Millay, Edna St. Vincent, 1892-1950

Poet and author.

From the description of Edna St. Vincent Millay papers, 1832-1992 (bulk 1900-1950). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 71066360

American poet.

From the description of ALS : Camden, Maine, to Eleanor Morgan Patterson, 1916 June 15. (Rosenbach Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122442927

From the description of Photograph of Edna St. Vincent Millay [manuscript], 1920 August. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 647812089

From the description of Photograph of Edna St. Vincent Millay [manuscript], n.d. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 647846025

From the description of Papers, 1928-1941. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122514866

American poet; lived in Camden, Me., and Austerlitz. N.Y.; m. Eugen Jan Boussevain.

From the description of Edna St. Vincent Millay collection, 1906-1999. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70973748

Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892-October 19, 1950) was an American lyrical poet and playwright and the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Millay was born in Rockland, Maine to Cora Lounella, a nurse, and Henry Tollman Millay, a schoolteacher who would later become superintendent of schools. Millay's career and celebrity began in 1912 when she entered her poem "Renascence" into a poetry contest in The Lyric Year. The poem was so widely considered the best submission, that when it was ultimately placed fourth, it was quite the scandal for which Millay received much publicity. Her best-known poem might be "First Fig" from A Few Figs from Thistles (first published in 1920).

From the description of Letter, March 24, 1954 (Johns Hopkins University). WorldCat record id: 611021040

Edna St. Vincent Millay was an American poet and essayist.

From the description of Edna St. Vincent Millay collection of papers, 1904-1974 bulk (1909-1956). (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 122596781

From the guide to the Edna St. Vincent Millay collection of papers, 1904-1974, 1909-1956, (The New York Public Library. Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature.)

Poet and playwright Edna St. Vincent Millay was born in Rockland, Maine, on February 22, 1892. Her mother, Cora, raised her three daughters on her own after asking her husband to leave the family home in 1899. Cora encouraged her girls to be ambitious and self-sufficient, teaching them an appreciation of music and literature from an early age. In 1912, at her mother's urging, Millay entered her poem "Renascence" into a contest: she won fourth place and publication in The Lyric Year, bringing her immediate acclaim and a scholarship to Vassar. There, she continued to write poetry and became involved in the theater. In 1917, the year of her graduation, Millay published her first book, Renascence and Other Poems. Millay, whose friends called her "Vincent," then moved to New York's Greenwich Village, where she led a notoriously Bohemian life. In 1923 her fourth volume of poems, The Harp Weaver, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Edna St. Vincent Millay died in 1950.

From the description of Papers, 1912-1922. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 55747940

Author and poet.

From the description of Edna St. Vincent Millay collection, 1919-2001 (bulk 1928-1985). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 71131298

Poet, feminist.

Vassar College Class of 1917.

From the description of Edna St. Vincent Millay papers, 1892-1988. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 51576557

Poet, feminist.

Vassar College Class of 1917.

From the description of Papers, [ca. 1913]-1959. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 155519488

Biographical Note

• 1892, Feb. 22: Born, Rockland, Maine
• 1909: Graduated from high school, Camden, Maine
• 1912: “Renascence,” published in The Lyric Year, One Hundred Poems. New York: Mitchell Kennerley
• 1913: Attended Barnard College, New York, N.Y.
• 1917: Graduated, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Moved to Greenwich Village, New York, N.Y. Published Renascence, and Other Poems. New York: Mitchell Kennerley
• 1917 - 1920 : Associated with Provincetown Theatre as actor and playwright Published poetry in magazines and newspapers
• 1920: Published A Few Figs from Thistles: Poems and Four Sonnets. New York: Frank Shay Published Aria da Capo, A Play in One Act. [London]; separate edition published in New York by Mitchell Kennerley, 1921
• 1921: Published Second April. New York: Mitchell Kennerley Published Two Slatterns and a King; A Moral Interlude. Cincinnati: Stewart Kidd Co. Published The Lamp and the Bell: A Drama in Five Acts. New York: Harper & Brothers
• 1921 - 1923 : Wrote for Vanity Fair under pseudonym Nancy Boyd while residing in Paris, France; traveled throughout Europe
• 1922: Published The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver. New York: Frank Shay
• 1923: Published The Harp-Weaver and Other Poems. New York: Harper & Brothers
• 1923: Awarded Pulitzer Prize for poetry; first woman to receive the prize Married Eugen Boissevain (died 1949)
• 1924: Published Distressing Dialogues under pseudonym Nancy Boyd. New York: Harper & Brothers
• 1925: Moved to “Steepletop” farm, Austerlitz, N.Y.
• 1927: Debut of The King's Henchmen opera, Metropolitan Opera House, New York, N.Y. Published The King's Henchmen: A Play in Three Acts. New York: Harper & Brothers Published Fear in a pamphlet distributed by the Sacco-Vanzetti National League
• 1928: Published The Buck in the Snow, and Other Poems. New York: Harper & Brothers
• 1929: Published Edna St. Vincent Millay's Poems Selected for Young People. New York: Harper & Brothers
• 1931: Published Fatal Interview, Sonnets. New York: Harper & Brothers
• 1932: Published The Princess Marries the Page, A Play in One Act. New York: Harper & Brothers
• 1934: Published Wine from These Grapes. New York: Harper & Brothers
• 1936: Published with George Dillon Flowers of Evil, from the French of Charles Baudelaire. New York: Harper & Brothers
• 1937: Published Conversation at Midnight. New York: Harper & Brothers
• 1939: Published Huntsman, What Quarry? New York: Harper & Brothers
• 1940: Published Make Bright the Arrows; 1940 Notebook. New York: Harper & Brothers Elected to American Academy of Arts and Letters
• 1941: Published Collected Sonnets of Edna St. Vincent Millay. New York: Harper & Brothers
• 1943: Published Collected Lyrics of Edna St. Vincent Millay. New York: Harper & Brothers
• 1950, Oct. 19: Died, Austerlitz, N.Y.
• 1950: Norma Millay (sister, died 1986) named literary executor of Millay's estate and inheritor of “Steepletop” farm
• 1952: Posthumous publication of Letters, edited by Allan Ross Macdougall in cooperation with Norma Millay. New York: Harper
• 1954: Posthumous publication of Mine the Harvest, compiled by Norma Millay. New York: Harper
• 1959: Posthumous publication of Collected Poems, edited by Norma Millay. New York: Harper

From the guide to the Edna St. Vincent Millay Papers, 1832-1992, (bulk 1900-1950), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)

Biographical Note

• 1892, Feb. 22: Born, Rockland, Maine
• 1912: Published “Renascence,” in The Lyric Year, One Hundred Poems. New York: Mitchell Kennerley
• 1913: Attended Barnard College, New York, N.Y.
• 1917: Graduated, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Published Renascence, and Other Poems. New York: Mitchell Kennerley
• 1917 - 1920 : Published poetry in magazines and newspapers
• 1923: Awarded Pulitzer Prize for Poetry Married Eugen Boissevain (died 1949)
• 1925: Moved to “Steepletop” farm, Austerlitz, N.Y.
• 1927: Debut of The King's Henchmen opera, Metropolitan Opera House, New York, N.Y. Published The King's Henchmen: A Play in Three Acts. New York: Harper & Brothers
• 1931: Published Fatal Interview, Sonnets. New York: Harper & Brothers
• 1936: Published with George Dillon Flowers of Evil, from the French of Charles Baudelaire. New York: Harper & Brothers
• 1940: Elected to American Academy of Arts and Letters
• 1950, Oct. 19: Died, Austerlitz, N.Y.
• 1950: Norma Millay (sister, died 1986) named literary executor of Millay's estate and inheritor of “Steepletop” farm
• 1952: Posthumous publication of Letters, edited by Allan Ross Macdougall in cooperation with Norma Millay. New York: Harper
• 1954: Posthumous publication of Mine the Harvest, compiled by Norma Millay. New York: Harper
• 1959: Posthumous publication of Collected Poems, edited by Norma Millay. New York: Harper

From the guide to the Edna St. Vincent Millay Collection, 1919-2001, (bulk 1928-1985), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)

Edna St. Vincent Millay, author, was born February 22, 1892. In 1917 her first volume of poetry was published. Her professional association with theater began when she performed with the Provincetown Playhouse. She later appeared in the first production of the Theatre Guild. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for The Harp Weaver and Other Poems, and that same year married Eugen [also known as Ugin or Eugene] Boissevain. In her thirty-four year career she produced six plays, an opera libretto, and eleven volumes containing 500 poems. She died on October 19, 1950.

During the early 1930's, Millay and Boissevain became friends with Emla La Branche and her husband George after having been neighbors and acquaintances for some time. George Michel Lucien La Branche (also known as G.M.L. La Branche) was the author of books on fly fishing. Emla La Branche began collecting correspondence received from Ms. Millay and Mr. Boissevain as early as 1926. Particularly during and after World War II, Mrs. La Branche also received correspondence from various relatives of Mr. Boissevain, who was born in the Netherlands. After St. Vincent Millay's death, Emla La Branche actively participated in the organization of memorials to the poet, and in the efforts to collect and preserve her letters and memoirs.

From the guide to the Correspondence with Edna St. Vincent Millay and Eugen Boissevain, 1926-1950, (The New York Public Library. Billy Rose Theatre Division.)