"Lost '70s Novel"

Item

Merrill, James. 1970. “‘Lost ’70s Novel’”. Series_IV_Manuscripts, James Merrill: Life and Archive, accessed February 11, 2026, https://digitalexhibits.library.wustl.edu/s/james-merrill-life-and-archive/item/38530

Title: "Lost '70s Novel"
Description: These are the only surviving remnants of James Merrill's attempted Ouija board novel, in a folder labeled "Lost 70's Novel," in Merrill's hand. After losing two different prose drafts of the novel, he decided to write a verse narrative instead, which became "The Book of Ephraim."
Subject: Merrill, James, 1926-1995
Creator: Merrill, James
Source: James Merrill Papers (MSS083) - Box 145, Folder 3828
Relation: Series_IV_Manuscripts; Exhibit Cases 7-8: Other World; James Merrill: Life and Art, pp. 532, 541; See also Merrill's November 27, 1973 letter to Tony Parigory and draft of "The Will."
Format: 16 leaves. Recto.; 16 jpegs. 600 ppi.
Language: English
Type: Manuscript
Identifier: Lost_'70s_Novel-001.jpg
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Date: Circa 1970s
Rights Holder: Washington University in St. Louis
Rights: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Item sets: Merrill; Merrill Life Archive

Site pages: The Other World - Manuscripts

Media: Lost_'70s_Novel-001.jpg; Lost_'70s_Novel-002.jpg; Lost_'70s_Novel-003.jpg; Lost_'70s_Novel-004.jpg; Lost_'70s_Novel-005.jpg; Lost_'70s_Novel-006.jpg; Lost_'70s_Novel-007.jpg; Lost_'70s_Novel-008.jpg; Lost_'70s_Novel-009.jpg; Lost_'70s_Novel-010.jpg; Lost_'70s_Novel-011.jpg; Lost_'70s_Novel-012.jpg; Lost_'70s_Novel-013.jpg; Lost_'70s_Novel-014.jpg; Lost_'70s_Novel-015.jpg; Lost_'70s_Novel-016.jpg