Trace, No. 43 (Autumn 1961)

The Autumn 1961 issue of Trace brings its writers together without asking them to sound alike. It contains 26 named pieces or sections, beginning with Thoreau’s Walden Ms, Towards Print by Curtis Zahn, and (. . . Guilt by Association) by Curtis Zahn. That opening offers a direct path through the issue, but it is not the only one. A reader can follow the printed order, pause over a familiar contributor, or start with a title that catches the eye. No special background is needed. The magazine explains itself gradually through the choices it makes and through the company each piece keeps.

Thoreau’s Walden Ms gives Trace no. 43 its clearest point of entry, while Towards Print by Curtis Zahn and (. . . Guilt by Association) by Curtis Zahn widen the issue’s field. Dated Autumn 1961, this substantial number contains 27 pieces or named sections, moving between writing about literature, creative work, reviews, correspondence, and the everyday work of a little magazine. The order matters: recurring editorial features sit beside contributions with their own aims, so the magazine feels like an exchange among writers rather than a stack of unrelated pages. The reader’s edition makes that sequence easy to follow; the private source facsimile preserves the cover, page design, advertisements, visual material, and directory information that locate the writing in its first publication. Together, the reading edition and private source record show James Boyer May keeping a place for new writing while also showing how independent magazines found one another.

The contents page also works like a small map. Early entries establish the issue’s first set of voices; around the middle, Literature, and the Sciences changes the view; the closing stretch reaches The Play’s Not the Scene. The works differ in length, subject, and manner, yet their placement creates connections that a simple list of names cannot show. The pleasure comes from those changes. A short piece can clear the air after a longer one, a new voice can redirect the mood, and an unexpected title can make an earlier page look different when the reader thinks back to it.

The contributor list includes Curtis Zahn, James Boyer May, John William Corrington, Lawrence P. Spingarn, Leslie Woof Hedley, Lewis Turco, Report by Lewis Turco, and Robert Sward, along with 2 additional contributors. Some readers will arrive looking for a particular name; others will meet these contributors here for the first time. Either approach works. The publication details add useful context: the issue was edited by James Boyer May, published by Villiers Publications Ltd., and issued from London, England; Hollywood, California (editorial office). A journal is also a made object, assembled by people deciding what to print, how to order it, and which voices should share a number. Reading from beginning to end lets those choices appear naturally.

The catalog subjects—Little magazines, Experimental literature, Poetry, Fiction, and Literary criticism—are useful starting points, especially for searching, but they do not set limits on what a reader may find. For a first visit, begin with Thoreau’s Walden Ms, turn next to Literature, and the Sciences, and finish with The Play’s Not the Scene. The clean reading edition is designed for that kind of movement. Original scan: 104 PDF pages. Reader’s edition: 112 PDF pages. It keeps the contents in a stable, legible form and makes names and titles easier to find. A source facsimile remains part of the project’s private editorial record, but it is not included in the public upload. What appears here is the reading copy: a practical way to spend time with the issue and discover which pieces invite a return.