Series 1, Letters, 1946-80, [n.d.?] contains thirty-four letters (with two transcriptions), notes and postcards, arranged chronologically. These youthful letters, written by Merrill to William S. Burford, Class of 1949, are the core of this collection. Burford was Merrill's friend, and co-founder and co-editor of the literary magazine The Medusa. Like Merrill, Burford was a poet and teacher.

Most of the early letters were written during the 1946 summer break at Amherst. Some were illustrated by Merrill. They were written from many places, including Merrill's mother's home in Connecticut; the Merrill apartment in New York City; and Merrill's father's estate on Long Island (The Orchards). Two others were written from Merrill's father's estate in Palm Beach, Florida (Merrill's Landing) during the March 1947 spring semester break. There are five letters and postcards from Merrill's travels in Mexico, as well as later correspondence from Haiti and Italy. There are five postcards written between June 1947 and March 1948, the year after Merrill graduated. The remaining seven notes and cards, efforts to remain in touch, are scattered over a period of 28 years (1952-1980). The series includes two explanations written by Burford about Merrill's notes from 1975 and 1977, and one letter from Burford to Terry Halladay.

The student letters to Burford provide a fascinating and intimate picture of young Merrill's mind at work. The letters illustrate the importance of The Medusa in Merrill's development as a poet and writer. (See Series 3 for details.) Some contain critical analyses of the work of the journal's contributors. Others are full of details of the creation, organization, production and printing of the journal (e.g., July 20, 1946), including the frustrations of a poet who must also be a technical expert and business man.

The letters also chronicle the development of Merrill's creative work (his play in blank verse, The Birthday, and several poems) and his ability to think critically about his own literary efforts and the work of others, including Burford's writing (that of July 16, 1946, contains a detailed critique of "Floods of Origin," Burford's novel). They also include Merrill's comments on the writings of The Medusa contributors (including Anaïs Nin), and the influence of famous literary figures (Proust, Joyce, Kafka, and Henry James). He shares his own work with Burford (the letter of July 30, 1946, contains a new poem "The matriarch with eyes like arrowheads," later published as "The Flynt Eye"). While the letters include sophisticated observations about travel (to Mexico and Haiti), art (Vermeer, Diego Rivera, Frieda Kahlo), and his love of music (Mozart, Debussy), they also reflect his youthful frustration and his sense of humor: "...the whole summer is bound to be unpleasant, and to top it all off the victrola doesn't work" (June 10, 1946). On June 28, 1946 he reports that he has written 26 lines of a new poem "languidly written to the victrola."

Some of the letters show Merrill seeking his way as a poet and philosophizing about his own life and emotions. His letter of August 1, 1946, shows a sense of feeling set apart, different:

...what I wanted more than anything is [sic] the world was the inconceivable joys of "the blond and blue-eyed", the bliss of the commonplace which is so violently uncommon. Now what I wish most in respect to this is to understand it, to understand those friends of mine who live in a world of simple action, unconcerned with any of the things that move me and obsess me.... One thing I know is that I shall never be able to enter their minds, that this very wish to do so in [sic] enough to keep me out forever.... Ultimately, therefore, I am glad of the difference; I would never dare change with them, even when I most long to.

In the same vein, on August 5, 1946, he writes to Burford about his poetry and his passion for life, his involvement in it, his inability to be a passive onlooker:

Those people like Mrs. Ramsay who blessedly knit socks and watch the sea and wonder about life, placed calmly on a terrace between two oblivions — to explore their minds would be like diving through clear water past charming fish and wise shells; but neither you nor I could ever be the water, the fish and shells, who have not the slightest emotion for or against the diver. It is not inconceivable that one day we shall find in ourselves that all the contradictions and desires and angers have through their quarreling created a way of life, a way of thought, an element as lucid, revealing as many wonders as we had always imagined existing outside ourselves. We will have created our own commonplace, and whether we drown from love of it like Narcissus or find that it is an atmosphere accessible to the entire world it will be the achievement, of all others, that is most perfect personal and liberating. That (in case I die in a plane crash) is what I believe, what I honestly believe I believe; it explains, now, what I must do with my poem and with all poems.

The letters are a remarkable combination of the unguarded revelations of a young man to his friend and, at some level, an awareness that he is writing for the future. Merrill struggles with his sense of self and questions why he is not happy. His letters contain very personal details of his family life and relationship with his parents. On June 13, 1946, he writes that he is afraid of breaking with his mother, who "has a life of rich moral assurance"; "at her suggestion I am going to an analyst this summer, which, the way I feel now, can be nothing but a relief. Perhaps it is foolish, but the situation is not exaggerated, and this seems to be the only way of introducing an authority more objective than hers or mine." In the letter of July 2, 1946, he notes that the analyst is to meet with him and his mother, an event he considers "at once fascinating and frightful." He doesn't trust the analyst's promise that he will advise Merrill's mother not to interfere; Merrill is "apprehensive, even fearing that he is in league with her and will, just as things are revealing gorgeous silver linings, trap me in some terrible way." Yet in the same letter he sends Burford a poem "written during three days of optimism" and says he is painting. On September 4, 1946, Merrill reports that he is in New York City for "my 12-day analysis" and reflects on the difficult loneliness of a week spent in solitude, "something I can not [sic] yet endure." In this same letter he playfully suggests that Burford create a "legend" of Merrill: "If you will promise to build up a legend about me, however, I shall disappear into Yucatan forever; I have always longed, in a horrible way, for a legend." Two sentences later he tells Burford that "I look forward with great relish to telling my father...that I will not join Chi Psi or any fraternity and that's that and watch his fine old eyes blur and his fingers clutch his heart in a fatal attack, ha!"

Merrill's indignant frustration at being denied entry to Mexico because he was without a tourist card colors the breathless, satirical letter of August 7, 1946, in which he describes "the August Martyrdom of St. James the Harrassed." Throughout the letters there are witty sketches of social events and acquaintances. One woman is the "pleased owner of the sharpest tongue in four counties," another is described as "amiable hatchet-mouthed Grace." Several letters refer to Anaïs Nin and their personal friendship, as well as her literary work. On March 24, 1947, he offers Burford advice about Burford's quarrel with Ned (he recommends honesty), the only letter of its kind in the group.

The letters written after Merrill graduates in June 1947 are less intensely personal. The later correspondence is more superficial, though it continues on friendly terms. In November 1966 Merrill thanks Burford for sending his book of poems and responds to the poems. Again, in 1975, Merrill offers advice on Burford's new poem. The final letter of the series was written by Burford to Terry Halladay of William Reese, Company (dealers in rare books and manuscripts) about the sale of some Merrill material.

Together these letters chronicle a short and focused time in Merrill's youth and evolution as a poet. They record with dramatic flair his self-conscious reflections on life and art, his angst, frustrations, humor, joys, and most of all, his seriousness about being a poet.

Series 2, Sketches, Drawings, Notes, and Poem, c. 1945-47, contains six pen and ink sketches from Merrill's student days at Amherst. They combine drawings of faces and figures, both fantastic and real, with words and phrases in multiple languages, including French, English and Italian. One sheet from [c. 1945?] is the working draft of a sonnet and has a self-portrait among the sketches of individuals on the page. This self-portrait, in particular, demonstrates his ability to poke fun at himself. The sonnet is an interesting example of how the young poet was honing his skill with language and sentiment, often using a word, then crossing it out, and then selecting once again the same word, or creating and then leaving behind whole lines.

Another sheet from [1946?] titled "Medusa telegram & Masquers (Amherst's student dramatic activities society) has illustrations and calligraphy relating to Merrill's poems in The Medusa as well as a list of philosophers and the odd sketch of faces and hands. There are also illustrations and phrases, including translations from Dante and comments to friends written during class, on three sheets of Italian language exercises. The one undated manila envelope is labeled "Jimmy Merrill" and includes sketches of a man, woman, faces and a furniture plan for a room.

These sketches, the youthful doodles of a college student, illustrate Merrill's artistic skill, wit, humor, and sense of satire.

Series 3, The Medusa, 1946, contains a draft of credits for the literary journal and two copies of the final publication. One of the two copies has a handwritten inscription on the front, "After the first death, there is no other[.] Dec 1946". Both copies are very fragile.

The Medusa was the literary journal co-founded and edited by Merrill and William S. Burford (AC 1949). Only one issue was ever published, in fall of 1946. Merrill and Burford spent the previous spring and summer preparing the issue. They were involved in every aspect of creating the journal, including writing, soliciting material, proofreading, design, layout and production, and printing. Merrill handled the production aspect of the journal. Although he considered having the journal published in Athens, with the help of Kimon Friar, it was printed in Northampton by the Reynolds, Metcalf Printing Company (51 Clark Avenue). Merrill was also responsible for the design and layout, as well as the proofreading.

The name was taken from a student organization (interested in writing, music, art, and film) at Amherst, although it was published independently of the College. The journal published Merrill and Burford's own work as well as the work of their friends (including Anaïs Nin), Amherst faculty members (Professors George Whicher and John Cook), and members of the college community. Contributors were: Kimon Friar, Anaïs Nin, Sprague Johnson, Janet Morgan, James Merrill, William Burford, George Whicher, John Cook, and Maya Deren.

The Medusa contains four poems by Merrill: "The Broken Bowl," "From Morning into Morning," "Medusa," and "The Black Swan." It also contains Burford's eight-page short story "The Rehearsal."