Undated photograph of Tennessee Williams; found in the "T" folder under "Tennessee."

Laughlin's success story as New Directions's trustifarian publisher, monarch of taste, one-man customs official, and connoisseur of the last century's literary avant-garde has never been in dispute. The house's list is stocked with so many experimental turned influential writers: Borges, Bowles, Merton, Henry Miller, Nabokov, Paz, Sebald, Tennessee Williams, W.C. Williams, and, of course, Ezra Pound, to name just a fraction of the stars.

All photos, except for the Lustig covers, are from the collection of James Laughlin. Copyright 2006 by the Estate of James Laughlin and reproduced courtesy of New Directions Publishing Corporation.