An exhibition of select material from the Hamilton College Ezra Pound Collection is on display in the College's Burke Library Browsing Room through Sunday, May 21. The show, which is free and open to the public, commemorates the 100th anniversary of Pound's graduation from Hamilton. The library is open 24 hours a day through Saturday, May 14. On Sunday, May 15, the library is open from midnight until 4:30 p.m. From May 16 through May 22, the library is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and on Saturday, May 21, the library is open from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
"A Selected Catalog of the Ezra Pound Collection at Hamilton College," compiled by Couper Librarian Randall Ericson and alumnus Cameron McWhirter ('86), has been published by the Hamilton College Library. The catalog highlights the Burke Library collection and includes 109 color and 13 black and white illustrations. The publication is available at the library for $20 (plus $5 for shipping and handling if necessary).
Particularly unique material in the exhibit includes correspondence with people related to Hamilton College, among them professors, presidents and other officers of the college. Due to Pound's often stormy relationship with the college, his letters tended to be acerbic. Correspondence includes letters related to his selection as an honorary degree recipient in 1939 as well as his attempt to return the degree in 1955.
The exhibit also includes a number of books owned by Pound including Chinese-English Dictionary and The Four Books, both of which he took with him when he was incarcerated in Pisa at the conclusion of World War II. Newspaper clippings and newsletters collected by Pound while he was held at St. Elizabeth's Hospital from 1946 to 1958 are displayed as well.
The entire collection consists of more than 4,600 volumes along with manuscripts, correspondence, art work and other printed materials. The Hamilton collection is one of the four most significant Ezra Pound collections in the U.S.
