Max Blechman Papers
Call Number
Dates
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
Max Belchman is an anarchist philosopher, author and editor. Drunken Boat was an anarchist journal edited by Blechman. Blechman also produced the anarcho-green journal SURGE. The collection contains correspondence, writings, ephemera and graphics relating to Drunken Boat, to Max Blechman's various activities, to the journal SURGE, and to Students Urging Resistance and Green Escalation.
Biographical Note
Max Blechman (1971-), the editor of Drunken Boat, was born in New York City. He attended the Putney boarding school in Putney Vermont, received his BA at Eugene Lang College/New School for Social Research in 1994, and in that year moved to France and studied at the Sorbonne where he was awarded two degrees in philosophy. He is currently completing a Ph.D thesis on Rousseau at the Center for Research on Modern European Philosophy at Kingston University in the UK. His Drunken Boat publications are Drunken Boat: An Anarchist Journal of Literature and the Visual Arts (1991), Drunken Boat: Art, Rebellion, Anarchy (1994) and Revolutionary Romanticism: A Drunken Boat Anthology (1999). He has since published essays in political philosophy, aesthetics and utopia, mostly in the French press, twice guest-edited with Michael Lowy the French philosophical and literary journal, Europe, and recently translated and introduced Miguel Abensour's Democracy Against the State: Marx and the Machiavellian Moment (2011).
Drunken Boat appeared in the three book-length volumes listed above. In addition to Blechman, contributors included Paul Avrich, Hakim Bey, Diane Di Prima, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Judith Malina, Gary Snyder, and George Woodcock. SURGE was an anarcho-green periodical published by students of the Putney Boarding School in Putney, Vermont. There was one published issue and one unpublished issue. SURGE was also the acronym for two organizations, Students Urging Realism Growth and Evolution, which later became Students Urging Resistance and Green Escalation.
Arrangement
Arranged in two series: I, Drunken Boat and Max Blechman's Activities; and II, SURGE. Each is arranged alphabetically.
Scope and Contents
Series I, Drunken Boat and Max Blechman's Activities, contains correspondence, writings, graphics, ephemera and materials relating to this short-lived anarchist arts-related periodical, New York based but international in scope, and to the various activities of its editor, Max Blechman. Series II, SURGE, contains ephemera and other materials relating to this also short-lived anarcho-green periodical and to Students Urging Resistance and Green Escalation. This is a rich collection for the study of late twentieth century and Beat Generation anarchism, especially in relation to the arts. Series III consists of a flyer and a poster.
Subjects
Organizations
People
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions
Conditions Governing Use
This collection is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use materials in the collection in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Max Blechman Papers; TAM 567; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The provenance of this collection is unknown, although materials appear to have been mailed to the Tamiment Library from Chicago on October 16, 2011. The accession numbers associated with this collection are 2011.009 and 2023.015.
Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures
Audiovisual materials have not been preserved and may not be available to researchers. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596 with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Decisions concerning the provenance, arrangment, and description of this collection before 2023 are unknown. An early note from an archivist suggests that the donor provided a detailed, partial item-level inventory, and that the original order was modified, chiefly by moving some of the items originally listed under SURGE to the first series, Drunken Boat and Max Blechman's Activities. In 2023, rolled posters were identified in a staff member's office, flattened by conservators, and intellectually incorporated into the collection as Series III.
Revisions to this Guide
Repository
Series I: Drunken Boat and Max Blechman's Activities
Scope and Content Note
Series I, Drunken Boat, contains Max Blechman's correspondence, mostly incoming and most related to Drunken Boat, principally to issues one and two, Blechman's writings published and unpublished, material in English and Frensh relating to his 1994 arrest in Paris for allegedly throwing stones during a demonstration, photocopies of writings by others by and about other anarchists, and anarchist printed ephemera and graphics. Additional Drunken Boat materials include submissions, letterhead, logos, artwork, and partial mock-ups of issues. There are also several files on the anarcho punk music group CRASS (Great Britain). Correspondence (most pertaining to Drunken Boat) or authors include: Paul Avrich, Hakim Bey, Murray Bookchin, Cornelius Castoriadis (Includes transcript of an interview), Diane Di Prima, Lawrence Ferlinghetti (from City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco), Morgan Gibson, Daniel Guerin, Jean-Luc Godard (interview),Rockwell Kent, Ken Knabb, Michael Lowy, Jackson MacLow, Amy Meselson, Dachine Rainier, Kenneth Rexroth, Gary Snyder and George Woodcock.
"Act Like Nothing's Wrong, Winston Smith-Last Gasp of San Francisco", 1990, 1994, inclusive
Anarchism, Articles, Photocopies, 1979-1984, undated, inclusive
Anarchist Archives Project, 1994, inclusive
Anarchist Related Brief Printed Ephemera, undated
Anarchist Related Fliers, 1994, undated, inclusive
Anarchist Related Serials, 1919, 1950-1995, inclusive
Avrich, Paul: Letters to Max Blechman, 1991-1992, inclusive
Avrich, Paul: Papers at the Library of Congress: Max Blechman Employment, 1994, inclusive
Avrich, Paul: Writings, 1993, undated, inclusive
Beck, Julia: Diary Entries (typed), 1952, inclusive
Benno, Benjamin: A Retrospective Exhibition, 1988, inclusive
Bey, Hakim: "Storm Demon" (Who Was B. Traven?), undated
Black, Bob: Letter to Max Blechman, 1992, inclusive
Black, Bob: Letters, 1993, inclusive
"The Black Freighter" [comic strip], Words: Bertolt Brecht, Illustration: Cliff Harper, 1979, inclusive
Blanchard, Daniel: Letter to Max Blechman (with photo of Drunken Boat), 1992, 1993, inclusive
Blechman, Max: Correspondence, Submissions, A-K, 1992-1993, inclusive
Blechman, Max: Correspondence, Submissions, L-Z, 1992-1993, inclusive
Blechman, Max, Drunken Boat Notebook, undated
Blechman, Max: Drunken Boat, 2nd Issue as Class Project (New School, New York City), 1992, inclusive
Blechman, Max: Letters from Miscellaneous Individuals, 1990-1992, inclusive
Blechman,Max: Letters to Anonymous Individuals, undated
Blechman, Max: Letters to, A-B, 1991-1994, inclusive
Blechman, Max: Letters to, C-D, 1991-1994, inclusive
Blechman, Max: Letters to, E-G, 1991-1994, inclusive
Blechman, Max: Letters to, H-I, 1991-1994, inclusive
Blechman, Max: Letters to, J-L, 1991-1994, inclusive
Blechman, Max: Letters to, M, 1991-1994, inclusive
Blechman, Max: Letters to, N-R, 1991-1994, inclusive
Blechman, Max: Letters to, S-Z, 1991-1994, inclusive
Blechman, Max: Notes About Interview with Alan Ginsburg, undated
Blechman, Max: Paris Arrest, English Language Materials, Correspondence and Writings, 1994-1995, inclusive
Blechman, Max: Paris Arrest, English Language Materials: Notebook and Clippings, 1994, inclusive
Blechman, Max: Paris Arrest, French Language Materials: Correspondence and Articles, 1994-1996, inclusive
Blechman, Max: Paris Arrest, French Language Materials: Periodicals, 1994, inclusive
Blechman, Max: Writings (Handwritten), undated
Blechman, Max: Writings, Titled: "Anarchos: Arendt's Aesthetics of Action", undated
Blechman, Max, Writings, Titled: "For the Total Man: Schiller and Marx's Philosophy of Self-Realization", undated
Blechman, Max, Writings, Titled: "The Freedom to Be Before God Versus the Absolute Freedom of Being: Kierkegaard's Critique of Fichte", undated
Blechman, Max, Writings, Titled: "From Anarchism to Fascism: Max Weber's Influence on the Political and Methodological Developement of Robert Michels", May 28 1992, inclusive
Blechman, Max, Writings, Titled: "Idealism versus Dogmatism", undated
Blechman, Max, Writings, Titled: "In Defense of Abstract Expressionism", undated
Blechman, Max, Writings, Titled: "Non-Servism: Portrait of the Anarchist as a Young Man", 1991, inclusive
Blechman, Max, Writings, Titled: "On the Very Idea of a Subversive Art History", 1992, inclusive
Blechman, Max, Writings, Titled: "Rebellion, Spontaneity, and the Poetry of the Moment", undated
Blechman, Max, Writings, Titled: "The Spirit of Freedom: A Critique of Aquinas' Model for Salvation", undated
Blechman, Max, Writings, "Titled: The Swollen Trunk of Time: A Gnostic Drama Featuring Artaud", undated
Blechman, Max, Writings, Titled: "Toward an Aesthetic of Self-Determination: The Art of Camus and Bataille", undated
Blechman, Max, Writings, Titled: "Toward an Anarchist Aesthetic", undated
Blechman, Max, Writings, Untitled, 1993, undated, inclusive
Bookchin, Murray: Interview, undated
Bookchin, Murray: H-bomb Writings and Bibliography, 1950s, 1993, inclusive
Cahill, Thomas: Letter to Max Blechman, 1993, inclusive
Cain, Seamas: (B)lackthorn [Anarchist] Theater [Duluth, MN], 1979, 1993, inclusive
Carburetor Records: Vinyl Records 6.5 Game Implications / Home Problems; Letters to Drunken Boat, 1994, inclusive
Castoriadis, Cornelius: Letter to Max Blechman, 1996, 1999, inclusive
Cohen, Ira: Letter to Max Blechman, 1993, inclusive
CRASS (anarcho punk music group, Great Britain), folder 1 of 2, 1980s, inclusive
CRASS (anarcho punk music group, Great Britain), folder 2 of 2, 1980s, inclusive
CRASS: International Anthem, 1977, inclusive
CRASS: Photographs, 1977, inclusive
Deepsix Superstition, 1992, inclusive
Des Roches, Kay Unruh: "The Sea: Anarchy as Order", undated
Di Prima, Diane: Correspondence with Max Blechman, 1993-1994, inclusive
Drunken Boat Issue 3, Revolutionary Romanticism, A Drunken Boat Anthology, Correspondence [City Lights], 1999, inclusive
Drunken Boat Issue 3, Revolutionary Romanticism, "A Drunken Boat Anthology," Writings [City Lights], 1999, inclusive
Drunken Boat, Letterhead, Logo, undated
Drunken Boat: Mock Ups, undated
Drunken Boat Printed Ephemera, Undated, inclusive
Drunken Boat Oversize Graphics, Undated, inclusive
Eliard, Thierry: Letters to Max Blechman and Writings, 1992-1994, inclusive
Everett, Marty: Letter to Max Blechman, Jul. 10 1992, inclusive
Ferlinghetti, Lawrence: Letters to Max Blechman (in City Lights bookstore envelopes), also Picture of Ferlinghetti as a Priest, 1993-1994, inclusive
Ferrua, Pietro: "Anarchists Seen by Painters", 1988, inclusive
Ferrua, Pietro: "Surrealisme et Anarchisme", 1982, inclusive
Flynt, Henry A.: "Against Participation: A Total Critique of Culture" (19pp), other materials, Oct 15 1993, inclusive
French Language Stickers, undated
Funktionaries (Band), 1992, inclusive
Funke, Jacobson B.: Postcard to Max Blechman, 1993, inclusive
Gibson, Morgan: Letters to Max Blechman, 1992-1994, 2005, inclusive
Glavin, Paul (Black and Green): Letters to Max Blechman, 1992, inclusive
Graphs, undated
Grimm, Reinhold: "Poetic Anarchism? The Case of Hans Magnus Enzenberger", undated
Grumble Butt, 1991, inclusive
Guerin, Daniel: Anarchism and Marxism (Writings), 1981, inclusive
Howe, Stewart: Letters to Max Blechman, 1993-1994, inclusive
"Intermediatism": Peter Lamborn Wilson aka Hakim Bey, 1991, inclusive
Industrial Worker: Excerpts on Anarchists, 1983-1984, inclusive
Interview with Jean-Luc Godard, undated
Kanaan, Ramsey: Letters to Max Blechman, 1993, inclusive
Kent, Rockwell, 1933?, inclusive
Kiel, Mark W.: "Joseph Boshover: Anarchist Poet ", undated
Knabb, Ken: Letter to Max Blechman, Mar. 24, 1991, inclusive
Koogan, Kevin: Correspondence with Max Blechman, Oct 1995, inclusive
Langlois, Walter G.: "Anarchism, Action, and Malraux", 1978, inclusive
Leake, Johnathan: Letter to Max Blechman, Jun 23 1994, inclusive
Left Bank Distribution: Letters to Max Blechman, 1993, inclusive
Letters with Drunken Boat Mastheads to Jackson MacLow et. al., 1993-1994, inclusive
Lowy, Michael: Letters to Max Blechman (French), 2001, inclusive
Machado, Wilfredo: Libro de Animales (Portfolio for Published Book, 1994), undated
MacLow, Jackson: Letters to Max Blechman, 1993-1994, inclusive
Malina, Judith (Living Theatre): Letters to Max Blechman, 1993, 2001, inclusive
Mattisons, Michelle: Letter to Max Blechman, 1994, inclusive
Meselson, Amy: School Packets, 1990, inclusive
Mid-Atlantic Bl@cklist, 1993, inclusive
Mitzman, Arthur: Letters to Max Blechman, 1993-1994, inclusive
Muhsam, Eric (1878-1934), undated
Notes to the Reader, undated
Observations on Anarchy 54, undated
Orr, Johnathan (Dispersal): Letter to Max Blechman/Drunken Boat, undated
Oversize Materials, 1990
Petrovato John/Perennial Books: Letters to Max Blechman, 1991-1992, inclusive
Photographs, US and France, with Cornelius Castoriadis, undated
Publisher's Catalogs, 1992-1993, inclusive
Rainier, Dachine: Letters to Max Blechman, 1992-1994, inclusive
Reiss, Robert, 1981, inclusive
Rexroth, Kenneth: Max Blechman Correspondence Regarding Rexroth, 1991-1992, inclusive
Sedgwick, Peter: "Out of Hiding: The Comradeships of Daniel Guerin", 1982, inclusive
Skaggs, Joey: Writings, 1960s-1990s, inclusive
Snyder, Gary: Letter to Max Blechman, May 3, 1993, inclusive
Subscriber Index Cards, 1992, inclusive
"A Trilogy for 57 Uears Ago Monday" [1954 Barcelona Uprising], 1992, inclusive
Ultra Graphics, 1994, inclusive
Ward, Thomas, 1992, inclusive
Woodcock, George: Letters to Max Blechman, 1990-1994, inclusive
Minicassettes: Diane di Prima, Beruit #1, unmarked, 1995, undated
Series II: SURGE
Scope and Content Note
Series II, Surge, contains issue no. 1 (published), issue no.2 (unpublished), correspondence, a diary by Max Blechman, manifestos, artwork and printed ephemera, an interview with the False Prophets, and letters to Max Blechman from elected officials.
Form Letters from Senators Alphonese D'Amato and Daniel Patrick Moynihan and City Council President Andrew Stein, responding to Max Blechman's Letters, Oct 28, 1987-May 3, 1988, inclusive
False Prophets Interview, undated
Max Blechman's Diary, Including notes, poetry, drawings, "happening" photos from the Putney School, Elm Lea Farm, Putney, VT, 1987-1988, inclusive
SURGE Issue no. 1, Fall 1988, inclusive
SURGE: Correspondence, 1988-1989, inclusive
SURGE: Issue no. 2 (Never Published): Camera Ready Complete Texts and Graphic Layout: all "Surge Collective" texts written by Max Blechman, 1989, inclusive
SURGE (Students Urging Resistance and Green Escalation): Portfolio of Manifestos, Artwork, and Related Ephemera, 1989, undated, inclusive
Series III. Posters, circa 2001, inclusive
Extent
Scope and Contents
This series consists of a poster printed by Max Blechman titled "Empire" and a printed flyer opposing Professor Karal Ann Marlings statements in the New York Times.
