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Michel Licht Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: KM
Date: May 1993

Biographical History

Michel Licht (1893-1953) was a Russian-born Yiddish poet and translator. Following his emigration to the United States in 1913, Licht's poems and Russian and Yiddish translations in English appeared in various American periodicals, including The New York Call and Pagan.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Spanning 1910 to 1957, the Michel Licht Papers comprises correspondence, writings, and memorabilia.

Reflecting Licht's interest in the American avant-garde literary movement of the 1920s, the Correspondence includes letters of James Cabell Branch, T. S. Eliot, Marianne Moore, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, Wallace Stevens, and William Carlos Williams. Other literary and publishing industry correspondents include Clement Greenberg, Guy Holt, George Platt Lynes, Norman Holmes Pearson, John Crowe Ransom, and Karl Jay Shapiro. A selected index to correspondence follows the box list. There is also a selection of unidentified letters and postcards of foreign origin.

Writings include Licht's published books in Yiddish and holograph and typescript manuscripts in English, Russian, and Yiddish. In addition to several of Licht's English and Russian poems, there are also a number of his English translations of French, Russian, and Yiddish poetry by various authors.

Memorabilia includes printed material and nine wood-mounted metal cuts from designs by wife Evelyn Licht which were used in various of her husband's publications.

Arrangement of the Collection

Correspondence is divided into English and other languages, and within that arranged chronologically. Writings and Memorabilia are arranged alphabetically by type.

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

Cabell, James Branch, 1879-1958.
Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955.
Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888-1965.
Gallup, Donald Clifford, 1913-2000.
Greenberg, Clement, 1909-1994.
Licht, Michel, 1893-1953.
Lynes, George Platt, 1907-1955.
Moore, Marianne, 1887-1972.
Pearson, Norman Holmes, 1909-1975.
Pound, Ezra, 1885-1972.
Ransom, John Crowe, 1888-1974.
Shapiro, Karl Jay, 1913-2000.
Stein, Gertrude, 1874-1946.
Stevens, Wallace, 1879-1955.
Williams, William Carlos, 1883-1963.

Subjects

American poetry -- Translations into Yiddish.
Modernism (Literature) -- Translations.
Poetry, Modern -- 20th century -- Tranlations.
Poetry, Translating.
Poets, Yiddish -- United States.
Translators -- United States.
Yiddish poetry -- Translations into English.

Genres and Forms

Correspondence.
Poems.
Translations.

Occupations

Poets.
Translators.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Michel Licht Papers
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Evelyn Licht, 1962.

Table of Contents

Correspondence

Writings

Memorabilia

Selected index to correspondence

Inventory

Selected index to correspondence