Archive of The Ralph Maud Papers

In the course of his researches into Charles Olson’s poetry and its sources, Ralph Maud corresponded with more than 250 individuals. He retained the incoming copies of this correspondence along with additional enclosures, and occasionally with copies of his outgoing letters. This archive, stored in seven banker’s boxes, represents about fifteen linear feet of material. Even before the books comprising the Maud/Olson collection were transferred from Vancouver to the Gloucester Writers Center and in turn the Cape Ann Museum, the archive was noted for its significance by John Faulise and his wife Sandi Carmichael who were identifying and verifying the Maud/Olson books among Maud’s estate in Vancouver. They recognized the continuity of the Ralph Maud papers with the Maud/Olson books and discussed it with Maud’s executor. After Maud’s friends Leonard Minsky and Tom McGauley reviewed the collection and McGauley completed a preliminary inventory of it in July 2016, the Ralph Maud Papers were gifted to the Gloucester Writers Center, and then in 2021 to the Cape Ann Museum where they maintain their place alongside the books in the Maud/Olson Library.

This archive contains letters from greats and unknowns, and presents new insights into American poetry at the end of the Twentieth Century. Most of the material has never been seen or published, and will be an exciting resource for scholars, historians, and general readers. The Cape Ann Museum is currently in the process of cataloging and properly storing the archive, and plans are also underway for digitizing and publishing some of the more interesting material.

For a preliminary overview of the files contained in the Ralph Maud Papers, see the “MAUD INVENTORY” prepared by Tom McGauley for Leonard Minsky (3-4/ 2016).