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Marsden Hartley papers

Special Collections and Archives

Marsden Hartley papers

Special Collections and Archives

Marsden Hartley papers

  • Repository: Kent State University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives.
  • Title: Marsden Hartley papers
  • Inclusive Date(s): 1908-1965
  • Bulk Date(s): 1908-1918
  • Author: Finding aid prepared by Kevin Ferst, March 2002
  • Creation: Finding aid encoded by Amanda Faehnel using the OhioLINK EAD Application in 2010
  • Origination: Hartley, Marsden, 1877-1943
  • Extent: .16 cubic feet (1 box = 1 slim document case)
  • Physical Location: 11th floor
  • Finding Aid Identifier: OhKeUSC0115
  • Abstract: Correspondence and poetry of Marsden Hartley.
  • Revision(s):
  • December 2010 - Revised by Amanda Faehnel
  • Language(s): The records are in English

Biography of Marsden Hartley

Marsden Hartley, one of the early modernist painters and also a poet, was born in Lewiston, Maine, in 1877. After his mother's death, he moved to Cleveland to live with his father and stepmother, attending the Cleveland Institute of Art. He then moved on to study at the New York School of Art, where he found inspiration in the works of the American transcendentalists, particularly Emerson and Whitman. Among his other influences were Emily Dickison, his friend and contemporary Hart Crane, and Gerard Manley Hopkins. Although he was better received as a painter, Hartley the poet is perhaps best remembered for this anthology,. Androscoggin (1940), a poetic portrait of the region in Maine where he grew up. Some of his other works include Adventures in the Arts: Informal Chapters on Painters, Vaudeville and Poets (1921), 25 Poems (1923), and Sea Burial (1941). Hartley died in 1943.

Scope and Content

This collection consists of materials given to Arthur Plummer by Marsden Hartley. Contents include correspondence from Hartley to Plummer, 2 typewritten poems, 4 autograph poems, and Hartley's copy of Leaves of Grass.

Statement of Arrangement

The Marsden Hartley papers are arranged by material type.

Separated Material

Hartley's copy of Leaves of Grass has been cataloged in KentLINK and is housed with the monographs in Special Collections and Archives.

Restrictions on Use

Kent State University does not own copyright for these materials. Permission must be secured from both the repository and the copyright holder(s).

Preferred Citation

Marsden Hartley papers. Kent State University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives.

Subject Headings
The following subjects are found in this collection:

  • Subjects:
  • American poetry -- 20th century
  • Hartley, Marsden, 1877-1943
  • Art, American -- 20th century
  • Persons:
  • Hartley, Marsden, 1877-1943
  • Plummer, Arthur
  • Organizations/Corporations:
  • Cleveland Institute of Art
  • New York School of Fine and Applied Art
  • Functions:
  • Authorship
  • Places:
  • Cleveland (Ohio)
  • New York (N. Y.)
  • Occupations:
  • Painters -- United States
  • Poets, American
  • Material Types:
  • Autograph verse
  • Correspondence
  • Poems
  • Postcards



Detailed Description of The Collection
  • Box 1 / Folder 1
  • Postcard from Marsden Hartley to Arthur Plummer, December 18, 1908
  • Box 1 / Folder 2
  • Postcard from Marsden Hartley to Arthur Plummer, December 25, 1908
  • Physical Description: signed "Bemis Horbia"
  • Box 1 / Folder 3
  • Postcard from Marsden Hartley to Arthur Plummer, February 23, 1909
  • Box 1 / Folder 4
  • Postcard from Marsden Hartley to Arthur Plummer, March 16, 1909
  • Box 1 / Folder 5
  • Postcard from Marsden Hartley to Arthur Plummer, November 12, 1910
  • Box 1 / Folder 6
  • Postcard from Marsden Hartley to Arthur Plummer, June 1, 1911
  • Box 1 / Folder 7
  • Postcard from Marsden Hartley to Arthur Plummer, July 10, 1911
  • Box 1 / Folder 8
  • Postcard from Marsden Hartley to Arthur Plummer, June 18, 1918
  • Box 1 / Folder 9
  • Typed Correspondence from Marsden Hartley to Arthur Plummer, July 10, 1918
  • Box 1 / Folder 10
  • Typed Correspondence from Marsden Hartley to Arthur Plummer, undated
  • Box 1 / Folder 11
  • Typed Poem, Family Album in Red Plush, undated
  • Box 1 / Folder 12
  • Typed Poem, Lewiston is a Pleasant Place, undated
  • Box 1 / Folder 13
  • Autograph Poem, The Foolishly Querulous, undated
  • Physical Description: signed "Bemis Horbia"
  • Box 1 / Folder 14
  • Autograph Poem, Vilanelle for Hattie, undated
  • Physical Description: signed "Bemis Horbia"
  • Box 1 / Folder 15
  • Autograph Poem, Vilanelle of Rejections, undated
  • Physical Description: signed "Bemis Horbia"
  • Box 1 / Folder 16
  • Autograph Poem, Vilanelle on Learning, undated
  • Physical Description: signed "Bemis Horbia"
  • Box 1 / Folder 17
  • Statement from Arthur Plummer detailing provenance of materials, July 2, 1965