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Bliss Carman Correspondence

A description of his correspondence at Syracuse University

Finding aid created by: LMD
Date: 27 January 2010

Revision history:

Biographical History

(William) Bliss Carman (1861-1929) was a Canadian poet and editor. Born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, he studied at the universities of New Brunswick and Harvard. He is usually grouped with the Confederation Poets, who developed a distinctively Canadian poetic voice in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Yet this identification with the Confederation group is somewhat misleading as Carman spent much of his life in New England and many readers assumed that he was American. Carman edited and wrote for many influential literary publications including the Independent, the Cosmopolitan, and the Atlantic Monthly.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Bliss Carman Correspondence includes three letters written by Carman in 1899. Two are addressed to "Laurens," his publisher Laurens Maynard, who was part of the Boston firm of Small, Maynard and Company. In these letters, Carman discusses his collection of poems, A Winter Holiday, published by Maynard in 1899. Carman notes the disappointing sales of Holiday and makes some suggestions for the remaining copies, and also mentions some details of his personal finances.

The third letter is addressed to Norma Munro, the daughter of publisher Norman Leslie Munro. Munro had become involved in her father's publishing firm after his death in 1894. In his letter, Carman apologizes to her for having nothing to submit to her literary magazine, The Impressionist.

Arrangement of the Collection

Items are arranged in chronological order.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Subject Headings

Persons

Carman, Bliss, 1861-1929.
Maynard, Laurens, 1866-1917.
Munro, Norma.

Subjects

Canadian poetry -- 19th century.
Confederation (Group of poets)
Publishers and publishing -- United States.

Genres and Forms

Correspondence.

Occupations

Poets.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Bliss Carman Correspondence,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Purchased, 1971.

Table of Contents

Correspondence

Inventory