1979-1981
Manuscript Collection Number: 294
Accessioned: Purchase, January 1992.
Extent: 42 items (.1 linear ft.)
Content: Letters, biographical
sketches, poems, and book cover
Access: The collection is open for research.
Processed: December 1993 by
Anita Wellner
Special Collections, University of Delaware Library
Newark, Delaware 19717-5267
(302) 831-2229
Charles Henri Ford Poet, artist, filmmaker, and editor Charles Henri Ford was born on February 10, 1913, in Brookhaven, Mississippi. In 1929, having dropped out of high school, Ford began his literary career as co-editor, with Parker Tyler, of Blues: a magazine of new rhythms (1929-1930). Published in Columbus, Mississippi, this little literary magazine showcased the new schools of modern art and literature, publishing such contemporary writers as Gertrude Stein, William Carlos Williams, Erskine Caldwell, Ezra Pound, and e. e. cummings.
By 1931, Charles Henri Ford had left the United States for France, the beginning of his world travels. During his first few years abroad, Ford wrote his only novel, The Young and the Evil (Obelisk, 1933). Since that time, Ford has lived in Morocco, Italy, France, Crete, and New York City; and his writing, films, and artwork have reflected his international travels and multicultural experiences.
From 1940 until 1947, Ford was editor and publisher of both the little magazine View and View editions. Published in New York, View featured the works of avant-garde American and European artists and writers, especially the surrealist artists. View, recognized as one of the most important little magazines of the 1940s, bore covers designed by such artists as Man Ray, René Magritte, Marcel Duchamp, and Alexander Calder, and contained the prose, fiction, critical essays, stories, and art of Wallace Stevens, Edouard Roditi, Max Ernst, Lincoln Kirstein, William Carlos Williams, Paul Bowles, James T. Farrell, Marc Chagall, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Albert Camus.
In addition to his editorial achievements, Charles Henri Ford is a recognized poet and an accomplished artist. Since his first book of poetry, A Pamphlet of Sonnets (Caravel Press, 1936), more than fifteen collections of his poems have been published, including Out of the Labyrinth: selected poems (City Lights, 1991). Ford is widely regarded as America’s first surrealist poet. Charles Henri Ford is also a graphic artist, filmmaker and photographer. His photography, paintings, and drawings have been exhibited in London, Paris, and New York. Frequently Ford’s exhibitions have included collaborations with international craftsmen. For example, “The Kathmandu Experience” (New York Cultural Center, 1975) included sculptures in wood, embroideries in silk and appliques, all executed by Nepalese craftsmen from Ford’s original designs; and “An Operation Minotaur Manifestation” (The October Gallery, 1976) included the collages of Nepalese artists, Reepak Shakya and Indra Tamang. Ford’s motion pictures include Poem Posters (1966), which received the Fourth International Avant-Garde Film Festival Award in 1966, and Johnny Minotaur (1972).
Poet and publisher Charles Plymell was born April 26, 1935, in Holcomb, Kansas. He attended Wichita State University (1955- 1961) and in 1970 received a Master of Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University. In 1966 Plymell married Pamela Beach, who has assisted him in the publication of Cherry Valley Editions, since its establishment in 1974.
In addition to Cherry Valley Editions, Plymell has published several magazines, including Poet’s Corner (1959), Mikrokosmos (1959), Now (1963-1965), The Last Times (1967), and Bulletin from Nothing.
Having lived with Allen Ginsberg and Neal Cassady, in San Francisco during the early 1960s, Charles Plymell and his poetry have been identified with the Beat Generation. Some of his poetry was published in Beat journals and by Lawrence Ferlinghetti's City Lights Books. His first collection of poems, Dreams of Straw, was published in 1963.
Charles and Pamela Plymell edited and published Charles Henri Ford's Om Krishna II: from the sickroom of the walking eagles (1981) in their Cherry Valley Editions.
Evory, Ann and Linda Metzger (eds.) Contemporary Authors. New Revision Series, Volume 11. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1984. pp. 408-409.
Metzger, Linda (ed.) Contemporary Authors. New Revision Series, Volume 13. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1984. pp. 191-192.
Note: Biographical information is also derived from this collection.
Dating from 1979 to 1981, this archive of twenty-seven letters written by Charles Henri Ford to Charles and Pamela Plymell also includes single letters from Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, Nepalese artist Indra Tamang, the Plymells, bookbinder Alan Brilliant, writer Ed Germain, and Tom Brown. A draft typescript of Om Krishna II, a book cover for the limited-edition title, and biographical information about Ford are also contained in the archive.
In his letters to the Plymells, Ford refers to his current literary projects, including Blues 10, Om Krishna I and III, Double Exposures, and a Blues anthology. However, most of the letters focus on the publication details for Om Krishna II, which the Plymells were editing for publication in their Cherry Valley editions. Ford discusses proofs, financial arrangements, the binding of different editions, and the number of copies to be printed. In addition, Ford discusses royalties, travel plans, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, exhibitions of his work, including his “Layouts and Camouflages,” and his film Johnny Minotaur.
Ford’s letters contain several enclosures, including a list of authors and their work titled “Best in Blues 1-9,” a list of contributors for Blues 10, and a typescript colophon and dedication for Om Krishna II.
Many of Ford’s letters are written on the verso of photocopies of announcements or reviews of Ford’s work, collages of images (including pictures of Ford), or poems with photographs by Ford. The poems are titled “A Tent of Camel’s Hair in Arabia,” “Farm Building in Ohio,” and “Houses on Stilts in Manilla.” The verso of one letter is a poster for Ford’s exhibition, “Poem Posters Charles Henri Ford,” at the Cordier & Ekstrom Gallery in New York (1965). Some of the postcards bear mini collages created by Ford by affixing images, clippings, words, and/or designs to the cards.
The other letters in the collection are all written to the Plymells. Allen Ginsberg’s letter to the Plymells turns down a request from the Plymells for money, possibly to partially finance the Om Krishna II project. The letters from Tom Brown and Ed Germain concern editing an anthology of Blues (which was never published).
A letter from Alan Brilliant to Pam Plymell offers options for binding various editions of Om Krishna II. A New Year’s greeting from Indra Tamang, who designed the collage illustration for the deluxe edition of Om Krishna II, consists of a photocopy of a collage which he created.
Series II consists of a typescript draft of Om Krishna II, which bears autograph corrections or revisions and contains a final poem which is not included in the published version, as well as a cover for the limited edition of this title.
The biographical information found in Series III consists of a page titled “Charles Henri Ford: Biographical Sketch,” an announcement for Ford’s Spare Parts, and a review of Ford’s work written by Rochelle Ratner in 1976 for The Soho Weekly News.
Ms 110 Archive of Pagany
Ms 292 Charles Henri Ford Letters to Ted Joans
Box -- Folder -- Contents
Series I. Charles Henri Ford Letter's to Charles and Pamela
Plymell, 1979-1981
All letters are from Ford and to the Plymells unless
otherwise noted and are arranged in chronological
order.
F1 1979
Includes an ANS from Indra Tamang to the Plymells.
1979 Jul 31 TLS 1p
Sep 12 ALS 2p
Note: Includes a Ts list titled “Best of Blues 1-
9.” The letter lists contributors for Blues 10
and an autograph note: “copy to Kay Boyle May 6,
1979.”
Nov 15 ACS 1p
Note: Verso of card bears an image affixed by
Ford.
Nov 19 ACS 1p
Dec 7 ACS 1p
Dec 13 ACS 1p
Note: Card has clippings affixed to the verso.
Dec 29 ALS 2p
Note: Verso of page 1 is an announcement for
reprints of View. Verso of page 2 is a photocopy
image by Ford.
F2 1980 Jan-Apr
[1980 Jan] ALS 2p
Note: Verso of page 1 is a photocopy review of a
postcard exhibition by Ford. Verso of page 2 is a
photocopy of a TLS to Ford.
Jan 3 ALS 1p
Note: Verso bears photocopy image of Ford.
Feb 25 ALS 3p
Note: Verso of each page bears a photocopy poem
and related photograph by Ford.
Mar 2 ALS 1p
Note: With mimeograph announcement for a viewing
of Ford's film Johnny Minotaur at The Performing
Garage.
Mar 15 ALS 2p
Note: With TLS from Alan Brilliant.
Apr 13 ALS 2p
Apr 25 ALS 2p
F3 1980 May-Dec
Includes an ALS from Allen Ginsberg to the Plymells (1980
Sep 3) and a carbon of a note to Ford from the Plymells.
1980 May 12 TLS 1p
Note: Includes TLS from Ed Germain.
May 30 ALS 2p
May 31 TLS 1p
Note: Includes Ts colophon and dedication for Om Krishna II.
Jun 19 TLS 1p
Jun 25 ACS 1p
Note: Postcard bears affixed design.
Jul 24 TLS 1p
Aug 22 ACS 1p
Oct 1 ALS 2p
Oct 22 TLS 1p
Nov 1 ACS 1p
F4 1981
Includes an ANS from Tom Brown to Plymells.
1981 Jan 24 ALS 1p
Note: Verso is a poster for “Poem Posters Charles
Henri Ford.” Item removed to oversize section.
Mar 8 ACS 1p
Series II. Manuscripts related to Om Krishna II,[n.d.]
Series II.1. Typescript of Om Krishna II, [n.d.]
F5 Includes 87 pages (missing pages 31 and 60) with autograph
corrections, which were incorporated into the published text
and a final poem which was not included in the published
edition. Orange wrapper bears the autograph title and
Ford’s initials. See F3 for a colophon and dedication.
Series II.2. Printed cloth cover for Om Krishna II,[n.d.]
F6 Cover appeared on the limited edition boards of the book.
Series III. Biographical information on Charles Henri Ford,
1976 and [n.d.]
F7 Includes an announcement for Ford’s Spare Parts, a review of
work by Ford in The Soho Weekly News, and “Charles Henri
Ford: biographical sketch.”
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