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d. a. levy collection of Carol Jedlinsky
Special Collections and Archives
d. a. levy collection of Carol Jedlinsky
Special Collections and Archives
d. a. levy collection of Carol Jedlinsky
- Repository: Kent State University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives.
- Title: d. a. levy collection of Carol Jedlinsky
- Inclusive Date(s): 1959-1991
- Bulk Date(s): 1959-1962
- Author: Finding aid prepared by Jeff Maser and Cara Gilgenbach
- Creation: Finding aid encoded by Cara Gilgenbach using the OhioLINK EAD Application in 2012
- Origination: Levy, D. A.
- Extent: .75 cubic feet (2 document cases + 1 oversized folder)
- Physical Location: 11th floor
- Finding Aid Identifier: OhKeUSC0141
- Abstract: This collection includes over 250 manuscripts written by d.a. levy including poems, prose, and plays that levy sent to his close friend Carol Jedlinsky over a number of years. Many of the materials in this collection do not appear in other levy manuscript collections.
- Language(s): The records are in English
Biography of d. a. levy
Darryl Allen Levy (d.a. levy) was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 29, 1942, to Joseph and Caroline Levy. His parents changed the spelling of their surname from "Levey" to "Levy" in the 1940s; however levy's older brother, James, retained the original spelling. levy graduated from James Ford Rhodes High School in 1960, after which he spent seven months in the U. S. Navy, based in San Diego. levy's Navy experience, as described in numerous letters to family members, was very unpleasant and difficult. After his early release from the service, levy focused his energies on poetry, artwork, and publishing. levy is considered one of the founders of the "mimeograph revolution" of printing and distributing poetry and other publications during the second half of the 20th century. This "do-it-yourself" approach to publication utilized a mimeograph, producing small print runs often utilizing local materials on hand such as discarded paper stock. levy collaborated with a large network of poets and artists including Tom Kryss, rjs (Robert J. Sigmund), Kent Taylor, D.r. Wagner, Russell Salamon, and many others both within and outside of the Cleveland poetry scene. According to Jeff Maser, "levy lead an itinerant life. Though he did not 'travel' in the normal sense, he would often stay with friends and family members for short periods of time, or take month-to-month rentals. Occasional trips were made to the West, to Wisconsin, and to New York, but to Cleveland he always returned." A dramatic series of events occurred in levy's life in 1967 when he was indicted by a grand jury, arrested, and jailed for "possessing and distributing obscene literature." In March of that same year, he was again arrested for "contributing to the delinquency of minors" in relation to a poetry reading he had given, attended by some minors. Friends and fellow poets, including Allen Ginsberg, rallied around levy through a series of events, publications, and fund raising efforts. His sentence for the second offense was eventually suspended and the prior grand jury charges were later dismissed. However, levy was left feeling increasingly isolated, under attack, and betrayed by his native city. levy died on November 24, 1968 at the age of 26. He was found by friends on the floor of his apartment, dead from a gunshot wound to the head, with a .22 caliber rifle by his body. His death was ruled a suicide.
Scope and Content
The collection is comprised of over 250 manuscripts written by levy, including 245 poems, two prose works, seven plays, and additional material that levy sent to Jedlinsky. Many of the manuscripts in this collection do not appear in other collections of levy's manuscripts. The manuscripts are typescripts, and many include holograph notations and edits by levy. Most of the material in the collection dates from 1959-1962.
Statement of Arrangement
The collection is arranged into five series: Poems, Prose, Plays, Letters, and Oversized Materials.
Related Material
Please also see the d.a. levy papers, which contains manuscripts, correspondence, artwork, and other materials created by and about levy, purchased by Special Collections and Archives over a number of years.
Special Collections and Archives also owns the d.a. levy and family archive, a major collection of levy manuscripts, correspondence, artwork, and other materials from the personal collection of levy.
Processing Information
This collection was organized for sale by Jeff Maser, Bookseller. Special Collections and Archives has maintained Maser's arrangement and descriptions of materials in this archive, in most cases. There are some items present in the collection that are not listed in the Maser catalog, which will be noted, when applicable.
Restrictions on Use
Copyright of materials in this collection resides with the d.a. levy estate and other applicable copyright holders. Please contact the Department of Special Collections and Archives for copyright inquiries.
Other Finding Aid
A detailed printed catalog of The d.a. levy Collection of Carol Jedlinsky by Jeff Maser, Bookseller, is available in Special Collections and Archives and is referenced in this finding aid. The Maser catalog includes more detailed descriptions of some of the items in this collection.
Preferred Citation
d. a. levy collection of Carol Jedlinsky. Kent State University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives.
Acquisition Information
Purchased in 2011 from Jeff Maser, Bookseller.
Custodial History
"All of the materials in this collection were saved over the years by the late Carol Jedlinsky, a close and trusted friend of d.a. levy's." (Maser catalog, p. i).
Subject Headings
The following subjects are found in this collection:
- Subjects:
- Levy, D. A. -- Archives.
- American poetry -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
- American poetry -- 20th century.
- Poets, American -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
- Cleveland (Ohio) -- Poetry.
- Underground movements in literature.
- American drama -- 20th century.
- Drama -- 20th century.
- Persons:
- Jedlinsky, Carol.
- Functions:
- Poetry -- Authorship.
- Authorship.
- Occupations:
- Poets.
- Artists.
- Authors.
- Authors, American.
- Material Types:
- Manuscripts for publication.
- Typescripts.
- Authors' annotations (Provenance)
- Annotations (Provenance)
- Titles:
- Oracle (San Francisco, Calif.)
- Kaleidoscope (Milwaukee, Wis. : 1967)
Detailed Description of the Collection
See the Maser catalog for more detailed physical descriptions of the items in this collection.
Series 1: Poems, 1959-1962
-
Physical Description: Typescripts, carbon copy typescripts, or holograph ink. Some include holograph annotations by levy.
- Arrangement
- The poems are arranged as originally filed in folder.
- Processing Information
- Titles below are capitalized, spelled, and punctuated as found on the originals. If two or more poems occur in a single typescript, titles will be separated with a space, slash, space ( / ). Dates provided are standardized in form and do not reflect the date exactly as written or typed on the originals.
- Box 1 / Folder 1
- Original folder containing poems, undated
- Box 1 / Folder 2
- tear off the birth shrouds, June 21, 1961
- Box 1 / Folder 3
- to him who am but thinks he is, undated
- Box 1 / Folder 4
- BEAT-beat / nice kitty, December 31, 1959
- Box 1 / Folder 5
- conqueror without, July 18, 1961
- Box 1 / Folder 6
- reflections, July 29, 1961
- Box 1 / Folder 7
- warm one II, July 2, 1961
- Box 1 / Folder 8
- centiparty, June 26, 1961
- Box 1 / Folder 9
- sign of cactus, July 12, 1961
- Box 1 / Folder 10
- to balance the scales, July 13, 1961
- Box 1 / Folder 11
- Three Sisters / N.Y. / close, but not quite enough, October 29, 1961
- Box 1 / Folder 12
- fall into whirling blackness, August 9, 1961
- Box 1 / Folder 13
- Its the night of the flesh moon, August 28, 1961
- Box 1 / Folder 14
- a salam aleikum peyote, October 1, 1961
- Box 1 / Folder 15
- granny, October 11, 1961
- Box 1 / Folder 16
- Twilight in Babylon, October 20, 1961
- Box 1 / Folder 17
- fable of the 3 twigs, October 20, 1961
- Box 1 / Folder 18
- away from her, September 29, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 19
- last of '61' / happy new yee------, December 27-31, 1961, January 1, 1962
- Box 1 / Folder 20
- rebellion, January 18, 1962
- Box 1 / Folder 21
- Intermission (the subconscious during the comercial before sleep), November 9, 1961
- Box 1 / Folder 22
- an evening on tape, December 6, 1961
- Box 1 / Folder 23
- Richard Allen Morris, November 26, 1961
- Box 1 / Folder 24
- one sided conversation discussing two reasons for animal love and the need for the animal protective league, November 18, 1961
- Box 1 / Folder 25
- world carcinoma, November 12, 1961
- Box 1 / Folder 26
- new breed, January 12-13, 1962
- Box 1 / Folder 27
- bleatings / broken, January 12-13, 1962, January 13, 1962
- Box 1 / Folder 28
- flames on the horizon, January 6, 1962
- Box 1 / Folder 29
- what a hell of a way to spend january five, January 6, 1962
- Box 1 / Folder 30
- as age creeps in, January 5, 1962
- Box 1 / Folder 31
- death, June 7, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 32
- toast of the rebelious alcoholic, November 6, 1961
- Box 1 / Folder 33
- last request, October 22, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 34
- tribute to han shan, October 17, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 35
- the first time i saw her, October 15, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 36
- Night of many vomits, December 16, 1961
- Box 1 / Folder 37
- miles davis / cerebral famine, January 16, 1962
- Box 1 / Folder 38
- savage voices / brothers from under, January 17, 1962, January 16, 1962
- Box 1 / Folder 39
- cleveland impressions, undated
- Box 1 / Folder 40
- Baruch Spinoza, undated
- Box 1 / Folder 41
- himeros (the muse disappears) / himeros (on waiting for the return of my muse), undated
- Box 1 / Folder 42
- corvette, December 15-16, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 43
- return, December 8, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 44
- three years, December 7, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 45
- psalm - lester del rey / live and let live / jam sessions / Childrens rhymes, undated
- Box 1 / Folder 46
- means of mass communication with self / education of a food fadist / something i should have said tomorrow, undated
- Box 1 / Folder 47
- the winds, June 4, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 48
- san diego departure, December 3-6, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 49
- passing time, October 15, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 50
- the first fix, October 11-15, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 51
- trapped, October 11, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 52
- to the naval chapal at san diego, October 2, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 53
- san diego impressions / [san diego impressions] [2], September 24-28, 1960, October 5, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 54
- love of the searching souls, September 14, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 55
- night light, September 7, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 56
- darkness, August 4, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 57
- wanderings, July 29, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 58
- to S.K., July 26, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 59
- el barbero shoppe, July 25, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 60
- benjamin franklin schoolyard, July 22-25, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 61
- a poem in three parts, July 21, 1960
- Scope and Content
- The three parts are "the flight," "capture," and "escape."
- Box 1 / Folder 62
- matter over mind, July 14, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 63
- lake road blues, July 9, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 64
- july 4th, July 4, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 65
- minority group, July 1, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 66
- last night [34], June 24, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 67
- thoughts after 11:00 [35], June 28, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 68
- dad, June 14, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 69
- for a rainy day / patchen couple / this strange little bird / bop for the kiddies / prelude to a rice throwing, undated
- Box 1 / Folder 70
- This weekend of smiling navels, undated
- Box 1 / Folder 71
- fertility (she) / fertility (he), January 21, 1962
- Box 1 / Folder 72
- for what sunscape, undated
- Box 1 / Folder 73
- the flower, July 22, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 74
- day life, May 31, no year
- Box 1 / Folder 75
- Somewhere, June 1, no year
- Box 1 / Folder 76
- confusion, May 11, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 77
- school, May 3 and 17, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 78
- what is a poem, May 7, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 79
- premonition, April-May 7, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 80
- WHY, undated
- Box 1 / Folder 81
- BRIEF ENCOUNTER WITH THE UNIVERSE, undated
- Box 1 / Folder 82
- INTERCEPTED THOUGHTS AT A BUS STOP, December 30, 1959
- Box 1 / Folder 83
- DISTANT MURMURS, March 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 84
- ESCAPE ROUTES, March 18, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 85
- SELF-EVALUATION, April 30, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 86
- SICK / The Way / SOCIETY, May 3, 1960
- Box 1 / Folder 87
- INSOMNIA OF THE BALLS, July 1959
- Box 1 / Folder 88
- ah ya man - pace that floor [first line], undated
- Box 1 / Folder 89
- anti-bellum seduction / i am nights of anguish, undated
- Box 1 / Folder 90
- ice floe, undated
- Box 1 / Folder 91
- Remembrance / TALK, undated
- Box 1 / Folder 92
- impressions of a modern society, undated
- Box 1 / Folder 93
- memories / reason / ritual, undated
- Box 1 / Folder 94
- chick / the cleveland scene, undated
- Box 2 / Folder 1
- painters americano, undated
- Box 2 / Folder 2
- black garden / my rainbow, undated
- Box 2 / Folder 3
- What Are You Doing?, undated
- Box 2 / Folder 4
- Night Life I, May 20, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 5
- statement / carol / a square lady, May 17, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 6
- boot camp, September 30, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 7
- Snowflakes in autumn, October 6-12, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 8
- to him who am but thinks he is / erebus and nyx, February 1, 1962, February 8, 1962
- Box 2 / Folder 9
- new why jan 29 -- 62 / reflections of self confusion, January 30, 1962
- Box 2 / Folder 10
- threads of life - broken shoelaces / love in an empty society / talk / remembrance / move out, undated
- Box 2 / Folder 11
- home for the weekend, July 14, 1962
- Box 2 / Folder 12
- speaking of religion / isolated rose, July 14, 1962
- Box 2 / Folder 13
- american haiku, undated
- Scope and Content
- Includes the poems: arizona; rapid transit; apartments; rationalized exhaustion; disease; waiting; the bomb; masochist; strangeness; tension; unconscious; sorrow; fear; watching death; monument to death.
- Box 2 / Folder 14
- end, undated
- Box 2 / Folder 15
- contented thoughts, July 3, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 16
- white tiger / Sue / Progress, undated
- Box 2 / Folder 17
- wipe the slate clean [first line], undated
- Box 2 / Folder 18
- night rainbow, June 25, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 19
- one steamed vision, June 15, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 20
- the age of the equation, May 20, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 21
- lament of the hitchhiker, May 25, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 22
- from my speechless rays i see, May 17, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 23
- hawks called a hole in one, May 5, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 24
- revelation - too late, April 19, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 25
- flaming ice, April 13, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 26
- view, April 1, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 27
- tears to remember, March 30, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 28
- enlisted mans club, March 22, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 29
- thoughts before dying, March 15, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 30
- divide to unite, March 2, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 31
- no smiles, February 26, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 32
- come over red rover, February 22-23, 1961 and March 8, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 33
- thoughts from a civilized mans cellar, February 22, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 34
- silent noises, February 19, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 35
- requiem for / if love falls from rock / bottom emptyness [first line], undated
- Box 2 / Folder 36
- we wont listen, Janary 24, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 37
- whispered in solitude, January 29-February 16, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 38
- fingertips, January 31-February 8, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 39
- but where is the tonight, January 31, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 40
- silent skins, March 24, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 41
- knossus, February 21, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 42
- the voice - the ear - and the eye, January 12, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 43
- surrealist scene, January 2, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 44
- spring, December 28, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 45
- moments, December 28, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 46
- expression, undated
- Box 2 / Folder 47
- police, December 23, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 48
- blues for life, October 3-4, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 49
- the last time, September 30, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 50
- a flute plays, February 10, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 51
- tomorrow, January 6, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 52
- Progress II, January 24, 1962
- Box 2 / Folder 53
- footsteps, December 14-15, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 54
- need, July 20, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 55
- no one, July 17, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 56
- quiet autumn, November 12, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 57
- night life II, March 10, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 58
- chick poems, undated
- Box 2 / Folder 59
- echoes of a tear stained love, December 10, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 60
- love, August 15, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 61
- world war III, March 23, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 62
- to all sad endings / no more talk about waterloo / wistfulthinking, June 5, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 63
- and i placed her on a pedastal, January 14, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 64
- Temptation, November 18, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 65
- waste, June 1, no year
- Box 2 / Folder 66
- the temple, July 3, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 67
- of extreme value, February 26, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 68
- when we moved, August 18, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 69
- the crying tree, May 17, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 70
- answer in blue, December 28, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 71
- the black void / my enemy, March 8, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 72
- i have two rings, undated
- Box 2 / Folder 73
- shadows / birth in spring, June 1, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 74
- gods art gallery, undated
- Box 2 / Folder 75
- alone, August 6, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 76
- deja vu / october song, undated
- Box 2 / Folder 77
- pretext, February 22, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 78
- remembrance from the outside, September 10, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 79
- kith and kin, February 22, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 80
- warm one, June 14, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 81
- tiger, November 8, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 82
- rosalie (written for a friends girl), November 28, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 83
- fragments, November 15-16, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 84
- cuyahoga county blues, August 13, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 85
- KAY I / KAY II, December 30, 1959, February 3, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 86
- viva, May 28, no year
- Box 2 / Folder 87
- next of kin, June 7, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 88
- warm one, September 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 89
- when she walks, November 12, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 90
- fertility (she) / fertility (he), January 21, 1962
- Box 2 / Folder 91
- see if if follows, December 27, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 92
- outsider, August 28, 1960
- Box 2 / Folder 93
- neither/nor, April 29, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 94
- her, July 16, 1960-April 2, 1961
- Box 2 / Folder 95
- waiting, June 25, 1960
Series 2: Prose, undated
- Box 2 / Folder 96
- from where to someday, undated
-
Physical Description: Typescript, 24 pages.
- Box 2 / Folder 97
- from where to someday, additions, undated
-
Physical Description: Four additional pages related to this prose manuscript.
- Box 2 / Folder 98
- ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM and the UNCONSCIOUS, undated
-
Physical Description: Typescript, 14 pages.
Series 3: Plays, undated
- Box 2 / Folder 99
- A POEM PLAY: WE'RE THE ONES WHO STARTED TOO YOUNG, undated
-
Physical Description: Typescript, 8 pages.
- Box 2 / Folder 100
- Poem Play #2: Let your kids pick their own, undated
-
Physical Description: Typescript, 4 pages.
- Box 2 / Folder 101
- the party problem - poem play #3, undated
-
Physical Description: Typescript, 5 pages.
- Box 2 / Folder 102
- the brothers from under: a play of sorts (poem play #4), undated
-
Physical Description: Typescript, [2], 22 pages.
- Box 2 / Folder 103
- cigarette smoke and mental halitosis, undated
-
Physical Description: Typescript, 12 pages.
- Box 2 / Folder 104
- the gift, undated
-
Physical Description: Typescript, 5 pages.
- Box 2 / Folder 105
- at an understanding, undated
-
Physical Description: Typescript, 13 pages.
Series 4: Letters, 1964, 1968
- Box 2 / Folder 106
- Cleveland Undercovers, January 1964
-
Physical Description: Single page, folded and mailed to Jedlinsky with some holograph notes by levy.
- Box 2 / Folder 107
- to Jedlinsky, April 1968
-
Physical Description: Three page mimeograph addressed to Jedlinsky with a holograph note to her by levy.
Series 5: Oversized Materials, 1962-1991
- Physical Location: Filed in oversized folder.
- Scope and Content
- This series includes newspaper clippings about levy, along with two large empty envelopes that contained materials that levy mailed to Jedlinsky. Also included are two full issues of the periodicals The Oracle (vol. 1) and kaleidoscope (vol. 1, n. 4). The materials in this series are not described in the Maser catalog.
- Alternate Form Available
- Reference photocopies of clippings (except full newspaper issues) have been made. Researchers are asked to use the reference photocopies due to the fragile nature of the original clippings.
