Descriptive Summary
MacDonald, Greville,
1856-1944
Greville MacDonald Papers
1905-1949
(bulk
1924-1944)
TXRC96-A16
6 boxes (2.52 linear
feet)
The papers consist of holograph
manuscripts, typescripts, notes and notebooks, correspondence, and clippings
that help illuminate MacDonald's creative output as a writer of biography and
fiction. They also include materials relating to Derrick Leon's
Ruskin, the Great Victorian.
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
University of Texas at Austin
English.
Biographical Sketch
Greville MacDonald was born in Manchester, England, on January 20, 1856.
He was the eldest son of the notable Scottish poet and novelist, George
MacDonald. His interest in literature is traced to his early childhood when his
mother read him the finished manuscripts of
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, and
the newly written fairy-tales of his father. His father invited some of the
most notable British authors to his home including Matthew Arnold, Alfred Lord
Tennyson, Lewis Carroll, and John Ruskin. Greville accompanied his father to
the United States in 1872, and met such luminaries as Ralph Waldo Emerson,
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Mark Twain, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and John
Greenleaf Whittier.
Instead of following his father's path as a writer, Greville MacDonald
decided to pursue a career in the medical profession. He enrolled in King's
College School and Hospital as a medical student in 1876. He received his
Bachelor of Medicine degree in 1877 from the University of London with honors
in materia medica and pharmaceutical chemistry. He briefly served as an
assistant to Joseph Lister where his main responsibilities were to clean and
sterilize surgical instruments.
Greville MacDonald had a distinguished career as a throat specialist
(1877-1904) and held positions such as Assistant Demonstrator of Anatomy at
King's College (1885), Resident Medical Officer to the Hospital for Diseases of
the Throat (1886-87), and Professor of Laryncology at King's College
(1898-1904). He wrote numerous treatises on laryncology and drew large classes
to his lectures. He belonged to numerous medical associations including Member
of the Royal College of Physicians (1877), president of the throat section of
the British Medical Association (1897), and a Corresponding Fellow of the
American Laryngological Association. Lingering deafness prompted him to resign
his offices in 1904 and retire to Haslemere, England.
Greville MacDonald spent the remaining forty years of his life writing
novels for children and delving into biographical and autobiographical genres.
He produced new editions of his father's compositions, including his fairy-tale
Phantastes. Greville MacDonald was also an
accomplished critic, which is evident in his analysis of his father's novels
and poems in
The Life of George MacDonald and his Wife
(1924). Greville MacDonald died at his home in Halsmere on November 3,
1944.
Scope and Contents
The Greville MacDonald Papers, ca. 1905-1949 (bulk 1924-1944) consist of
holograph manuscripts, original and carbon copy typescripts, notes and
notebooks, correspondence, and clippings that help illuminate his creative
output as a writer of biography and fiction between 1905 and 1944. The papers
are arranged in three series: I. Works, 1905-1924; II. John Ruskin Material,
1944-1949, and III. Clippings, 1905-1915.
The first series represents MacDonald's endeavors in the genres of
biography and fiction. Materials relating to
The Life of George MacDonald and his Wife
(1924) form the bulk of this collection. MacDonald relied on his
father's papers and his own personal experience for his research material, both
of which provided a unique perspective for the critical analysis of his
father's poetry and juvenile literature. There are three drafts of this work in
the collection, all reflecting his working process through extensive
holographic revisions. Several drafts of
Pieces of Silver (n.d.) represent an
unpublished short story. Sixty pages of holographic notes on William Blake (ca.
1905-1907) record Blake's views on evolution, natural history, as well as an
analysis of Milton. These notes may have been incorporated into a later work,
The Sanity of William Blake (1908).
The John Ruskin Materials in the second series concern the publication
of
Ruskin, the Great Victorian (1949) by
Derrick Leon. Leon, a close friend of MacDonald's, was allowed to make use of
MacDonald's extensive collection of John Ruskin correspondence. Included are
research materials (most notably Leon's letter books containing his
transcriptions of Ruskin correspondence, 1863-1873), holograph and typescript
drafts of the work, and correspondence. As both MacDonald and Leon died in 1944
after the completion of the first draft, Mary MacDonald continued her father's
efforts to prepare the manuscript for publication. Her correspondence with the
publisher, Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd. (1948-1949), documents the publication
of this work in 1949, virtually unchanged from the first draft.
The final series gathers clippings from newspapers and British
periodicals. Included are reviews of four of MacDonald's works:
The Child's Inheritance (1910),
The Magic Crook (1912),
Trystie's Quest (1912), and
Jack and Jill (1913). Also present are
clippings of articles from
The Country-Side (1905) and
The Educational Times (1915) which reflect
MacDonald's interests in natural history, botany, recreation, and pedagogy.
The HRHRC Art Collection contains examples of illustrations from
Greville MacDonald's books. These illustrations include 45 original pen
drawings by Arthur Hughes for the book
The Magic Crook (1911), and an album of 59
mounted proof pulls of woodblocks by G. Blount, M. Norris, and M. Rhys that
were possibly used for
The Vineyard.
Acquisition
Purchase, 1967 (R3761)
Access
Open for research
Processed by
Christopher D. Filippi, 1995; completed by Joan Sibley, 1996
Greville MacDonald Papers--Folder List
Series I. Works,
1905-1924
The Life of George MacDonald and his Wife,
1924
1
1-8
Early typescript draft with holograph revisions,
n.d.
2
1-11
Incomplete typescript draft with holograph revisions,
1924
3
1-10
Incomplete carbon copy with additional holograph
revisions,
1924
Pieces of Silver,
n.d.
4
1
Working notes and preliminary typescript
draft
4
2-3
Early holograph and typescript drafts with holograph
revisions
4
4-5
Later (probably final) typescript with
revisions
Notes on William Blake,
1905-1909
5
1
Quarto manuscript notebook
5
2
Loosely inserted holographic and typescript
notes
Series II. John Ruskin Material,
1944-1949
Ruskin, the Great Victorian,
1949
Derrick Leon's letter books containing transcriptions of
John Ruskin correspondence
5
3
1863-1868
5
4
1868-1873
5
5
Letter from Charles Goodspeed to Derrick Leon,
10 Feb. 1944
5
6
Transcript of holograph letter from John Ruskin to Lady
Mount Temple,
8 Sept. 1870
5
7
Correspondence of Mary MacDonald to her publishers,
1948-1949
5
8
Holograph bibliographic lists of Derrick
Leon
5
9-12
Holograph manuscript, first draft,
1944
6
1-4
Holograph manuscript, first draft,
1944
6
5
Later typescript version of Book VI,
1944
6
6
Miscellaneous typescript pages with holograph revisions,
n.d.
Series III. Clippings,
1905-1915
6
7
Newspaper reviews of four books by MacDonald,
1910-1913
6
8
Periodical clippings and an obituary of Charles Edward
Maurice,
1905-1915