Consists of 54 linear ft. (36 record storage boxes) of primarily letters, but also contains printed ephemera, mail art, manuscripts, performance instructions, compositions, artists' books, drawings, and photographs of individuals, performance, and art work. Types of correspondence include letters about intimate personal matters, the Fluxus movement, performances, concrete and pattern poetry, and music. Files are arranged alphabetically by correspondent with miscellaneous correspondence at the end of each alpha letter. Notable correspondents are: Jeremy Adler, Bengt Af Klintberg, Eric Andersen, John Armleder, Ay-O, Mats B., Jerry Benjamin, Don Boyd, George Brecht, John Cage, Francesco Conz, Geoffrey Cook, Michael Cooper, Philip Corner, Charles Doria, Bill Fetterman, Robert Filliou, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Peter Frank, Larry and Lois Freifeld, Ken Friedman, Al Hansen, Ana Hatherly, Jon Held, Jr., Geoffrey Hendricks, Jan Herman, Judith Hoffberg, Per Hovdenakk, Joseph W. Huber, Alice Hutchins, Gerhard Jaschke, Ray Johnson, Christine Jones, Jacques Juin, Allan Kaprow, Karl Kempton, Alison Knowles, Richard Kostelanetz, Toby MacClennan, Jackson Mac Low, Dietrich Mahlow, J.O. Mallander, Richard Martel, Steve McCaffery, Bruce McPherson, Thomas Mew, Tom Meyer, Enzo Minarelli, Barbara Moore, Robert Moran, Michael Morris, Charles Morrow, George Myers, Billy Name, Maurizio Nannucci, Opal Nations, bp Nichol, Phil Nurenberg, Pauline Oliveros, Clemente Padín, Ben Patterson, Knud Pedersen, Robert Peters, Michael Joseph Phillips, Carlo Pittore, Harry Polkinhorn, Bern Porter, Robert Rehfeldt, Clive Robertson, Ernest Robson, Jerome Rothenberg, Piotr Rypson, Marvin Sackner, Sarenco, Carolee Schneeman, Klaus Schöning, Gilbert Silverman, Hanns Sohm, Daniel Spoerri, Sherry Steiner, Florence Tarlow, Endre Tót, Gábor Tóth, Ben Vautier, Wolf Vostell, Larry Wendt, Bob Wickenden, Martha Wilson and Franklin Furnace, Emmett Williams, Eugene Williams, Jonathan Williams, Arlene Zekowski. Material and correspondence for performances (often referred to as "gigs") is generally filed alphabetically by city or institution.
Five boxes of manuscripts of poetry, essays and music compositions by Higgins with foul matter and some correspondence with editors, arranged alphabetically by title. The manuscripts are accompanied by notes regarding where Higgins submitted them for publication and where they were published. About 10% of the manuscripts have several versions and notes regarding composition. In some cases, Series III should be consulted for other manuscript versions and full production material. Rejected manuscripts, filed alphabetically in box 41, are works by Higgins that he thought unworthy of publication. Many of these files contain rewrites, illustrating Higgins attempt to correct or salvage the work. This series also includes a partial set of Something Else Newsletters and two personal journals, 1966, 1973, which include notes and versions for poems and other works.
Contains 27 boxes of production material in the form of correspondence, manuscripts, proofs, galleys, repros, dummies, drawings, photographs and negatives for illustrations (especially for Of Celebration of Morning and Variations on a Natural Theme), and jacket and cover designs, organized chronologically by publication date. Most notably documented are Of Celebration of Morning, 1980, Pattern Poetry: a Guide to an Unknown Literature, 1987, and the translation of Giordano Bruno's On the Composition of Images, Signs and Ideas (1591), 1991. Series II should be consulted simultaneously for different versions of manuscripts, as well as some production material. Financial papers relating to Something Else Press (1972-74) and Printed Editions (1978-85) can be found here.
Consists of two boxes of miscellaneous personal items, such as telephone logs, calendars and correspondence about the John W. Higgins Trust and Higgins' financial portfolio.
Eleven boxes of research and study materials accumulated by Higgins in preparation for his book Pattern Poetry: Guide to an Unknown Literature, 1987, a checklist and bibliography of pattern poems before 1900. The series is divided into two subseries, VA. Research Materials and VB. Correspondence. See Series III for book production material.
Contains 9 boxes of mostly xeroxes of monographs and articles by pattern poets and scholars in the field, with some annotations, bibliographic and otherwise, by Higgins and colleagues. It also contains photos, transparencies and xeroxes of text reproductions with coordinating captions; repros; ms versions given to scholars for proofing, most with annotations and corrections; and some correspondence about pattern poetry searches; microfilm and permissions requests; and index cards used by Higgins for bibliographic notations. Organization follows closely that of the book, which is by language. Separate poet/author files exist for those with substantial material, and are filed alphabetically within the language. Consult Appendix A for microfilm reels, which Higgins acquired from various libraries and institutions.
Two boxes of correspondence between Higgins and scholars, filed alphabetically by correspondent. Types of letters include inquiries, search statuses, theoretical descriptions and dialogues about pattern poems. Notable correspondents are: Jeremy Adler, Willard Bohm, Geoffrey Cook, Erik Dal, Charles Doria, Ulrich Ernst, Bill Fetterman, Herbert Franke, Ana Hatherly, Gerald Janecek, Kalanath Jha, Istvan Kilián, Karl Otto, Max Patrick, Piotr Rypson, David Seaman, Harold Segel. Bulk of correspondence is between 1983-87 when Higgins intensively conducted his research and book production activities. Post-1987 dates usually contain references to loose ends and poems later discovered, which were thought to be of interest to Higgins and others. See also Series I individual files for more correspondence relating to pattern poetry.