Full collection title:

The Wallace Ludwig Anderson Archive and Manuscript

of the Letters of Edwin Arlington Robinson

Background information

Wallace Ludwig Anderson, respected Robinson scholar and author of Edwin Arlington Robinson: A Critical Introduction (1967), planned to publish a comprehensive collection of Robinson's letters, transcribed and accompanied by annotations. A 1967 Guggenheim Fellowship enabled him to study Robinson documents held by numerous repositories as well as private individuals. The forthcoming volume was announced at the 1980 Modern Language Association Conference. The news was welcomed by colleagues thwarted by Robinson's difficult handwriting.  

Anderson died of cancer in 1984 with the transcripts largely completed but the manuscript unfinished. The Anderson family donated the materials to Colby College Special Collections in 2001.

The Archive

The Wallace Ludwig Anderson Archive comprises 30 linear feet of research material, transcripts of Robinson’s letters accompanied by notes, photographs, and manuscript text related to the unfinished publication. The transcripts and accompanying notes, in particular, are an invaluable resource for Robinson researchers. The archive is arranged in five series that preserve Anderson’s original order. Click here to see a series description.

Anderson transcripts listed by letter recipient and date

Biographical sketch of Wallace Ludwig Anderson