Trace, No. 55 (Winter 1964)

This Winter 1964 number of Trace is best met through the writing itself. It contains 38 named pieces or sections, beginning with Modern Poetry’s Own Trajectory by Richard O'Connell, Towards Print by James Boyer May, and Editors (and others) Write. 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.

Modern Poetry’s Own Trajectory by Richard O'Connell gives Trace no. 55 its clearest point of entry, while Towards Print by James Boyer May and Urges ‘ Reader-Activation ’ Magazines widen the issue’s field. Dated Winter 1964, this substantial number contains 38 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, It Doesn’t Matter Now by Frederick Thorgood changes the view; the closing stretch reaches Wordy Snake-bite Cure by Marcus Peterson. 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 A. Fredric Franklyn, Byron Williams, Carl Larsen, Clarence Major, David J. Raine, Dorothy Ellin Flax, Edward Carben, and Frederick Thorgood, along with 17 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 Modern Poetry’s Own Trajectory by Richard O'Connell, turn next to It Doesn’t Matter Now by Frederick Thorgood, and finish with Wordy Snake-bite Cure by Marcus Peterson. The clean reading edition is designed for that kind of movement. Original scan: 122 PDF pages. Reader’s edition: 108 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.