Donald J. and Ellen Greiner Collction of James Dickey

Rare Books and Special Collections
University of South Carolina Libraries

The Donald J. and Ellen Greiner Collection of James Dickey, 1954-2005

Collection: MSS. 2005:9

Contact information:

Rare Books and Special Collections
University of South Carolina Libraries
1322 Greene Street
Columbia SC 29208
(803) 777-3847
(803) 777-4661 fax
email: tclrare@mailbox.sc.edu
www.sc.edu/library/spcoll/rarebook.html

Scope and Content Note

        James Dickey won the 1966 National Book Award for poetry and held the office of Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1966-1968. Dickey read his poem, "The Strength of Fields," at the Carter inaugural in 1976. He is perhaps best known for the novel Deliverance. Dickey, a native of Georgia, lived and taught at the University of South Carolina for over 30 years before his death in 1997.
        While at the university, he developed a strong friendship with the literary scholar, associate provost, and dean of undergraduate studies Donald J. Greiner. Greiner is the author of James Dickey: Classes on Modern Poets and the Art of Poetry, the research and working drafts of which comprise a major portion of this collection. Greiner is also the author of more than a dozen books on other writers and is a preeminent scholar of John Updike, about whom he published three books. Dr. Greiner has won both the University Award for Outstanding Teaching and the University Award for Distinguished Research at the University of South Carolina and lives in Columbia, SC.
        This collection is primarily comprised of printed ephemera about James Dickey's life and published works. It also includes Greiner's works on Dickey and attendant materials reflecting Dickey's presence at the University of South Carolina. Many of the items in this collection have been signed or inscribed by Dickey. A separate collection of books, many of them inscribed copies to the Greiners, is housed in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections and catalogued individually.
        Series 4 and 5a, the bulk of the collection, contain clippings, entire magazine and journal issues, some photocopies, and other printed ephemera. Many are signed. The arrangement for both is chronological.

Processed by Travis Ferrell, 2007

Contents                                                                                                                                                                      Box

     Correspondence .................................................................................................................................. 1

     Manuscripts and typescripts ............................................................................................................... 1 - 2

     Books .................................................................................................................................................. 2

     Poems and articles .............................................................................................................................. 3 - 8

     About James Dickey ........................................................................................................................... 8 - 25

          Clippings --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 - 14

          Classes on Modern Poets and the Art of Poetry by Don Greiner --------------------- 15 - 24

          Other Greiner Projects about Dickey ------------------------------------------------------ 25

     Relia and miscellanea .......................................................................................................................... 26

     Photographs ......................................................................................................................................... 26

     Audio / Visual ...................................................................................................................................... 27 - 28

     Oversize items

Container List

Series 1: Correspondence

Box 1

     Letters to James Dickey, 9 items, 1978-1996

     Letter from James Dickey, 9 items (primarily letters of recommendation for Don Greiner), 1974-1996

     Sympathy letters to Dr. Greiner following Dickey_s death, correspondence, 1997

     Holiday and special occasion letters and cards to and from Dickey and the Dickey family, with Christmas ephemera, correspondence, cards, and paper decorations, n.d.

     Correspondence about Dickey, correspondence, email printouts, clipping, 1979-2003

Series 2: Manuscripts and typescripts

     Greiner interview with Dickey about Robert Frost, Dec. 15, 1972, typescript and correspondence, 1972-74

     Dickey_s revisions to chapter introduction from To The White Sea, holograph, March 18, 1993

     James Dickey interview with Don Greiner, corrected transcription typescript and cassette tape, Oct. 1992

     _J. L. Dickey Shakespeare _94,_ manuscript notes, 1 p., 1994

     Notes for final interview with James Dickey, typescript with handwritten notes, July 17 and 19, 1996

     Final interview with Dickey in his home, July 17 and 19, 1996, edited typescript. Conducted by Greiner, Bruccoli, and Ed Brelsad, 161 p.

Box 2

     Dickey interview transcription with corrections by J.D., corrected typescript, Oct. 7, 1996

     Dickey_s final class at USC, January 14, 1997, transcription

     Publisher_s proof for title page contents of James Dickey: The Selected Poems Ed. Robert Kirschten, 1998

     James Dickey holograph (blurb for Greiner_s book on Frederick Busch), note, n.d.

     _Some Lines from Samuel Johnson, Slightly Rewritten,_ typescript, signed, 1 p., n.d.
     (Poem for Don Greiner and Ben Franklin, unpublished, in two copies only, to commemorate the _Power Lunch Group_ of J.D., Greiner and Franklin, which met regularly for lunch twice a      week from 1983-1997.)

     Greiner_s remarks at the Dickey memorial service at the University of South Carolina, successive drafts, corrected typescripts, 1997

     Greiner_s remarks at Dickey_s funeral in Litchfield, SC, letters, articles, typescript, Jan. 24, 1997

Series 3: Books

     Deliverance (book and film), clippings, book jacket, 1970-2000

     The Eye Beaters, Blood Victory, Buckhead and Mercy, bookseller_s catalog, 1970

     Sorties, reviews, clippings, 1971-1979

     Jericho, The South Beheld, reviews, clippings, 1974-1975

     The Zodiac, reviews and clippings, 1976

     The Strength of Fields, reviews and clippings, 1976-1979

     God_s Images The Bible: A New Vision, clippings, 1977

     Tucky the Hunter, review, clippings, 1978

     The Water Bug_s Mittens, reviews, clippings, publicity, 1982

     Puella, reviews, clippings, publicity, 1982

     Night Hurdling, book jacket, reviews, clippings, 1983

     Bronwen, the Traw, and the Shape-Shifter, review, clipping, 1986

     Alnilam, reviews, clippings, publicity, 1976, 1985-1987

     The Wayfarer, reviews, clippings, 1988

     The Eagle_s Mile, reviews, publicity, clippings, 1990

     May Day Sermon, (theatrical performance), clippings, publicity, 1992

     The Whole Motion, reviews, order form, clippings, 1992-1994

     To The White Sea, reviews, clippings, publicity, 1987-1993

Series 4: Poems and articles

Box 3

     1954-1968

     1972-1979

Box 4

     1980 (This folder also contains the working notes for Dickey_s article American Poets Since The Second World War, for the Dictionary of Literary Bibliography).

     1981-1982

Box 5

     1983-1987

     1990-1991

Box 6

     1992

     1993 (folder 1 of 2)

Box 7

     1993 (folder 2 of 2)

     1994

Box 8

     1995-2001

     Undated

Series 5: About James Dickey

Clippings

     1971-1979

Box 9

     1980-1989

     1990-1993

     1994 (folder 1 of 2)

Box 10

     1994 (folder 2 of 2)

     1995-1996

     1997 (2 folders)

Box 11

     1998-1999

     2000-2001

     2002-2003

Box 12

     2003-2005

     Undated

     Clippings and articles by Dickey_s students, 1986-1989

     Clippings and articles about Dickey_s family, 1974-2003

     James Dickey Newsletter, several issues, 1994-2001 [See also library catalog for complete run of newsletter.]

Box 13

     Reviews of biographies and books of letters, newspaper and magazine clippings, 1989-2000

     Programs, invitations, and signed programs to events with James Dickey, clippings and ephemera, 1982-1998

     Published interviews of James Dickey and reviews
          1966
          1971-1973
          1974-1977

Box 14

          1979
          1981-1994
          1995-1998

Classes on Modern Poets and the Art of Poetry by Don Greiner

Box 15

     Class Notes by James Dickey (unedited), notes, Sept. 1971 - April 1972 (2 folders)

     Class Notes by James Dickey (edited), notes, Sept. 1971 - April 1972 (folders 1-2 of 3)

Box 16

     Class Notes by James Dickey (edited), notes, Sept. 1971 - April 1972, (folder 3 of 3)

     List of prospective reviewers and acknowledgments, poems (identification and permissions), notes, 2002-2003 (folders 1-3 of 5)

Box 17

     Poems (identification and permissions), notes, 2002-2003 (folders 4-5 of 5)

     Production and permissions, 2001-2003

     Introduction, handwritten notes, n.d.

     Introduction, successive versions of draft _3_, notes, n.d.

     Introduction, successive versions of draft _4_ with notes on poems to be cited, notes, n.d

     Introduction, drafts _5_ and _6_, successive versions of draft _7_, notes, n.d.

Box 18

     Introduction, draft _8_, successive versions of draft _9_, final drafts not numbered, notes, n.d.

     Draft of the _Coda,_ poem notes, notes, n.d.

     _first reading_, draft, n.d. (3 folders)

Box 19

     _second reading_, draft, no date (3 folders)

Box 20

     _penultimate draft I_ without proofreading marks, draft, n.d. (2 folders)

Box 21

     _penultimate draft I_ with proofreading marks, draft, n.d. (2 folders)

     _penultimate draft II_ draft without proofreading marks, n.d. (folder 1 of 3)

Box 22

     _penultimate draft II_ draft without proofreading marks, n.d. (folders 2-3 of 3)

     _penultimate draft II_ draft with proofreading marks, n.d. (folders 1-2 of 3)

Box 23

     _penultimate draft II_ draft with proofreading marks, n.d. (folder 3 of 3)

     Copyedited manuscript with proofreading marks, Aug. 2003 (2 folders)

     _marked manuscript,_ draft, n.d. (folder 1 of 2)

Box 24

     _marked manuscript,_ draft, n.d. (folder 2 of 2)

     Successive drafts of _checklist of volumes mentioned in text,_ notes, n.d.

     Photocopies of pictures to be used in text with associated text pages, notes, n.d.

     Spiral-bound advanced proof, draft, 10/31/03

     Letters of congratulations, publicity for the book, reviews, correspondence, newspaper clippings, 2002-2004

Other Greiner Projects about Dickey

Box 25

     Stanley Burnshaw-James Dickey Correspondence, article for the Dictionary of Literary, Biography, handwritten notes, photocopies of the original correspondence, between Burnshaw and      Dickey, 1964-2002

     _My First Preston Lecture on Dickey,_ brochures for Greiner_s first Preston College [USC] lecture on Dickey, Aug. 29, 2000

     _My 2nd Preston Lecture on Dickey,_ correspondence, publicity, email printouts, and excerpts of pages and poems from Greiner_s book Classes on Modern Poets and the Art of Poetry,      March 30, 2004

     Working papers for special Dickey issue of South Carolina Review - Spring 1994, essays, correspondence, email printouts, handwritten notes, 1993-1994 (2 folders)

Series 6: Realia and miscellanea

Box 26

     James Dickey 70th Birthday Celebration, correspondence, newspaper clippings, publicity, Sept. 17-18, 1993

     James Dickey_s WWII aircraft, clippings, photographs, schematics, 1995, 1997

     _Dickey Memorial Service, 27 Jan 1997, USC Horseshoe,_ program, letters, notes, Jan. 1997. Dr. Greiner_s folder on Dickey_s memorial service.

     Suk-Im Yun. James Dickey_s Journey to a Great Circle, Ph.D. dissertation, University of South Carolina, 2000

     James Dickey Concert, Koger Center, University of South Carolina, correspondence, newspaper clippings, publicity, Sept. 8, 2001

Series 7: Photographs

     Photographs, n.d. (1 folder)

Series 8: Audio / Visual

Box 27

     Christopher Dickey on C-Span_s _Booknotes_ (VHS), n.d

     _Dickey 0-8:04 James Dickey: A Poet On His Own Terms South Carolinian of the Year_ (VHS), 1987

     _Dickey _ TV spot: 1990 USC All Spots 5x:30_ (VHS), 1996

     _Dickey 1-4 July 17, 1996 and 5-8 July 19, 1996._ Questions asked by Donald J. Greiner and Matthew J. Broccoli (VHS). (2 tapes)

     _James Dickey 1923-1997_ (VHS), 1997

Box 28

     _James Dickey Tribute, January 27, 1997,_ (VHS) (2 copies)

     _The Sandlapper Singers-The Poet, The Composer, The Premier A Musical Celebration of James Dickey_ (CD), 2001

     _The Sandlapper Singers-Conference on Poetry and Song Columbia College September 7, 2001,_ 3 Discs (CD)

     _Sandlapper Singers Dickey Concert Sept. 8, 2001,_ (VHS) (2 copies)

     _The Sandlapper Singers-Conference on Poetry and Song University of South Carolina September 8, 2001,_ 3 Discs (CD)

Series 9: Oversize items (1 folder)

     May Day Sermon performance, poster, Aug. 13 _ Sept. 3 (n.d.)

     Southern Light, dust jacket mockup, poster, n.d.

     Bronwen, The Traw, and the Shape-Shifter and May Day Sermon performances, single poster, Nov. 13 _ 14 (n.d.)

     USC World War II Writer_s Symposium, television program on South Carolina Educational Television (PBS), poster, 1995

     World War II Writer_s Symposium at the University of South Carolina, poster, April 12-14, 1995

     Bronwen, The Traw, and the Shape-Shifter, publicity poster, Feb. 1 _ March 8, 1998 (3 copies)

     Free Times (Columbia SC), April 19-25, 2000. Cover story: _Big Jim: A fascinating new biography of James Dickey paints a disturbing portrait of a great poet and a troublesome man._ 2      copies.