Robert Fitzgerald Papers

November 14, 2006

The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library

The papers of poet and translator Robert Fitzgerald (1910-1985) have been fully processed and are open for research. Fitzgerald’s publications include the poetry collections Poems (1935) and Spring Shade (1972), editions of the work of James Agee (1968), the posthumous Enlarging the Change (1985), essays based on the 1950-51 Princeton seminars on literary criticism, and translations of Homer’s Odyssey (1961) and Iliad (1974) and Virgil’s Aeneid (1984). Fitzgerald won the first Bollingen Award for translation in 1961 for his verse translation of the Odyssey.

The collection is particularly rich for its correspondence with poets, editors, translators, publishers, and literary scholars and critics during the middle part of the 20th century. In addition to the correspondence, there are printed versions and drafts for various kinds of writings: articles and essays, criticism, edited works, lectures and speeches, obituaries and tributes, open letters, plays, poetry, reviews, school work, short stories, and translations. The writings include corrected drafts and galley proofs for the Illiad and a comprehensive run of drafts for the Aeneid, along with setting copies and page proofs. Other materials include artwork, family papers, medical and military records, notebooks, photographs, printed ephemera, school records, and teaching and course materials. 

A detailed record of the collection is available online: Robert Fitzgerald Papers Finding Aid