Organizational History
Nimbus, a British little magazine of the 1950s, represents part of a rich
history of literary magazines that reflect not only the literary, but also the
social and political history of England.
Nimbus continued as well a tradition of
modernism cultivated since World War I, especially by writers of the Bloomsbury
group and the Auden generation.
Nimbus was among such important little
magazines as
Encounter,
London Magazine, and
Poetry (London) edited by such distinguished
writers as T. S. Eliot, John Lehmann, and Stephen Spender, that helped set a
tone of excellence in the publication of little magazines and were instrumental
in changing the mood and direction of modern British literature.
Nimbus: A Magazine of Literature, the Arts, and New
Ideas began publication in December 1951 as a quarterly magazine of
new writing. Tristram Hull, son of the poet R. F. C. Hull, acted as editor for
the magazine's four volumes of thirteen issues. Hull was later joined by
co-editors Ivo Jarosy, 1953-1954, and David Wright, 1955-1956. Due to editorial
differences between Wright and Hull, Christopher Logue, in 1957, became
co-editor with Hull and the name of the magazine was changed to
Nimbus: New English Review.
The magazine, published by John Trafford at the Halcyon Press, grew in
size, stature, and reputation from a fifteen page experiment into a sixty page
provocative venue for new British, Commonwealth, and Continental writing.
Nimbus editors rejected strict
identification with any one contemporary British literary school, yet often
found themselves involved in their debates and controversies.
Nimbus attempted to distance itself from
such recognized Movement poets as Kingsley Amis.
The Movement poets were themselves reacting against the earlier romantic
New Apocalypse writers such as George Baker, G. S.
Fraser, and Henry Treece. The Movement writers were, in turn, considered by the
Maverick poets to be conservative, formalist, and
neoclassical.
Among the newer and Maverick writers published in
Nimbus were Dannie Abse (also editor of
Poetry and Poverty), Michael Hastings,
Patrick Kavanagh, George MacBeth, Colin MacInnes, Vernon Scannell, Stevie
Smith, and Alexander Trocchi (also editor of
Merlin). Other distinguished and renowned
writers published in
Nimbus include W. H. Auden, Bertolt Brecht,
Jean Cocteau, Mircea Eliade, T. S. Eliot, Jean Genet, C. G. Jung, Pablo Neruda,
and Richard Wilbur.
Nimbus ceased publication in 1958 due, it
has been suggested, to financial constraints and lack of editorial focus.
For more information about
Nimbus see:
Sullivan, Alvin.
British Literary Magazines: The Modern Age
1914-1984.
Greenwood Press: New York, 1986.
Scope and Contents
The
Nimbus records, 1945-1962, consist primarily
of editorial files. The materials are arranged in two series: Editorial Files,
1951-1957 (2 boxes), and Business Files, 1945-1962 (1 box).
All issues of
Nimbus, except the material for the last
issue (Vol. IV, no. 2), are represented in the editorial files. This series is
arranged chronologically by date of publication and volume number, and the
order for each folder generally reflects the process of publication from
beginning designs through editing and printing. The materials include paste-ups
with corrections and printer's marks, galleys, page proofs, cover designs, and
manuscripts from contributors with corrections and printer's marks.
Illustrations, which usually consist of photographs or prints, by artists such
as Leonor Fini, F. E. McWilliam, John Ward, and Gerald Wilde, are also
present.
Manuscripts present include original holograph drafts and typescripts
which are often annotated with corrections and printer's marks. These
manuscripts, often found in edited versions, include translations from the
French, German, and Italian.
Nimbus published a diverse group of authors
representing various literary schools that included such writers as Dannie
Abse, W. H. Auden, George Barker, Bertolt Brecht, Jean Cocteau, Mircea Eliade,
T. S. Eliot, Jean Genet, Michael Hastings, John Heath-Stubbs, C. G. Jung,
Patrick Kavanagh, Laurie Lee, George MacBeth, Colin MacInnes, Pablo Neruda,
Stevie Smith, Alexander Trocchi, Richard Wilbur, and Noel Woodin. Unpublished
manuscripts are located at the end of this series and include the manuscript of
The Unconsideredby James Pirie (an extract
of which was published in Vol. III, No. 4), manuscripts by John Heath-Stubbs,
Alexander, Trocchi, David Wright, and a radio play,
Too Tired for Words, by Stevie Smith.
The Business Files, 1945-1962, include correspondence, legal papers, and
publicity materials. The outgoing correspondence is chronologically arranged,
and consists primarily of editorial and financial concerns during David
Wright's co-editorship. Miscellaneous notes and publicity copy ads are also
found here. The incoming correspondence is alphabetically arranged, and
primarily concerns immediate publication matters. A smaller amount, such as the
letters of Christopher Logue and Noel Woodin, is of a more personal nature.
Other significant correspondents include Dannie Abse, W. H. Auden, Djuna
Barnes, Edward Dahlberg, C. Day Lewis, J. P. Donleavy, T. S. Eliot, William
Empson, Michael Hamburger, John Heath-Stubbs, Patrick Kavanagh, Christopher
Logue, Hugh MacDiarmid, W. Somerset Maugham, Vernon Scannell, Dame Edith
Sitwell, Alexander Trocchi, and Evelyn Waugh. A complete Index of
Correspondents can be found at the end of this inventory.
Legal documents found here include a certificate of business
registration (1953) for
Nimbus, and a contractual agreement between
Tristram Hull, Noel Woodin, and Martin Green (1952). The publicity materials
comprise designs and copy for advertising for
Nimbus (as well as ads appearing in
Nimbus), flyers, and prospectuses for future
issues. Also included here are miscellaneous notes, newspaper clippings, and a
drawing by Veronica Hull.
These papers not only add to the scholarship on the life and letters of
Nimbus contributing writers, but touch upon
the subjects of British little magazines and modern British poetry
movements.