Elizabeth Bishop and the Literary Archive

Frank Bidart describes his first encounter with “In the Waiting Room.” Letter used by permission of Frank Bidart, © 2019. (VC 1.14; Courtesy of Vassar College)

Bishop's annotated first draft of "In the Waiting Room."

An excerpt from a page of Bishop’s notebook with a draft of “Blue Postman.” (VC 75.3; Courtesy of Vassar College)

Page from Bishop’s notebook featuring images that would later be used in “Cape Breton,” "A Summer's Dream," and "At the Fishhouses." (VC 75.3, p. 115; Courtesy of Vassar College)

A passage from Bishop’s June 14, 1970 letter to Dorothee Bowie. (VC 27.5; Courtesy of Vassar College)

Part of the first page of the second draft of Bishop’s unpublished short story "The River-Rat."

Bishop’s typed letters to Methfessel are full of corrections, additions, and postscripts; the “messier” quality of these letters reveals a level of openness and spontaneity that Bishop had with few, if any, of her other correspondents. (Bishop to Methfessel, February 16, 1971, VC 114.32; Courtesy of Vassar College)

Stickers like the one at the top of this letter are an untranscribable element of the love letters that convey an understanding of the correspondents’ playfulness and tenderness. In a typical move, Bishop self-consciously comments on the sentimentality of the sticker with “yucky, isn’t it?” (Bishop to Methfessel, 11 Feb 1971, VC 114.29; Courtesy of Vassar College)

From a letter, handwritten while traveling in France. Swenson includes a minutely drawn representation of the switchbacks on the Riviera corniches.

Draft of “The Fairy Toll-Taker,” recto. (VC 53.1; Courtesy of Vassar College)

Draft of “The Fairy Toll-Taker,” recto. (VC 53.1; Courtesy of Vassar College)

Bishop copied “Evil Hearted Woman” by Blind Boy Fuller into her notebook. (VC 74.12.1; Courtesy of Vassar College)

Bishop’s snide comment on the pages in English in Ruas’s Conhecendo Ouro Prêto. (Vassar, Grille F2651 .O9 R82 1952)

Portion of Bishop's partial translation manuscript of Bernard Malamud's "The Magic Barrel," showing corrections in another hand. (VC 73.7; Courtesy of Vassar College)

From the handwritten draft of Bishop’s translation of The Diary of “Helena Morley,” ms p. 90. (VC 72.4; Courtesy of Vassar College)

Bishop’s revised draft of “Gallery Note” reflects her efforts to capture a geologically precise analogy for Wehr’s artwork. (VC 53.8; Courtesy of Vassar College; this note was published as “Wesley Wehr” in Pr352-353 and in PPL469-70; in the archival note, Bishop wrote lonelinesses, which has been incorrectly transcribed as loneliness in both published versions.)

One can see Bishop trying to jimmy her lines into place, but the insistence on the liveliness of the light—its ability to damage materials over time—is worth noting. (VC 75.3; Courtesy of Vassar College; transcribed by Quinn on p. 72 of EAP)

Bishop includes a short series of marginal sketches alongside her translated song from The Birds, including figures in costume.

Bishop's manuscript version of "Prince Mannerly" references Francesca's nativity amidst its description and includes suggestions for performance of a work she originally entitled "Winsome."

Bishop's earlier draft of "His Proper Tear" shows an opening poem from Fletcher, a penciled revision of the title, and her note regarding Calder's mobiles.