Ralph Hodgson and Aurelia Bolliger Hodgson papers

The collection is divided into four sections: Correspondence, Poetry, Other Material and Aurelia Hodgson Material.

Correspondence is organized into Personal Correspondence and Business Correspondence, with further distinctions made according to the period of time in which the letter was written or received. Groupings are as follows: London between 1896 and 1923, Japan between 1923 and 1938, and Ohio between 1938 and 1962. Within these groupings, letters are arranged alphabetically by sender. There are separate groups for Personal Correspondence between Ralph Hodgson and his wife Aurelia, and Personal and Professional Correspondence between Hodgson and Seymour Adelman. Finally, there is an additional group of Business Correspondence of Aurelia Hodgson following her husband's death, from 1962 till 1984.

Ralph Hodgson's Personal Correspondence consists of numerous incoming and outgoing letters to family and friends throughout his life, including lasting contacts with Japanese acquaintances, more than fifty years of correspondence with his friend and admirer Seymour Adelman (shown at right with Hodgson at Owlacres, 1947), and a folder of correspondence from various well-known writers sending congratulations on his 90th birthday; these include T.S. Eliot, Marianne Moore, W.H. Auden and others. Personal Correspondence between Hodgson and Aurelia begins during their early years together in Japan and stretch into the 1940's and 1950's while they lived in Ohio. Letters between Hodgson and Seymour Adelman, beginning in 1926, center around discussions of Hodgson's work, ongoing projects the two were working on, including publications of Skylark and Other Poems and a previously unpublished sonnet of John Keats, and third party correspondence conducted by Adelman regarding Hodgson's death, his estate, and the centenary of his birth in 1971.

Hodgson's Business Correspondence, especially while in London, consists of communication with literary agents and publishers regarding his poetry, and includes letters to Holbrook Jackson, Macmillan Publishers and Four Seasons Press. Other correspondents include Walter De la Mare, W.H. Davies, C.L. Fraser, W.H. Maas, and Siegfried Sassoon. Correspondence while in Japan concerns his professorship and the university's operation, greetings from local Japanese contacts, and advice and suggestions on manuscripts and translation projects. Correspondence with Japanese contacts continued after Hodgson departed and is on both personal and professional topics; there is also some mention of World War II and its effects on U.S./Japanese relations. Business Correspondence conducted later in his life, while living in Ohio, is grouped into more general Incoming and Outgoing categories and pertains mainly to his publishing ventures, copyright permissions and fan mail. Aurelia Hodgson's Correspondence following her husband's death mostly concerns the management of his estate and her original plan to donate his papers to Yale.

Poetry is organized into five categories: Notebooks, Poetry Work, Poetry Fragments, Legal Documents and Press Material. Notebooks consist of 94 notebooks, mostly 4" x 6" spiral bound and small pocket notebooks with fragments, miscellaneous notes, dreams and ideas. Also included in this section are bound books containing handwritten poems in more finished form, small published pamphlets and brochures of poetry, an Ohio Book Award medal and certificate, and miscellaneous ephemera. Poetry Work contains many of Hodgson's poems at a variety of different stages, from handwritten to published form; they are organized alphabetically by the title of the poem. Of interest are "Eve" and "Time, You Old Gypsy Man" in proof form, with handwritten notes by Hodgson, and early handwritten copies of "Bells of Heaven" and "The Bride." Poetry Fragments contains loose pages of poems, many untitled or fragmentary, and miscellaneous fragments of notes, unbound. Legal Documents contains marriage licenses, birth and divorce certificates, an early will, deeds to the Ohio farm, documents relating to Ralph and Aurelia's pets, and miscellaneous bills and invoices. Also included are documents concerning the Bolliger family; several of Aurelia's passports, accounts of her family history, and family legal documents. Press Material contains clippings from newspapers and magazines, organized chronologically into four folders: Early Years, Middle to Later Years, Obituary Notices and published material dated after his death. Most of the articles relate to Hodgson and his poetry: reviews, appearances of his poems in print, biographies of his life, and, in some cases, articles of interest to him on a variety of subjects. Also included in this section are essays and biographical information on Hodgson by several outside sources, 8 magazines (retained because they contain articles about Hodgson or related materials), two 45 RPM records of Hodgson reading his poetry aloud from 1942, and a manuscript titled The Muse in the Meadow by Twila Carman, a reporter who wrote about Hodgson's later life for the Canton Repository, the local Ohio newspaper. Contained in her notebooks are short essays and reminiscences about visits with Hodgson in the 1950's and numerous articles collected from local and national papers about him.

Other Materials is organized into two categories: Photographs and 3-Dimensional Materials. The Photograph Collection is ordered chronologically and includes early photographs from the Hodgson and Bolliger families, images from Ralph and Aurelia's period in Japan, shots of them at their home in Ohio, a series of photographs of Ralph with his bull terriers, images of Ralph's burial and his grave site and photographs of Aurelia later in her life. Other folders contain a collection of portraits made of Ralph and two photo albums: one containing photographs of Japan and the other of Seymour Adelman's visit to the Hodgson home in 1947. Of particular interest is a collection of photographs of some of Ralph Hodgson's well known friends: CL Fraser, S.S. Koteliansky, T.S. Eliot, and Walter De la Mare, in London. Also included is a grouping of artwork, drawings and illustrations by Hodgson. 3-Dimensional Materials contains a wide range of artifacts and memorabilia, including glass transparencies of early cartoon drawings by Hodgson, printing blocks with designs for Flying Scrolls, clothing from Japan, dresses given to Aurelia by Vivienne Eliot, Japanese boxes, fans and a collection of animal figurines. Also included are two of Hodgson's walking sticks, an assortment of pipes, and a traveling watercolor set with brushes.

Aurelia Hodgson Materials is organized into two categories: Personal Correspondence and Notebooks. Personal Correspondence is divided into three categories: letters from Japan, letters from Ohio, and general family correspondence from throughout her life. Of particular interest in this category is correspondence regarding Aurelia's resignation from missionary service while in Japan. Letters contained in this group include letters to her father about her personal choices, her religious beliefs and her position as a young, independent woman in a foreign country. Also included are letters to and from the Japan Mission of The Reformed Church in the United States discussing the process of her resignation. Later letters to her family are more subdued discussions of her life in Ohio with Hodgson and related matters. Correspondence includes letters to both her parents, as well as her sister Katherine, her brother Pete, and her sister-in-law Dorothea. Her Notebooks and personal diaries record her experiences in Japan from 1922 to 1936, and include her thoughts and reflections on her relationship with Hodgson, her teaching position and the culture of Japan in general. School notebooks record her teaching plans, course curriculums and thoughts. Several account books contain monthly expenses, as well as accounts relating to Hodgson's publications. Her series of notebooks, Consider the Canary, are detailed observations of her pet birds taken between 1930 and 1937. Two notebooks contain biographical information on T.S. Eliot. Seven small yearly appointment books record her dreams from 1962 to 1968. A final folder contains miscellaneous Personal Notes, some partial essays, and an early autobiography.