Rare Books Collection at the Center for Archival Collections: Poetry (Special Collections B)

The Frederick F. and Thomas F. Eckman Memorial Collection (also known as Special Collections B) consists of poetry books and periodicals with a strong emphasis on mid-twentieth century poetry and criticism. Collected by retired BGSU English professor Frederick F. Eckman in memory of his son Thomas, Eckman’s personal library is the basis for the collection and reflects both his academic and personal interests.

The addition of the Robert Peters (1992 and later additions) and Carol Berge Collections (1993+) brought the focus to include late twentieth century American poetry and expanded coverage to include a wider range of English-speaking and foreign poets. 

Overall Special Collections B contains 9,000+ items. Notable authors in the collection include: Maya Angelou, Carol Berge, Gwendolyn Brooks, Charles Bukowski,  Kirby Congdon, Billy Collins, Robert Creeley, Judson Crews, E.E. cummings, James Dickey, Ray Di Palma, Edward Dorn, Rita Dove, Robert Duncan, Frederick Eckman, Lawrence Durell, T.S. Eliot, Theodore Enslin, Clayton Eshleman, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Robert Frost, Federico Garcia Lorca, Allen Ginsberg, Thom Gunn, H.D., Donald Hall, Anselm Hollo, Ted Hughes, Kenneth Koch, James Laughlin, Denise Levertov, D.A. Levy, Lyn Lifshin, Robert Lowell, Paul Mariah, Michael McClure, Thomas Merton, W.S. Merwin, Josephine Miles, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Marianne Moore, Pablo Neruda, Charles Olson, Kenneth Patchen, Robert Peters, Sylvia Plath, Ezra Pound, Margaret Randall, Kenneth Rexroth, Rainer Maria Rilke, Jerome Rothenberg, Siegfried Sassoon, Laurel Speer, Dylan Thomas, Diane Wakoski, William Carlos Williams, and James Wright,  among others.