MARBL

Spines of the three volumes of Théâtre by Maurice Maeterlinck

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A remarkable and unique work from MARBL's Paul Bernard Seydel Memorial Collection of works relating to Belgium is Théâtre, a collection of plays by the Belgian writer Maurice Maeterlinck. The three volume set was published in Brussels in 1901-1902 in an edition of 110 copies. While it's an attractive publication there was nothing particularly special about it when it was first issued. What's notable about MARBL's copy is what was done subsequent to its publication.

The book was completely transformed inside and out. All three volumes were taken apart and almost every page was hand-illustrated with decorate borders, small and full page pictures reflecting events in the text. The illustrations are apparently all by an A. Holzbeeck who signed his or her name at the beginning of the first volume. Sadly nothing is known about this artist. Once the pages had been illustrated they were beautifully bound by the Belgian bookbinder Jacques Weckesser in full morocco with gilt and colored decorations.

We have no history for this work before it came to MARBL so the early history of the work has been lost. We would love to know why this special set of books was so lavishly created. Perhaps it was commissioned as a gift or perhaps it was created to be sold for profit. Sadly, we will probably never know.

Interior Decorated Pages of Théâtre

Homage to G. Seurat by Simon Cutts

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Followers of The Extraordinary World of MARBL have discovered how much deeper the collection goes than traditional print structures such as the book and document (and their digital afterlives), and familiar materials like paper, ink, cloth, and leather.  MARBL’s holdings include chocolate, puppets, socks, sherry, and more.  Homage to G. Seurat (cake sprinkles on cardstock), Untitled [Basic Lights] (ink on cigarettes), The Onion as it is Cooked (poetry embossed on pasta), and The Poems of Dylan Thomas (altered text with rusty razor blades, matches, and other materials) are works that further demonstrate why MARBL has strict preservation protocols in place. Collections Conservation staff are responsible for environmental monitoring, integrated pest management, protective housing, and conservation treatment for all of MARBL’s holdings from the traditional to the extraordinary.

Multi-colored cake sprinkles are adhered to the front cover of Homage to G. Seurat by Simon Cutts in a pointillist style abstract image. This work comes in its original small, snug-fitting envelope. The piece was inherently unstable—subsequent editions were in the form of a 16 page pamphlet, which included both a cake sprinkle collage and pages of correspondence between the artist and the British Arts Council (which had commissioned the first edition), negotiating the replacement of the original, which had "melted". Further damage to MARBL's copy is physical in nature: the original envelope abraded off sprinkles. Once conservation treatment is complete, the work will be housed with—but not in—its envelope, in such a manner that the collage will be protected from abrasion, and the fugitive colors protected from further fading. Regulation of temperature and relative humidity, coupled with a strict no food and drink policy, will prevent any situation which might invite pests to sample the 40-plus-year-old cake sprinkles.

Untitled [Basic Lights] by Berwyn Hung

These preservation measures will also keep cigarette beetles, among other pests, away from Berwyn Hung’s Untitled [Basic Lights], an ironic and performative musing on addiction and the difficulty of breaking old habits. The work has been housed in a platform-style clam-shell box, so that the small, soft cigarette pack is not crushed and the box is just large enough to not be lost among other materials on the shelves.

The Onion as it is Cooked by Stephen Jesse Bernstein

Stephen Jesse Bernstein was an underground poet and performance artist often identified with Seattle's punk and grunge scene. His work on pasta, The Onion as it is Cooked came to Emory resembling a jigsaw puzzle—ask conservator, Kirsten Wehner—she painstakingly reconstructed the poem, matching letter fragment to fragment, and adhering the tiny pieces together with wheat starch paste. The repaired work is now protected by preservation protocols. Additionally, it must be stored flat, and transported carefully to requesting researchers.

The Poems of Dylan Thomas by Mar Goman

Mar Goman's altered text, The Poems of Dylan Thomas, is bursting with three-dimensional and moveable, interactive elements. She has said that she will incorporate almost any found material into her work, "as long as it doesn't move." The maintenance of an appropriate, stable relative humidity in MARBL's storage areas will keep the rusty, metal elements from further corrosion. A custom-fitted box not only protects the wedge-shaped book from abrasion, but protects adjacent volumes from potential damage by the razor blades and other sharp metal embellishments.

Excerpt from The Poems of Dylan Thomas by Mar Goman

Title Page for Predatory Birds by Anthony Hecht and Aubrey Schwartz

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In honor of National Poetry Month, we are proud to highlight recent acquisitions of personal papers, books, and artwork given to MARBL by Helen Hecht, wife of the late Poet Laureate of the United States, Anthony Hecht.

Art is not created in a vacuum.  This is especially true for poetry, which, I would argue, more than any other literary genre depends upon a lively conversation with and about itself. Romantic notions of the brooding poet-genius working in isolation are largely just that—romantic notions. And while initial drafts of poems may come into the world from moments of singular inspiration, Great Works of Art become what they are through tireless editing, correspondence, and a good deal of humor. As a writer and librarian with the privilege of working in an archive with strong literary collections, I've learned that the best poems are a kind of conversation with and about other poets; they are a contemplation of the past and present artistic and historical landscape.
 

Among the many joys of perusing the Hecht collection is the treasure trove of letters. Hecht was a prolific letter writer, and the correspondence list of the Hecht finding aid reads like a who's who of American letters: John Ashbery, Anne Sexton, Saul Bellow, John Berryman, Robert Bly, Harold Bloom. The most recent acquisition of letters to the Hecht collection continues the momentum with the addition of letters to or from Henri Cole, Mary Jo Salter, and W.S. Merwin among others. Among my favorite letters from the recent additions—from Hecht to George Starbuck—paints a witty and comical portrait of a reading at a writer's conference in the summer of 1968:

"When Guillevic was finally done, she [Denise Levertov] said, 'My husband has just been arrested, and I have written a long poem about it, and since you are such an appreciative audience, I'll read it to you.' Someone remarked, quietly, 'Her husband was arrested, and she is suffering from subpoena envy.'"

But the Hecht letters represent more than a delicious compilation of tidbits about the social scene of the poetry world in the late 60's and early 70's. They also represent Hecht's dedication to thinking about poetry critically. Poetic analysis exchanged between Hecht and literary critics (most notably William Pritchard), or Hecht and novice poets are given the same elegant, scrupulous dedication. This same attention is also mirrored in the marginalia of Hecht's draft copies of "Auguries of Innocence" or "Birdwatchers of America"—also recently donated to the collection. In his correspondence, as with his poems, Hecht was a gracious and ruminative figure, an artist concerned with engaging in the root-essence of things—whether poetic form, American history, or a juicy anecdote from a writer's conference.

A Bestiary by Aubrey Schwartz and Anthony Hecht

 
Among other joys of the Hecht additions include several pieces of artwork—including 13 signed woodcuts by Michael Spafford, 10 signed and hand-colored woodcuts by Leonard Baskin and Harry Ford, and two signed artist portfolios of lithographs created by Aubrey Schwartz for the Gehenna Press. These portfolios include A Bestiary by Aubrey Schwartz (a poem by Hecht, "The Flea," is here shown with accompanying art) and Predatory Birds—which represent one in five, and one in two copies in the world, respectively.