The Ward M. Canaday Center

for Special Collections

The University of Toledo

Finding Aid

Noel Stock Papers, 1886-2007

MSS-009

Size: 4.25 linear feet

Provenance: Noel Stock donated his papers to the University of Toledo between 1972 and 1985, 2 linear feet of publications by Stock arrived in October, 1999.  Small additions made in 2003 and 2004.

 

Access: OPEN

Collection Summary: Much of this collection relates to Stock's publications A Call To Order, The Life of Ezra Pound, and Ezra Pound's Pennsylvania, and includes typescripts; publishers' galleys; page proofs; news clippings; and reviews. Stock also corresponded with Pound's wife, Dorothy; daughter Mary de Rachewiltz; and mistress Olga Rudge. Materials associated directly with Pound include correspondence (including letters to Pound from Wyndham Lewis), reviews, news clippings, photographs, school and church memorabilia, and an FBI transcript of Pound's interrogation in Genoa.

 

Subjects: Collectors and Collecting, Literature

Related Collections: Mary de Rachewiltz, MSS-049 and Ezra Pound Papers, The Cantos, MSS-057

 

Copyright: The literary rights to this collection are assumed to rest with the person(s) responsible for the production of the particular items within the collection, or with their heirs or assigns.  Researchers bear full legal responsibility for the acquisition to publish from any part of said collection per Title 17, United States Code. The Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections may reserve the right to intervene as intermediary at its own discretion.

 

Completed by: Barbara A. Shirk, September, 1985.  Updated by Barbara Floyd, April 2004, last updated, April, 2014


 

 

 

Biographical Sketch

 

Noel Stock, a native of Australia, has worked as a writer and translator since 1949.  From 1968-1969 he was Visiting Lecturer at the University of Tasmania, and from 1969-1971 was Visiting Professor at the University of Toledo, English Department.  In 1971 he assumed the position of Professor.

 

Stock first began to read Ezra Pound's poetry in Melbourne in 1946.  He knew that Pound had been connected with the beginnings of the "modern movement" in English poetry and that he held strong views on economics and politics.  He also knew of Pound's problems due to broadcasts he had made over Rome Radio during World War II and of his indictment for treason by the U.S.  In 1953, after Pound was sent to St. Elizabeth's Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Washington, D.C., Hugh Kenner who had just published a book on Pound's poetry, suggested that Stock contact Pound.  He did so and received an immediate reply which was followed by more than 100 letters in the next five years.  Stock left Australia in 1958 and was en route to England when charges against Pound were dropped, and he was released from the hospital.  Pound returned to Italy in 1959 and Stock moved to Brunnenburg Castle, Tirolo di Merano, Italy where the poet's daughter lived.  He first met Pound at Rapallo that summer and edited a collection of his essays entitled Impact:  Essays on Ignorance and the Decline of American Civilization, which were published in 1960.  From that year on, Stock had full access to Pound's collection of books and papers and had frequent contact with the poet and his wife and daughter.  In 1961 he was awarded the Bollingen Fellowship to catalogue the Ezra Pound Archive at Brunnenburg.  He was also awarded the Leverhulme Fellowship in 1968.

 

Stock has published several books including Poet In Exile (1964), Reading the Cantos:  A Study of Meaning in Ezra Pound (1967, 1968), The Life of Ezra Pound (1970, 1974, 1982, 1985), Ezra Pound's Pennsylvania (1976), A Call to Order:  Essays and Reviews, 1954-1974 (1976).  In addition, he and Ezra Pound were the translators of Love Poems of Ancient Egypt (1962, 197l, 1978).  Between 1960 and 1980 he edited and contributed to several books, including some written by Ezra Pound.  Some of the periodicals he edited and contributed to between 1953 and 1980 are Shenandoah, X Quarterly, Modern Age, Quadrant, Poetry Australia, Helix, Edge, and Texas Quarterly.  He also had numerous poems published in literary and poetry magazines between 1950 and 1957.

 

Along with the undergraduate and graduate courses taught by Stock, he has given numerous lectures and conducted seminars on the subjects of modernism and Ezra Pound.

 

 

 

Timeline

 

May 29, 1929


born in Melbourne, Australia

?


married Marjorie and is the father of Maria and Jenny

1949-1955


employed by News Department, Australian Broadcasting Commission

1955-1958


free-lance writer

1961

 

Bollingen Fellowship (New York) to catalogue Ezra Pound Archive at Brunnenburg, Italy

1961-1968


writer and translator

1968


Leverhulme Fellowship (London)

1968-1969


Visiting Lecturer, University of Tasmania

1969-1971


Visiting professor, University of Toledo

1971- 1991


Professor, University of Toledo

 


 

 

Scope and Content Note

 

Noel Stock's papers consist of correspondence, articles, news clippings, poetry, photographs, publications of his and other writers, and typescripts for A Call to Order and Lives of the Saints.  Many of the papers relate to Professor Stock's publications, The Life of Ezra Pound and Ezra Pound's Pennsylvania.  Included are typescripts, publishers' galleys, page proofs, etc. relating to these publications and news clippings, reviews, extracts and copies of municipal records and documents associated with Ezra Pound's Pennsylvania.  A large portion of the correspondence comes from Stock's publishers and publishers of Ezra Pound.  Notable correspondents include family members of Ezra Pound, including his wife Dorothy; daughter, Mary de Rachewiltz; and Olga Rudge, his mistress; T. S. Eliot; Valarie Danby-Smith, an associate of Mrs. Ernest Hemingway; Herbert Woodward Martin; James Laughlin; Hugh Kenner; Peter Owen; Dudley Randall; Peter Russell; Stephen Spender; Henry Swabey; Charles Tomlinson; Florence Williams, the wife of William Carlos Williams; David Wright; Donald Gallup; and Peter Whigham.

 

Materials associated directly with Ezra Pound include correspondence, reviews, news clippings, photographs of Ezra Pound and people and places associated with him, school and church memorabilia, Pennsylvania maps, advertising leaflets, programs, and other literature written by Pound on the series of musical concerts which he and concert violinist Olga Rudge organized in Rapallo, Italy during the 1930's, FBI transcript of Pound's interrogation in Genoa, and other papers.  Correspondence includes copies of Pound's letters to Miss Florence Ridpath, his public school teacher in Wyncote, Pennsylvania; a letter to W. B. Yeats; and letters to Pound from Wyndham Lewis.  Also among the collection are letters to Mr. and Mrs. Carl Gatter from Pound and his wife and daughter with a written account by Mr. Gatter of Pound's visit to his childhood home in Wyncote in June, 1958.  Much of the material relating to Pound was originally gathered by Mr. Gatter (Pennsylvania historian) for the publication of Ezra Pound's Pennsylvania and refers to Pound's origins and early life.

 

The correspondence and manuscript folders in the Noel Stock papers are organized alphabetically.  The contents of the folders are chronological (earliest date to present) with the exception of Incoming Correspondence that is arranged alphabetically and chronologically.

 

2 linear feet of publications written by Noel Stock, largely about the life of Ezra Pound are organized alphabetically at the end of the collection.

 

A scrapbook of newspaper articles about Stock’s time in Italy at the Pound estate and reviews of his published works on Pound is included.  It is located in Range 66.

 

 

  

Noel Stock

Papers, 1886-1983

 

Folder List

 

Box

Folder

Item

 

 

Correspondence

1

1

Incoming
    A, 1960-1975

 

2

Incoming and Outgoing
    American Poetry Luncheon, 1978-1979

 

3

Incoming
    Avon Books, Publisher of The Life of Ezra Pound, 1974 (Noel Stock), 1973

 

4

Incoming
    B, 1958-1984

 

5

Incoming
    Black Literature Celebration, 1977

 

6

Incoming
    C-D, 1966-2000

 

7

Incoming
    Davenport, Guy, 1955

 

8

Incoming
    E, 1970-1985

 

9

Incoming
    Eliot, T. S., 1959-1964

 

10

Incoming
    Encyclopedia Britannica, Publishers of Biographical Essay, Ezra Pound (Noel Stock), 1970-1975

 

11

Incoming
    F-H, 1958-2006

 

12

Incoming
    The Friends of the University of Toledo Libraries-Publisher of Ezra Pound’s Pennsylvania, 1974-1979

 

13

Incoming
    Gallup, Donald (Yale University), 1969-2000

 

14

Incoming
    Helix - Publisher of articles entitled, “Apologia for Common Sense” (1979); “Short Tracts for the Times” (1981); and “Ezra Pound in Melbourne, 1953-1957” (1983); 1979-1985

 

15

Incoming
    Hemingway, Mrs. Ernest, 1967 (written by Valarie Danby- Smith)

 

16

Incoming
    I-J, 1959-1976

 

17

Incoming
    K, 1968-1981

 

18

Incoming
    Kenner, Hugh, 1953-1969

 

19

Incoming
    L, 1975-2000

 

20

Incoming
    Laughlin, James (New Directions), 1957-1984

 

21

Incoming
    M, 1960-2007

 

22

Incoming
    Manchester University Press, (Publisher of Poet in Exile: Ezra Pound )   Noel Stock, 1965-1973

 

23

Incoming
    Martin, Herbert, 1981

 

24

Incoming
    Meanjin, (Publisher of Section:  Rock Drill) Ezra Pound, 1956

 

25

Incoming
    Modern Literature Conference, 1971

 

26

Incoming
    N-O, 1978-2003

 

27

Incoming
    New Directions, (Publisher of Love Poems of Ancient Egypt (1982) Ezra Pound and Noel Stock; and New Directions in Prose and Poetry (contains Noel Stock’s anthology “Four Australian Poets” (1976); and Redondillas” (1968) Ezra Pound, 1959-2003

 

28

Incoming
    Owen, Peter, 1959-1962

 

29

Incoming
    P, 1955-1980

 

30

Incoming
    Pantheon Books, (Publisher of The Life of Erza Pound (1970) and Reading the Cantos:  The Study of Meaning in Ezra Pound) (1967) Noel Stock , 1969-1973

 

31

Incoming
    Penguin Books, (Publisher of The Life of Ezra Pound) (1974), 1965-1985

 

32

Incoming
    Poetry Australia, (Published by South Head Press), 1967-1984

 

33

Incoming
    Publishers (While Stock acted on Pound’s behalf), 1958-1965

 

34

Incoming
    Q-R, 1957-2007

 

35

Incoming
    Randall, Dudley, 1965-1975

 

 

 

 

36

Incoming
    Henry Regnery Company, (Publisher of Impact:  Essays on Ignorance and the Decline of American Civilization; and Ezra Pound Perspectives- edited by Stock (1960), 1959-1974

 

37

Incoming
    Routledge and Kegan Paul, Ltd.- Publisher of The Life of Ezra Pound (1970)  Stock; Reading the Cantos:  A Study of Meaning in Erza Pound (1967) Stock, 1967-1985

 

38

Incoming
    Russell, Peter (Poet and Pound’s Publisher), 1952-1971

 

39

Incoming
    S, 1954-1978

 

40

Incoming
    Setterlind, Bo  (Pound’s Publisher in Sweden), 1957

 

41

Incoming
    South Head Press, (Publisher of A Call to Order, Essays and Reviews 1954-1974 (1976) and Modern Italian Poetry Selections with English Parallel (prefaced and edited by Stock in 1970), 1970-1975

 

42

Incoming
    Swabey, Henry,  1958-1959

 

43

Incoming
    T, 1968-1977

 

44

Incoming
    Tomlinson, Charles, 1942-1974

 

45

Incoming
    U-W,  1966-1983

 

46

Incoming
    Unidentified, 1999, n.d.

 

47

Incoming
    University of Texas (Sale of Pound’s Archive, Etc.),  1961-1983

 

48

Incoming
    Whigham, Peter, (English Poet),  1966-1970

 

49

Incoming
    Williams, Mrs. William Carlos,  1966

 

50

Incoming
    Wright, David, (Barrie and Rockliff, Publisher of X, A Quarterly Review),  1960-1972

 

51

Incoming
    XYZ,  1967-1983

 

52

Outgoing
    1968-1984

 

53

Pound and Family - Bo Cavefors (Pound’s Swedish Publisher)
    Copy of letter from Pound to Cavefors, 1960-1971

 

54

Pound and Family - From Mary de Rachewiltz, 1955-1983

 

55

Pound and Family- From Mr. and Mrs. Carl Gatter (Relates to
    Ezra Pound’s Pennsylvania) (1976) Stock  (copies), 1956-1975

 

56

Pound and Family from Wyndham Lewis (copies) 1932-1938

 

57

Pound and Family to Dorothy Pound - Relates to Stock’s Reading the Cantos:  A Study of Meaning in Ezra Pound (1967), 1966

 

58

Pound and Family from Dorothy Pound, 1941-1972

 

59

Pound and Family to Miss Ridpath (copy) Relates to Ezra Pound’s Pennsylvania (Stock, 1976)  1958

 

60

Pound and Family from Olga Rudge to Mrs. Stock,  1967

 

61

Pound to W.B. Yeats (copy), 1918

 

62

Miscellaneous (Copyrights, Addresses, Statements, Notes, Etc. - (Stock), 1967-1971

 

 

Photographs

 

63

People, c. 1888-1970

 

64

Places, c. 1902-1970

 

65

Ezra Pound, c. 1895-1960

 

66

Noel Stock, c. 1969-1970

 

 

Publications

 

67

Bibliographies- Pound and Family, and T.S. Eliot

 

68

Clippings, Etc. (Pound),  -Relates to Ezra Pound’s Pennsylvania (1976), 1886-1976

 

69

Clippings, Etc.  (Pound) - Relates to Ezra Pound’s Pennsylvania (1976), 1894-1973

2

69

Colleagues and Friends of Noel Stock, 1970-1975

 

70

Galley Proofs, Ezra Pound’s Pennsylvania (1976) (First, and Third),  1975Second,

 

71

Galley Proofs, The Life of Ezra Pound (1970), 1969

 

72

The Jefferson-Adams Correspondence, (Ezra Pound) , 1937-1979

 

73

Page Proofs, Ezra Pound’s Pennsylvania (1976)

 

74

Page Proofs and Captions, Ezra Pound’s Pennsylvania, (1976)

 

75

Page Proofs ( Exhibit Material), Ezra Pound’s Pennsylvania (1976)

 

76

Poetry, Etc. (Ezra Pound), 1902-1963

 

77

Programs, Advertising Leaflets, Etc. (Ezra Pound), 1903-1950’s

 

78

Signatures, The Life of Ezra Pound, 1970

 

79

Stock, From Ezra Pound, (1965); Texas Quarterly, (1967); Poetry Australia, (1968 and 1973; Impact (Author’s working copy for unpublished second edition)

 

80

Transcript, FBI Record of Ezra Pound’s Statement,  c. 1945

 

81

Translations by Stock of Boris de Rachewiltz’s Egyptian Aphorisms, 1969

 

82

Typescript of A Call to Order, Essays and Reviews, 1954-1974 (Published by South Head Press in 1976) Stock,

 

83

Typescript, Ezra Pound’s Pennsylvania (1976), 1975

 

84

Typescript, The Life of Ezra Pound, (Title page through Chapter VI), 1969

 

85

Typescript, The Life of Ezra Pound, (Chapters VII-XI), 1969

 

86

Typescript, The Life of Ezra Pound, (Chapters XII-XV), 1969

 

87

Typescript, The Life of Ezra Pound, (Chapters XVI-XIX), 1969

 

88

Typescript, The Life of Ezra Pound, (Chapters XX-XXII), 1969

 

89

Typescript, “The Lives of Saints,” 2002

 

90

Typescript, “Deo Gratias:  Poems of Penitence and Praise,” 2003

3

 

Published works by Stock

4

 

Published works by Stock

5

 

Scrapbook, 1959-1974

 

 

 

Last Updated: 6/27/22