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Collection Data
- Description
- The archive was organized during two periods of activity: by Burroughs in 1965, and then in 1972 by Burroughs, Brion Gysin, and Barry Miles, who divided the manuscripts and typescripts of Burroughs's works and notes into 169 collections of papers which they placed in consecutively numbered folders and portfolios of various sizes, which they called "Folios". Burroughs inscribed headings on the folders and sometimes also affixed collages to their front covers. In addition to manuscripts and typescripts, these folios include correspondence, clippings from magazines, photographs, exercise books, and cut-ups. The material relates to apomorphine, scientology, dreams, biofeedback and to the composition of Burroughs' Dream Diary, Soft Machine, Naked Lunch, The Wild Boys, Dead Fingers Talk, Nova Express, The Revised Boy Scout Manual and the Job
- Names
- Burroughs, William S., 1914-1997 (Creator)
- Dates / Origin
- Date Created: 1951 - 1972
- Library locations
- Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
- Shelf locator: Berg Coll MSS Burroughs Archive
- Topics
- Burroughs, William S., 1914-1997
- Genres
- Manuscripts
- Correspondence
- Photographs
- Collages
- Clippings
- Notes
- Ownership: Owned by William S. Burroughs and sold by him to a financier in Liechtenstein, ca. 1973. Purchased by the Jacksons in the late 1980s.
- Acquisition: Purchased from Robert and Carol Jackson (Cleveland, Ohio), in 2005.
- Content: In addition to the 169 folios containing manuscript material, proofs and
occasional incoming and outgoing correspondence related thematically to the folio
material it accompanies, the archive contains eleven files compiled by Burroughs and related to Scientology; 4 boxes of photographic files with approximately 1000 photographs, most of which were taken by Burroughs himself; and three boxes of audio material dating from 1960-1973.
In addition to the correspondence described above, the archive also includes extensive correspondence to and from the author, written between 1955-1972, organized into 45 files. Correspondents include Paul Bowles, Mary Beach & Claude Pelieu, David Budd, Truman Capote, Gregory Corso, Brion Gysin, Allen Ginsberg, Rolf Gunter-Dienst, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Charles Henri Ford, Timothy Leary, Jack Kerouac, David Prentice and Terry Southern; as well as noted publishers Dick Seaver and Barney Rossett of Grove Press and Maurice Girodias of Olympia Press.
- Physical Description
- Extent: 17 linear feet (94 manuscript boxes)
- Type of Resource
- Text
- Still image
- Sound recording
- Identifiers
- RLIN/OCLC: 430941447
- NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b18134674
- MSS Unit ID: 19345
- Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 6f378f30-c6cd-012f-c54a-58d385a7bc34
