Title at top of page: Bliss Carman fonds

Dates of material: [1921?]-1928

Physical description:
13 cm of textual records
8 photographs: b&w

Biographical sketch:
William Bliss Carman (1861-1929) was an editor, essayist and poet. He was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, the son of William Carman and Sophia Mary Bliss. In 1908 he met Madeleine Galbraith at a reception following her appearance in a play at Hart House, University of Toronto. She later lived in New York, studied acting and toured with several companies. He died in New Canaan, Connecticut.

Carman went to Collegiate Grammar School in Fredericton with his cousin Charles G.D. Roberts. He graduated from the University of New Brunswick in 1881 after which he attended Edinburgh University in Scotland for two years. In 1883 he returned to Fredericton where he taught at Collegiate Grammar School and read law, receiving an M.A. in 1884. From 1886 to 1888 he did post graduate work in history and philosophy at Harvard. Subsequently, he was employed on the editorial staffs of various literary publications in New York, Chicago and Boston, including The Atlantic, Cosmopolitan, Current Literature, The Chapbook, The Independent, Literary World, and The Outlook.

In 1896 Carman met Dr. Morris Lee King and his wife, Mary Perry King. He collaborated with Mrs. King on The Making of Personality (1908) and on several other books, brochures, masques and interpretive dances. In 1908 he moved to New Canaan, Connecticut, near the King's estate, where he devoted the later years of his life solely to writing poetry.

In 1925 Carman was made Corresponding Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 1906 he was awarded an LL.D. by the University of New Brunswick, and in 1928 he received the Lorne Pierce Gold Medal from the Royal Society of Canada. Posthumously, he received a medal from the Poetry Society of America.
Carman's publications include: Poetry: Low Tide on Grand Pré (1893), Behind the Arras: a Book of the Unseen (1894), Songs from Vagabondia (1894-1900), A Sea Mark (1895), From the Book of Myths (1902), The Pipes of Pan (1902-1905), The Green Book of the Bards (1903), Songs of the Sea Children (1904), Collected Poems (1904), The World's Best Poetry (1904), Sappho (1905), Echoes from Vagabondia (1912). Masques: Daughters of Dawn (1913), Earth Deities and other Masques (1914), Later Poems (1922), Wild Garden (1929), The Music of Earth (1931). Essays and other works of non-fiction: The Kinship of Nature (1903), The Poetry of Life (1904), The Making of Personality (1908), Talks on Poetry and Life (1926), The Oxford Book of American Verse (1927).

See: Canadian Encyclopedia, 1985, p. 291.
Further biographical information is available through Literataure Online.
Durable url: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2003&xri:pqil:res_ver=0.2&res_id=xri:lion-us&rft_id=xri:lion:ft:ref:BIO002620:0

Custodial history
The custodial history of the material acquired from F.H. Galbraith and William Onions is unknown. The typewritten manuscript acquired from Ann Ballard was presented to her grandfather, D'Alton Coleman, vice president of CPR Western Lines by the Hon. W.C. Nichol, Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia in 1922. How it came to be in his possession is unknown.

Scope and content
The fonds consists of Bliss Carman's records pertaining to his activities as a poet and to his personal life. The fonds includes correspondence with Madelaine Galbraith, poems, photographs, and other material.

Note(s):
Source of supplied title proper
Title based on contents of the fonds.

Physical description
The fonds is stored in 1 box.

Immediate source of acquisition
Acquired from Mrs. F.H. Galbraith, a sister of Madelaine Galbraith, with the exception of the draft of Green Fire (file 75a) and photographs (file 82) that were acquired from William Onions at an unknown date, and the typewritten manuscript (file 86), which was acquired from Ann Ballard in 2002. The material in files 80, 81 and 83-85 was acquired from an unknown source.

Language of material
English

Access conditions
Restrictions on access: No restrictions on access.

Finding aids
File list available

Associated material
Items relating to Madelaine Galbraith may be found among the Hart House records held at the University of Toronto Archives.
National Archives of Canada, Ottawa: Bliss Carman fonds (reference number: R4260-0-8-E; was: MG29-D46).
New Brunswick Museum Archives and Research Library, Saint John: Bliss Carman collection (reference number: ID1755).

Accruals
No further accruals are expected.

Related groups of records in different fonds
Some of Carman's rare broadsides, printed Christmas cards and other items are held in the Canadiana Collection.

Access points
Provenance access points: Carman, Bliss, 1861-1929