An Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Center
Creator:
Brenan, Gerald,
1894-1987
Title:
Gerald Brenan Collection
Dates:
1911-1978
Extent:
21 boxes (8.75 linear feet) and 2 oversize folders
Abstract:
British author Edward
Fitzgerald Brenan briefly entered the Bloomsbury circle in 1919, introduced by
his friend Ralph Partridge, before moving semi-permanently to Spain later that
year. Brenan's works dealt with the Spanish culture and literature, and his
feelings of exile during the years of the Spanish Civil War, which forced him
and his wife to leave the country between 1934 and 1953. The collection
contains holograph and typescript drafts for eight of Brenan's books including
A Holiday by the Sea (1961) and
South from Granada (1957). Also present is
a large accumulation of correspondence with various Bloomsbury artists, most
notably Dora Carrington and Ralph Partridge.
Edward Fitzgerald Brenan (1894-1987), was born in Malta, the son of an
English army officer. He spent his earliest years in India and South Africa
before being sent to England for his formal education. He studied first at
Radley College and then at the Military Academy at Sandhurst, but studied art,
poetry, and philosophy on his own with the help of John Hope-Johnstone. With
Hope-Johnstone, Brenan traveled through France, Italy, and Dalmatia when he was
eighteen, before joining the 5th Gloucesters in 1914. With his regiment he saw
action in the Ypres salient, on the Somme, and in the second battle of the
Marne. In 1918 he was awarded the Military Cross and the Croix de Guerre.
In 1919 Brenan was introduced into the Bloomsbury group by
Hope-Johnstone and his fellow officer and friend, Ralph Partridge. It was
through Partridge that Brenan met Lytton Strachey and Dora Carrington. In the
fall of 1919, Brenan set out for Spain, settling in the primitive village of
Yegen, living there more-or-less continuously until 1934. Partridge and
Carrington, recently married, and Strachey visited him in 1920, and
Carrington's fondness for Brenan is thought to have started on this trip. She
carried on a voluminous correspondence with Brenan for the next several years
and in 1922 they had a brief affair, which was soon discovered by Partridge.
There was a year of silence between the three, before reconciliation took place
and an often stormy friendship continued for the remainder of their lives.
Brenan remained in Spain, marrying the American poetess Gamel Woolsey in
1930, and working on poetry and beginning several novels. In 1934 the Brenans
left Yegen for Churriana and then for Gibraltar, seven weeks after the civil
war started. They were unable to return to Spain until 1953. They spent this
time in Aldbourne and Brenan expressed his feelings of exile from Spain by
completing three major works on Spanish life and literature. On his return to
Spain he began a series of autobiographical works, including
South from Granada, A Life of One's Own, and
A Personal Record.
In 1969 Brenan moved to the mountain village of Alhaurin el Grande. He
was awarded the Order of Commander of the British Empire in 1982 and in 1984,
after a brief stint in a nursing home, he was declared a living monument of
Spain and was supported by the municipality of Alhaurin until his death in
January 1987.
Sources
Who's Who in Bloomsbury. Alan and
Veronica Palmer. (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1987).
Scope and Contents
Holograph and typescript manuscripts, and correspondence represent the
majority of the Gerald Brenan Collection, 1911-1978. The collection is
organized into three series, with materials arranged alphabetically by title or
author: I. Works, 1912-1969 (9 boxes), II. Correspondence, 1911-1978 (10.25
boxes), and III. Miscellaneous, 1912-1964 (1.75 boxes). Many items in this
collection include notes on date and context, added by Brenan while gathering
his papers together. This collection was previously accessible through a card
catalog, but has been re-cataloged as part of a retrospective conversion
project.
The Works Series contains holographs and typescripts for eight of
Brenan's books, including
A Holiday by the Sea (1961),
A Life of One's Own (1979),
A Personal Record (1977), and
South from Granada (1957). Also included are
individual articles, poems, and reviews written by Brenan and a notebook of his
early verses. Several of the diaries, upon which he based his autobiographical
works, are present, including ones that cover his service in World War I, his
relationship with Dora Carrington, and his later friendship with Joanna
Carrington, Dora's niece. The titles in this series are indexed in the Index of
Works at the end of this guide.
The Correspondence Series is composed of large accumulations of letters
between Brenan and many members of Bloomsbury, as well as other artists, in
addition to individual letters written to and from friends and acquaintances.
Incoming and outgoing letters are interfiled, arranged alphabetically and then
chronologically where possible. Where dates are unknown, letters from Brenan
precede within the folders the ones he received. Particularly well represented
in this collection by almost 900 letters is correspondence between Brenan and
Dora Carrington. Other correspondents include Roger Fry, David Garnett, John
Hope-Johnstone, Ralph and Frances Partridge, V.S. Pritchett, and Gamel Woolsey
Brenan. Additional correspondents can be identified using the Index of
Correspondents in this guide.
The Miscellaneous Series is composed primarily of letters between
Brenan's friends. This includes 21 letters from Ottoline Morrell to Dora
Carrington, 75 letters from Frances Partridge to Gamel Woolsey Brenan, and 107
letters from Gamel Brenan to Llewelyn Powys. Also included are a diary and page
proofs for a book by Gamel Brenan, and the statement of release for Charles
Claridge and Hope-Johnstone from Monfalcone prison. Letters in this series are
also listed in the Index of Correspondents.
Separated Material
Elsewhere in the Ransom Center are 78 photographs of Brenan, his
friends and family, and landscapes, located in the Literary Files of the
Photography Collection, one Vertical File of newspaper clippings about Brenan
and his works, and several books from his personal library.
Index Terms
Correspondents
Bell, Clive,
1881-1964
Bell, Vanessa,
1879-1961
Carrington, Dora de
Houghton, 1893-1932
Fry, Roger Eliot,
1866-1934
Garnett, David,
1892-1981
Hope-Johnstone,
John
Morrell, Ottoline Violet
Anne Cavendish-Bentinck, Lady, 1873-1932
