Guide to the Robert Peter Tristram Coffin Collection, 1842-1989, undated
No restrictions.
Bowdoin College does not hold copyright to the works of Robert Peter Tristram Coffin. The literary agent for the Coffin estate is Alison D. Coffin. Please contact scaref@bowdoin.edu for additional information.
Robert Peter Tristram Coffin collection, George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine
The George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, like all archives and special collections libraries, is the creation of human beings who have collected, organized, and described things in ways that reflect personal, cultural, societal, and institutional biases. Although we strive to preserve and present collections in a manner that is respectful to the individuals and communities who create, use, and are represented in the collections, we acknowledge that our systems are neither neutral nor perfect. We encourage you to let us know if you encounter materials, descriptive language, or practices that are offensive or harmful, particularly those for which inadequate context or warning is offered. We are committed to modifying and updating our descriptive practices to use respectful and inclusive terminology and appreciate your help in this work. We look forward to supporting you in your research and learning together.
Robert P.T. Coffin (1892-1955), writer, professor and Pulitzer Prize winning poet, was born and educated in Brunswick, Maine. He attended Bowdoin College (Class of 1915), Princeton (A.M. 1916) and, as a Rhodes Scholar, Oxford University (A.B. 1920); while in England, he served to 2nd Lieutenant of the U.S. Army. Coffin began his teaching career as instructor and, later, professor of English at Wells College in Aurora, N.Y. (1921-1934), where he ran the English honors course. He returned to Bowdoin as Pierce Professor of English (1934-1955), was a visiting lecturer at several colleges and universities from the 1930s through 1950s, and a Fulbright scholar at the University of Athens in 1953-54.
Coffin is best known as a writer of more than three dozen works of prose, poetry and history, and as the winner of the 1936 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his book, Strange Holiness. He lectured widely and was frequently invited to read from his popular poetry. Coffin married Ruth Phillip in 1918; they had four children, and both sons attended Bowdoin.
The collection contains correspondence; drafts, proofs and notes of books, poems, essays, plays and lectures; notes, examinations and other material relating to teaching at Bowdoin, Wells, and other institutions; personal records outlining his education (grade school through Oxford University) and his personal life; documents both personal and professional; recordings of his poems; and photographs. Major correspondents include members of the Coffin family and of the Bowdoin College staff; letters from literary and artistic colleagues are also included.
Correspondence of Coffin, 1910-55 and undated; most are to family members, publishers, literary agents, or Bowdoin colleagues. When possible, undated letters are dated to a given year or month, and are filed at the beginning of that period; otherwise, they are filed at the end, arranged alphabetically. Also included is correspondence dating from 1981, with June Coffin, regarding Coffin and the Coffin Collection.
Arranged chronologically.
An incomplete item level chronological listing for correspondence 1954 and prior is available.
No restrictions.
Oct. 3, 1910 - Dec. 3, 1917
Dec. 6, 1917 - Dec. 1920
Jan. 1921 - Jan. 22, 1925
Jan. 23, 1925 - July 22, 1927
July 28, 1927 - July 16, 1929
July 18, 1929 - Aug. 20, 1930
Aug. 21, 1930 - Dec. 22, 1931
Dec. 23, 1931 - Apr. 15, 1933
Apr. 18, 1933 - Mar. 27, 1934
Mar. 29 - Nov. 2, 1934
Nov. 3, 1934 - Apr. 26, 1935
Apr. 29 - Dec. 30, 1935
Jan. - June 1936
July 1936 - Jan. 23, 1937
Jan. 24, 1937 - June 29, 1937
June 30, 1937 - Jan. 12, 1938
Jan. 13 - Aug. 18, 1938
Aug. 23, 1938 - Feb. 21, 1939
Weequahic High School thank-you letters, Feb. 21 - Feb. 28, 1939
Feb. 23 - Nov. 28, 1939
Nov. 29, 1939 - July 1, 1940
July 2, 1940 - Feb. 14, 1941
Feb. 15 - Aug. 24, 1941
Aug. 28, 1941 - Mar. 11, 1942
Mar. 12 - Nov. 5, 1942
Nov.6, 1942 - Apr. 18, 1943
Apr. 19, 1943 - Jan. 9, 1944
Jan. 10 - July 6, 1944
July 7 - Dec. 12, 1944
Dec. 13, 1944 - May 23, 1945
May 24, 1945 - Jan. 5, 1946
Jan. 7 - Sept. 12, 1946
Sept. 16, 1946 - Mar. 31, 1947
Apr. - Aug. 23, 1947
Aug. 24, 1947 - Jan. 25, 1948
Jan. 26 - Aug. 6, 1948
Aug. 8, 1948 - Mar. 23, 1949
Mar. 25, 1949 - Nov. 2, 1949
Nov. 3, 1949 - June 19, 1950
June 20, 1950 - Jan. 5, 1951
Jan. 6 - Apr. 3, 1951
Apr. 4 - Aug. 20, 1951
Aug. 21 - Dec. 28, 1951
Jan. - Apr. 14, 1952
Apr. 15 - Sept. 2, 1952
Sept. 4 - Dec. 31, 1952
Jan. 1, 1953 - July 7, 1953
July 8, 1953 - Dec. 28, 1953
Jan. - June 7, 1954
June 11 - Sept. 30, 1954
Oct. 1, 1954 - May 4, 1955
Undated correspondence, ca. 1910-1955
Undated correspondence, ca. 1910-1955
1981-1986, Letters to June Coffin
1986-1989, n.d., Correspondence between Mark Anderson and June Coffin (includes drafts and an offprint by Mark Anderson)
Newspapers and magazine clippings, collected and saved by Coffin, arranged by year. Many record major historical events, such as the deaths of Roosevelt and Goering; contain articles on people he knew; relate to places with which he was associated, including Bowdoin; or were saved for private reasons. Other clippings, including biographical pieces, published poems, or book reviews, can be found in the appropriate series.
Arranged chronologically.
No restrictions.
1842-1953
1911-1954
[undated]
Proofs, illustrations, drafts, notes, reviews and other material (1923-[54?] and undated) relating to Coffin's books, published and unpublished, arranged alphabetically by title; followed by Coffin's notes for books never written. Some of the earliest drafts include material not in the final works. Collections of poems or essays, such as Primer for America and the Pulitzer Prize winning Strange Holiness, are included with historical works such as Kennebec: Cradle of Americans, from the "Rivers of America" series.
A Book of Seventeenth Century Prose, edited with Alexander M. Witherspoon, is combined with Seventeenth-Century Prose and Poetry, an expanded version of the work. Some J.J. Lankes illustrations, including those for Saltwater Farm are contained in Works by other authors.
Arranged alphabetically.
No restrictions.
Title and content pages
Page proofs
Original jacket design and envelope
Designs
Misc.
Promotional material
Reviews and announcement
Reviews [cont.]
Early drafts
"Princes and Coasts" - preliminary pages
Designs
Book jacket, etc.
Promotional material
Copyright, January 1943
Memorandum of Agreement, June 15, 1928
Reviews and announcements
Reviews [cont.]
Signed draft, cover pages, title page, contents, pp. 1-34, end pages
Galley proofs
Page proofs
Binder's dummy
Designs
Material re
Reviews and announcements
Contents
Partial carbon copy
"J.C.C." Galley proofs
Author's proof
Book jacket
Documents, etc.
Contract
Reviews and announcements
Introduction
Biographies
"Biographies & the Minors"
Biographies, early drafts
"Burton"
"Donne"
"John Donne"
"Life of Herbert"
"Archbishop William Laud"
Title page and preliminaries
Notes on 17th century poetry
Promotional material
Documentation, January 9, 1928
Galley proofs
Page proofs
Page proofs [cont.]
Reviews and announcements
Manuscript draft
Typescript draft, preliminary information, pp. 1-105
Galley proofs
Page proofs
Jackets
Material regarding
Contract, May 1942
Reviews and announcements
Galley proofs
Page proofs
Documents, February 1938
Typescript draft
Binder's dummy
Coffin's notes
Diaries
Promotional materials
Promotional materials [cont.]
Material regarding
Reviews and announcements
Reviews [cont.]
Designs
Jacket
Typescript draft
Material re
Promotional material
Assignment of copyright, Christchurch and Dew and Bronze
Reviews and announcements
Promotional material
Transfer of title
Document, July 28, 1941
Reviews and announcements
Artwork
Preface
Dedicatory page
Carbon copy
Additional text, carbon copy
Partial typescript
Partial carbon copy of typescript
Additions to "Coast Calendar"
Designs
Gallery proofs
Promotional material
Documentation, December 18, 1948
Reviews and announcements
Galley proofs
Page proofs
Page proofs
Contents
Duplicate proof of title page, dedication, and portrait page
Binder's dummy
Sample pages
Original jacket design
Designs
Recommendations for
Material re
Jacket material
Promotional material
Reviews and announcements
Documents, July 2, 1947
Draft
Promotional materials
Reviews and announcements
Partial typescript
"Playboys of the Stuart World" - manuscript draft
Typescript draft
Page proofs
Page proofs [cont.]
Bound typescript copy of "The Dukes of Buckingham by Sir Anthony Vandyk" by Emeline L. Hilton
Material re
Promotional material
Reviews and announcements
Contract, July 1928
Contents
Galley proofs
Page proofs
Promotional material
Reviews and announcements
Ca. 1933; manuscript draft
Ch. 1-25; typescript draft
Ch. 26-36; typescript draft
Changes and additions, cover page, pp. 1-35, plus card w/partial list of characters
Changes and additions, partial carbon copy, pp. 6-292
Designs
Reviews
Manuscript "Finished December 1, 1935"
Chapters 1-16; typescript
Chapters 17-25; typescript
Galley proofs
Page proofs
Designs
Jackets
Material re
Promotional material
Contract
Reviews and announcements
Manuscript draft
Typescript draft
Later draft of pp. 225-230B
Early typescript draft
Page proofs
Material re
Promotional material
Promotional material [cont.]
Contract
Reviews and announcements
Notes
Original manuscript - "Laud: The Shepherd in Purple"
Early draft - "Laud: The Shepherd in Purple"
Typescript draft
Page proofs
Material re
Promotional material
Reviews and announcements
Outline
Manuscript draft
Drafts, chapters I & II
Carbon typescript [1951]
Contract - carbon copy
Reviews and announcements
Outline and Chapters I & II
Manuscript draft
Typed manuscript [carbon]
Page proofs (set 1)
Page proofs (set 2)
Page proofs (set 3)
Page proofs (set 3) [cont.]
Designs
Title page
Jacket
Material re
Promotional material
Reviews and announcements
Reviews [cont.]
Manuscript draft
Typed manuscript [carbon]
Page proofs (set 1)
Page proofs (set 2)
Page proofs (set 3)
Page proofs (set 3) [cont.]
Designs
Title page
Jacket
Material re
Promotional material
Reviews and announcements
Reviews [cont.]
Galley proofs
Page proofs
Binder's dummy
Document, February 1938
Excerpt, "New England Hurricane"
Jacket design
Jacket
Material re
Reviews and announcements
Typescript draft
Material re "Maine Matters"
Sketches/drawings
Jacket design
Proofs of designs
Order forms
Reviews and announcements
Reviews [cont.]
Maine Cookery: recipes
Galley proofs - copy 1
Galley proofs - copy 2
Galley proofs - copy 2 [cont.]
Page proofs
Page proofs [cont.]
Materials re
Promotional material
Reviews and announcements
Typescript drafts
Material re
Manuscript notes and draft
Galley proofs
Page proofs
Promotional material re lectures
Promotional material re book
Reviews and announcements
Manuscript notes and draft
Typescript draft
Carbon typescript, with manuscript notations
Designs
Document, January 31, 1951
Reviews and announcements
Galley proofs
Page proofs
Designs
Material re
Promotional materials
Document, September 2, 1948
Reviews and announcements
Partial typescript
Galley proof
Page proofs
Materials re
Reviews and announcements
Galley proof
Page proofs
Materials re
Promotional material
Jacket text - typescript draft
Reviews and announcements
Contract, January 1935
Manuscript draft
Manuscript note
Typescript draft
Galley proofs
Page proofs
Binder's dummy with notes by RPTC
Illustrations
Proofs re
Promotional material
Document, June 1931
Reviews and announcements
Reviews [cont.]
"American Primer" typescript draft
Galley proofs
Page proofs
Sample pages, etc
Designs
Book jacket
Promotional material
Promotional material
Reviews and announcements
Typescript draft, Ch.I-XV
Typescript draft, Ch. XVI-XXI
Galley proofs (set 1)
Galley proofs (set 2)
Promotional materials
designs
Contract
Reviews and announcements
Galley proofs
Page proofs
Material re
Jacket
Contract, December 1936
Reviews and announcements
Reviews [cont.]
Woodcut prints engraved by J.J. Lankes in 1936
Galley proofs
Page proofs
Material re
Reviews and announcements
Galley proofs
Page proofs
Designs
Binder's dummy
Book jacket
Material re
Reviews and announcements
Reviews [cont.]
Manuscript notes and draft
Typescript draft
Galley proofs
Page proofs
Page proofs [cont.]
Promotional material
Reviews and announcements
Notes
Galley proofs
Page proofs
Material re
Promotional material
Reviews and announcements
Manuscript draft
Typescript draft
Typescript draft
Galley proofs
Proof mock-up
Designs
Binding fabric
Reviews and announcements
Manuscript draft
Typescript draft
Galley proofs
Galley proofs [cont.]
Page proofs
Designs
Material re
Document
Reviews and announcements
Carbon typescript, title page - pp.324
Carbon typescript. pp.325 - 531
"Maine Coast" Dec. 1945 - Mar. 1946
Typescript draft
Galley proofs
Designs
Jacket
Material re
Reviews and announcements
Reviews [cont.]
Galley proofs (2 sets)
Page proofs
Binder's dummy
Material re
Promotional material
Reviews and announcements
Notes for books never written
Essays and short stories by Coffin on various subjects, 1923-51 and undated. Most were published in scholarly journals or popular magazines; several were later collected into books of essays, including An Attic Room, A Book of Uncles and Mainestays of Maine. The majority are typescripts or carbon typescripts, although some are manuscripts, proof copies, or printed texts. The alphabetically arranged essays are followed by mixed notebooks ([1930]-51 and undated) and newspaper clippings (1922-47 and undated) arranged chronologically. Several of the essays refer to events and people in the history of Bowdoin and Wells colleges, others are on literary topics, the state of Maine, or personal reminiscences.
Arranged alphabetically.
No restrictions.
Abenaki Clambake
Add Maine to Your New England
Addition to the Family
The Aesthetical Writings of Schiller
Afterglow
Amateurs in Arcady
American Creator
An American for a Father
The Arm of a Friend
Aunt Emma
Autobiographical Sketches
Backwaters of Berkshire
The Battle of the Books, A Berry Good Time
The Bike Bucephalus
Bird Stew
A Blighted Rose of Sharon
Book and Crowns, The Book of Tenants
Books
Books and Poetry
Bookworms of Bodley
Boys Grown Tall
The Brigger
Bright Maine
British Breakfast, The Britter
The Burning Balsam
Buy the Bonds
Captain Pye, Cathedrals to Live In
Cavalier and Puritan Athletes, Challenge
Charles Theodore Burnett
The Chateau of the Starved
Children of Crystal
Chlorophyl Unlimited
Christmas Came Alive
Christmas Came in Fur
Christmas in Maine
Christmas in New England
Christmas in North Wales
Codfish Chowder and Sun, A College of Plays
The Contribution of Literature and the Arts...
Corpus Christi, Texas
The Course in Creative Writing
Courses in Living
A Day of "Eights" at Oxford, David's Room and Daniel's
Davy Prince's Diamonds
The Delectable Voyage
Description in the Anglo-Saxon Epic (longhand typescript)
The Diamond Coast
District Thirteen
Doctors of Death: On the Radio Broadcast of Hitler, July 19, 1940
The Dramatic Technique of MacBeth
Early May Flowers
English Poetry of the Seventeenth Century (2 copies)
The Everlasting Captain
Extremities of Pig, Far Away Peter
The Farm of the Future
First Catch Your Eel
Friends and Neighbors
From Whitehead to Le Havre
General Aspects of Literature
A Genius This Late
The Georgics of Virgil
Gilded Spurs and Captain's Boots
Gilt Heels and Captains' Boots
Goethe as a Literary Critic
Hair into Bowstrings
Halibut Heaven
Happiness is Work
Hardy and Houseman
The Haunted Lobster-Warp
Hazlitt's Critical Temperament
[History of Bowdoin] (unpublished, manuscript)
[History of Bowdoin] (unpublished, typescript with holograph corrections)
[History of Bowdoin] (unpublished, carbon typescript with note by RPTC)
[History of Bowdoin] (unpublished, carbon typescript)
[History of Bowdoin] (unpublished, carbon typescript with added introduction)
Honor Courses in College
Hound-Dog Mostly
The House Divided
If England is Blotted Out
Iffley the Unspoiled
In Defense of Phaon
Indian Literature - Epics
The Institute of Modern Literature, 1950
The Irish Dramatists
The Jenny Lind Dollar
The Jewel of Landladies
John Ridd's Thanksgiving
The Knave of Diamonds (missing p. 1)
The Ladder
Last Day
Let's Be Americans Again (2 copies)
Let's Produce Men, Not Mechanics; Let Us Give Thanks
Life of Rowe
Log of a Seagoing Farm
Designs
The Long Day
The Long Thanksgiving Table
Lorna Doone
Maine: State of Being American
Maine Ballads
Maine Christmas
Maine Enters Literature
Maine Thanksgiving, Maine and Trinity
Make Friends With a Firefly
Mary-Alice Coffin, Sculpture in Chalk
The Matter of Poetry
May Day Morning
Measure for Measure
Miss Hattie's Soldier
The Most Unforgettable Character I've Met
Mountains of Merlin
My Father's Chicken Dumplings, My Quicksilver Uncle
My Uncle Ancil
The Nest Egg
The New Combination Honor Course at Wells College
New England Artist at the Stove
New England Living
Night of Lobsters [fragments]
Of Bags
On Writing the Ballad
On Writing the Regional-Biographical-Historical Book
The Paradox of Oxford
The Pie Was Christmas
Pinero
The Pioneer Impulse
Playthings that are Free
A Poem in the Making
A Poem is a Strange Thing, The Poet is Face by Christmas, Poetry
Poetry is here and now [with] Independence of a Poem [and] American Mythology
The Poetry of the Old Testament
Poetry of Today and Tomorrow
A Preface to A. E. Houseman
Preserves and Reserves
Princes of the Coast
The Prize Pumpkin
The Problems of the Genesis
Quahaugs and Uncle Quentin, A Question of Sentiment, Radio Talk on Honor Courses for the Forum June 8, 1928
Rainbow Gold
Red Poppies
The Return of the College Ideal
Reunion at Thanksgiving
The Revolution in the College
Saint-Pol in the Sun, Saints and Cream and Devon Things
Sally Kane's Life Preservers
School Days and Life Days
Semi-Annual Fulbright Report, January 14, 1954
September Commencement
Seraph in the Apple Trees
The Shape of New England
Shore Dinner
Sir Isaac Coffin: Admiral and Prophet [for the Newcomen Society]
Sir Isaac Coffin, Bart: Admiral and Prophet - printed; contract, September 19, 1954
The Snow Farm
Society and Caste
Springs on the Mountain
The State of Maine
The Story of Maine
A Study of the Nature of S[hakespeare]
The Sufficient Street
Teddy Roosevelt
Thanksgiving in France
That Hardy Perennial, Christmas
The Thin World, There Went Forth a Decree
This Tourist House and Its Owner
Thomas Hardy
The Three Ring Farm
The Thousand Mile Duck
Three Folios of Indiana
Tipsham Fair
The Tired Horse
The Toe Prints of Tirralirra
Tris Took Over Christmas
Troilus and Cressida
Two Poems of Mine I Like
Uncle Henry
The Uncommon Man
United States of Maine and Vermont
Visit With the Vast
What is New England
What Kind of People Are We?, White Port of the Future
Whom Pets Have Neglected
Wide Ears
The Wild Garden, Will Christman
The World is Young, clippings
A Yankee Looks at the South, The Young Poet Talks on Poetry
Zenobia Sees a Ghost
Boys Grown Tall, Captain Stover, Tipsham Fair
Notebooks of prose by Coffin, May 2, 1940 - December 1951
Notebooks of misc. articles/poetry/prose by Coffin [n.d.]
Newspaper articles, 1920s-40s and n.d.
Announcements
Loose pages (1929-35) and notebooks, containing manuscript drafts of poems (1935-55), many with holographic corrections; followed by largely undated sections of typescripts and clippings, both arranged alphabetically. Also included are an illustrated volume of fair copies of poems dedicated to Coffin's son Richard, and a microfilm of three similar volumes. Many of the poems were later collected into books like Dew and Bronze. The series also includes submission records.
Arranged chronologically.
No restrictions.
1923, song lyrics (Christmas Pageant)
Poems, 1927-1947
Bookcover for "Poems, 1927-1947"
1929-35
July 1935 - Jan. 1942
Jan. 1942 - Jan. 1950
Jan. 1950 - Jan. 1955
Miscellaneous poems, 1936-52 and undated - printed
Misc. poems/manuscripts, 1953 and undated
Misc. poems/manuscripts: "Dories," 1953, inscribed to David Anderson
[Poems, undated manuscript volumes on microfilm]
A - EP
ET - NEV
F - H
NEW - SMA
SMO - Z, Poems - printed
A - M
A - F
G - M
N - S
T - Z, untitled
Reviews and announcements
Submissions
Undated manuscript and typescript drafts, including some carbon copies, of several plays by Coffin; "The Trojan Horse" also contains a manuscript outline for the play, and "The Yankee Princess" an early manuscript draft.
Arranged alphabetically.
No restrictions.
The Housecleaning ofOdysseus
Into the Light
The Lightning Bird
Odysseus and Polyphemus
Music
The Trojan Horse
VIP, manuscript drafts/notes in twenty-two fascicles (blue books)
The Yankee Princess
Notebooks and printed material relating to Coffin's contributions to the works of others, together with his book reviews (1935-48, undated). The contributions include book prefaces and introductions; and essays, reviews and announcements for works such as Robert T. Sterling's Lighthouses of the Maine Coast and the Dictionary of American Biography. There are also issues of Modern Literature (1935-37) and Everyday Reading for which Coffin served as contributing editor.
Coffin's reviews include several mixed manuscript notebooks, the "Overture to a Book Review Column ..." entitled "Book Talk" for Yankee Magazine, and typescripts arranged alphabetically by author, followed by clippings similarly arranged. Coffin's are followed by several reviews written by his wife, Ruth Coffin.
Arranged alphabetically.
No restrictions.
Ashes & Sparks - preface by Coffin
Dictionary of American Biography
Dictionary of American History
Down to the Sea in Maine, by A.C Shelton - captions for photographs
Everyday Readings, 1937-43
Lighthouses of the Maine Coast, by Robert T. Sterling - Introduction and material regarding
The Little Boys of Texas, score (words by Deems Taylor)
Modern Literature, May 1935 - May 1936
Modern Literature [cont.], June 1936 - June 1937
National Cyclopedia of American Biography
The Prize Pumpkin
This is My Best, by Whit Burnett, [Maine is a Poem]
[cross references to other collection material]
Contracts
Reviews and announcements
Notebooks of reviews and articles
Notebooks of reviews
Overture to a book review column by Robert P. Tristram and Margaret Coffin, "Book Talk," for Yankee Reviews by Coffin
Abbe - Hurd
Field, Follett
Indiana University - Worker's of the Federal Writers' Project
Miscellaneous
Clippings, A-Z
Reviews by Ruth Coffin
Drafts and scripts, some with holograph corrections, of Coffin's lectures or addresses (1935-54 and undated), and radio broadcasts (1938-50); together with notes for poetry readings and other events at clubs, schools and colleges (1931-55), related printed programs, announcements, tickets (1936-55 and undated), itineraries (1936-50 and undated), and clippings (1920-1955 and undated). It includes the University of Athens lecture series and two series of Columbia lectures.
Those that were later gathered and published in book form, such as New Poetry of New England or On the Green Carpet, are included in the material concerning Coffin's books.
Arranged chronologically.
No restrictions.
Wells [News?], February - May 1934
Maine and My Poetry (Maine Federation of Women's Clubs, Bates College, May 25, 1935)
First Parish Fellowship Supper
The Americanism of John G. Whittier, June - December 1937 - notes
Maine: A State of Grace (Commencement Address, University of Maine, June 14, 1937)
Contemporary Poetry (Columbia Lectures: First series, August 9-13, 1937; Second series, July 25-29, 1938)
New England Society in NY Annual Dinner, December 22, 1937
Indian Color in Our Life (Maine Historical Society, January 14, 1938)
Alumnae College, Wells, June 9-11, 1941 - notes
Contemporary American Writers (Indiana Lectures, Feb.-Mar., 1942)
The Westbrook Lectures, Lectures on Creative Writing [Oct.-Dec. 1944]
University of Florida Talks, August - September, 1947
The Poems That Write the Poet, March 24, 1953; The Makings of American Literature (University of Athens Lectures), 1953-1954; The Makings of American Literature (University of Athens Lectures), 1953-54
Notes
Preliminary information, The Heritage of Greece in the New World, The Forest
The Ship
Country Things
The Seasons
The Farm I
The Farm II (listed in contents as The Snow Farm)
Schoolhouse and Church
The Village
Mimeograph copies
An American Looks at Greece: Provincial Lecture [1953-1954]
Teacher and Poet in Greece [1953-54]
The Subjects of Poetry, April 19, 1954 (Syrian University)
[Abstracts and Short Pieces, n.d.]
The Metaphysical and Elinor Wylie, [n.d.] - notes
"Bowdoin-on-the-Air" (April 1942-October 1945)
Coffin and William Rose Benet (WEAF, May 20, 1935)
Interview...(American School of the Air, January 25, 1938)
Transatlantic Call, Maine (CBS, June 23 [1943?]
2 Old Testament Talks (WCSH, September 4, 1946)
"Book of Books", 1948-49
Poems by Bob Coffin (Bowdoin-on-the-Air, May 1949)
Views of the News [Interview], February 24, 1950
1935-39
1940-44
1945-49
1950-55
[n.d]
Itineraries, 1936-53 and undated
Lecture announcements and notices, 1920-1955, [n.d.]
Lecture announcements and notices, 1942-1950
Lecture programs, tickets, etc.: 1933-55
Lecture programs, tickets, etc.: 1939-48
Lecture programs, tickets, etc.: Undated
Lecture programs, tickets, etc.: Undated
Original pencil, pen-and-ink or watercolor sketches and drawings by Coffin, [1920-52?], together with prints, Christmas cards, stencils, gravestone rubbings, and original printing blocks. Images include bookplate designs, sketches for the Bowdoin Bugle, land and seascapes, MacMillan Hall at Wells College, and family homes in Brunswick and Pennelville. Art from Coffin's childhood [1906-10?] is also included. Designs and studies prepared as illustrations for his published works can be found with the book material.
Arranged alphabetically.
No restrictions.
Childhood sketches
Christmas cards - from original designs by Coffin, 1920s-1940s
Christmas cards - from original designs re-used by others
Etching - "My Only Etching..."
Gravestone rubbings
Illustrations for the work of others
Sketches/drawings
Program - Thanksgiving dinner, Oxon, 1920
Abingdon to Houses
Iffley Woodcuts to Wild geese
Sketches/drawings [cont.]
Stencils
Exhibitions
Original Printing Blocks
Coffin's bibliographies of his own work, prepared between 1935 and 1953, covering work from 1916 to 1953. The lists cover poems, articles and essays, illustrations, books (including reviews of his books) and radio broadcasts. Also included are the 1941 and 1942 Harvard Film Service catalogues, listing five Coffin recordings available for sale.
Arranged chronologically.
No restrictions.
1916-35, with manuscript additions to 1939 - poems
1916-36 - poems, articles & essays, books
1916-36, with manuscript additions to 1936 - poems
1916-41 [i.e. 1916-36, with manuscript additions to 1941]
Checklist, July 19, 1941
Catalogue of Phonograph Records [1941 amd 1942] Harvard Film Service
Works ... published in 1946
July, 1947 - December, 1952, with manuscript additions to December, 1953
Fragments and miscellaneous
Institutional holdings
Essays, notebooks, examinations, documents and other material, 1904-32, relating to Coffin's education in the Brunswick schools, Bowdoin, Princeton and Oxford; arranged chronologically, with all diplomas together at the end.
The school material (1904-11) includes Coffin's class work, essays and notebooks (three marked "English III" appear to be for different courses), and other printed and manuscript items.
The Bowdoin material, 1911-15, contains essays, notebooks and examinations, especially papers for English and other classes. There are literary works, many published in the Quill, Bowdoin's literary magazine; prize essays submitted for competitions or for commencement; and printed ephemera.
Course notebooks and essays are also contained in the Princeton (1915-16) and Oxford (1916-17, 1919-21) sections; as well as class material and other documents, including the draft of Coffin's Oxford thesis on John Donne. The contents of an Oxford "notebook", now disbound, includes letters, drafts, essays, and other memorabilia relating to Coffin's year in England, but extends through 1932, when he was a member of the Wells College faculty.
Arranged chronologically.
No restrictions.
Brunswick Grammar School
The American Common-School Reader and Speaker (1844): added verse by R.P.T. Coffin on end sheets
Brunswick High School
English [1, Div.] B & History 2: notebook, 1911-12
Hygiene: notebook, [Fall 1911]
[Latin 1 & 2]: essays, [1911-12]
[Latin 1]: examination, Jan. 27, 1912 (with draft of short story)
[History 2]: examination, June 13, 1912
[Latin 2]: translations from Horace, [Spring 1912]
English 3: essays, [Fall 1912]
English 3 [con't]
German II: examination, Jan. 25, 1913
Greek A: examination, Feb. 3, 1913
Latin 3: examination, Feb. 6, 1913
English 4: essays, etc. [Spring 1913]
Greek B: examination, [Spring 1913]
Greek Literature VIII, Topics for thesis ... [Spring 1913]
Latin 4: examination, June 20, 1913
[Art 1 & 2]: notebook, 1913-1914
English 9: essays, [Fall 1913]
German 13: essays, etc. [Fall 1913]
Greek I: examination, Jan. 1914
Latin 5: essay, [Fall 1913?]
German 14: essays, etc. [Spring 1914]
Latin 6: essay and examinations [Spring 1914]
Ethics [Philosophy 2], Spring 1915
Commencement 1915, clippings
Diplomas, 1911-1930
Documents, 1911-25
Literary works
Literary works [cont.]
Manuscript drafts, notes and fragments
Printed ephemera, 1911-15
Printed ephemera, [n.d.]
Class of 1915 Phi Chi poster
Prize essay, 1912-[15]
Prize poetry, [n.d.]
Personal material
Shakespeare [i.e. Elizabethan Drama], 1915-1916
Literary Criticism, 1915-16
English [i.e. Modern] Drama, Spring 1916
Paper on the Seige of Rhodes by William D'Avenant
Personal material, 1909-28
"The Prose Works of John Donne" thesis
Material from the Oxford notebook
Course notebooks, 1915-20
Records relating to Coffin as professor and teacher including lecture notes, schedules, syllabi, registers, examinations, etc.; arranged by institution, then alphabetically within each.
Wells College (1921-34) contains class records, and information on the establishment of an English Honors Course; Coffin's manuscript notes for a discussion on his faculty position; an anonymous play; and printed material relating to the college. (See also the Oxford notebook, which contains some material on the Wells years.)
Bowdoin College (1934-55) contains class records, including information on a World War II Air Force class; faculty notices and reports; manuscript notes; and printed event programs, memorial pamphlets, historical sketches, prize competition flyers, and other archival items.
The University of Cincinnati (1951) section contains material on Coffin as Elliston Professor; and that of the University of Athens (1953-54) includes documents concerning his travels and the Fulbright grant, schedules of his public lectures, and some class records. (The text of Coffin's Athens lectures can be found in the lecture series).
These are followed by material concerning summer programs at the University of New Hampshire Writers Conference (1938-55) and the Corpus Christi Fine Arts Colony (1947-54), including promotional material, schedules and lecture notes.
Arranged alphabetically.
No restrictions.
Course descriptions
English Honors Course
Exams - 1921-34, n.d.
Gradebooks, schedules and student lists, 1921-1934, n.d.
Lecture notes, 1932-33
Poems by Coffin's students
Syllabi of classes
Clippings re
Manuscript and typescript notes, drafts, etc.
Printed material
Printed material [cont.]
Course descriptions
Exams, 1934-53, n.d.
Handouts
Lectures and lecture notes, 1938-1952, n.d.
Contemporary English and American Literature, 1940-41
Major meetings, itineraries, 1950-51
Registers, 1934-40
Syllabi, 1935-52
U.S. Army Air Forces Technical Training
Clippings re
Coffin at Bowdoin
Faculty material
Manuscript notes
Printed material
Bowdoin Orient, 1939-55
Printed material [cont.]
University of Cincinnati, University of Athens
Class material
Documents
Fulbright
Manuscript material
Printed material
University of New Hampshire Writers Conference
Corpus Christi Fine Arts Colony
Personal records include essays, legal documents, genealogies, notes, pamphlets and other private material, collected by Coffin or his family; arranged alphabetically by material type.
There are biographical and autobiographical sketches, newspaper articles (arranged by year), notes, obituaries, and memorials (1941-78), and material concerning the Rhodes scholarships. His Pulitzer Prize certificate is accompanied by folders of clippings. Genealogies, clippings and other family information is grouped under family history. Records of Coffin's military service (1917-18) include his army field message book and officer's identity card.
Legal documents (1882-1955) contain travel records, deeds, licenses, contracts, and birth and death certificates. Financial records (1917-55) include banking information, receipts, royalty statements, and tax, insurance and annuity records.
Societies and associations are represented by brochures, flyers, etc. (1932-53), relating to groups of both personal and literary interest.
There are also desk calendars (1936-53), announcements, invitations, pamphlets, programs and other ephemera; as well as folders on the Brunswick bicentenary, the dedication of the Bowdoin library's Coffin Room, material (mostly printed) relating to various schools and colleges, and alumni material from Bowdoin, Princeton and Oxford.
Arranged alphabetically.
No restrictions.
Alumni material
Announcements
Bicentenary of Brunswick
Biographical material
Biographical material [cont.]
Diploma, 1937
Calendars, 1936-37, 39-45, 47-50, 52-53
Dedication of the Coffin Room
Documents
Passport, 1916; 19th century ships' documents
Ephemera
Family history
Family history [cont.]
Design of Ruth Neal Coffin's headstone
Financial
Financial [cont.]
Financial [cont.]
Guest Book
Invitations
Military service
Commissions and certificates, 1917-26
Obituaries and other clippings
Pamphlets
Programs
Pulitzer Prize
Certificate, 1937
Clippings
Schools and colleges, Societies and associations
American Academy of Arts and Letters to Authors' Club
Brunswick Rotary Club to New England Poetry Club
Newcomen Society to Poetry Society of America
Pulitzer Prize to Zeta Psi
Beechwood Players to Zeta Psi
Essays, poems, artwork, proofs, and published works by various authors and artists, 1921-1969 but mostly undated; arranged alphabetically, with anonymous works at the end of each section. They include illustrations by J.J. Lankes; essays by Vance Bourjaily, Charles Mergendahl, Gorham D.Munson, and Ruth, Peggy and Robert Coffin, Jr.; poems by Bourjaily, Odell Shepard and Harold Palmer, Jr.; proofs of part of Lankes's A Woodcut Manual and Rachel Field's Time Out of Mind; and presentation copies of works by Cyril Clemens, Mary Sinton Leitch, and others.
Some of the poems were by Coffin's students, were inspired by or dedicated to him, or were submissions to Yankee Magazine. Similar items, sent as enclosures, can be found with their cover letters in the correspondence.
Arranged alphabetically.
No restrictions.
J.J. Lankes
Mildred E. Danforth (sketch of Coffin)
Herbert L Rand - C.W. Taylor
Anonymous
Vance Bourjaily - Writers' War Board
Anonymous
Joan Lee Allen - Mrs. Wendell W. Wyatt
Anonymous
Bernard DeVoto
Rachel Field
J.J. Lankes
Elizabeth Atkins - Winthrop Steele
Reviews and announcements
Unsorted material, 1937-52 but mostly undated, broken into broad categories: literary drafts, manuscript notes and fragments, printed material, material re Coffin's works, research or lecture notes, and typescript notes and fragments. This material should be reviewed in person.
Not arranged.
No restrictions.
Literary drafts
Manuscript notes and fragments
Photocopies
Printed material
Printed material [cont.]
Printed material [cont.]
Re Coffin's works
Research or lecture notes
Typescript notes and fragments
Recordings of Coffin reading his poetry (several self-recorded), giving lectures or radio broadcasts (1935-47 and undated); together with a recording on the Pulitzer Prize award ceremony and a few miscellaneous other recordings (1931 and undated). For use if appropriate listening equipment is available, as these are LP sound disc recordings.
Arranged alphabetically.
No restrictions.
"Crystal Moment," "Golden Falcon," "Young Spring," "Strange Holiness," "Hummingbird." 12", 1940.
"Roxiney Boody," "Lomey Catlin," "Winter Milking," "The Pheasant." 12", 1940.
"Foxes and Graves," "Barn Swallows," "The Race," "Easter Orr," "There Yet Survived a God." 12", 1940.
"How to Make a Willow Whistle," "Where I Took Hold if Life," "This is My Country," "Cows Are Coming Home in Maine." 12", 1940.
"The Cry," "Paths in the Dew," "This Was the Word," "Footsteps of Flame." 12", 1940.
"The Race," "Lomey Catlin," "San Lorenzo," "Hummingbird." Acetate record, 12", 78rpm. 15 February 1939.
"How to Make a Willow Whistle," "Roxiney Boody." Acetate record, 12" 78rpm. 15 February 1939.
"Foundation of a Man," "A Poem is an End," "Wind From Home," "Apples by Ocean. 12" 78rpm. 25 May 1945."
"Spider." 12" 78rpm. 25 May 1945.
"The Fog," "This is My Country," "Footsteps of Flame," Foxes and Graves." 12" 78rpm. 25 May 1945.
"How to Make a Willow Whistle," "Late Christmas," "There Will be Bread and Love," "Joy Meets Boy." 12" 78rpm. 25 May 1945.
"The Race," "Codfish Song," "Little Boys of Texas," "He Learned From Primers," "Coast Babies Sit Up Late." 12" 78 rpm. 25 May 1945.
"Hummingbird," "Lullaby for Peregrine," "There Yet Survived a God," "When I Took Hold of Life." 12" 78rpm. 25 May 1945.
"Don't Name Your Son With a President's Name," "Alexander Graham Bell Did Not Invent the Telephone," "Old Farmer Alone," "Go To the Barn with a Lantern." 12" 78rpm. 25 May 1945.
"Country Party," "Hound on the Church Porch," "Roxiney Boody." 12" 78rpm. 25 May 1945.
"He Put Out His Hands," "Country Doctor," "Stop One Instant Still," "Oh Boyhood Goodbye." 12" 78rpm. 25 May 1945.
"The Cupola," "An Old Man Raking Leaves," "Lantern in the Snow," "The Rocker." 12" 78 rpm. 25 May 1945.
"The Fog," "Lantern in the Snow," "The Secret Heart." 10".
"The Fog," "Lantern in the Snow," "The Secret Heart.; 10" [broken].
"The Fog," "Lantern in the Snow," "The Secret Heart." 10".
"The Fog," "Lantern in the Snow," "The Secret Heart." 10".
"Bates Mfg. Co. Christmas Show," RPTC. 12" 78rpm. 21 December 1947.
RPTC reading. 10". 11/10/1942.
"Bates Mfg. Co.: RPTC Thanksgiving Program." 12". 11/23/1947.
"Broadcast: RPTC." 10". 10 November 1942.
WTAG-FM, Worchester. RPTC poems. 12" 78rpm. 25 March 1947.
WNYC. "Dedicatory Ode: Hunter College," RPTC. 12". 10/8/1940.
"The Spider," "The Cupola," "Foxes and Graves," "One Who Knows His Seagulls." 10".
"The Woodland Orchard," "The Pheasant," "Country Church," "Something Holy." 10".
"There Yet Survived a God" [good], "There Yet Survived a God" [not good]. 10".
"Where I Took Hold of Life," "New Guests," "Bread and Milk on the Stoop." 10".
"Country Party," "Getting Ready for Town." 10".
"Old Farmer Alone," "Barn Swallows." 10".
"Winter Milking," "Go to the Barn with a Lantern." 10".
"Foxes and Graves," "Crystal Moment." 10".
"Crystal Moment," "Thunder Pools," "The Secret Heart," "The Golden Falcon." 10".
"This is My Country," "The Fog." 10".
"This is My Country," The Sharp Coast." 10".
"How to Make a Willow Whistle;" "Bread and Milk on the Stoop." 10".
"The Secret." 10".
"Lazy Bones," "Thief Jones," "The Rocker," "Departure," "Being." 12".
Speech Department Laboratory at Texas State College for Women: untitled. 12" 33 1/3 rpm [sides 1,4].
Speech Department Laboratory at Texas State College for Women: untitled. 12" 33 1/3 rpm [sides 3,6].
Speech Department Laboratory at Texas State College for Women: untitled. 12" 33 1/3 rpm [sides 2,5].
"Comments by Mr. Harry Hansen on Pulitzer Prize Award for Poetry: Mr. Robert P.T. Coffin." 12" [aluminum].
"He's got the Whole World in His Hands," "Just Like a Tree Planted by the Water." 10" [music recording].
"The Congo," Vachel Lindsay, The National Council of Teachers of English. 10".
"In a Monastery Garden," "In a Persian Market." 12".
"Transcontinental: A Choric Poem of the Railroad," "Midnight Caravan: A Choric Poem of the Trucks on Route 1," by A.M. Sullivan. 12" 78rpm.
St. Louis Speaks: Discussion, Dr. Taylor Interview ["Where I Took Hold of Life"]. 12" 33 1/3 rpm. 9 February 1941 [#1,#2].
St. Louis Speaks: Discussion, Dr. Taylor Interview. 12" 33 1/3 rpm. 9 February 1941 [#3,#4].
St. Louis Speaks: Discussion, Dr. Taylor Interview. 12" 33 1/3 rpm. 9 February 1941 [#5,#6].
Photographic prints, slides and negatives, grouped by size. Those of Coffin include portraits, publicity images, class photos, and group shots with others (many unidentified). There are photos of members of his family, his artwork, his travels (mostly to Greece, including half the negatives), and his family homes. An oil painting of Coffin and a sculpted head are also included.
Arranged by size.
No restrictions.
Bowdoin faculty album, 1858
Negatives and slides
Photographs
Photographs (contains small, medium and large)
Photograph: RPT Coffin's Harpswell Road residence, ca. 1952, with holograph note from Bill Key (graduating high school student) to his teacher, Mrs. Etelman
Photographs
Photographs and engravings
Portraits - two framed oil paintings of Coffin
Sculpture of Coffin's head