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This collection of papers of the British poet and writer Vernon Scannell (1922-2007)
was
purchased at auction in October 2008. The papers were formerly held by longtime admirer
and
friend Alan Benson who corresponded with Scannell for more than twenty years. Although
Benson is a portrait photographer and painter in Knutsford, Chesire, he shared a passion
for
literature with Scannell, who resided in the West Yorkshire town of Otley. In the
course of
their exchanges, Scannell expressed frustration with preparing typescripts of his
poems.
Benson, who was proficient with his word processor, offered to type Scannell's drafts
and
return finished copies to him. Scannell also sent Benson copies of his handwritten
and
typescript drafts of numerous book reviews, articles, and his novel Feminine Endings, as well as photocopies of the published writings in newspapers
and magazines. Several short stories are also included in the correspondence. Over
time,
Benson served as "the keeper of the Scannell archives" as
Scannell described him, retaining all the drafts and published material Scannell sent
to
him. Both octogenarians suffered physical maladies in their later years, Scannell
battling
throat cancer, while Benson struggled with macular degeneration from 1990 onward.
Despite
his failing eyesight, Benson continued painting from memory and managed to produce
finished
typescripts for Scannell. |
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Benson's collection of Scannell material contains correspondence, primarily from Scannell
to Benson, with a smaller number of letters from Benson to Scannell; works by Scannell;
and
miscellaneous personal and career-related material. The papers are arranged in three
series:
I. Correspondence, 1995-2007; II. Works, 1948-2000; and III. Career-Related and Personal,
1978-2007, undated. |
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The correspondence series is divided into Subseries A. Vernon Scannell to Alan Benson,
1995-2007, and Subseries B. Alan Benson to Vernon Scannell, 1996-2001. The bulk of
the
papers are found in this series. Benson retained the material Scannell sent to him
in the
original mailing envelopes. He carefully noted the contents on the outside of the
mailer
along with the date the material was received. The correspondence is most prolific
for the
years 1996-2000 and begins to diminish in 2001 as Scannell's health deteriorated.
All poetry
included in this correspondence is indexed at the end of this inventory. Benson retained
copies of some of his correspondence to Scannell. These letters are found in Subseries
B.
Series II. Works contains three subseries: A. Novel and Poetry Collections; B. Poems;
and C.
BBC Radio 3, "A Closer Look" transcripts. Subseries A.
includes handwritten notes, drafts, and an uncorrected typescript of Scannell's novel
Feminine Endings published in 2000. Scannell sent draft sections
to Benson over a period of time so that Benson could prepare word-processed typescripts
for
Scannell. Benson removed Scannell's drafts from the correspondence and retained the
drafts
as a unit. Also found in this series are several published volumes of collected poems,
some
with Scannell's handwritten notations. Included are Graves and
Resurrections (1948), An Ilkley Quintet (undated),
Mastering the Craft (1970), A Mortal
Pitch (1957), and a bound typescript of poems collected in 1997. Nearly all of
Scannell's published works including novels, his autobiographies, and children's books
were
received with these papers and are held in the Ransom Center's book collection. Many
of
these books are inscribed to Benson, or are signed by Scannell. |
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Subseries B. Poems includes poetry published in three literary periodicals and signed
presentation copies of individual poems Benson typed for Scannell. These poems, like
those
in the correspondence series, are index at the end of the finding aid. |
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For several years in the 1980s, Scannell wrote and presented the radio program "A Closer Look" for BBC Radio 3. Typed transcripts of those
programs are found in Subseries C, arranged alphabetically by the subject of the program,
primarily literary figures such as W. H. Auden, Emily Dickinson, John Keats, Dylan
Thomas,
William Wordsworth, and others. |
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The Career-Related and Personal series includes a newspaper article about Scannell
from
1983 and review of Ring of Truth; Benson's list of Scannell's
published works from 1953-2001; notes withdrawn from books sent with this collection
for the
HRC Library; obituaries and funeral service program; Benson's photographs of Scannell
taken
in May 1998 for publicity purposes; and the first issue of Screever (Summer 1978). |
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Over a dozen audio cassette tapes and CDs of Scannell reading his poetry, as well
as radio
programs that aired his works, were included with the papers. There are also taped
conversations with Scannell from 1997 and 1998, and a 1987 Imperial War Museum recording
of
Scannell talking about his life and writings. These have been added to the HRC's Sound
Recordings Collection. |
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The Ransom Center holds additional Scannell materials (Manuscript Collection MS-03717)
described in a separate finding aid. Scannell correspondence is located in the HRC
collections of Nimbus Magazine, Derek Parker, and Anvil Press Poetry. |
