Bollingen Foundation
Encyclopedia
The Bollingen Foundation was an educational foundation set up along the lines of a university press in 1945. It was named for Bollingen Tower
, Carl Jung's
country home in Bollingen, Switzerland. Funding was provided by Paul Mellon
and his wife Mary Conover Mellon. The Foundation became inactive in 1968.
Initially the foundation was dedicated to the dissemination of Jung's work, which was a particular interest of Mary Conover Mellon. The Bollingen Series of books that it sponsored now includes more than 250 related volumes. The Bollingen Foundation also awarded more than 300 fellowships. These fellowships were an important, continuing source of funding for poets like Alexis Leger and Marianne Moore
, scientists like Károly Kerényi and artists like Isamu Noguchi
, among many others. The Foundation also sponsored the A.W. Mellon Lectures at the National Gallery of Art
.
In 1948, the foundation donated $10,000 to the Library of Congress
to be used toward a $1000 Bollingen Prize
for the best poetry each year. The Library of Congress fellows, who in that year included T. S. Eliot
, W. H. Auden
and Conrad Aiken
, gave the 1949 prize to Ezra Pound
for his 1948 Pisan Cantos. Their choice was highly controversial, in particular because of Pound's Fascist and anti-Semitic politics. Following the publication of two highly negative articles by Robert Hillyer
in the Saturday Review of Literature, the United States Congress passed a resolution that effectively discontinued the involvement of the Library of Congress with the prize. The remaining funds were returned to the Foundation. In 1950, the Bollingen Prize
was continued under the auspices of the Yale University
Library, which awarded the 1950 prize to Wallace Stevens
.
In 1968, the Foundation became inactive. It was largely subsumed into the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
, which continued funding of the Bollingen Prize. The Bollingen Series was given to Princeton University Press
to carry on and complete. Over its lifetime, the Bollingen Foundation had expended about $20 million. As Thomas Bender has written,
Bollingen Tower
Bollingen Tower is a structure built by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, in appearance a small castle with several towers, located in Bollingen, on the shore of the Obersee basin of Lake Zürich, canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland....
, Carl Jung's
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
country home in Bollingen, Switzerland. Funding was provided by Paul Mellon
Paul Mellon
Paul Mellon KBE was an American philanthropist, thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder. He is one of only five people ever designated an "Exemplar of Racing" by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame...
and his wife Mary Conover Mellon. The Foundation became inactive in 1968.
Initially the foundation was dedicated to the dissemination of Jung's work, which was a particular interest of Mary Conover Mellon. The Bollingen Series of books that it sponsored now includes more than 250 related volumes. The Bollingen Foundation also awarded more than 300 fellowships. These fellowships were an important, continuing source of funding for poets like Alexis Leger and Marianne Moore
Marianne Moore
Marianne Moore was an American Modernist poet and writer noted for her irony and wit.- Life :Moore was born in Kirkwood, Missouri, in the manse of the Presbyterian church where her maternal grandfather, John Riddle Warner, served as pastor. She was the daughter of mechanical engineer and inventor...
, scientists like Károly Kerényi and artists like Isamu Noguchi
Isamu Noguchi
was a prominent Japanese American artist and landscape architect whose artistic career spanned six decades, from the 1920s onward. Known for his sculpture and public works, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions, and several mass-produced lamps and furniture pieces,...
, among many others. The Foundation also sponsored the A.W. Mellon Lectures at the National Gallery of Art
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
.
In 1948, the foundation donated $10,000 to the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
to be used toward a $1000 Bollingen Prize
Bollingen Prize
The Bollingen Prize for Poetry, which is currently awarded every two years by Beinecke Library of Yale University, is a literary honor bestowed on an American poet in recognition of the best book of new verse within the last two years, or for lifetime achievement.-Inception and controversy:The...
for the best poetry each year. The Library of Congress fellows, who in that year included T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
, W. H. Auden
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden , who published as W. H. Auden, was an Anglo-American poet,The first definition of "Anglo-American" in the OED is: "Of, belonging to, or involving both England and America." See also the definition "English in origin or birth, American by settlement or citizenship" in See also...
and Conrad Aiken
Conrad Aiken
Conrad Potter Aiken was an American novelist and poet, whose work includes poetry, short stories, novels, a play and an autobiography.-Early years:...
, gave the 1949 prize to Ezra Pound
Ezra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound was an American expatriate poet and critic and a major figure in the early modernist movement in poetry...
for his 1948 Pisan Cantos. Their choice was highly controversial, in particular because of Pound's Fascist and anti-Semitic politics. Following the publication of two highly negative articles by Robert Hillyer
Robert Hillyer
Robert Silliman Hillyer was an American poet.-Life:He was born in East Orange, New Jersey. He attended Kent School in Kent, Connecticut and graduated from Harvard in 1917, after which he went to France and volunteered with the S.S.U. 60 of the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps serving the Allied...
in the Saturday Review of Literature, the United States Congress passed a resolution that effectively discontinued the involvement of the Library of Congress with the prize. The remaining funds were returned to the Foundation. In 1950, the Bollingen Prize
Bollingen Prize
The Bollingen Prize for Poetry, which is currently awarded every two years by Beinecke Library of Yale University, is a literary honor bestowed on an American poet in recognition of the best book of new verse within the last two years, or for lifetime achievement.-Inception and controversy:The...
was continued under the auspices of the Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
Library, which awarded the 1950 prize to Wallace Stevens
Wallace Stevens
Wallace Stevens was an American Modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as a lawyer for the Hartford insurance company in Connecticut.His best-known poems include "Anecdote of the Jar",...
.
In 1968, the Foundation became inactive. It was largely subsumed into the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York City and Princeton, New Jersey in the United States, is a private foundation with five core areas of interest, endowed with wealth accumulated by the late Andrew W. Mellon of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the product of the 1969...
, which continued funding of the Bollingen Prize. The Bollingen Series was given to Princeton University Press
Princeton University Press
-Further reading:* "". Artforum International, 2005.-External links:* * * * *...
to carry on and complete. Over its lifetime, the Bollingen Foundation had expended about $20 million. As Thomas Bender has written,