Arrangement: chronological.

Chiefly correspondence with academic colleagues and those involved in translation activities. There is little of a personal nature, except for those letters documenting the development of Mathews's career. While translation is an important topic in these letters, many of which are to and from prominent translators such as Robert Fitzgerald, the bulk of the material on translation projects is to be found in Bollingen Foundation Correspondence and in other series.

Early correspondence reflects Mathews's interest in Belgian literature and his efforts to promote the publication in the United States of French writers' works in translation.

Starting with Mathews's move to the University of Washington in 1949 and continuing through 1971, he and Robert Heilman, chair of the English department, corresponded extensively on a wide variety of subjects. Most interesting is detailed documentation of Heilman's struggle to keep the department on an even keel in light of the erratic behavior of poet Theodore Roethke, who was on the faculty. Heilman's letters throughout 1956 and 1957 and those of 2 and 21 January, 27 February, and 6 May 1959 and 20 September 1960 are particularly informative on the Roethke issue. Letters of [1] and 14 August and 1 December 1963 reflect on Roethke's death. Although no Roethke correspondence is present in the original, some photocopies can be found in the Bollingen Foundation Correspondence. Correspondence with Roethke's wife, Beatrice, concentrates on her life after his death. Roethke is also mentioned in letters from other significant correspondents, including Carolyn Kizer and Allen Tate.

Mathews's departure from the University of Washington in 1955 prompted interesting correspondence about university politics in the McCarthy era. After spending considerable time abroad, Mathews assumed his full-time position at the Bollingen Foundation in 1959, and his correspondence reflects this change, much of it concentrating on Foundation work. Correspondence with poet Richard Hugo begins in this period (1959) as does that with French poet Yves Bonnefoy (1960).

Much of the later correspondence concerns various honors bestowed upon Mathews. In 1973, it becomes clear that Mathews is seriously ill. Over the next two years, letters diminish considerably in number and are increasingly directed to or written by Mathews's wife Marthiel.

Arrangement: chronological.

Photocopies and second carbon copies of correspondence found in the Library of Congress's Bollingen Foundation Collection. Many of the subjects addressed in General Correspondence are present in these letters. The concentration, however, is on Bollingen project-related work. It is chiefly concerned with work on the Valery volumes, but also contains material on planned Proust editions and other projects.

Correspondence with many prominent writers and translators is found among these letters, including W.H. Auden, Malcolm Crowley, Marianne Moore, John Crowe Ransom, Roger Shattuck, and Allen Tate (1968 especially), and members of Paul Valery's family. Since originals of this material are housed and catalogued at another repository, no index has been provided to these copies.

Arrangement: chronological.

Correspondence between Jackson and Marthiel Mathews and James Laughlin and Robert MacGregor of the publishing firm New Directions, and with translators of various poems from Fleurs du Mal ( Flowers of Evil).

Notable correspondents include Roy Campbell, Robert Fitzgerald, Stanley Kunitz, Robert Lowell, Eric Partridge, Karl Shapiro, and Richard Wilbur.

Arrangement: alphabetical by name of translator.

Holograph versions, typed carbon copies, and pages from journals containing translations of various poems from Fleurs du Mal, including twelve by Mathews.

Arrangement: chronological.

Financial papers relating to Flowers of Evil, including agreement between the Mathewses and New Directions; original, carbon copy, and photocopied royalty statements; and a shipping invoice.

Arrangement: alphabetical by type.

Bibliographies of Baudelaire; typed and holograph notes by Jackson Mathews; typed carbon copies of prefaces and forewords; notes on translators and translations; publication announcements for the first and revised editions of Flowers of Evil; and clippings of reviews.

Arrangement: chronological.

Correspondence relating to Mathews's work with Char. There are thirty-six autograph letters from Char for the years 1952 through 1957, with an additional sixteen undated letters. There is also considerable correspondence with Princess Marguerite Caetani, literary patron and publisher of the review Botteghe Oscure.

Poems by Char, one in English prose translation, all but one in Char's hand. Also included is a printed appreciation by Char of artist Victor Brauner.

A contract, list of offprints, royalty statements, clippings, and documentation by Mathews of 1957 feud with Char.

Arrangement: chronological.

Correspondence regarding funding, staffing, and projects of the National Translation Center. Of particular interest are two letters from W.H. Auden: 28 September 1964 (photocopy), in which he speaks of the special qualifications needed by translators; and 30 May 1965 (holograph), in which he addresses policies for paying translators.

Proposals to the University of Texas at Austin and to the Ford Foundation for establishment of the National Translation Center.

Executive committee minutes and committee and director's reports.

Arrangement: chronological.

Letters relating to translations of Perse's work that Robert Fitzgerald was making with Mathews as editor. Autograph letters of Perse appear on 19 February and 13 April 1959. A copy of Fitzgerald's translation of Birds is attached to Mathews's letter of 3 October 1963. Also included are two letters from poet Katherine Garrison Chapin (Mrs. Francis Biddle).

Holograph draft of Mathews's St. John Perse: Living Man, Poet of Movement.

Arrangement: chronological.

Correspondence relating to the Bollingen Foundation's Collected Works of Paul Valery. This material is similar to that in Series 1, but was maintained separately by Mathews and is more concerned with the production of the Works than with the contents. Also included is correspondence about the acquisition in 1956 by the Bollingen Foundation of the "Valeryanum," a collection of Valery's works assembled by Valery's close friend Julien P. Monod. The collection was donated to the Bibliotheque Litteraire Jacques Doucet of the University of Paris, 5 June 1962. Much of the correspondence in the above categories consists of photocopies of letters in the Library of Congress's Bollingen Foundation Collection. Other material in this series includes correspondence between Mathews and members of the Valery family and between Mathews and Mathilde Pomes, the owner of another large collection of Valery's works. Note that the letter of Vera Lindsay (27 November 1959) describes the BBC recordings found in Subseries 7.5.4.2.

Arrangement: alphabetical.

Writings on Valery or translations of his work by Mathews.

Clippings relating to the Bollingen Foundation's Complete Works of Paul Valery.

Notes and indexes, including volumes and card files, relating to Mathews's research on Valery. Mathews's titles have been maintained.

Material collected by Mathews in the course of his work on Paul Valery.

Arrangement: alphabetical.

Bibliographie, compiled by Julien P. Monod and Octave Nadal (holograph and typewritten)

Arrangement: alphabetical.

An etching, photographs, audio tapes, and disks. Photographs are chiefly undated snapshots and studio prints of Paul Valery, his family, and places significant in his life.

Chiefly clippings of reviews of La Wallonie and other Mathews publications.

Miscellaneous notes relating to some of Mathews's projects.

Several versions of Mathews's vita and newspaper clippings chiefly from Mathews's student days at the University of Alabama.

Reviews, poems, an essay on reading poetry, a bibliography of "Belgian little reviews and related works of the Symbolist Period," and a 24-page journal, (holograph) written by Mathews in London, 12-22 January 1944. The journal describes his wanderings in the city during air raids. Also included is the printed version of "Hymne Olympique," which Mathews translated in 1954 at the request of Prince Pierre of Monaco. Attached is the correspondence concerning this commission, including a signed congratulatory message from the Prince.

Includes typescripts of 22 Richard Hugo poems and "Winds and Dusts" by Henri Michaux. Also included are several unsigned poems and two bound volumes of typescripts in French. These volumes seem to be commentaries on an unidentified work.