Acquisition	Purchase and gift, 1975-1983
	Processed by	David Hatfield Sparks

Repository:

Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

	The R. G. (Robert Guy) Howarth Papers are divided into four series: I. Works (27 boxes), II. Correspondence (6 boxes), III. Subject Files (24 boxes), and IV. Personal (2 boxes). Two additional boxes house materials separated due to format (glass negatives) or size (oversize). This collection is not completely processed and this guide represents only a preliminary arrangement, basic description, and folder list.
	While the series titles are descriptive of their general contents, it must be emphasized that other types of material are also usually found. For example, in the series titled Works are also found general correspondence as well as material specific to the work at hand (i.e., research notes, newspapers clippings, reviews, etc.). The variety of materials found within the folders reflects both Howarth's record-keeping practices and research and writing habits, which impart a sense of an open and ongoing research and filing process.
	The first series, entitled Works, consists of Howarth's original manuscripts, other works edited by Howarth, as well as correspondence, research notes, and clippings that relate to the works. Materials for authors on whose work Howarth concentrated, most notably Hugh McCrae, Norman Lindsay, and Joseph Furphy are grouped together under each respective name. For example, Howarth's long friendship, correspondence, and literary collaboration with Hugh McCrae is documented by correspondence, research notes, drafts, drawings, and photographs. Occasionally the material includes McCrae's comments, criticism, and annotations to Howarth's manuscripts.
	This series contains published as well as unpublished materials, such as essays on numerous topics, Howarth original poetry, and general literary criticism on British, Australian, and South African literature. Also present are larger works such as the unpublished manuscript of the life and work of John Webster, various critical editions of Elizabethan works, Howarth editions of the novels of Joseph Furphy and the poetry of Hugh McCrae, and such major works as the Penguin Book of Modern Australian Poetry.
	The Correspondence series chiefly comprises Howarth's correspondence with other scholars, authors and publishers. While little family and personal correspondence is present, there are a number of letters from Howarth's mother, Lucy Elizabeth Howarth. The folders frequently also contain materials other than correspondence, such as drafts of manuscripts, clippings, photographs, pamphlets, ads, and drawings, as well as typewritten transcriptions of correspondence. Of note is a letter in folder 31.2 from J. M. Coetzee to Howarth when he was Howarth's student, discussing his master's thesis.
	As previously noted, the correspondence of authors and scholars is also found in the Works and Subject Files series. For example the extensive correspondence between Howarth and McCrae was kept as found among Howarth's manuscripts about McCrae in the Works series. Correspondence from others which concerns Howarth's various literary interests are also found among pertinent Works and Subject Files.
	The Subject Files represent both the numerous authors and various subject areas of interest to Howarth. They contain both published manuscripts and unpublished drafts covering a wide range of topics. Similarly diverse materials described above are found in this series.
	The fourth series entitled Personal mainly consists of bibliographical, autobiographical, and biographical materials, diaries, personal photographs and memorabilia, and school papers.
	Significant correspondents in this collection include: May Alford, Ruth M. Bedford, C. J. Brennen, J. Le Gay Brereton, Richard Church, J. M. Coetzee, Max Dunn, Mrs. Valerie Eliot, Robert Fitzgerald, Martin Haley, Randolph Hughes, Norman Lindsay, F. L. Lucas, Hugh McCrae, George MacKaness Alan Mcleod, Sir Robert Menzies, Donna Wilcox Moore, R. H. Morrison, Walter Murdock, John Shaw Neilson, Mary Renault, David Rowbotham, Archer Russell, Edith and Sacheverell Sitwell, Kenneth Slessor, Vivian de Solas Pinto, Douglas Stewart, Walter Stone, John Thompson, and Leonard Woolf.
	Additionally, the Ransom Center's book holdings include Howarth's extensive personal library. One cassette tape (#178) and one reel-to-reel tape (#917) were transferred to the Center's Sound Recordings Collection.