Nardi, Howard Nemerov, Sidney Nolan, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Frank Parker, J. F. Powers, Philip Rahv, Adrienne Cecile Rich, I. A. Richards, Arthur Schlesinger, W. D. Snodgrass, Jean Stafford, Allen Tate, Eleanor Ross Taylor, Peter Hillsman Taylor, Diana Trilling, Mona Van Duyn, Andrei Voznesenskii, Derek Walcott, Robert Penn Warren, Edward Weeks, Richard Wilbur, Edmund Wilson, and others. A complete index of correspondents is included in this guide.
The letters cover a broad range of subjects, the most important of which deal with Lowell's relationship and divorce from his second wife, Elizabeth Hardwick, and his interpretation of their separation in
Also found in this series is a folder of outgoing mail from Lowell, a folder of letters to Caroline Blackwood, and a folder of correspondence addressed to persons other than Lowell or Blackwood. Further outgoing correspondence from Lowell will be found in the Personal Papers series, among the medical files of Merrill Moore.
A variety of personal papers concerning Lowell or of interest to him makes up this series. These papers are arranged alphabetically by format: Clippings, Critical Essays, Documents, Financial Papers, Honorary Degrees, Interviews, Legal Papers, Medical Files, Memorials, Notes and Sketches, Photographs, School Publications, Works by Other Writers, and Miscellaneous.
Various aspects of Lowell's life are documented by the personal records. Chronologically speaking, these include the Photographs (1845-1980s), Documents (1933-1945), School Publications (1933-1935), Medical Files (1935-1950s), Honorary Degrees (1961-1977), Financial Papers (1970-1977), Legal Papers (1972-1977), and Memorials (1977-1987).
The photographs include images of Lowell's grandparents and parents, and depict Lowell from his childhood through his adult life. Pictured with him are his wife Elizabeth Hardwick, children Harriet and Sheridan, and colleagues and friends, including Elizabeth Bishop, Ezra Pound, John Crowe Ransom, Allen Tate, Peter Hillsman Taylor, and Robert Penn Warren. The photographs that include Lowell are arranged chronologically. Those which do not include him are grouped separately as family photographs. Another folder includes photographs of illustrations intended for
Among the documents are copies of family birth and death certificates, as well as Lowell's own certificate of parole dated 1944. The school publications date from Lowell's days at St. Mark's School and include class yearbooks as well as a 1935 issue of
Of special note among these personal records are the medical files created by Dr. Merrill Moore, a poet and psychiatrist who treated Lowell from 1935 to 1941. The bulk of these files cover the years 1937-1939, though there is a gap for the period June through November, 1937.
The files consist of correspondence, internal memoranda, photographs, clippings, a report card from Kenyon College, and various internal office forms (such as psychotherapy records, telephone calls, etc.), all of which serve to document the case. Lowell's problems and his relationship with his parents are major topics, as are Lowell's relationships with others, such as Frank Parker, Anne Dick, and Jean Stafford. The files have been left in their original chronological order and include carbon copies of outgoing correspondence from Moore along with incoming correspondence from Lowell, his parents, other doctors, and friends. Correspondents include Blair Clark, Anne Dick, Richard Eberhart, James Laughlin, Charlotte Winslow Lowell, Robert Traill Spence Lowell III, David McDowell, Frank Parker, John Crowe Ransom, Robb Ransom, Jean Stafford, Milton Starr, Allen Tate, Peter Hillsman Taylor, and Robert Penn Warren. All correspondents in this subseries are included in the correspondents index in this guide.
One additional folder contains items identified by Elizabeth Hardwick as concerning Lowell's treatment by Dr. Vernon Williams during the 1950s.
Lowell's honorary degrees from several colleges and universities are also included in these papers.
The financial and legal papers are arranged chronologically and all date from the 1970s. Included are such items as Lowell's 1972 will, a copy of his divorce decree from Elizabeth Hardwick, banking papers, bills, book contracts, royalty statements, tax documents, and trust statements.
Materials collected by Elizabeth Hardwick from various memorial services for Robert Lowell are arranged chronologically by service, and include programs, invitations, and texts for readings.
The Clippings (1965-1988), Critical Essays (1970-1987), and Interviews (1971) all consist of writings about Lowell and his work. The clippings are predominately reviews of published works, productions of plays, and musical settings of his work. A few of the plays are also represented by other materials, such as programs and handbills. Review clippings and related materials are arranged alphabetically by title of the work. One folder consists of clippings of obituaries upon Lowell's death in 1977. Manuscripts, reprints, and clippings of various critical essays about Lowell occupy one folder. Two interviews, with Ian Hamilton and V. S. Naipaul, are also included.
Works by other writers include some of the manuscripts Lowell received from students, colleagues, and friends. Included are manuscripts by writers such as Elizabeth Bishop, Seamus Heaney, Stanley Kunitz, Marcia Nardi, I. A. Richards, Peter Hillsman Taylor, and Robert Penn Warren. These are arranged alphabetically by author. It should be noted that some of the manuscripts remain where they were originally located with incoming letters in the Correspondence Series. Locations for
The Notes and Sketches include Lowell's typed chronology of Caroline Blackwood's marriage to Israel Citkowitz, notes about his students, and other miscellaneous notes. Other miscellany, including various clippings and ephemera saved by Lowell, are found in the Miscellaneous folder at the end of this Series.
This group of 18 sound recordings consists of cassettes, reels, and discs, including several commercially produced recordings, which were acquired from Elizabeth Hardwick. Several are spoken word recordings of Lowell and/or other poets (such as Ezra Pound) reading from his poetry or translations. The rest are recordings of plays by Lowell (
Note: Titles in bold were published in either
Titles or first lines
Note: Titles in bold were published in
Titles or first lines