Will Petersen papers

Finding Aid

Prepared for the Web by Barbara Bass, May 21, 2002; Updated September 17, 2002; Last Updated: December 2023

Inclusive Dates: 1956-1994
Extent: .66 cubic foot (2 document cases)
Physical Location:  11th floor

Biographical Note: Lithographer, painter, and poet, Will Petersen (1928-1994) was born in Chicago, Illinois. He served in the United State Army during the Korean Conflict and also served a year in Japan, where he later returned to live and study Japanese calligraphy, printmaking and Noh performance. After his service in Korea, he lived for a time in the Oakland, California, area and came in contact with many poets of the Beat Generation, including Gary Snyder, Philip Whalen, Jack Kerouac, and Cid Corman. In addition to teaching at Ohio State University and West Virginia University, Morgantown, he founded the Plucked Chicken Press through which he published works of art and poetry by many different artists.

Scope and Content: Petersen's papers consist of correspondence between Petersen, L. Hubbell, Philip Whalen and Tessa Lowell from 1956 to 1982. There is also some correspondence between Will Petersen and Jim Lowell dating from 1963 to 1993. Box 2 contains manuscripts and miscellaneous publications.

Related Material: For additional correspondence to Will Petersen, see the Gary Snyder papers collection.

Box 1
Folder -- Contents

1. Apr. 3, 1956: L. Hubbell to Will Petersen
2. Sept. 15, 1956: L. Hubbell to Mrs. Will Petersen
3. Sept. 21, 1956: L. Hubbell to Will Petersen
4. Nov. 22, 1956: L. Hubbell to Will Petersen
5. Dec. 24, 1956: L. Hubbell to Will Petersen
6. Apr. 19, 1957: L. Hubbell to Will Petersen
7. July 6, 1957: Philip Whalen to Will Petersen
8. Aug. 31, 1957: Philip Whalen to Will Petersen
9. Oct. 28, 1957: Philip Whalen to Will Petersen
10. Nov. 22, 1958: Philip Whalen to Will Petersen
11. Apr. 23, 1973: Will Petersen to Philip Whalen
12. July 30, 1972: Philip Whalen to Will Petersen
13. July 8, 1974: Will Petersen to Jim Lowell
14. July 20, 1974: Will Petersen to Jim Lowell
15. Nov. 16, 1974: Will Petersen to Tessa Lowell
16. Mar. 3, 1975: Will Petersen to Philip Whalen
17. May 12, 1975: Philip Whalen to Will Petersen
18. May 14, 1975: Will Petersen to Philip Whalen
19. Sept. 6, 1981: Will Petersen to James Lowell
20. Apr. 6, 1982: Will Petersen to James Lowell
21. Apr. 6, 1982: Will Petersen to James Lowell. Accompanied by an unbound typescript, of in no time, with printing and layout annotations and other handwritten notes by Petersen. 46 pp.
22. Undated: L. Hubbell to Will Petersen

Items received after initial processing are arranged by year of correspondence.

22. 1963-1969: Will Petersen to Jim Lowell
23. 1970-1973: Will Petersen to Jim Lowell
24. 1973: Will Petersen to Jim and Tessa Lowell
25. 1974-1975: Will Petersen to Jim Lowell
26. 1977: Will Petersen to Jim Lowell
27. 1981: Will Petersen to Jim Lowell
28. 1982: Will Petersen to Jim Lowell
29. 1983: Will Petersen to Jim Lowell
30. 1984: Will Petersen to Jim Lowell
31. 1985: Will Petersen to Jim Lowell
32. 1988: Will Petersen to Jim Lowell
33. 1989: Will Petersen to Jim Lowell
34. 1990: Will Petersen to Jim Lowell
35. 1991: Will Petersen to Jim Lowell
36. 1993: Will Petersen to Jim Lowell
37. Undated: Will Petersen to Jim Lowell
38. Apr. 1, 1994: From Tom Nakashimia read at Will's memorial

Box 2
Folder -- Contents

Note: All manuscripts below are from a book commemorating Gary Snyder's 60th birthday, Gary Snyder: Dimensions of a Life (Sierra Club, 1990).

1. Manuscript [draft, with autograph additions and corrections]: September Ridge, 1957: Before & After, [1989?]
2. Manuscript [manuscript copy, inscribed by the author to "Special Collections Library"]: September Ridge, 1957: Before & After, 15 July 1989
3. Manuscript [manuscript copy, inscribed by the author to "Jim"]: September Ridge, 1957: Before & After, 15 July 1989
4. Manuscript [final manuscript copy]: September Ridge, 1957: Before & After, 9 Jan. 1990
5. Manuscript [final manuscript copy, inscribed by the author to "James"]: September Ridge, 1957: Before & After, 9 Jan. 1990
6. Manuscript [final revision, inscribed by the author to "James"]: September Ridge, 1957: Before & After [1990]
7. Manuscript [final revision, signed by the author]: September Ridge, 1957: Before & After [1990]
8. Miscellaneous publications by Petersen:
   • "Buddha's Knee: Images from the Land of the Rising Sun." World. n.1(1983): 4-15.
   • "From a Notebook." Doshisha Chimes: Journal of Doshisha U. E. S. S. (1962): 56-58.
   • "Hagoromo 63."
   • "The Mask." The Ear in a Wheatfield. Second Series, n.9 (July 1974): 3-38.
   • So 'E Sez: Matsushita English Newsletter. v.2 n.1(August 1963). [Petersen is listed as Managing Editor]
   • "Visual/Verbal/Musical Structures." Reflections. (April 1977): 2.
9. Miscellaneous, [various dates]