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Scope and Contents |
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Notebooks, typescripts, holograph manuscripts, book proofs, galley proofs, published
materials, book reviews, and correspondence document Robert Nye's creative and critical
writing from 1959 through 1975. The papers are organized into two series: I. Works,
1959-1975, undated (12 boxes); and II. Correspondence, 1959-1975, undated (2 boxes). |
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The Works series consists largely of holograph notes and corrected typescripts. The
Creative Works subseries (8 boxes) comprises the largest portion of the Works series.
It
consists of notebooks, original, carbon copy and photostat manuscripts, book proofs,
and
galley proofs. These materials provide detailed evidence of the creation and refinement
of
Nye's work in poetry, essays, short stories, libretti, play, novels, and children's
literature. The majority of these materials date from the late 1960s to the early
1970s. |
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Nye's extensive work as a poetry and fiction critic and editor is reflected in the
subseries Critical Works (3.5 boxes). It contains reviews intended for publication
in The Guardian, The Scotsman, The Times, and The Tribune. His lengthy, abandoned effort to publish an edition of
Thomas Chatterton's poetry is documented by workbooks, original, carbon, and photostat
manuscripts, published works, and reviews. The Chatterton materials also contain the
oldest
item in Nye's papers, a 1911 publication of Chatterton's poetry, heavily annotated
by Nye.
Another editing endeavor of Nye's, A Choice of Sir Walter Raleigh's Verse,
is represented by several manuscripts, a script, and a book proof. |
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The Correspondence series is particularly illuminating of Nye's literary activities
and his
relationship with contemporary authors, critics, editors, and publishers. The bulk,
consisting of correspondence between Nye and Derek Stanford (1 box), details both
authors'
creative and private lives. Nye's letters frequently mention works in progress and
his
feelings about his craft. A smaller subseries of incoming correspondence contains
letters
from various literary persona. A list of correspondents appears at the end of this
inventory. |
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Because of Nye's sparing use of paper it is common to find fragments of many works
on a
single sheet. In addition, a single manuscript may incorporate papers of varying types
and
sizes. |
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Series Descriptions |
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Series I. Works, 1959-1975 (12 boxes) |
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The Works series is divided into two subseries: Creative Works and Critical Works. |
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Creative Works comprise the bulk of the Nye collection with just over eight boxes
of
materials. Worksheets, multiple drafts, and corrected proofs reveal Nye's process
in
writing and revising manuscripts. A large quantity of Nye's major works are represented
in this collection, however, Falstaff is not included.
Common themes in Nye's writings include ancient Celtic and Welsh legends, religion,
and
nature. |
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Nye's children's literature is represented in these papers with manuscripts of Taliesin (1967), March Has Horse's Ears (1967), Beowulf (1968), and Wishing Gold (1971). Nye's works for children were often
published separately in London and the United States. Beowulf was published in London as Bee Hunter: Adventure of Beowulf (1968), while the American
edition was simply entitled Beowulf. The other
children's books retained their original titles in the American editions. |
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Tales I Told My Mother, a collection of nine short stories of
adult fiction published in 1969, is represented with drafts, worksheets, and working
notes for each of the stories, as well as typescript drafts for the entire anthology.
Also present are extensive working drafts and completed typescripts of three short
stories not published in the collection. The stories are titled "A Portuguese Person,""Mr. Benjamin," and "The Amber Witch." |
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Drafts and production scripts for "A Bloody Stupit Hole"
(1969), "Reynolds, Reynolds" (1971), "The Body is His Book" (1972) and "The Seven Deadly Sins, a Mask" (1973) comprise Nye's dramatic
works. The plays, with the exception of "The Seven Deadly Sins," were broadcast on BBC Radio. |
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Nye would often recycle his earlier poems for inclusion in later publications. Poems
from Juvenilia I (1963) and Juvenilia II (1963) were included in Darker Ends (1969), Divisions on a Ground (1975), and his unpublished libretto
Kronia. Divisions on a Ground had the working title Henry James and other Poems. Worksheets of rejected poems for
DarkerEnds and Divisions on a Ground are arranged by title, providing an
overview of Nye's working method. |
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The remainder of Nye's creative works consist of his first published novel Doubtfire (1968), and several unpublished works. The manuscripts
for Doubtfire contain two typescript drafts entitled
"Earlier Union" and "Later Union." Nye's unpublished works in the collection include
an abandoned novel, "Mortstone." All
materials in the Creative Works subseries are arranged alphabetically by title. |
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The second subseries, Critical Works (3 boxes, 2 folders), is divided into Poetry
Editions and Reviews. |
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The items in Poetry Editions illustrate Nye's efforts to promote the works of two
earlier English poets, Sir Walter Raleigh and Thomas Chatterton. The Chatterton
materials are arranged chronologically, tracing the evolution of the work from
1959-1974. This group contains a notebook, correspondence, holograph worksheets,
published material, original, carbon and photostat manuscripts, preliminaries, and
reader's reviews of Nye's abandoned edition of "The Poems of Thomas Chatterton." Included is a 1959 typescript
manuscript, "Thom Chatterton: A Sense of Smegma," of
uncertain authorship; Judith Pratt (Nye's wife) is credited on the title page, but
Nye
claimed authorship. Also included are variants of the project: an unpublished essay,
"Tom Sawyer with a Medieval Glossary in His Pocket:
A Consideration of Thomas Chatterton," and a three-part article appearing in
Books and Bookman (1974), entitled “Chatterton: The Marvellous Boy.” The progression of A Choice of Sir Walter Raleigh's
Verse (1972) from holographic draft to book proof is included, as well as a
final typescript and BBC radio script of "A Durable Fire," a variant project concerning the works of
Raleigh. |
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Reviews include both notebooks, and holograph and typescript manuscripts. Notebooks
have no arrangement and contain many brief notations and fragments of reviews written
between 1962 and 1964. Manuscripts are arranged in alphabetical order, by title of
work
reviewed. Those concerning multiple works by the same author are included in the
arrangement under the name of the author. Individual manuscripts are undated--Nye
indicates only that they were created between 1962 and 1964. |
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Because of Nye's habit of reusing paper, many critical works contain fragments of
short
stories or poems on the verso. All reviews with creative works on the verso have been
housed together, in alphabetical order by title of work reviewed. |
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Series II. Correspondence, 1959-1975 (1 box, 2 folders) |
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Series II is divided into correspondence with Derek Stanford and incoming
correspondence. |
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Spanning the years 1968-1975, the letters and postcards of the Nye-Stanford
correspondence document the close professional ties between the two writers. A 1969
letter from Stanford includes his draft of a recommendation of Nye for an Arts Council
Bursery. Enclosed in several letters sent by Stanford in the early 1970s are drafts
of
his reviews of Nye's plays and fiction. Nye's letters, in turn, mention his efforts
to
publish Stanford's poems in the Scotsman. Both authors
frankly discuss works in progress, including Nye's Doubtfire and the "Poems of Thomas Chatterton." A close personal bond is displayed
in a 1973 letter containing a poem dedicated to Stanford. Much of the correspondence
contains exchanges of opinion concerning travels, home life, and Nye's children. The
correspondence is often addressed to both Nye and his wife Aileen. Five letters and
two
postcards sent to Stanford and his wife were written by Nye's wife on his behalf.
Arrangement is chronological. |
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Incoming correspondence is arranged alphabetically by the name of the sender, and
thereunder chronologically. A range of contemporary authors, critics, and editors
are
represented, including one or more letters from E.M. Forster, Robert Graves, Compton
Mackenzie, and Moray McLaren. Also included are 37 letters with enclosures from Michael
Mott, a poet and assistant editor of Adam International Review,
displaying close professional and personal ties similar to those evident in the
Stanford correspondence. |
