Leah Bodine Drake papers
Abstract
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Leah Bodine Drake papers
- Date
- 1918-1968, undated (inclusive)
- Creator
- Drake, Leah Bodine
- Extent
- 3 Cubic Feet
- Subjects
- Women poets, American -- 20th century.
- Arrangement
- Collection is arranged by format.
- Preferred Citation
- 68m100: [identification of item], Leah Bodine Drake papers, 1918-1968, undated, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
- Repository
- University of Kentucky
Collection Overview
- Biography / History
- Writer and poet, Leah Bodine Drake was born in Chanute, Kanas, in 1904 to oilman Thomas Hulbert Drake. She attended Hamilton College for Women and Sayre College, both in Lexington, Kentucky. She published her first volume of poetry, A Hornbook for Witches, in 1950. From 1941-1951, she worked as a drama critic for the Evansville Courier in Indiana. Her second volume, This Tilting Dust, appeared in 1956. She reviewed poetry for The Atlantic Monthly from 1957-1958. Additionally, many of her own poems were published in The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, Commonweal, The Saturday Review, and other national magazines. She won several poetry awards, including the Borestone Mountain award (twice). Her last volume of poetry, Multiple Clay was collected and arranged after her death in 1964.
- Scope and Content
- The Leah Bodine Drake papers (dated 1918-1968, undated; 3 cubic feet; 6 boxes) contain scrapbooks, writings, correspondence with publishers, photographs, and notebooks which document her career as a poet. The bulk of the collection consists of scrapbooks of her poems and illustrations that accompany the writings. There are notebooks with her thoughts on art, poetry, and witchcraft. Additionally, the collection includes her correspondence with major publishers in the United States. The 1959 Marquis' Who's Who of Poetry is included in the collection because Leah Bodine Drake's entry. The collection includes two manuscripts for collections of poems, This Tilting Dust and Multiple Clay, a collection Drake worked on prior to her death. Finally, there are photographs of Leah Bodine Drake, her family and friends.
Restrictions on Access and Use
- Conditions Governing Access
- Collection is open to researchers by appointment.
- Use Restrictions
- The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
Contents of the Collection
Poetry scrapbooks, 1918-1964
Scope and Contents
The Poetry scrapbooks series includes colorful albums with Leah Bodine Drake's poems handwritten by her and accompanied with illustrations perhaps found in her contemporary magazines.
Early poems, 1918-1935
Domes and minarets, 1934-1941
Magic Casement: children's poems, 1935-1937
The Haunted Hour, 1938
The Search of the Soul, 1946
The Singer from the Waste, 1942-1949
The Book of Elfin, 1944
Troll Women and Elfin Maids, 1940
The Garden of Spices, 1935-1948
Mermaids' Combs and Witches' Brooms, 1935-1948
The Court of Oberon, 1937-1940
Black Peacocks, 1944-1946
Fantasy in a Forest, 1947-1953
Precarious Ground, 1949-1951
A Hornbook for Witches, 1940-1948
A Design for a Tapestry, 1952-1953
Toadstool Town, 1952-1954
The Middle Ages, 1953-1955
Candle, Last the Night, 1955-1956
The Fruit Uneaten, 1956
The Turn of the Year, 1957-1959
A Cindering of Phoenixes, 1959-1963
Enchanted Sails: poems for children, 1937-1947
A Record of Poetry - poems accepted for newspaper write ups and reviews, 1957-1964
Collected published magazine poems, 1954-1964
Published Poems, 1935-1951
The Woods Grow Darker, 1962-1964
Notebooks, 1964, undated
Scope and Contents
The Notebooks series includes the thoughts of Leah Bodine Drake on poetry, folklore, witchcraft and art. Her writings in the notebooks suggest some ideas that influenced her own poetry.
Notes on poetry, undated
Notes on folklore and art, undated
Notes on witchcraft, undated
Poems in progress, 1964
Correspondence with publishers, 1950-1964
Scope and Contents
The correspondence with publishers series includes many letters between Leah Bodine Drake and the magazine and book industry. She often wrote reviews of works for national and local newspapers and magazines which is reflected in the communication. Also she petitioned for her poetry to be published which is also addressed in the letters of the series.
1950-1960
1964 July-October
1964 November-December
Miscellaneous, 1935-1968
Scope and Contents
The miscellaneous series includes various writings by and about Leah Bodine Drake, as well as, photographs. Many articles and poems were published by Drake and clippings of some are included in the series. There are two copies of the 1959 Marquis' Who's Who which recognized Drake as a leading United States poetess. A copy of her final manuscript which was never published is included in the series. Some photographs of Drake, her family and friends from around the southern united states are apart of the series. Finally, the series contains a paper written on the life and work of Leah Bodine Drake by an english student at the University of West Virginia.
Published poems clippings, 1935-1959
The Supplement to Who's Who, 1959 March-May
This Tilting Dust manuscript, circa 1955
Multiple Clay: new and selected poems manuscript, 1964
Photographs, 1914-1947
"Leah Bodine Drake": paper written by Edelene Wood at University of West Virginia, 1968 April 10
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Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.
Table of Contents
You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.
If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.
UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Schedule an appointment here.
Researchers must have an SCRC Researcher Account to request materials. View account set-up and use instructions here.
Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.
Requests
No items have been requested.
You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.
If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.
