Blue Wind Press Records, 1967-2016 (mostly 1970-1993)

Contents and Arrangement

Expanded View

Only show materials containing online content

Collection Overview

Creator:

Blue Wind Press.

Title:

Blue Wind Press Records

Repository:

Manuscripts Division

Permanent URL:

http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/rf55zc53j

Dates:

1967-2016 (mostly 1970-1993)

Size:

21 boxes

Storage Note:

ReCAP (scarcpxm): Box 1-21

Language:

English

Abstract: Consists of production files, correspondence, and administrative and financial records of Blue Wind Press and George Mattingly Design, mostly relating to books and literary journals published in the 1970s and early 1980s. Authors represented include William S. Burroughs, Ted Berrigan, Anselm Hollo, and others associated with the Iowa Writers' Workshop and the Actualist poetry movement.

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

Consists of production files, correspondence, and administrative and financial records of Blue Wind Press and George Mattingly Design, mostly relating to books and literary journals published in the 1970s and early 1980s.

The bulk of the collection consists of production files, which contain correspondence, manuscript and typescript drafts, original artwork, illustrations, and photographs, paste-ups, proofs, galleys, photo offset negatives, and cover and layout design materials. Files exist for books, journals, and catalogs published by Blue Wind Press, including George Mattingly's Actualist literary journal, Search for Tomorrow, as well as for books and journals Mattingly designed and produced on behalf of other literary publishers and imprints including Grey Fox Press, Four Seasons Foundation, Turtle Island Foundation, Y'Bird, Black Book, Creative Arts Book Company, Sand Dollar Books, North Point Press, Ariel Books, the Smith Publishers, Rodale Press, and the Eugene O'Neill Foundation; for authors such as Gary Snyder and William Saroyan; and for periodicals like the women's langpo journal HOW(ever). There are also some design materials and letterpress broadsides advertising various Actualist poetry readings and events.

General correspondence files include correspondence with William S. Burroughs, Ted Berrigan, Aram Saroyan, Bernadette Mayer, Alice Notley, Fairfield Dawson, Michael Lally, Joe Brainard, Dick Higgins, Johanna Drucker, Gerard Malanga, Joanne Kyger, Dave Morice, James Laughlin, Ron Padgett, Tom Raworth, Ron Silliman, Ray DiPalma, Larry Eigner, Bill Berkson, Doug Blazek, and numerous others. There are also some administrative and business records relating to the operations of the press, promotional and advertising materials, clippings, and reviews.

Arrangement

Materials are arranged into three primary file groups, largely reflecting their original order.

Collection Creator Biography:

Blue Wind Press.

Blue Wind Press is an independent literary publisher based in Berkeley, California. George Mattingly, a Missouri-born publisher, graphic designer, and poet, founded the press in Iowa City, Iowa, in 1970. He has co-published alongside Lucy Farber Mattingly since 1974, when the press relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Blue Wind Press published some thirty books by various poets and authors, including William S. Burroughs, Keith Abbott, and Tom Clark; members of the Actualist poetry movement; and writers involved in the literary scene surrounding the Iowa Writers' Workshop in the early 1970s, such as University of Iowa professors Ted Berrigan, Anselm Hollo, and Jack Marshall. Mattingly's literary magazine, Search for Tomorrow, and his "Actualist American Poetry Circuit Readings for 1973-74" booklet also promoted the work of dozens of poets associated with Actualism. Blue Wind Press is perhaps best known for its three books by William Burroughs (Blade Runner, Port of Saints, and Book of Breeething) and Ted Berrigan's So Going Around Cities. George Mattingly also offers professional book and cover design and freelance production services via his business George Mattingly Design.

Collection History

Acquisition:: Purchased from Brian Cassidy in 2019 (AM 2019-63).
Appraisal: No materials were removed from the collection during 2019 processing beyond routine appraisal practices.
Processing Information: This collection was processed by Kelly Bolding in January 2019, with assistance from Carlos Giron '21 and Julia English '19. Finding aid written by Kelly Bolding in January-February 2019.

Access & Use

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Credit this material: