Secession no. 2, July 1922 (cover by Ludwig Kassák)
Secession, founded in 1922 by Gorham B. Munson, sought to give corner to the “youngest generation” of interwar modernists. Printed at various junctures in Vienna, Berlin, New York, Florence, and Reutte (Tyrol), Secession nevertheless became an important platform distributing literary Dadaism to New York. Countering Harold Loeb’s Broom on one side and Margaret Anderson’s Little Review on the other, Secession is marked by a critical attention to the literary politics of little magazines in the early twenties. In addition to Munson’s passionate inter-magazine editorials and Josephson’s translations of key works by Tristan Tzara, Louis Aragon, and Hans Arp, Secession published a remarkable group of American poets and critics. Essays, poetry, and prose by Kenneth Burke, Matthew Josephson, Gorham B. Munson, John Brooks Wheelwright, Malcolm Cowley, Waldo Frank, Slater Brown, Robert Coates, E. E. Cummings, Marianne Moore, Wallace Stevens, Hart Crane, and William Carlos Williams characterize the magazine. Secession also provided an outlet for Ivor Winter’s Notes on the Mechanics of the Poetic Image, devoting the entirety of its last issue to its publication.
Issues are available for browsing or download below. You may also download the entire set here: zip, 79mb. Original pagination noted in contents.
p.1 Malcolm Cowley, “Day Coach” p.4 Louis Aragon, “Bottle Found at Sea” p.8 Matthew Josephson, “Peripatetics” p.9 Will Bray, “Apollinaire: or Let Us Be Troubadours” p.14 Tristan Tzara, “instant note brother” p.15 Gorham B. Munson “A Bow to the Adventurous.” p.20 Tristan Tzara, “Unpublished Fragment from Mr. AA The Antiphilosopher” p.21 Will Bray, “In a Café” p.22 Gorham B. Munson, “Exposé No1” p.25 Ed. “An Old Song to New Music”
p.1 E. E. Cummings, “Four Poems” p.5 Malcolm Cowley, “Play it for me again ...” p.6 Malcolm Cowley, “Poem” p.7 Kenneth Burke, The Book of Yul p.18 Tristan Tzara, “Mr. AA The Antiphilosopher” p.20 Slater Brown, “Plots for Penpushers” p.21 Matthew Josephson, The Oblate p.30 Gorham B. Munson, “Interstice Between Scylla and Charybdis”
Secession no. 3, August 1922 [PDF, 13 MB](ed. Gorham B. Munson and Matthew Josephson) (cover by Hans Arp)
p.1 Waldo Frank, “Hope” p.5 William Carlos Williams, “The Attempt” p.6 Matthew Josephson, “Peep-peep Parrish” p.12 Philippe Soupault, “Articles de sport” p.13 Malcolm Cowley, “Poem” p.14 Will Bray, “Cities II” p.15 Hans Arp, “Arp the Trap-Drummer” p.18 Kenneth Burke, “First Pastoral” p.28 Matthew Josephson, “Mr. Blunderbuss” and Notes
Secession no. 4, January 1922 [PDF, 16 MB](ed. Gorham B. Munson) (dir. Kenneth Burke, Matthew Josephson, and Gorham B. Munson)
p.1 Richard Ashton, “A Motor-Cycle, and Off to the Beach,” “In the Copley Ball-Room,” “Searchlights,” “Star — Wind,” “Moon — Garden” p.5 Kenneth Burke, “In Quest of Olympus” p.19 Wallace Stevens, “Last Look at the Lilacs” p.20 Hart Crane, “Poster” p.21 William Carlos Williams, “The Hothouse Plant p.22 Slater Brown, “A Garden Party” p.29 John Brooks Wheelwright, “Correspondence” p.30 Gorham B. Munson, Response p.31 Gorham B. Munson, “Congratulations and more ‘Ill-Mannered References’” p.32 Kenneth Burke, “Note on Der Sturm”
Secession no. 5, July 1923 [PDF, 11 MB] (ed. Malcolm Cowley and John Brooks Wheelwright) (dir. Kenneth Burke and Gorham B. Munson)
p.1 Mark Turbyfill, “Crucified Shadows” p.2 Gorham B. Munson, “Syrinx” p.12 Marianne Moore, “Bowls” p.13 E. E. Cummings, “Four Poems” p.18 Malcolm Cowley, “Old Melodies” p.20 John Brooks Wheelwright, “Comment” p.26 Gorham B. Munson, “Correspondence”
Secession no. 6, September 1923 [PDF, 11 MB] (ed. Malcolm Cowley and John Brooks Wheelwright) (dir. Kenneth Burke and Gorham B. Munson)
p.1 Hart Crane, “For the Marriage of Faustus and Helen” p.4 John Brooks Wheelwright, Notes p.5 Malcolm Cowley, “Into That Rarer Ether” p.6 Robert Coates, The Crimson Emerald p.20 S. Foster Damon, “Fantasia in a Restaurant” p.25 John Brooks Wheelwright, “Unpublished Portions of ‘Q’” p.30 John Brooks Wheelwright, “Comment”
p.0 Gorham B. Munson, “Notes” p.1 Hart Crane, “For the Marriage of Faustus and Helen” p.5 Waldo Frank, “For a Declaration of War” p.15 Yvor Winters, “The Moonlight” and “Tewa Spring” p.16 Gorham B. Munson, “Open Letter to the New Republic” p.20 Yvor Winters, “The Resurrection” p.21 Kenneth Burke, “A Progression” p.30 Gorham B. Munson, ”Tinkering with Words” p.32 Gorham B. Munson, “The American Murkury” p.33 Gorham B. Munson, “Explanatory”
(dir. Gorham B. Munson)
(ed. Gorham B. Munson and Matthew Josephson)
(ed. Gorham B. Munson)
