This collection is located on-site.
This collection has no restrictions.
Unique time-based media items have been reformatted and are available onsite via links in the container list. Commercial materials are not routinely digitized. Email rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
The Gregory Corso Papers contains correspondence, artwork, and published and unpublished writings, as well as photographs and sound recordings of Corso and fellow beat writers. Many of the items in the collection include explanatory notes or annotations that Corso added when preparing to sell these papers.
This collection is arranged in 6 series.
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
This collection is located on-site.
This collection has no restrictions.
Unique time-based media items have been reformatted and are available onsite via links in the container list. Commercial materials are not routinely digitized. Email rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Gregory Corso papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Reminiscences of Gregory Nunzio Corso: Oral History, Columbia University Oral History Research Office
Allen Ginsberg Papers, 1943-1991 Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University.
Gregory Corso Collection, 1890-1978, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
Method of acquisition--Purchase (26312E; 28027E; 09853F; 637912; 297-5/9/80); Date of acquisition--1980. Accession number--M-80.
Typescript and galley proofs of MINDFIELDS: Source of acquisition--Gotham Book Mart. Method of acquisition--293 (Gen); Date of acquisition--10/02/89. Accession number--M-89-10-02.
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Cataloged 05/09/89 Christina Hilton Fenn
Typescript and galley proofs of MINDFIELDS. Processed 01/12/90 PL
Collection processed October 2009 by Carrie Hintz
Finding Aid written November 2009 by Carrie Hintz
2009-11-12 File created.
2009-11-24 xml document instance created by Carrie Hintz
2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.
Gregory Nunzio Corso, born to very young Italian immigrants in New York's Greenwich Village, had a troubled childhood. His mother left Corso's father and her son within a year of Gregory's birth, and he spent most of his youth moving between different foster homes and orphanages or living on the street. As a teenager, he landed briefly in jail and spent three months under psychiatric evaluation at Bellevue, but it was his three years incarcerated in New York's Clinton State Prison (as a repeat offender for theft) that proved to be transformative for Corso. In the prison library he discovered Rimbaud and Percy Shelley and it was during this stint in jail that he began to write poetry.
In 1950, upon his release from prison, Corso again began to frequent the bars and cafés of Greenwich Village. It was here that he met Allen Ginsberg who introduced the young poet to Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, Neal Cassady, and the rest of the original members of the Beat Generation. Corso's commitment to creating spontaneous poetry fit in well with the beats' "New Vision" for American poetry and Corso was quickly integrated into the group of friends, traveling with them to give poetry readings in San Francisco and collaborating with them on various creative projects.
Corso's first book of poetry, The Vestal Lady on Brattle was published in 1955 and gained Corso some critical acclaim and enough money to fund his travels through abroad. He traveled through Europe and set up residence in the Paris boarding house later christened the Beat Hotel and, along with Ginsberg, Orlovsky, and Kerouac, traveled to Tangier to help William Burroughs edit the Naked Lunch manuscript.
Corso returned to New York in 1958 in time to see his book of poetry, Gasoline, published as part of City Lights' Pocket Poet series. Though he did write some plays and some prose, most notably the novel The American Express, his prime focus was always on his poetry and he published a number of books of poetry throughout his career and lectured on creative writing and poetry.
Gregory Corso died of complications from prostate cancer in 2001. He was 70 years old.
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
All links open new windows.
This series contains correspondence written to Corso as well as letters and notes written by Corso to others. The material is arranged alphabetically by correspondent's last name, and then chronologically within each correspondent. Letters written by Corso that remain in the collection are generally items that were written but never posted, rather than carbons of outgoing correspondence.
Box 1 Folder 1
Box 1 Folder 2
Box 1 Folder 3
Box 1 Folder 4
(Postscript from letter- notes on Egyptian hieroglyphics)
Box 1 Folder 5 to 8
Box 1 Folder 9
Box 1 Folder 10
Box 1 Folder 11
Box 1 Folder 12 to 13
Box 1 Folder 14
Box 1 Folder 15
Box 1 Folder 16
Box 1 Folder 17
Box 1 Folder 18
Box 1 Folder 19
Box 1 Folder 20
Box 1 Folder 21
Box 1 Folder 22
(incomplete)
Box 1 Folder 23
Box 1 Folder 24
Box 1 Folder 25
Box 1 Folder 26
Box 1 Folder 27 to 28
Box 1 Folder 29
(sent with "Elegaic Feelings American")
Box 1 Folder 30
Box 1 Folder 31
Box 1 Folder 32
Box 1 Folder 33
1974 March 23
Box 1 Folder 34
1975 May 17
Box 1 Folder 35
1975 October 9
Box 1 Folder 36
1975 December 9
Box 1 Folder 37
1976 January 19
Box 1 Folder 38
1976 March 9
Box 1 Folder 39
1976 April
Box 1 Folder 40
1976 April 16
(includes birth announcement for Corso's son Orfeo)
Box 1 Folder 42
1977 August 8
Box 1 Folder 43
1978
Box 1 Folder 44
1978 March 10
Box 1 Folder 45
1978 October 1
Box 1 Folder 46 to 47
1979, (2 Folders)
Box 1 Folder 48
1979 October 18
Box 1 Folder 49
1979 November 9
Box 1 Folder 50
1979 December 8
Box 1 Folder 41
Box 1 Folder 51
Box 1 Folder 52
Box 1 Folder 53
Box 1 Folder 54
Box 1 Folder 55
1969 January 28
Box 1 Folder 56
1970 January 27
Box 1 Folder 57
1970 February 17
Box 1 Folder 58
Box 1 Folder 59
1968 October 29
Box 1 Folder 60
1969 January 28
Box 1 Folder 61
1969 April 15
Box 2 Folder 1
1969 June 12
Box 2 Folder 2
1973 August 15
Box 2 Folder 3
1974 September 9
(with enclosed photographs)
Box 2 Folder 4
1974 September 13
Box 2 Folder 5
Box 2 Folder 6
Box 2 Folder 7
Box 2 Folder 8
Box 2 Folder 9
Box 2 Folder 10
(written in catalog for Soyer's April 1966 exhibition at the Forum Gallery which included a portrait of Corso)
Box 2 Folder 11
Box 2 Folder 12
This series contains a small number of photographs, professional portraits as well as snapshopts, of Corso and his friends and associates. There are also a small number of photographs in the correspondence series that were enclosures in letters and remain in their original context; this is noted in the finding aid.
Box 2 Folder 13
(signed by Corso)
Box 2 Folder 14
(signed by Corso)
Box 2 Folder 15
(inscribed to Biderman, signed by Corso and Tony Leonardi)
Box 2 Folder 16
(signed by Corso)
Box 2 Folder 17
(signed by Elsa Dorfman and Gregory Corso)
Box 2 Folder 18
The writings series, the largest in the collection, is primarily comprised of poetry, with some prose writing. The items in this series are listed individually by title, if supplied, or by the first line of the poem. Also included in this series are a number of notebooks containing poems, poetry fragments, notes, and sketches.
Box 2 Folder 19
Box 2 Folder 20
Box 2 Folder 21
(with copy of oath)
Box 2 Folder 22
Box 2 Folder 23
Box 2 Folder 24
Box 2 Folder 25
Box 2 Folder 26
(limited edition collection of poetry)
Box 2 Folder 57
(multiple drafts)
Box 2 Folder 28
Box 2 Folder 29
Box 2 Folder 30
Box 2 Folder 31
Box 2 Folder 32
Box 2 Folder 33
Box 2 Folder 34
Box 2 Folder 35
Box 2 Folder 36
Box 2 Folder 37
Box 2 Folder 38
Box 2 Folder 39
Box 2 Folder 40
Box 2 Folder 41
Box 2 Folder 42
Box 2 Folder 43
Box 2 Folder 44
Box 2 Folder 45
Box 2 Folder 46
Box 2 Folder 47
Box 2 Folder 48
Box 2 Folder 49
(multiple drafts-- including first draft and multiple variant page layouts)
Box 2 Folder 50
Box 2 Folder 51
Box 2 Folder 52
Box 2 Folder 53
Box 2 Folder 54
Box 2 Folder 55
Box 2 Folder 56
Box 2 Folder 57
Box 2 Folder 58
Box 2 Folder 59
Box 2 Folder 60
Box 2 Folder 61
Box 2 Folder 62
(two drafts)
Box 2 Folder 63
(multiple drafts)
Box 2 Folder 64
Box 2 Folder 65
Box 3 Folder 1
Box 3 Folder 2
Box 3 Folder 3
(original manuscript with corrections)
Box 3 Folder 4
Box 3 Folder 5
Box 3 Folder 6 to 7
Box 3 Folder 8
Box 3 Folder 9
(contains "Spontaneous Requiem" an early published version of "Elegiac Feelings American")
Box 3 Folder 10
Box 3 Folder 11
(multiple drafts)
Box 3 Folder 12
Box 3 Folder 13
Box 3 Folder 14
Box 3 Folder 15
Box 3 Folder 16
Box 3 Folder 17
(also includes draft titled "In Memory of K.R.")
Box 3 Folder 18
Box 3 Folder 19
(multiple drafts including alternate title: For the Poet Who Had a Virgin Language")
Box 3 Folder 20
Box 3 Folder 21
Box 3 Folder 22
Box 3 Folder 23
Box 3 Folder 24
Box 3 Folder 25
Box 3 Folder 26
Box 3 Folder 27
(multiple drafts)
Box 3 Folder 28
Box 3 Folder 29
Box 3 Folder 30
Box 3 Folder 31
Box 3 Folder 32
Box 3 Folder 33
Box 3 Folder 34
Box 3 Folder 35
Box 3 Folder 36
(with sketch of mouse)
Box 3 Folder 37
Box 3 Folder 38
Box 3 Folder 39
Box 3 Folder 40
Box 3 Folder 41
Box 3 Folder 42
Box 3 Folder 43
Box 3 Folder 44
Box 3 Folder 45
Box 3 Folder 46
Box 3 Folder 47
Box 3 Folder 48
Box 3 Folder 49
Box 3 Folder 50
Box 3 Folder 51
Box 3 Folder 52
Box 3 Folder 53
Box 3 Folder 54
Box 3 Folder 55
(multiple drafts)
Box 3 Folder 56
Box 3 Folder 57
Box 3 Folder 58
Box 3 Folder 59
Box 3 Folder 60
Box 3 Folder 61
Box 3 Folder 62
Box 3 Folder 63
Box 3 Folder 64
Box 3 Folder 65
Box 3 Folder 66
Box 3 Folder 67
Box 3 Folder 68
Box 3 Folder 69
Box 3 Folder 70
(multiple drafts)
Box 3 Folder 71
(multiple drafts)
Box 3 Folder 72
(multiple drafts)
Box 3 Folder 73
Box 3 Folder 74
Box 4 Folder 1
Box 4 Folder 2
Box 4 Folder 3
Box 4 Folder 4
(multiple drafts)
Box 4 Folder 5
Box 4 Folder 6
Box 4 Folder 7
Box 4 Folder 8
Box 4 Folder 9
Box 4 Folder 10
Box 4 Folder 11
Mapcase 14-E-6
(corrected and annotated)
Box 4 Folder 12 to 14
Box 4 Folder 15
Box 4 Folder 16
Mapcase 14-E-6
Box 4 Folder 17
Box 4 Folder 18
Box 4 Folder 19
Box 4 Folder 20
Box 4 Folder 21
Box 4 Folder 22
Box 4 Folder 23
Box 4 Folder 24
Box 4 Folder 25
Box 4 Folder 26
Box 4 Folder 27
Box 4 Folder 28
Box 4 Folder 29
Box 4 Folder 30
Box 4 Folder 31
Box 4 Folder 32
Box 4 Folder 33
Box 4 Folder 34
Box 4 Folder 35
(multiple drafts)
Box 4 Folder 36
Box 4 Folder 37
Box 4 Folder 38
Box 4 Folder 39
Box 4 Folder 40
Box 4 Folder 41
Box 4 Folder 42
Box 4 Folder 43
Box 4 Folder 44
Box 4 Folder 45
Box 4 Folder 46
Box 4 Folder 47
Box 4 Folder 48
Box 4 Folder 49
Box 4 Folder 50
Box 4 Folder 51
Box 4 Folder 52
Box 4 Folder 53
Box 4 Folder 54
Box 4 Folder 55
Box 4 Folder 56
(early draft entitled "Cythylis")
Box 4 Folder 57
Box 4 Folder 58
Box 4 Folder 59
Box 4 Folder 60
Box 4 Folder 61
Box 5 Folder 1
Box 5 Folder 2
Box 5 Folder 3
Box 5 Folder 4
(multiple drafts)
Box 5 Folder 5
Box 5 Folder 6
Box 5 Folder 7
Box 5 Folder 8
Box 5 Folder 9
Box 5 Folder 10
Box 5 Folder 11
Box 5 Folder 12
Box 5 Folder 13
Box 5 Folder 14
Box 5 Folder 15
Box 5 Folder 16
Box 5 Folder 17
Box 5 Folder 18
Box 5 Folder 19
Box 5 Folder 20
Box 5 Folder 21
Box 5 Folder 22
Box 5 Folder 23
Box 5 Folder 24
Box 5 Folder 25
Box 5 Folder 26
Box 5 Folder 27
Box 5 Folder 28
Box 5 Folder 29
Box 5 Folder 30
Box 5 Folder 31
Box 5 Folder 32
Box 5 Folder 33
Box 5 Folder 34
Box 5 Folder 35
Box 5 Folder 36
Box 5 Folder 37
Box 5 Folder 38
Box 5 Folder 39
Box 5 Folder 40
Box 5 Folder 41 to 4
Box 6 Folder 1
Box 6 Folder 2
Box 6 Folder 3 to 4
Box 6 Folder 5
Box 6 Folder 6
Box 6 Folder 7
1986-1992
Box 6 Folder 8 to 11
Undated, (4 Folders)
Box 6 Folder 12
(copy, with manuscript corrections)
Box 6 Folder 13
Box 6 Folder 14
Box 6 Folder 15
(carbon copy with corrections)
This series contains artwork, mostly sketches and drawings done by Corso, as well as a very few items created by others. There are some larger format items, including oil paintings done by Corso and a large oil portrait of the poet in this series as well. The Robert LaVigne Papers contain some sketches of LaVigne done by Corso, as well as portraits of Corso by LaVigne and Jack Kerouac.
Box 7 Folder 1
Box 7 Folder 2
Box 7 Folder 3
Box 7 Folder 4
Box 7 Folder 5
Box 7 Folder 6
Box 7 Folder 7
Box 7 Folder 8
Box 7 Folder 9
Box 7 Folder 10
Box 7 Folder 11
(signed Nunzio)
Box 7 Folder 12
Box 14-E-6
Box 7 Folder 13
Box 7 Folder 14
Mapcase 14-E-6
Box 7 Folder 15
Box 7 Folder 16
Box 7 Folder 17
Box 7 Folder 18
Box 7 Folder 19
Box 7 Folder 20 to 21
Box 7 Folder 22
Box 7 Folder 23
Box 7 Folder 24
Box 7 Folder 25
Box 7 Folder 26
Box 7 Folder 27
Box 7 Folder 28
Box 7 Folder 29
Box 7 Folder 30
Box 7
Box 7 Folder 31 to 32
Box 7 Folder 33
Box 7 Folder 34
Box 7 Folder 35
Box 14-E-6
Box 7 Folder 36
Box 7 Folder 37
Box 7 Folder 38
Box 7 Folder 39
Box 14-E-6
Box 7 Folder 40
Box 7 Folder 41
Box 7 Folder 42
Box 7 Folder 43
(inscribed to Peggy Biderman)
Box 7 Folder 44
Box 7 Folder 45
Box 7 Folder 46
Box 7 Folder 47
Box 7 Folder 48
Box 7 Folder 49
Box 7 Folder 50
Box 7 Folder 51
Box 7 Folder 52
Box 7 Folder 53
Box 7 Folder 54
Box 7 Folder 55
Box 7 Folder 56
Box 7 Folder 57
Box 7 Folder 58
Box 7 Folder 59
Box 8 Folder 1
Box 14-E-6
Box 8 Folder 2
Box 8 Folder 3
1968
(contains drawings and poetry)
Box 8 Folder 4
March, 1969
(contains drawings and paintings)
Box 8 Folder 5 to 6
Undated, (2 volumes)
(contains drawings and poetry)
The printed material series includes editions of Corso's printed work, including work published in literary journals or magazines as well as anthologies and books of Corso's poetry in translation. Additionally, the series contains several books, journals, and independent literary magazines from Corso's collection including a large number that originally belonged to the San Francisco poet Lenore Kandel. These literary magazines are of particular interest to the researcher studying San Francisco's underground poetry scene in the 1950s and 1960s.
Box 9
(contains "Spontaneous Requiem for the American Indian)
Box 9
(includes 11 poems by Corso)
Box 9
Box 9
(contains "Poets Hitchhiking on the Highway")
Box 9
Box 9
(two copies- one inscribed to Peggy Biderman)
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
dual edition ofGasolinein both Italian and English
Box 9
slightly abridged versions ofGasolineandHappy Birthday of Deathtranslated into Czech, 1964
Box 9
Czech language version ofHappy Birthday of DeathCzech version, 1963
Box 8 Folder 7
(includes reviews, pamphlets, literary magazines and ephemera)
Box 8 Folder 8
Box 8 Folder 9
(contains Corso poem "By Your Wish)
Box 9
(contains "Poem")
Box 9
(contains the complete contents of the suppressed Winter 1959Chicago Reviewas well as three poems by Gregory Corso)
Box 9
(contains "Mutation of the Spirit")
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9 Folder 10
Box 9
(inscribed to Lenore Kandel and Bill Fritz)
Box 9
(inscribed to Corso)
Box 9
Box 9
(inscribed to Lenore Kandel)
Box 9
(inscribed to Lenore Kandel and William Fritz)
Box 9
(inscribed to Lenore Kandel)
Box 9
Box 9
(inscribed to Lenore Kandel)
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
(edited by Diane Di Prima)
Box 9
(inscribed to Corso)
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
(inscribed to Lenore Kandel from editor Gino Clays)
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Unique time-based media items have been reformatted and are available onsite via links in the container list. Commercial materials are not routinely digitized. Email rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
The sound recordings series is comprised of 5 reels of audio tape containing readings by Corso as well as his associates such as Ezra Pound, Lenore Kandel, Ken Kesey, Allen Ginsberg, and Michael McClure. Digital access copies are available at the library.
Box 8
Box 8