Richard Brautigan Papers, 1942-2003,, bulk (bulk 1958-1984)

Collection context

Summary

Creators:
Brautigan, Richard
Abstract:
Contain manuscripts, notebooks, correspondence, financial and travel records, records of his literary agent The Helen Brann Agency, clippings, reviews, publicity and flyers, a few photographs and some personal items.
Extent:
Number of containers: 9 boxes, 10 cartons, and 4 oversize folders Linear feet: 15.9
Language:
Collection materials are in English, with some German.

Background

Scope and content:

The Richard Brautigan Papers contain manuscripts, notebooks, correspondence, financial and travel records, records of his literary agent The Helen Brann Agency, clippings, reviews, publicity and flyers, a few photographs and some personal items.

Manuscripts of his poetry and prose appear in a variety of stages, including notes and notebooks, manuscript drafts and typescripts and comprise the bulk of the collection. Correspondence is mostly incoming letters concerning both his professional and personal life including letters from publishers, literary advisors and from family and friends. The Helen Brann Agency files cover not only dealings with Brautigan but with his daughter and estate after his death. Files include correspondence, permissions, royalties and financial records.

Richard Brautigan was known to leave his papers with friends when he would leave town and some of these papers are included in other collections held at The Bancroft Library. See the Related Collections portion of this finding aid under Information for Researchers.

Many of the papers included in this collection with the exception of the Helen Brann Agency files and some other files, were found with Richard Brautigan's body in 1984.

Biographical / historical:

Richard Gary Brautigan, 1935-1984

American novelist, short story writer, and poet.

Date Event
1935 Born 30 January in Tacoma, Washington, oldest child of Bernard F. Brautigan and Mary Lull Brautigan. Very little is known about his childhood, which he refused to discuss. Some sources say that Brautigan never knew his father, others say that his father never knew of him until Brautigan's death was announced
1955? Allegedly committed to Oregon State Hospital after throwing rock through police station window, diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic and given shock therapy treatments. Left home soon after release from hospital.
1955-1958? Moved to San Francisco and became involved with the Beat Movement.
1956 "The Second Kingdom," first known poem, published.
1957 Married Virginia Dionne Adler in Reno, Nevada, 8 June.
1957-1958? "The Return of the Rivers," a single poem, published.
1958 "The Galilee Hitch-Hiker," a single poem, published
1959 Lay the Marble Tea published, collection of twenty-four poems.
1960
The Octopus Frontier published.
Daughter Ianthe born, 25 March.
1961 Spent summer camping with family in Idaho's Stanley Basin and wrote Trout Fishing in America on a portable typewriter alongside the trout streams.
1964
A Confederate General from Big Sur published.
Involved with the Diggers and the "hippies" of San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district and often gave away copies of his poems on the streets.
1966-1967 Poet-in-residence at California Institute of Techonolgy .
1967
Trout Fishing in America published
All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace published.
1968
Awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
In Watermelon Sugar and The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster published. Please Plant This Book also published: eight seed packets, each containing seeds, with poems printed on the sides.
1969 Trout Fishing in America,The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster, and In Watermelon Sugar published in collection.
1970
Rommel Drives On Deep into Egypt published.
Divorced from Virginia, 28 July, in San Francisco.
The Abortion: An Historical Romance 1966 published.
1971 The Revenge of the Lawn published.
1972-1973? Establishes a residence in Pine Creek, Montana, just north of Yellowstone National Park. Allegedly refuses to deliver lectures or grant interviews for the next eight years.
1974 The Hawkline Monster published.
1975 Willard and His Bowling Trophies and Loading Mercury with a Pitchfork published.
1976 Sombrero Fallout published.
1977 Dreaming of Babylon published.
1978
June 30th, June 30th published.
The Abortion,The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster,Trout Fishing in America,Rommel Drives On Deep into Egypt, and A Confederate General from Big Sur banned in Union Hills High School in northern California. ACLU case decided in favor of Brautigan and his publisher.
1979 At December meeting of Modern Language Association in San Francisco, participated in a panel discussion concerning Zen and Contemporary Poetry with Gary Snyder,Philip Whalen,Robert Bly, and Lucien Stryk.
1980 The Tokyo-Montana Express published. Begins lecture/promotion tour.
1982 So the Wind Won't Blow It All Away published.
1984 Commits suicide in house in Bolinas, California. Body discovered 25 October.

Chronology excerpted from Richard Brautigan: an Annotated Bibliography, by John F. Barber.(McFarland & Company, Inc., 1990)

For more information on Richard Brautigan see the website "Brautigan Bibliography and Archive: The Works and Life of Richard Brautigan," by John F. Barber at http://www.brautigan.net/

Acquisition information:
The Richard Brautigan Papers were purchased by The Bancroft Library from Serendipity Books in March 1987. Additions were made on February 9, 2005 by the Helen Brann Agency.
Physical location:
Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Access and use

Location of this collection:
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
Contact:
510-642-6481