Cave, Roderick, 1935-2019

Correspondence and manuscripts of the American poet. Handwritten and carbon copy typescripts.

"The purpose of this letter is to set forth as fully as I can my proposal for the article on the Seizin Press, with a suggestion as to how you would contribute to the article, with some estimate of time scheme. Secondly, I want to clear my files of notes to you I have piled up during your last three letters."

"Now, for the Cave and Ford material, can we proceed along these lines. Since Cave's book is due so soon from Fabers, they are the publisher's of Ellmann's and my Critical Writings of James Joyce. We both were together with Peter du Sautoy, the partner we deal with, at the 3rd International Joane Joyce Symposium in Trieste in June..."

"I have this matter of bibliography to speak of to you."

....

"I send you a copy of the letter I wrote to the Minnesota Review:"

....

"I can't recall whether or not I have commented, to you, on the course of Seizin Press commentary - of which I have known little till very recently, having, as I think I have explained, lived apart from the traffic of literary doings-"

"Mr. Graves and I used an old proof press purchased second-hand. Our type we procured from Monotype of London, using a Caslon punt exclusively; our paper was exclusiely Batchelor's hand..."

"...I am attributing this to a common effect where the shadow of Mr. Graves' work falls over writers' pages. So much perversion of actualities relating to myself, and suppression of fact concerning Mr. Graves' work in relation to mine, and to myself, have been achieved that it is indeed remarkable that any instinct of truth survives, in my regard."

"I come somewhat late to the task of making my report to you on your paragraphs on The Seizin Press."

The letter clarifies the history of the Seizin press and Jackson's association with the press.

"I broke association with Mr. Graves because of certain dissatisfactions. My breaking the association was not of one piece with an act of repudiating '22 books'."

"However, you followed, in how you wrote, lines of treatment of your subject-matter set by drifts of literary publicity, and by conventional attitudes to women (as writers, or anything else outside certain fields of activity)--attitudes far more persistent than they are believed to be in this supposedly fast-moving age."

"And so you are a librarian. A rather young librarian (at a university library) is visiting me with his wife in the Christmas week. He has been quite long working on a bibliography of my writings, but held back from consulting me until about a year ago."