Jackson Mathews Papers, 1927-1975.

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Summary

Creator:
Mathews, Jackson, 1907-1978.
Abstract:

Jackson Mathews was an editor, teacher, poet, and translator. He taught at Harvard and Princeton universities and the universities of Georgia, Oregon, and Washington. He was an editor for Bollingen Foundation publications and worked with numerous American poets. He was general editor of the 15-volume "Complete Works of Paul Valery."

Correspondence, writings, pictures, and other materials, chiefly 1945-1974, relating to Jackson Mathews. Correspondence concerns academic matters at the universities where he taught; scholarly matters, especially translations of French literature; the work of the Bollingen Foundation; and the National Translation Center. Correspondents include Robert Fitzgerald (1910- ), Theodore Roethke, (1908-1963), Allen Tate (1899- ), Carolyn Kizer, W.H. Auden (1907-1973), Yves Bonnefoy (1923- ), Robert Lowell (1917-1977), Rene Char (1907- ), and William Carlos Williams (1883- 1963). Also included are materials relating to translations of the works of Paul Valery(1871-1945), Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867), Rene Char, and Saint-John Perse (1887-1975.

Extent:
4900 items (13.5 linear feet)
Language:
Materials in English
Library Catalog Link:
View UNC library catalog record for this item

Background

Biographical / historical:

Jackson Mathews, poet and scholar, was born 18 October 1907 in Griffin, Georgia, son of Mr. and Mrs. J.G. Mathews. He earned both his B.A. (1928, Phi Beta Kappa) and M.A. (1930) degrees from the University of Georgia. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1947. Mathews was married to fellow scholar Marthiel Duke Mathews, who collaborated with him on several translations.

A field officer with the Office of Strategic Services, 1943-1945, Mathews won the Bronze Star. After World War II, he joined the United States Foreign Service and held the post of vice-consul for cultural affairs in Geneva, Switzerland.

Mathews's teaching career spanned three decades, including posts at Harvard and Princeton universities and at the Universities of Georgia and Oregon. His longest tenure was at the University of Washington, 1949-1955, where he established the Department of Comparative Literature. Mathews served as an editor for Bollingen Foundation publications, starting in 1953. In 1957, he accepted the position of vice-president with the Foundation. In both of these roles, he was highly influential, especially among modern poets. His extensive list of correspondents includes Allen Tate, W.H. Auden, Theodore Roethke, Robert Lowell, Carolyn Kizer, and William Carlos Williams.

Much of Mathews's work involved French and Belgian literature, with the group of writers called "des Symbolists" a special interest. He translated the works of Baudelaire, Gide, Perse, Char, and Yves Bonnefoy. The work of Paul Valerywas his primary interest. Mathews served as general editor of the Bollingen Foundation's 15-volume Complete Works of Paul Valery. In this capacity, he coordinated the work of many prominent translators and also prepared many of the notes and glosses for the volumes. For his own translation of Monsieur Teste, one of the volumes in the series, he won the National Book Award in 1974.

Mathews's life was punctuated with honors, among them a Fulbright Fellowship (1951), a Bollingen Foundation Fellowship (1955-1957), and the Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, awarded in 1974 by the French government in recognition of Mathews's promotion of French literature. He also served as first executive committee chair for the National Translation Center (1965).

Forced into retirement around 1973 by the onset of a severe neurological disorder, Mathews died 15 December 1978.

Scope and content:

This collection was acquired as part of a larger collection purchased from Geoffrey Steele, Inc., of Lumberville, Pennsylvania, in November 1976. The books included in this purchase were chiefly incorporated into the general collection in the main library. Some books, however, became part of the Rare Books Collection.

The collection is divided into eight series, reflecting Mathews's various activities and maintaining the original order of the papers as received. General correspondence consists of two subseries: one contains original letters and the other photocopies of correspondence in the Library of Congress's collection of Bollingen Foundation papers. There is little substantive difference between the two subseries, and both should be checked for letters to and from specific individuals. These subseries are both arranged chronologically, but only the original letters have been indexed for important correspondents.

Few letters are purely social in nature, as Mathews made little distinction in his correspondence between his private and professional lives. Of particular interest is the ongoing struggle described in letters exchanged between University of Washington English Department chair Robert Heilmand and Mathews, beginning in 1949. Extensive correspondence with poets Allen Tate and Yves Bonnefoy is included, as is correspondence with prominent translators like Robert Fitzgerald.

Series relating to Mathews's major interests follow the general correspondence. The series on Char, Perse, and Valeryare especially rich in photographs. The Valery series contains extensive name and subject indexes to the Cahiers. Included in Other Materials Series are Mathews's short, but descriptive, 1944 journal from war-torn London and several informal photographs of Allen Tate, his wives, and his children.

Acquisition information:

Purchased from Geoffrey Steele, Inc., of Lumberville, Pennsylvania, in November 1976. (Related publications were acquired at the same time by the Rare Books Collection and the Library's main collection.)

Processing information:

Processed by: Roslyn Holdzkom with Pat Gantt and Gina Overcash, October 1987

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

Diacritics and other special characters have been omitted from this finding aid to facilitate keyword searching in web browsers.

Sensitive materials statement:

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Access and use

Restrictions to access:

Materials in OP-4012/5 may not be published in any form before 10 September 2025. Use of audio materials may require production of listening copies.

Restrictions to use:

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

No usage restrictions.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], in the Jackson Mathews Papers #4012, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Location of this collection:
Louis Round Wilson Library
200 South Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27515
Contact:
(919) 962-3765
wilsonlibrary@unc.edu